Albertsons $25.15
Sometimes I get so tired of listening to my teenage son say “We don’t have anything good to eat” that I just let him go buy whatever he wants. Maple flavored doughnuts, barfy chicken nuggets, boston creme pie yogurt and cardboard pizza. Mmm Mmm good. Just because I know it’s total crap, doesn’t change the fact that he thinks this type of stuff is “good.” And to be honest, I’m not sure he and I will ever agree.
Did you read last weeks post on How Do We Teach People to Eat Healthier? Madam Chow’s comment pretty much hit the nail on the head for me.
“That aside, people eat what they want to eat out of convenience and taste. Another friend lives in an extremely wealthy suburb outside the nation’s capitol. Two of her kids eat everything, including fruits and vegetables. One of them will eat only fries, chicken fingers, and Costco taquitos. She is a high income earner with a graduate degree. She is very knowledgeable about nutrition. So, in other words, she’s not ignorant, uneducated, or poor. And she feeds that child whatever he wants because it’s such a huge hassle to deal with him at meal times. And in case someone thinks I’m slamming her, she is a fantastic mother and friend who works her butt off. She has made the decision that his food is not a battle that she has energy for 21 times per week.”
Albertsons $3.97
According to Monkey Boy, this is BAD food. 😉
Albertsons $6.51
I needed the {fake} Ritz crackers so I could make Ritz Cracker Chicken for dinner and let me tell you Bob, I couldn’t taste the difference from the knock off crackers. The broccoli went into a stir fry and the cream of chicken soup is for a freezer meal recipe I plan to make later in this week.
Smith Brothers Milk Delivery $11.16
I just noticed the carton on the left is facing the opposite direction. Grrrrr.
How about YOU? Are there any food battles going on in your house?
~Mavis
Total Spent This Week $46.79
Total Spent This Year $272.07
Total Spent This Year on Garden Seeds/Supplies $4.50
Go HERE to read more Shopping Trip Stories.
Bible Babe says
I will count my blessings that my son, also referred to as Monkey Boy on occasion, has never been a picky eater. If I put it in front of him he has always eaten it. Except for when he was itty bitty. He would NOT eat strained green beans. I tried putting the stuff into another food, thinking he was just put off by the color. Nope–he HATED the stuff, could always tell when he tasted anything with it inside. So I decided that was a legitimate dislike of a food. Which was odd, because once he began eating regular food–he LOVES green beans.
Judy says
Morning Mavis!! Don’t think there’s any mom that doesn’t hasn’t had a kid like monkey boy!
I know I had one..however being that I ran a full running farm plus kids, they ate what I cooked or got cereal…this being kinder then my mom who just sent us to bed hungry! Ha!.. Since I grew my organic veggies and free range meat and eggs I saw no sense in buying junk food for my picky eater. He decided better to eat what I cooked then eat cereal the rest of his years..he eventually saw I was not giving in to His pressure and whining and got sick of cereal. Ha!
Mavis I was curious to why you pay 11.00 for two gallons of milk? Is it more in your stores? Is the milk organic?
Cheryl says
It’s cheaper to buy milk this way than going to the grocery store as inevitably you do not come out with only milk….
Madam Chow says
In Hawaii, milk is over $8 per gallon!
Mavis Butterfield says
Are you in Hawaii right now Madam Chow? Bring us back some macadamia nut Hershey’s Kisses if you are. 😉
Mavis Butterfield says
Hi Judy,
Milk here is about $2.79 a gallon. I was hoping by having milk delivered this year I’d save in the long run because I wouldn’t be popping in to the stores as often.
Judy says
Mavis I see how this probably is saving more then not..it’s hard not to do impulse buying for sure! Plus the addition of gas to get there.. 🙂
Kari says
I found this cream of chicken soup recipe to sub for canned. I love it and have been using it for a couple of years now. The coolest thing is that there are very few ingredients, and I can pronounce all of them! http://savoryseasonings.blogspot.com/search?q=Cream+of+chicken+soup.
Lisa says
He can buy whatever he wants, and he buys yogurt? Flavor doesn’t matter, it’s still yogurt! I will also stick up for his chili, and chicken, both sources of protein. I don’t like those pizzas myself, but he did buy the cheapest possible! Donuts? Well, don’t we all crave a few donuts once in a while?
