Coupons and Discounts for Organic, Clean, Green Foods and Products

It’s not too often those of us who have a minimally processed foods diet find coupons worth our while in the Sunday paper or the fliers that show up in our mailbox every day.  But I have found a few sites with deals for foods and products I’m more likely to purchase, which include clean, organic, green foods and products.

Some Products will have a Facebook page with coupons on their page, for example Alexia Foods has a printable coupon.  Other companies of your favorite products may also have coupons you can print from their website.

The stores you shop at often may have coupons.  I joined the  rewards program & mailing list at Plum Market and every month I get a 10% off coupon emailed to me – this is helpful because I buy my grass-fed beef, natural pork and some other natural meats here.  Whole Foods also has a printable coupon section of their site.

Here are some online sources I check regularly:

Organic Deals – Here you will be kept up to date on deals around the web as well as a list of links for additional daily deal sites.

Mambo Sprouts  – you can also sign up for a coupon book that is mailed to you regularly.

More Daily Deal Sites I follow.  If you wish to use my referal codes for the following sites it would be greatly appreciated:

Plum District

Eversave

Blissmo

Pure Citizen

Groupon

If anyone else has some money saving tips on the healthy foods we love I would really love to hear them!  I am trying my hardest to get into couponing now that savings on ‘specialty’ foods is becoming easier to find.

The Wheat-Free Challenge, Days 2-5

Sorry, I missed a few days of up dating but I didn’t forget about my challenge.

Day 2 (Friday) – I had eggs and vegetables for breakfast, more salad with nuts for lunch and fruit to snack on.  Some guacamole with celery instead of chips.  For dinner I met a girlfriend and we ordered sushi, it was delicious!  I also ended up picking off a lot of the rice so I could enjoy and taste all the goodies inside the sushi instead of getting full on rice too quickly.

Day 3 (Saturday) – Egg pizza for breakfast (post to come) with some veggies, cheese and leftover pepperoni.  For lunch I had a few leftover sushi pieces and then went out to run errands.  For dinner we ended up making grilled chicken with Italian marinade (Italian seasoning, some white wine and a little vegetable oil, let set in fridge for 30+ minutes then toss on grill).  Along with the chicken we tried some quinoa pasta with Trader Joe’s Vodka Marinara sauce and a spinach salad.  I purchased the quinoa pasta – it was tasty, I tried making it but I should have made quinoa flour with red quinoa which I don’t have right now.

Day 4 (Sunday) – Brunch (we ate at almost 11am) Eggs again and some mango chicken sausage from Trader Joe’s and some greek yogurt with cinnamon and honey (yumm).  I made Bill some Cinnamon-Vanilla French toast sticks, but I of course didn’t have any – but he said they were awesome, so I can’t wait to make them when I’m not on this challenge.  For snacks I had veggies and for dinner leftovers and a kiwi-strawberry smoothie.

Day 5 (Monday) – I had a really light breakfast, I am kind of embarrassed.  I just had a leftover mango chicken sausage (they are the size of a brat, not a little breakfast sausage) and coffee. For a snack I had some mini sweet peppers with greek yogurt dill dip.  For lunch I had a little bit of leftover quinoa pasta.  For my afternoon snack a spinach-mango smoothie.  For dinner more leftovers, garlic mashed potatoes and a green smoothie with spinach, mango, apple and coconut water.

Overall, this isn’t too difficult to avoid wheat.  Granted, I have not done any major grocery shopping and the real challenge will be over these next few days when we will eat out a few times because of obligations and convenience.  But I am sure I’ll find a way to eat some non-wheat foods!  I am sorry there has not been too much baking – what a busy weekend/week!

A new cool tool!

I purchased a julienne peeler from Pampered Chef and I absolutly love this thing. For a good while I wanted a spiral slicer to make zucchini noodles, but those things run upwards of $60 and take up more cupboard/counter space. When I found the Pampered Chef julienne peeler for about $10 I had to try it.  It worked wonderfully on zucchini so far, I can’t wait to put it to the test with some carrots and apples!  What else do you like to julienne cut and for what?

