Anyone get gas lately??? Today I went to fill up my hubby’s car and it cost me $4.34 a gallon!!! I couldn’t believe it!  I’m still in shock.  What’s a girl to do?  I have to fill up my car to get from here to there. Unfortunately living far from where I train, at the beach, I use a lot of gas.   In these tough economic times everyday I feel like I need to pinch pennies and save as much as I can.  I started to use an app on my iPhone called “Where” which lets me know the gas prices of stations around me.  That helps me to make smart choices to save some pennies when I drive.  When it comes to feeding my body I want to make smart choices as well.  You are what you eat.

I’d LOVE to buy everything organic, but I just can’t afford it.  I do what I can, when I can, getting as much as I can possible on our tight budget.  We are all trying to figure out how we can be healthy, and still have $$ left in our pocketbooks doing so.  Today I made some AWESOME purchases at the grocery store, so I thought I’d share with you some ways I buy organic.  Most importantly I’m going to share with you how to save on organic food.

1.  Check The Sales Ads!

Today I found some great deals and you can too.  Checking my sales paper I found that the normal priced conventional yams cost the same as the sale priced organic yams today.  So instead of buying the conventional yams, of course I bought the organic ones.  The same thing happened with blueberries!  The conventional ones were on sale 2/$5 and so were the organic blueberries!  So getting the organic ones was a “no brainer.”  Our organic and conventional sections are not near each other, so you’d have to look at the sale prices in the paper to know these things, or trek across the store to compare prices.  Keep your eyes peeled!  Today I found a 5lb bag of carrots in the organic section that were not even on sale, but they were about 50 cents cheaper than the conventional ones!  Ladies sometimes you can find cheaper organics than conventional!  Don’t just automatically say that you cannot afford organics!  A lot of times, you can afford organics.  You just need to keep your eyes open and look for opportunities to save.

2.  Use Coupons!

People tend to think that coupons do not exist for organic food.  That’s simply NOT the truth.  There are coupons, you just have to find them. Check out Mambo Sprouts coupons.  They have coupons that you can use on organic and natural products at several stores like Whole Foods, Sprouts, Ralphs, biggs, and many more.  Click here to find coupons. Another place to find coupons is on MoneySavingMom.com.  Check out their store deals! They have deals for many local (and health) grocery stores updated weekly (even Trader Joes, and Whole Foods).

3.  Shop Local!

A lot of times you can find better prices on organic foods at your local farmers market.  You’ll feel good knowing that you are supporting your local farmers. You can be sure your food hasn’t traveled hundreds or thousands of miles.  It’ll be better for the environment, and better for you.  Search for your local farmers market by clicking here.

Another way to shop local is to use your local CSA  (community supported agriculture its like a farm share program), shop at small independent natural stores, local food co-op, or even local farms (or stands).  Check out Local Harvest to find your nearest organic suppliers (possibly for a lot less than your national chain store).

4.  Visit Your Favorite Organic Product Website!

Many of your favorite organic brands want you to buy their products so much that they give you coupons on their websites or Facebook pages.  I’ve gotten items even FREE! Sometimes they ask you to give them your email address in exchange for a coupon.  A lot of times they’ll email you a coupon many times a year.  Here’s a link to a post with several companies offering coupons on their organic products. If you buy something often visit their website to see if they have a coupon.

5.  Check Out Your Dollar Stores!

Yep, you read that right!  I’ve been finding more organic food, even some organic veggies at my local 99cent store!  The same organic lettuce in a box with the roots that I bought for about $3 one day at my local big chain grocery store, I found at my 99cent store another week.  Other veggies too! Every time I go to my dollar store I find more and more organic convenience foods like canned beans, tomato sauce, and soup to name a few.  You’ll be surprised to find some of your favorite (or soon to be favorite) organic foods that are right under your nose  in your local dollar store.