I used reduced fat Cheez-it crackers on my chicken and it was terrific!
Jody Graves says
Dear Mavis,
I love your website and appreciate your tips on saving money and gardening.
i have been gardening my whole life and feeding my family what i thought was “nutritious” food.
My daughter and grandson’s chronic illness has made me open my eyes and mind to realize
that every toxic thing you put in your body is- TOXIC. It stays with you, whether it is pesticides,
heavy metals, odd chemicals- you name it. The damage is often impossible to reverse.
So I must say- I disagree with your friend who buys Costco taquitos for a steady diet for her son.
I disagree with your recent purchase of crackers and canned soup.
Your friend is right that she shouldn’t have a battle with her son about what he chooses to eat, but to actually buy
the bad food for him is no different than a provider of a morbidly obese person, buying them food that continues their obesity.
It is possible to give her son (and yours) the power to eat foods they like, by providing healthy ingredients and letting them cook.
To think it is okay to spend hard earned good money on poison, and to support the food industries marketing and production of this food- is not good.
If you read the label on the canned soup you bought I bet it has MSG in it. The crackers probably have chemical preservatives, GMO and non organic flour and the possibility of rancid fat.
There is so much more power and freedom in making a true commitment to eating healthy foods, than there is in buying food that we know is bad for us.
You said that your friend is intelligent- just because a person has a good education in one aspect of their lives, does not make them immune to poor decisions. If we each make a powerful commitment to eat only food that will nourish our bodies, we are then acting in an intelligent manner. To do any less, is …well- sort of dumb.
Shannon says
Jody,
in reply to your comment “just because a person has a good education in one aspect of their lives, does not make them immune to poor decisions”: Just because your family genetics isn’t capable of handling common food additives without creating illness, does not mean these are “TOXIC” to everyone else, and therefore parents are child-abusers if they allow their kids to have an occasional convenience food.
I don’t believe for one minute that you don’t ingest some sort of artificial flavor, additive, preservative, etc., in your squeaky clean diet. Do you buy meat? Well that grass fed, organic meat is packaged on Styrofoam and wrapped in plastic. That over priced organic flour…..packaged in paper bags printed with ink that I’ll bet isn’t organic paper or ink. Oh, and ALL flour will go rancid, even your organic flour.
A diet free of all processing is absolutely IMPOSSIBLE unless you grow your own produce, wheat and grains, raise/slaughter your own meat and dairy, and never buy anything from anyone, ever. Oh, and your home-grown produce…..you’d better know the history of the land for the last 100 years, because if a pesticide was ever used, it is still in the soil, so there goes your “organic” diet.
I appreciate your diligence, but I think you are living in a fantasy world, if you think that the average person can go without ever being exposed to toxicity in the modern world. Your condemnation is exactly what makes normal people feel like they can never eat healthy, so they don’t even try. A diet that is mostly healthy is better than nothing. Perfection is impossible.
H.P. says
While Jody’s view of living completely free of toxicity in a modern world might be far-fetched, I think your reply is a little harsh and far-fetched as well.
”Just because your family genetics isn’t capable of handling common food additives without creating illness, does not mean these are “TOXIC” to everyone else, and therefore parents are child-abusers if they allow their kids to have an occasional convenience food.” — More like, aren’t as obviously toxic to everyone else. Those ritz crackers sold her in the US? They are made differently, with less chemicals overseas because they have banned those ingredients because of their toxicity. I don’t believe that people are child-abusers for allowing their children convenience food, but it’s a fact that they contain chemicals. And some people are more sensitive than others, but it’s still putting unnatural chemicals in your body and you will pay for it eventually – it just comes down to some people who show symptoms right away vs. others that it shows up much later in life.
“I don’t believe for one minute that you don’t ingest some sort of artificial flavor, additive, preservative, etc., in your squeaky clean diet.” She never claimed to not consume anything artificial.
“Do you buy meat? Well that grass fed, organic meat is packaged on Styrofoam and wrapped in plastic.” I certainly don’t buy meat that sits in plastic/styrofoam – gross! Buying in bulk directly from a butcher is one good way to get fresh, organic meat right into your freezer (wrapped in freezer paper and then foil).