To prepare the zucchini noodles, simply wash well and peel.  I used organic zucchini so I kept the skins on.  Then I tossed them in a sautee pan for just a few minutes with a very small amount EVOO and a pinch of salt. I wanted to warm the noodles but keep their crunch.  We then topped with our favorite meatballs and sauce, purchased from a local place we love!  This meal was started and on the table in under 5 minutes, and with a side of spinach salad we were full all evening.

Sorry for the poor quality photo, I didn’t bother to get out the real camera and just used my phone.  I was hungry.

 

The Wheat-Free Challenge, Days 0.5 and 1.

I decided from April 7-April 15 (well, April 6th in the afternoon) I would go wheat-free.

The reasons are quite simple:
1. I like challenges to learn new foods, methods, etc.
2. I have friends who are gluten-free and this would give me a glimpse of what they deal with daily.
3. I’m curious how my body will react, slight weight loss, more energy, better digestion, etc. ???? We shall see!

The difference between Wheat-Free and Gluten-Free. Did you know: Wheat-Free does not necessarily mean Gluten-Free.

Goals:

I will make it through just over a week avoiding wheat.  I don’t plant to avoid certain recipes, like muffins, just beacuse the original recipe may contain wheat flour.  I will use alternative flours, such as quinoa flour.  This will give me a chance to test out some new ingredients.

I also don’t plan to buy any groceries for the next week-ish.  Maybe some produce, but absolutely nothing other than eggs, milk, produce if necessary.

I will log daily what was consumed, cooked, baked.

Does anyone have tips? How about some favorite dishes that contain wheat that you would like me to try to make wheat-free?

April 6, started challenge mid-day:

Afternoon snack: tea.
Dinner: Salad with home made dressing, strawberry-banana-mango coconut water-apple smoothie.
Evening treats (In-laws were over for the night): Glass of white wine and stove popped popcorn.

April 7:
Breakfast: Coffee and over easy eggs.
Snack: Munched on leftover popcorn.
Lunch/afternoon snack: Leftover salad of cabbage, onions, corn, kidney beans, chicken, lime and olive oil. A crunchy pickle, yum. Lemon water and tea. All of this spread out over a few hours.
Dinner: Spinach salad with sunflower seeds and a cider vinegar based dressing (recipe to come) on the side, organic zucchini noodles quickly sauteed with olive oil and a pinch of salt with meatballs and tasty sauce from our favorite local place (I’m 99.9% positive he didn’t use bread crumbs of any sort, I forgot to have Bill ask and I didn’t see any evidence of bread crumbs).
Dessert: Peanut Butter-Chocolate-Banana smoothie.

Day .5 and 1 not too difficult!!

The ‘Quickly Becoming Famous’ (Blueberry) Oatmeal Muffins

I adapted a blueberry muffin recipe from EcoChildsPlay’s Blog.  She uses a vegan, non-dairy, and organic approach.  Those are great options, but if those choices are not in your cards, do not fear this recipe.  It is easily adaptable and is a great base for muffins.

This recipe has been ‘approved’ by all ages, from little tikes, medium size tikes, and adults (males and females).  This is now my go to oatmeal muffin recipe.

Here is the recipe with my slight modifications and notes:

Oatmeal Muffins
Yeilds ~18 (with a regular size muffin pan)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Combine:

• 1 cup milk*
• 1 cup rolled oats

Let the oats/milk sit for 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, mix:

• 1 cup flour**
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1/2 tsp salt

To dry mixture, add:

• one egg
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 3/4 cup dry sweetener*** (it’s OK to skimp a bit on this measurement if you’d like)
• oat/milk mixture

Gently stir in:

• 1 cup (frozen) blueberries****

Next:

Spoon into (sprayed) muffin cups (with or with out linings) and bake 20-25 minutes.  Let cool and remove from pan.

Eat/Serve same day, or store in container at room temperature – they have been moist enough for me that I have not had to store in an air tight container, but I do cover with a towel or gently set the lid on the contaier so they can still “breathe” I have not needed to freeze these yet, but I am sure they would freeze well.

Notes:

*use dairy or non-dairy – it’s up to you.  I’ve used organic skim milk, So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk, both with amazing results so far.

**experiment with flours, unbleached a/p is great or use your favorite- remember different flours have different densities and your measurement might need to be tweaked, I hope to write a guide in the near future for you.

***You can use organic evaporated cane juice, Sucanat, brown sugar, regular sugar (although I try to keep white refined sugar our of our kitchen).  PLEASE do not use artificial sweeteners like Splenda, yuk (tasting and for your body).

