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We have some Trader Joe's and Whole Foods, but they remain the realm of suburban shopping.
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10 Healthiest Grocery Stores. Columbus Doesn't Do too Well
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Walker
The KLD / Downtown
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It has more to do with the geography of a lot of these grocery chains and less about what cities they are in. We're not likely to see new grocery chains based outside of the midwest move in anytime soon.
As for the suburban location of the stores... I think the same could probably be said about most other cities. While there are urban versions of Trader Joes and Whole Foods, I'm willing to be they have more suburban locations nationwide.
Posted 3 years ago # -
misskitty
Columbus
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I think a lot of times people also fail to realize that foods that are more healthy for you are also more expensive then something that is processed and in a box. One way to look at it is like this I can make one dinner with fresh meat and veggies for about 10-15 bucks. Now a box of lets say Tuna Helper is 2 bucks add two cans of Tuna that’s 3 Dollars. If you have a monthly food budget of Fifty dollars witch one will you get more of ? Everyone knows processed foods are not good for you and will make you fat but that’s what poor people can afford most of the time .
Posted 3 years ago # -
Rockmastermike
CORNspiracy HQ
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misskitty wrote I think a lot of times people also fail to realize that foods that are more healthy for you are also more expensive then something that is processed and in a box. One way to look at it is like this I can make one dinner with fresh meat and veggies for about 10-15 bucks. Now a box of lets say Tuna Helper is 2 bucks add two cans of Tuna that’s 3 Dollars. If you have a monthly food budget of Fifty dollars witch one will you get more of ? Everyone knows processed foods are not good for you and will make you fat but that’s what poor people can afford most of the time .
10-15 bucks/meal?!
Sorry, wrong. but I just bought food for two for a about a week with 30 bucks at kroger buying nothing processed. Fresh vegies were the majority of the bill. That also included some luxury items like two bottles of sanpelagrino sparkling water.
the trick is knowing what you can stretch and what you can get cheap.
tuna helper may be $2, but a head of romaine is also $2 and you get 4-5 salads out of it. Salad dressing can be made for pennies/serving with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and pepper.
good lean pork roast is $1.99/lb on sale. 3 lbs is $6. that's enough for lets call it 6 1/2 lb (huge) of servings slow cooked with a little gravy made with a tablespoon of flour and the drippings.
so we're talking fresh porkroast and salad (my dinner tonight) will be aproximately $0.60 per salad and about $0.50 per serving of porkroast. Plus gas and electricity to make it.
It's not the grocery stores that are lacking... its home economics and cooking education that is.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Cyclist
Peach District (State of Mind)
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misskitty wrote I said 50 a month not 30 a week. lol
But I would be Intrested in hearing some food tips from you please. I work on the 50 a month budget. Only feeding 2 but its still not much.
Become vegan or vegetarian.
Go to lots of parties and potlucks where you can share a dish and eat lots of other foods.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Rockmastermike
CORNspiracy HQ
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misskitty wrote I said 50 a month not 30 a week. lol
But I would be Intrested in hearing some food tips from you please. I work on the 50 a month budget. Only feeding 2 but its still not much.
I'm sorry I edited my last post to include more detail. :)
I also checked my reciept, there are some luxury items on there that are not neccessities.
Posted 3 years ago # -
misskitty
Columbus
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Rockmastermike wrote
misskitty wrote I think a lot of times people also fail to realize that foods that are more healthy for you are also more expensive then something that is processed and in a box. One way to look at it is like this I can make one dinner with fresh meat and veggies for about 10-15 bucks. Now a box of lets say Tuna Helper is 2 bucks add two cans of Tuna that’s 3 Dollars. If you have a monthly food budget of Fifty dollars witch one will you get more of ? Everyone knows processed foods are not good for you and will make you fat but that’s what poor people can afford most of the time .
10-15 bucks/meal?!
Sorry, wrong. but I just bought food for two for a about a week with 30 bucks at kroger buying nothing processed. Fresh vegies were the majority of the bill. That also included some luxury items like two bottles of sanpelagrino sparkling water.
the trick is knowing what you can stretch and what you can get cheap.
tuna helper may be $2, but a head of romaine is also $2 and you get 4-5 salads out of it. Salad dressing can be made for pennies/serving with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and pepper.
good lean pork roast is $1.99/lb on sale. 3 lbs is $6. that's enough for lets call it 6 1/2 lb (huge) of servings slow cooked with a little gravy made with a tablespoon of flour and the drippings.
so we're talking fresh porkroast and salad (my dinner tonight) will be aproximately $0.60 per salad and about $0.50 per serving of porkroast. Plus gas and electricity to make it.
It's not the grocery stores that are lacking... its home economics and cooking education that is.