How Do You Save On Organic Food? (this is not a rhetorical question… please share! I’d love to know your secrets)

Annett Davis, Olympian & Founder of Fit Moms Fit Kids

photo credits:
strawberries
Yellow plums at the fruit stand

Crispy Kale Chips

I’ll have to admit that when I first started reading about “kale chips” I didn’t think that they would taste good at all.  I kept seeing kale chips, kale chips, kale chips on other blogs so I decided that I better try these things for myself. Tonight I finally did it.

The verdict is… THESE ARE GREAT!!!!!!!!

My whole family (yes my kids too) loved these Crispy Kale Chips.  We devoured the entire tray in about 2 minutes!  My husband said that I should make a couple of trays on when he’s watching a football or basketball game.  So, instead of chips that are high in fat and calories, we will be substituting from time to time kale chips!  I can’t believe that I even just typed that.  But, it’s true.  We really enjoyed them.

Here’s how you Fit Moms can make them too!

• 1 bunch of kale
• 1 tbs olive oil
• sea salt to taste

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  I lined a cookie sheep with foil (I was out of parchment paper, which I’d usually use).  Remove the leaves from the stem, and cut or tear into bite size pieces (about 2-3 inches long). Throw the stems away (or save them for a smoothie).   Drizzle with the olive oil, and toss until oil is on every leaf.  Sprinkle sea salt on top.

Bake until edges are crispy, not too brown.  If you over bake it will taste bitter.  Watch carefully.

It takes about 10-13 minutes to bake.

Enjoy!

Annett Davis, Olympian & Founder of Fit Moms Fit Kids

Happy Monday!  I hope you’ve been enjoying Fit Meals Monday as much as I have.  I’ve been getting some good ideas from you ladies, and I hope you’ve been enjoying some of mine as well.  This past week health wise was rough for me.  I’ve been plagued with an irritating cold for a little over a week now.  I finally broke down and went to urgent care Saturday morning.  I got some meds, and hopefully I’ll be back on the road of wellness.  I tried the homeopathic way, I tried the over the counter and nothing worked.  So, to the hospital I went.  I struggle with doing that.  I really want to go the homeopathic way, but to be honest with you I’ve never had anything work yet!    So, if you have any suggestions for me Natural Mama’s I’d LOVE to hear from you.  I’m sure this won’t be the last time I get sick, so I’d like to have some home remedies on hand and ready to go for the next time!  One nice thing that happened was on Wednesday my voice was barely working and sounded like a high pitched crackling sound, my kids decided to cook breakfast for me!  They are 9 and 5.  They made whole wheat pancakes with blackberries and strawberries, eggs, and bacon (unfortunately we were out of turkey and all we had was bacon from our anniversary carbonara menu…)  But, they did a GREAT job, and it tasted GREAT!

Besides being sick, my week was fantastic!  The kids had a productive and fun week at homeschool.  We talked about   Hanukkah and even made potato latkes with homemade applesauce which they LOVED!  My 5 year old is beginning to read which is exciting.  On another note, our last week’s Fit Meals Monday meal plan got an A+ from the family.  Every meal was simply amazing!  Every day I would just wish we had leftovers from the day before because I wanted to eat more of whatever it was.  The beans and greens made a ton!! So, I had it for lunch 2 other days.  It was awesome!  If you want to try some great meals, go to last weeks meal plan and just copy that menu for one of your weeks meal plans. You can’t go wrong.

I’m hoping that this week will be just as good.

Here’s my menu for the week.

(Most of my meals have a recipe link.  Just click on the title to go to the recipe.)

Meatless Monday- Zucchini Boats (This will be the first time we’ve tried these.  They look yummy!)

Taco Tuesday- Tilapia Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa and Black Beans  

Slow Cooker Wednesday- CrockPot Vietnamese Pho Soup

Thursday- Individual Chicken Pot Pies

Friday-  Tilapia Corn Chowder-

Saturday- Leftovers

Sunday- We are having our Annual Cookie Swap.  I have NO idea what the menu will be.  Usually something easy like Pizza.  We may have to make it homemade to make it healthier.  Any other EASY/healthy party food ideas.  It’ll be dinner time so think a ton of hungry folks, but I need it to be easy because I’ll be baking a ton of homemade cookies/candy all day.    Maybe a taco bar???