****Frozen blueberries work best, also experiment with different fruits or veggies (like zucchini, carrots, etc).

Please let me know if you try this, what flour did you use, what milk, what fruit, berry, or vegetable?

Week of March 14 Meal Plans

It is going to be a busy week and I have not had too much time to plan, but I do know I have a few things I must make, and they will probably be quick and easy.

First off, I have to make a dish for my husband’s work pot luck – Irish Cheddar Potato Bites Update: These turned out alright and were fairly easy. I will make these again.

I’d like to give these treats a whirl – Nibby Buckwheat Butter Cookies

Monday – On the road.

Tuesday – Breakfast for dinner. Eggs, Quinoa Cakes (which were inspired by my friend Lisa’s meal planning on her blog), Chicken Sausage.  We’ll get our greens in at lunch!  I plan on going to Zumba this evening so it will have to be a quick and easy dinner to make. Update: Quinoa pancakes were fun and good, Trader Joe’s Chicken Sausage (Jalapeno) was tasty, and eggs are always delicious.  I made a coconut water-cabbage-kale-mango-pineapple smoothie in the Vita Mix and that was so refreshing!  P.S. You don’t taste the cabbage, so the kale and pineapple shined through with a really light and cooling flavor.

Wednesday – Leftovers and salads.  I may make this Chickpea Salad with Mango since I have a mango I should use, I do not recall if there are chickpeas in the cupboard, so if not I will just use up the mango in a smoothie. On Wednesday evenings I volunteer at Cooking Matters in Detroit, so Bill is left for eating what he can find in the fridge.

Thursday – St. Patricks Day, maybe I’ll make some Creamy Broccoli Soup with some Corned Beef & Cabbage – still looking for a recipe to use. Zumba again – this might have to be a crock pot dinner.  New plan: Grilled Pork Chops and Garlic Mashed Cauliflower.  These are foods I already have in my freezer/fridge and want to use up versus buying new ingredients for a meal.

Friday – Probably dining out with friends (and bowling) – It’s my birthday!! Actual: Dinner party at friends house, I’ll be bringing a yummy spinach salad (will post recipe).

Saturday – Friends will be over for a Pampered Chef party, so we’ll have lots of snacks and homemade pizzas using the Clean Eating Whole Wheat Crust.

Sunday – Hopefully leftovers Mangia’s and salad!

Work outs planned:  I will Zumba a few times this week with my girlfriend, any other evenings I have energy I hope to do some challenging work outs from BodyRock in the comfort of my own  living room!

Meal Planning: Week of March 7

Inspired by my friend Lisa at PlathAdventures I’ll give it my best to plan out my weekly meals with you!  Here I will mostly be planning dinners.  My breakfasts, lunches and snacks depend on leftovers and what I feel like when I wake up.  Here are my typical breakfasts.

Monday:  Leftover home made burgers (with grass fed beef) from the weekend with sweet potato, asparagus, and a green salad.

Tuesday: Dinner party with friends; Jambalaya – family recipe (trinity, chicken sausage andouille, shrimp, brown rice), and a delicious green salad with red onion, bacon, blue cheese and a homemade vinaigrette dressing.

Wednesday: Leftovers and another green salad with left over vegetables and sunflower seeds.

Thursday: Left over chili made by my mother-in-law, it’s nice and spicy.

Friday/Saturday/Sunday: On the road-not sure what the dinner plans with be!

Sorry this week was kind of boring, well, the food was not boring.  One thing that amazes me is that we ate healthy but we didn’t spend that much on meals that have lasted us through the whole week, including lunches.  The weeks to come will be more exciting and I will do my best to include the costs of each of the meals, because being budget wise is almost as important and being nutritionally conscious!

Note: I’ll add recipes to the burgers and Jambalaya in the very near future.

Typical Breakfasts

My breakfasts during the week are rarely planned ahead of time.  I usually go with what I feel like in the morning, but it HAS to be something of substance. So, here are some of my typical breakfasts.

