Trying to budget at Whole Foods

Sunday marked the beginning of our second week of selecting groceries according to our new eating guidelines, and our second week of shopping exclusively at Whole Foods. There's no getting around the fact that WF is more expensive than our usual Kroger market and that fewer items are on sale. However, the food is also healthier on the whole. WF carries a plethora of natural, organic, and locally-grown products. That's not to say that it's the picture of healthful perfection: you can find plenty of tempting snacks, sweets, and processed junk at WF, just as you would at most other grocery stores. It's just that WF's junk food is free of artificial dyes, artificial sweeteners, and partially hydrogenated fat. (Related side note: the New Yorker recently published an article about contradictions associated with Whole Foods' history and management. It's an interesting read, especially if you're really into natural foods or skeptical about this company's ability to make a profit while maintaining its integrity. But I digress.)

We planned carefully for our shopping excursion. First, we constructed a menu for the week:

Breakfast: Rice cereal and fruit for Susanne; cereal for Trent; waffles and fruit (or whatever else we can get him to eat) for the kiddo

Lunch: Dinner leftovers for Susanne and Trent; mac and cheese, cheesy toast, or pasta plus fruit for our son

Dinner:

~Sweet potato falafel (we had this on Sunday - it's delicious!)

~Broccoli and quinoa (that was last night's dinner, and it was exceptionally tasty, too)

~Chicken, potatoes, and veggies (Trent's making it right now!)

~Gluten free pizza

~Rice pasta with sauce and veggies

~Soup and salad

~Make-your-own-dinner night (basically, we just eat whatever we can scrounge up from the refrigerator and pantry)

The total bill rang in at $108. That's less than last week (because we didn't purchase as much meat this time), but still more than we would ever spend at Kroger. The organic, free-range chicken cost nearly $8 on its own. I selected a bunch of Bob's Red Mill products (like gluten-free chickpea flour and ground flaxseed) that were each about $5 (but they'll last for at least a couple of months). We also purchased a variety of organic fruits and veggies: apples, bananas, spinach, onions, potatoes, sweet potatoes, celery. We threw in some cheese, butter, and milk that we can use in this week's and following weeks' recipes. Treats included a pack of gluten-free cookies for me and my son and some beer for my husband.

It was an expensive trip, but the bill might be lower next week simply because we're now armed with more basic ingredients. Plus, I don't anticipate that we'll be going out to eat anytime soon. We're finding that it's cheaper, easier, and more satisfying to just cook at home.

My favorite money-saving recipe

There is one recipe I use over and over again: a recipe for pizza dough. It's saved us money simply because it keeps us out of the pizza parlors; the result is always just as good as what we'd get in a restaurant, if not better. I make it at least once a week, sometimes more. What I like about it is that it requires only a few ingredients, and you can mix it up in a matter of minutes (unlike a lot of other pizza dough recipes, you don't have to let the dough rise, though I like to give it an opportunity to work its magic before I start pressing it onto the pizza stone).

Here's the recipe:

Pizza Dough I

Main ingredients: yeast, flour, a little sugar, a little salt, a couple tablespoons of olive oil. That's it. Mix it all together, spread it on a pizza stone or baking pan, add sauce, cheese, and toppings, and you're all set. Twenty minutes later, you've got a delicious pie that rivals anything Dominoes or Papa John's could create.

A few variations:

-You can add fresh or dried herbs, like basil or oregano, to the dough for an extra punch of flavor.

-You can use the dough for calzones. I split the dough into four parts, smoosh each one into a disk, add the filling, fold it over, seal it, and then bake it at 375 degrees F until the tops are golden brown. My fillings usually consist of chopped onion, chopped garlic, chopped mushrooms, a little spinach, some diced tomatoes, and cheese. They're very good.

-Our local grocery store has started selling store-brand organic flour at $3.50 a bag, so we've been buying that. It's definitely more expensive than regular flour, but when you work out the cost of each meal or goodie it makes, it seems worth it to us.

-You can substitute in honey instead of sugar. I like the flavor of honey in pizza crust.

Try it! Not only is it delicious and easy to make, but you know exactly what's in that pizza. Plus, if you have kids, they can help mix the dough and decide on toppings.