Healthy on a Budget: Whole Foods Market Edition

A few weeks back I hit up my local Whole Foods Market.  As you may already know, my family is on a budget.  But we've also decided to start eating a bit healthier.  So the Hubby and I went on a little field trip.  I have always been a bit weary to head into this particular store.  First of all, the store just sounds expensive.  Our local Whole Foods is located in an area where, ummm, the words budget and coupon probably don't exist.  Anyways....back to our adventure......when we walked in, we saw two different flyers; one had coupons and sales, the other had coupons and articles.  Not only was I suprised to see the coupons, but the articles about saving money and budget recipes really suprised me.  We first head off to the produce section.  There was a gentleman there cutting a melon into a 1/8 section for an eldery women.  WHAT?  One way to save money at Whole Foods is to only buy what you need, and this includes produce.  If you ask, they will cut it down to size for you so you are not wasting money or food.  We then found our way to the bulk section.  There were different varieties of grais, beans, cereal, granola, and nuts.  Bingo!  We have been wanting to try quinoa (which is normally $5-$8 at my regular store).  I was abe to get a small amount to try for only $2!  SCORE!  In addition to the produce and the bulk section, the cheese counter, the bakery, and the meat and seafood counters are also places where you can buy as much or as little as you need.  We hit up the bakery section (YUM!).  You can find a variety of breads and desserts and buy only what you need (we each bought a small torte to eat after lunch!).  So to recap, our field trip showed us that we can try healthy foods without having to break the bank.  If you have a Whole Foods in your area, I suggest stopping in and giving it a try.  Between my hubby and I, we each got some bread, cheese, cooked deli meat, dessert, and fruit for under $10 for lunch.  The only thing that would have made this trip better would be to sit on the lake on a sunny day and enjoy our treasure!