Always: a travel mug (favorite mug is a Contigo) of coffee with vanilla creamer (either the Meijer Organic brand or So Delicious Vanilla Coconut Milk)

• 2 – Organic Free Range Brown Eggs (from Costco, 24 eggs approx $5) seasoned with salt and pepper.  Sometimes I will toss random left over veggies and occasionally sprinkle some cheese on the eggs.  I will prepare them as an omelet or over easy, depending on my mood.
• 1 – Oatmeal with Cinnamon & Rasins. I typically resort to the Oatmeal Complete (plain) from Trader Joe’s, it is enriched with added vitamins and minerals, but does not have added flavor or sugar.  Sure, I could use plain rolled oats, but I like the consistence of the Trader Joe’s packets much better, additionally it is portioned out and easy to take with me to make at work if I need to
• Home made granola and [organic] yogurt (with minimal sugar and no high fructose corn syrup)
• 1-2 fruits with 1 homemade muffin or homemade Ezekiel bread
• 1 LARGE Green Smoothie with vegetables and fruits

Breakfast is SO important to me.  If I skip this meal I am ruined for the whole day!  What is your favorite breakfast?

Mango Green Smoothie

Today’s smoothie was a delight!

This makes enough smoothie for one really thirsty person or two people.  You can store any leftovers in a glass container for a few hours, but don’t wait too long!

 

 

1 Mango
~ 1 cup Strawberries (fresh or frozen)
1 Banana
1-2 handfull of Spinach
1 cup Water

Blend together until smooth, if [some of] your ingredents were not frozen add some ice if desired.

Did you know: If you are using a VitaMix blender and fresh strawberries you don’t have to bother trimming the green tops off.  The VitaMix will blend the greens smooth and you get the extra nutrients packed in the, literally, whole strawberry.

Bonus: If you want this smoothie to be your complete breakfast, add a handful or two of oatmeal to fill you up for hours!

I was dreaming…yes…dreaming about black bean burgers this morning.  I wish I had an explination why for you, but I just don’t understand.  So, I have to make black bean burgers today, right? But, I have no buns and to go to the store just isn’t in the cards.

I decided to try a bun recipe from adapted from www.bigoven.com posted by user, sidu.

I am not much of a bread person, usually I can’t get the dough to rise, or I am not patient enough, or I miss one little detail.  Well this attempt worked perfectly, I am not sure if it is because it is an easy recipe, or my lucky day!  The aroma was delightful, and I tore a bun open for a taste test while it was still hot and it was fluffy, sweet and…well…to die for!

Time Breakdown: 5-10 minutes of prep, 8-10 minutes of kneading (by hand or machine), 5 minutes of yeast activation, 2 hours of dough rising, 15-20 minutes of baking, up to 2 hours of cooling (optional).

Ingredients:

0.5 cup warm water
0.5 cup warm milk
2.25 teaspoon active dry yeast
1.5 tablespoon sugar
3 tablespoon melted butter
0.5 teaspoon sea salt
2.5 cups all purpose flour (or, I am guessing 2.25 cups whole wheat flour approx.)
1 egg lightly beaten
2 tablespoon seasme seeds
Pinch sea salt

Preparation:

In a small glass bowl or glass measuring cup, mix water & milk, warm to temperature of 110-115 F. Add sugar and sprinkle yeast on the top, leave for 5 min. after 5 min the mixture should be foamy, add butter.  Add liquid to mixing bowl with flour & salt. Stir with a wooden spoon to bring all together.

Take the dough out on lightly floured surface & knead for 8 minute minimum by hand or in a stand mixer with dough hook, until it becomes smooth. Let the dough rest for 1 hour in an oiled bowl, cover with towel, dough should double in size.

After about 1 hour it will have double in size. Take out air from the dough by ‘punching’ the dough. Lay the dough out on the floured area, divide into 7 or 8 balls.  Lightly shape and place on baking sheet lined with parchment paper (or a parchment mat). Leave them to rise for another hour on a baking tray, when they are double in size brush with beaten egg and sprinkle some seasme seeds and sea salt. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 F for 15-20 minute or until brown from top. take out from oven (eat one right away because they are amazing); cool on wire rack for around 2 hours.  The two hour cool time helps dry the buns out to be sliced – I don’t always wait the entire 2 hours.

I will be making these again with Whole Wheat flour. Probably would only require 2 1/4 cups whole wheat flour? I will get back to you on how that turns out. You could also experiment with adding herbs and cheese to this bun!