I will try this I like making things Ingredient rich so I could cut back on that. Go basic but not pork don’t eat it. I bet I can do this with chicken thanks for the info it does make sense.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Anne
King Lincoln
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This publication might have some ideas.
Posted 3 years ago # -
joev
Merion Village
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Cyclist wrote
misskitty wrote I said 50 a month not 30 a week. lol
But I would be Intrested in hearing some food tips from you please. I work on the 50 a month budget. Only feeding 2 but its still not much.
Go to lots of parties and potlucks where you can share a dish and eat lots of other foods.
The key is to always take more than you give.
Misskitty - I'm impressed that you can feed two people for $50 a month. That's incredible. Soups and stews are great multi-day meals that are normally inexpensive and can use seasonal vegetables. One produce tip: when something is sold by the pound and loosely packaged (asparagus, grapes, cherries, etc.) you don't have to buy the whole bag/bunch. Just make sure you're respectful about where you put the excess.
Rockmastermike: $30 a week is crazy too! Especially at Kroger. Their produce is OUTRAGEOUSLY priced. I've cut back on groceries lately, but I don't buy anything packaged/processed/preservative-laden and try to do organic and local when it's available. Planning menus and buying smaller quanities of perishables has helped me almost eliminate wasted food. We don't tend to do many starch-based meals, so it's mostly protein and veggies for us, which is a little more expensive but much healthier.
Posted 3 years ago # -
chrisgillespie
Short North/Victorian Village
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Having trouble getting my head around $50 bucks a month, but I did used to eat very cheaply, and stuck with meat and veggies. That other stuff doesn't have the nutritional value of whole foods, not to mention all those preservatives, so even if it works out to a few dollars more a month, I would think it's worth it. And, I really do mean just a few dollars. I got good at my turkey noodle soup, because I used to buy whole turkeys. I'd roast on sunday, then break it all down: white meat for sandwiches, dark meat - freeze for stir fries the following week, soup. You can also get excellent protien sources in bulk that have a long shelf life (beans, etc). Determining your shopping list based on what's on sale, and then cooking for the week on sunday, can really stretch a food dollar. I'll have to run some specifics some time when I get a chance...it's been a while since I was on a tight food budget, but I've been there before, and you can eat well cheaply. A community garden or growing in pots can add a little in the summer, too :)
Posted 3 years ago # -
misskitty
Columbus
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Anna good PFD thanks I am going to read into that. And rock master I will try that dressing Idea it sounds good all of it I will try more :D
yea Kroger can be a little pricy but Once a week I will pop in after work and find Raw shrimp 30-35 count Discounted to about $1.81. It’s a pretty good meal if you mix it with the frozen Pepper mix in the freezer section that’s about a buck a bag usually last about 2 or 3 different dinners. Add some tortillas and cheese . about 5 bucks total. It’s super yummy too. I have never been sick from it either lol ;)
You can find good deals So I am going to work on simple and see
It is only Me and a 6 year old he is not a big eater yet. I am sure when he gets a little older it's going to be diffrent.
A lot of time at Meijer you can get a bag of frozen chicken brests on buy one get one so 2) 4lb bags for 12 bucks is 1.50 a pound.
Also I wanted to note that 50 bucks seems extream but its not so bad sometimes it can be more. I like to buckle down around winter becouse Gas bills get so high it throws everything off wack.
Posted 3 years ago # -
joev
Merion Village
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Anne wrote This publication might have some ideas.
Took a look - it was kind of disppointing to see how the federal government isn't offering the best advice on nutrition. The menus seemed overly conciliatory to food lobbies. No olive oil (because we don't grow a lot of it in the US), but lots of vegetable oil. Why would anyone recommend margarine? Also - cooking chicken in the microwave? Really? The three "salads" are macaroni salad, jello salad and potato salad.
EDIT: And apparently, the orange juice lobby was extra generous when this was produced. The shopping list recommends 7 cans of orange juice concentrate per week. That's like spending $20 a month on paper towels! Lots of meat, few vegetables. If a person followed these recommendations, they'd more likely than not develop diabetes.
I fed the two of us last night for about $5 with wine. And it was enjoyable to eat.
Arugula ($2) with pear slices ($.50) and fontina cheese ($1.50), olive oil ($.25) and balsamic vinegar ($.10) for dressing. Homemade ciabatta bread ($.50) with roasted garlic ($.25) spread. Two small glasses of red wine ($2).
OK, $6.60, but the wine is optional.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Bear
The woods
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This discussion reminds me of the argument I often hear that fast food is cheaper than the stuff that you cook yourself. It's even taken the form of a KFC "$10 challenge" where the chain challenges you to put together the ingredients for one of their seven-piece chicken meals, including potatoes and biscuits, for under $10.