What’s Your Fit Meals Monday Plan?

(Make sure you read our guidelines Please click here)

If you have a blog, to join in on the fun and share your menu just add your post by clicking on the blue frog that says add your link from your Fit Meals Monday post not to your home page at the end of this post.  If you don’t have a blog share your menu plan in the comment section below.  To get a ton of recipes for all of us to look at and enjoy, spread the word and tell your blogging and non-blogging mommy friends!

Annett Davis, Olympian & Founder of Fit Moms Fit Kids



It was a good week at the Davis house, though it started off a little shaky.  My husband said he would take over the kitchen for a week preparing both raw and vegan meals.  When my husband offers to cook for a week, I’m always ALL IN!  Well…Day 1 he had great intentions, but by 5pm he still had not gone shopping for his ingredients.  At 6pm our kids were starving and my little one was whining on my shoulder saying “Mommy why didn’t YOU cook dinner?!?!?”  By 6:45pm I was asking myself the same thing!  But, he finally got things together and dinner was delicious!  We had a Veggie Lasagna (made from all veggies, no pasta).  The “noodles” were made from zucchini and squash.  The sauce was raw made in the food processor and was delicious!!

This week started off with a  fabulous luau party for my daughters 5th birthday!  I can’t believe how fast time flies!  We had a great time, great food, and I had a blast making her hula girl cake!  We played coconut pineapple bowling, did the limbo, learned how to hula dance, played pin the tail on the monkey, and busted open a hula girl pinata.  My little hula girl said this was her best birthday ever!  (She says that every year, but she means it every year too. lol!)  Sweet Victoria is a party planner at heart, so I bet you starting Monday she’ll spend the next 364 days planning her next party!

This week will be one of the most exciting ever for our family.  Not only are we celebrating Victoria’s 5th Birthday, her actual birthday is Monday so we’ll have a special dessert to celebrate again as a family, but, this coming Sunday my husband will be competing in his first Ironman!!  We’ll drive to Arizona on Friday so our meal plan for the week will be short and sweet as I don’t know where and what we’ll be eating in Tempe.  We will possibly have access to a kitchen so we are hoping to find a Whole Foods or Trader Joes and cook our own food while there so he can stay on track eating healthy.  One change for my hubby will be that he has to add extra salt to his food a few days before the race so that his body can retain water during the Ironman.   He’ll do this so he won’t get dehydrated during the 2.5 mile swim, 112 mile bike, and 26 mile run!  I still can’t believe he’s doing this!  I’m so proud of him, and excited that he decided to take this on at 40!

Here’s my “Ironman” menu for the week.

My husband competing in the 100 fly

Monday- Veggie Lasagna this week with pasta

Taco Tuesday- Taco Salad (lean ground beef, black beans, fresh corn, avocado, fresh salsa)

Wednesday-  Chili (white and black beans, fresh corn, garlic, onion, leftover taco meat or  a piece of the chicken that I’ll use for Thursday)

Thursday- Grilled Chicken, broccoli, mixed green salad with veggies

FRIDAY-SUNDAY- Driving to Arizona for the Ironman, hopefully eating at Whole Foods or making our own whole food…Sunday??? I have no idea when he’ll finish the race so the kids and I will be on our own.  We will meet up with our new friends from Kids Can Cook and hopefully find a healthy restaurant that gets the Kids Can Cook seal of approval!  I’ll let you know next week. (FYI my meal plan may change…if it does I’ll let you know.  I couldn’t find my hubby’s triathalon book that tells what he should eat this week.  So, this is my plan, subject to change once I find the book!

What’s Your Fit Meals Monday Plan?

(Make sure you read our guidelines :  )  Please click here)

If you have a blog, to join in on the fun and share your menu just add your post by clicking on the blue frog that says add your link from your Fit Meals Monday post not to your home page at the end of this post.  If you don’t have a blog share your menu plan in the comment section below.  To get a ton of recipes for all of us to look at and enjoy, spread the word and tell your blogging and non-blogging mommy friends!