Pantry Cleanse redux

Thinking about my budget and eating more at home I decided to clean out my pantry the other day.

First, I took everything out.

Keep in mind my pantry is only two shelves, the rest of it is Mems'.

Then I sorted what I had by group:

Grain!  I love to use canning jars to store things: oatmeal, millet, quinoa, flax seed, chia, slice almonds, etc. 

Beans/Ro*Tel.  My fave food group.

Soup!  I heart soup.

My mixes, a variety of countries are represented in my pantry.

Vegetable stock is my basic.

Beans!  Staple of a vegetarian diet.  Yes, those are black turtle beans.
Members of my recent trivia excursion know how those beans hurt me.

I buy these in bulk at Sam's.  It says the jars are re-sealable, but I eat the entire jar and drink the juice in one sitting.
I heart pineapple.

Fixins! Peanut Butter powder for smoothies/oatmeal.  Nutrional yeast, sea salt.  Used sparingly and often.

Then I put it all back together and decided what I wanted to eat this week.

I invented a recipe using 1/2 cup of quinoa, 1/2 can of rotel and 1/2 a cup of corn.  Delicious.

And I perused my stash of cookbooks to find a curried lentils recipe that is currently cooking in the kitchen and smells delicious.  We'll see how it goes.

I'm hoping re-organizing my cooking ingredients will make it easier for me to eat healthy and eat at home more often.

Either that or I guess I'll starve.

Meatless Monday! (Kind of)

So my meatless monday meal today consists of some falafel from a few weeks ago ( I froze a couple to see how they hold up) hummus and salad.  So I have no fancy recipe for you today.

The other day I was talking with my mother and she was talking about an article she read in Time that talked about how centuries ago being curvy or chubby was a sign of wealth because you could afford to eat more.

Now it's a sign you can't afford to buy healthy foods like fresh veggies and fruits and are instead eating cheaper, carb-laden foods.  I found this really interesting, I can see the point of the article... I know I spend a lot more on groceries now than I did before I started eating better.  But it's not impossible to stick to a budget and stay healthy.

So I went back to Time for some advice- Healthy Eating Costs

And some tips from Spark People- Healthy Eating On Budget

How do you guys eat healthy without breaking the bank?

Healthy Thanksgiving Linkage

I'll be sitting at my desk making the news happen this Thanksgiving... so here's some advice for you to make this a healthy, happy holiday. 

10 Healthiest Dishes

Five Ways To Not Get Stuffed

Football Watching Exercises

Yoga To Ease Digestion

And if you're feeling really adventurous sign up for a Turkey Trot for Friday morning.

Check out Fleet Feet for details... or just get up and get moving.

I'm doing some pilates before work, but after I put in the turkey.

Or make this a total cheat day and eat foods you've been craving all year... whatever you do this Thanksgiving- be safe and have fun!