In their commercial, the family that tries fails (though they don't say by how much).
In reality, Chef Kurt Michael Friese (who will be visiting Columbus on the 25th on his book tour, btw) took the challenge and found that, not only could he reproduce the dinner for $7.94, but he had three pieces of chicken left over and a carcass to use for stock. (KFC commercial and link to Kurt's writeup here.)
Posted 3 years ago # -
Rockmastermike
CORNspiracy HQ
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joev wrote
Rockmastermike: $30 a week is crazy too! Especially at Kroger. Their produce is OUTRAGEOUSLY priced. I've cut back on groceries lately, but I don't buy anything packaged/processed/preservative-laden and try to do organic and local when it's available. Planning menus and buying smaller quanities of perishables has helped me almost eliminate wasted food. We don't tend to do many starch-based meals, so it's mostly protein and veggies for us, which is a little more expensive but much healthier.
cutting out the san peligrino, the paper towels, and the kitchen gadget, my reciept is actually ~$21. :)
I just remembered the day before we got milk, which was a couple of bucks.
Some kroger produce is costly, but not that bad and I have no cheaper outlet within bicycle distance.
The green pepper I got was $1. But it was HUGE and will go into 4 servings of stir-fry. Add some pork (perhaps $.50 worth -1/4 lb), $1 worth of broccoli, half of a big onion i bought for $1 and some spices of unknown expense (optional). Add to that some rice at $11 for 10 lbs and we're talking 4 servings for perhaps $5 total for 2 meals for 2 of us. Or just a little over $1/serving to STUFF myself until I couldn't eat anymore.
gonna do this again tomorrow night and use the other half of the green pepper, the other half of the onion, and the rest of the brocoli with a little pork from the roast.
It's not dumpster-diving cheap, but its eating like damnedhellasskings for about $1 and it gave me the energy to go get some excersize.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Rockmastermike
CORNspiracy HQ
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oh... and the other thing about kroger... CHECK YOUR RECIEPT
the guy tried to charge me for sugar snap peas instead of romaine lettuce (I like it more than the cheap stuff). Correcting that error saved me from spending an extra $2.
Posted 3 years ago # -
Rockmastermike
CORNspiracy HQ
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Bear wrote This discussion reminds me of the argument I often hear that fast food is cheaper than the stuff that you cook yourself. It's even taken the form of a KFC "$10 challenge" where the chain challenges you to put together the ingredients for one of their seven-piece chicken meals, including potatoes and biscuits, for under $10.
In reality, Chef Kurt Michael Friese (who will be visiting Columbus on the 25th on his book tour, btw) took the challenge and found that, not only could he reproduce the dinner for $7.94, but he had three pieces of chicken left over and a carcass to use for stock. (KFC commercial and link to Kurt's writeup here.)
Yeah. seriously. Chicken is cheap, potatos are a few bucks for 5lbs and biscuits are mostly flour.
I am betting the "failure" was that they counted the cost of a dozen eggs to get the 1 egg needed for the recipe and stuff like that. Common trick.
reusing the chicken carcass is a great idea. Soup! Lots of leftovers from meals can end up in other meals if you try.
Posted 3 years ago # -
misskitty
Columbus
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Campbell’s tomato soup and grilled cheese is a score for a cold night and it is pretty cheap !
I will be overjoyed when my Boyfriend gets back more moneys for food:) Happy times.
But man it really seems like prices just keep going up. I am a fond lover of Milk I can drink tons of it. But I limit that could break the balance right there ;)
Now I will search for a Balsamic Vinegar Dressing unless someone has one that they think is sooo tasty. Please share I have never had it so...
Posted 3 years ago # -
Rockmastermike
CORNspiracy HQ
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misskitty wrote Campbell’s tomato soup and grilled cheese is a score for a cold night and it is pretty cheap !
But man it really seems like prices just keep going up. I am a fond lover of Milk I can drink tons of it. But I limit that could break the balance right there ;)
Now I will search for a Balsamic Vinegar Dressing unless someone has one that they think is sooo tasty. Please share I have never had it so...
its hard to beat soup and grilled cheese for comfort food!
for milk, what I do is buy good whole milk and then water it down about 50/50. it tastes about like 2% milk but costs about 1/2 as much. i use whole milk to make cappuccino, but i dont like to drink it whole so i add water.
balsamic dressing is easy. Take a few tablespoons of olive oil, a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar in a small water glass. sprinkle in a good bit of fresh ground black pepper and swirl it around a bit. Taste it before you put it on your salad. If you think its too tart just add a little more oil, not tart enough, add a little more vinegar. I like a lot of pepper.
Posted 3 years ago #
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