“Oh, and ALL flour will go rancid, even your organic flour. ” Well yeah, it doesn’t have preservatives, so it’ll go bad. All food, even with preservatives will go bad eventually. Not sure what point you are trying to make here.
“Your condemnation….,” I think you should re-read your post. Jody clearly states that she disagrees with Mavis’ purchase as well as her friend who buys taquitos as a steady diet for her son. Condemnation? I disagree with the choices as well. I know this blog isn’t about living as healthy/organic as possible, but judging by a majority of the healthy recipes and the fact that Mavis grows much of her food, eating healthy/organic is a high priority.
“…. is exactly what makes normal people feel like they can never eat healthy.” I’m not sure how her diligence to eating healthy would make anyone feel like they can’t? I’m sorry if someone that eats as clean as possible has made you feel like your healthy choices aren’t good enough, but like you said, a diet that is mostly healthy is better than nothing. Sadly, major food companies don’t make it easy. I think your judgment of her comment is misplaced and you should look at the companies (like the makers of ritz) that feel the need to add chemicals. The makers of ritz (and several other popular items here in the US) have different recipes for the same item sold overseas (this is fact, I lived in Denmark and have read labels). They can make/sell them cheaper with chemicals that are illegal in other parts of the world.
Lisa says
Jody, I sincerely believe that Ritz cracker crumbed chicken, and canned soup, even consumed a few days a week, are not going to cause lifelong health issues.
This blog is called “How to Feed Your Family for $100 a Month,” not “Eating Only Organic and Non-Artificial Ingredients.”
For me, a “commitment to eating healthy foods,” as you mean it, would not give me freedom, but weigh me down with constant label checking, with fret and obsession over what was in the littlest food item.
While Sesame Street changed Cookie Monster from eating only cookies, he still says cookies are a “sometime food,” not never to eat any!
I believe in balance. I also believe that the food industry has made great progress in bring food to the masses, and sometimes that necessitates chemical preservation.
Mavis, and I, and probably most of her readers do not feed our families “poison” because we sometimes use processed ingredients.
You believe otherwise, and that’s certainly your right. Your family has special dietary requirements. But, to say you “disagree” with another person’s purchases is just plain rude!
H.P. says
She said she disagreed – are we not allow to disagree anymore? She wasn’t rude, not attacking. Another commenter said she was condemning. Jody was stating an opinion.
While serving the mentioned ritz/chicken dish won’t be harmful to most, it’s not exactly ‘healthy’ either. Ritz here are made with added ingredients that are illegal in other parts of the world. This is the ingredient list difference.
In the U.S.: Unbleached enriched flour (wheat flour, niacin, reduced iron, thiamine, mononitrare (vitamin B1), riboflavin (vitamin B2), folic acid), soybean oil, sugar, partially hydrogenated cottonseed oil, salt, leavening (baking soda and/or calcium phosphate), high fructose corn syrup, soy lecithin, malted barley flour, natural flavor.
In the U.K.: Wheat flour, vegetable oil, sugar, raising agents (ammonium bicarbonate, sodium bicarbonate, disodium diphosphate), glucose-fructose syrup, salt, barley malt flour.
So you don’t care that a company, Nabisco, feels that it’s okay to have added chemicals for your crackers, but not your friends living on the other side of the pond? Having spent several years in Denmark (another country that doesn’t allow the US version of the cracker), I’ve tried their ritz. They taste the same. It makes you wonder why we get the chemical laden version.
You’re right that this is a blog about feeding a family cheaply rather than on pure organics. But kudos to Jody for trying to combine the two. Juding her opinion makes it look like you’d rather turn a blind eye to what you’re being fed. So while adults can make their own decisions, jumping on Jody for her opinion is quite rude.
Julie 2 says
I always love your Monday postings on what you buy. In fact on my day off, I just made one of your fruit crisps. This is to remind you how much I admire all that you do to encourage us regulars to be just a little bit better than last year.
kathleen says
so the seeds you purchased in fall for this years garden are in last years total or do you get those free from being sponsored? just a curious numbers person here. bah, I have already spent $21 and change on seed starting mix. at least my hot peppers look fabulous!