Fit & Frugal Grocery Deals 4/22-5/2

Each week we will try to post Ultimate Body Challenge Menu items that are on sale at popular grocery stores. This list is compiled using SouthernSavers.com.  You'll also see recent coupons that have been released either in newspaper inserts or online listed below each item.  Feel free to add any items you find on sale in the comment section below!  Here's to FIT & FRUGAL shopping!

Taco Lettuce Wraps

Ingredients:

1.5 lbs lean ground turkey, beef or chicken
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp cumin
1 tsp salt
1 tsp chili powder
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 small onion, minced
2 tbsp bell pepper, minced
3/4 cup water
4 oz can tomato sauce
8 large lettuce leaves from Iceberg lettuce

Directions:

Brown meat in a large skillet. When no longer pink add dry seasoning and mix well. Add onion, pepper, water and tomato sauce and cover. Simmer on low for about 20 minutes.

Wash and dry the lettuce. Place meat in the center of leaf and top with tomatoes, guac and salsa.

Enjoy any time on the Ultimate Body Challenge.  May add brown rice after day 10.

Fit Shopping on a Budget

Hey gang! It's Amy. Today I was thinking about grocery shopping.  A lot of times people complain that eating healthy is expensive, but the truth is, if you leave off all the junk food, you'll probably be saving money at the store. I'm going to share some tips with you here and weekly, we will post any fit deals that we find at the store.

I usually do my shopping at the local Winn-Dixe and I have a bi-weekly cash budget that I absolutely MUST stick to (I don't take any extra cash or debit card in with me).  I'm the annoying lady with her calculator out figuring out what it cost per ounce and keeping a running total of my bill so there are no surprises at the register.

1. Shop around. I know Wal-mart has lower prices on most things when compared to Winn-Dixie, but it is not as convenient for me and I find that Winn-Dixie's produce and meats seem fresher and they often have what I want for buy-one-get-one-free (BOGO).  Shop wherever is convenient for you, but shop around.


Things WD has on BOGO regularly (usually once a month or more):

Sanderson Farms Boneless Skinless Chicken Breast
Frozen Tilapia Fillets (other fishes and shrimp sometimes too)
Ham steaks
Quaker or WD brand Quick Oats
Almonds, Emerald or Blue Diamond
Crystal Light
Salsa, Pace or Old El Paso
Lunch Meats, Turkey, Chicken
Canned Chicken or Tuna
Winn-Dixie brand spices
Whole Wheat Bread, Arnold, Nature's Own, Winn-Dixie brand
Birdseye Steamfresh Veggies
Popcorn, Winn-Dixie brand, Orville Redenbacher

2.  Be prepared. Do not go into the store without a list and a calculator.  This will keep you focused so that you don't kill your budget or your progress.

3.  Compare brands.  This was hard for me at first and there are somethings that I will not use generic, but you can save by using the generic\store-brand of the product.  Compare the ingredients to the name-brand, if they're basically the same, try the store-brand.  If you don't like it, don't buy it again. But the differences are usually very subtle if there are any and you'll find that the name-brand isn't worth the cost. Don't skimp on the name-brand if the generic has more sodium or sugar.

4.  Price it by the ounce.  If there's a product that you use a lot of, buy the bigger size, but check to see how much it is per ounce (total cost divided by # of ounces).

For example, Dannon Oikos Greek Yogurt is 5.89 for a 32 oz container - 5.89/32=0.18 - so it is 18 cents per ounce. This week the Winn-Dixie brand 6 ounce cups were 10 for $10, so I got 60 ounces for $10 or 16 cents per ounce. So, I saved about 1.28 on my yogurt. Now, that may not seem like it was worth the trouble, but when you do this for all items on your list, it adds up. 

Sometimes the store will trick you if you just assume the larger size or store-brand is cheaper. Wal-mart is especially bad about having their store-brand cost more per ounce than the name-brand.  Most people will just assume that the store-brand is cheaper and pick it over the name-brand, but that is not always the case.

5.  Ask for coupons.  People save a lot of money, sometimes outrageous amounts of money, using coupons.  But if you watch those couponing shows, you'll see they're buying a lot of processed junk food.  The truth is, it's harder to find coupons for healthy foods, but it is not impossible.  Go to the websites of the brands you use, look for coupons there.  If there aren't any, fill out their "Contact Us" form and ask for some.  Just last week, I got some coupons in the mail from Chobani and In the Raw.

6.  Buy fresh.  You're going to be eating a lot of veggies now.  Go to your local produce stores or farmers' markets for better prices on produce.  It'll be fresher, riper and cost a lot less.  The trick here is to not buy more than you can eat before it goes bad.

I hope this helps you see that you can afford to eat healthy - the key to fit and healthy grocery shopping is just like anything else in this journey - plan, plan, plan!

Please share your money-saving tips with us in the comments below.

Beanless Chili

Ingredients:

1 lb. of lean, ground beef, 1 onion
1 bell pepper
1 (8 oz.) can of stewed tomatoes
1 (8 oz.) can of tomato sauce
1 pkg. of chili seasoning mix

Instructions:

Season and brown lean ground beef. Strain well to remove extra fat. Mix onion, and bell pepper, then add stewed tomatoes, tomato sauce and chili mix. Simmer on low-medium temperature for approximately 10 minutes and enjoy!

Skinny Crockpot Balsamic Chicken

This is one of my favorites.  I usually put it on before bed and its ready for me to pack in my lunch the next day.   I'm the laziest cook I know, so often I substitute the onions with just onion powder and the garlic with garlic powder.  I know it doesn't taste as good, but its easy when I'm busy! - Amy

Ingredients

4-6 boneless, skinless, chicken breasts (about 40 ounces)

1 medium onion thinly sliced (Not chopped)

4 garlic cloves

1/2 cup balsamic vinegar

1 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp each: dried oregano,basil, and rosemary

1/2 tsp thyme

ground black pepper and salt to taste

Directions

Pour the olive oil on bottom of slow cooker, add chicken breasts, salt and pepper each breast, put sliced onion on top of chicken then put in all the dried herbs and garlic cloves. Pour in vinegar.

Cook on low 6-8 hours.  After day 10, serve with whole wheat pasta. 

Another popular recipe for this adds 2 14.5 oz cans of diced tomatoes.  I don't care for them, so I just leave them out, but you could add them if you like.

Eat All You Want Soup!

Ingredients:

Cabbage (shredded)
Squash (sliced)
1 can stewed tomatoes
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 chopped onion
1 chopped bell pepper
Several stalks of finely chopped celery
Peeled and diced turnip root
1 packet of Goya ham-flavored seasoning
1 can water chestnuts
1 container of sliced mushrooms
1 can of fat-free broth
(You may add any of the thermic vegetables to the soup.)

Instructions:

In large pot combine 1 can stewed tomatoes, 1 can Rotel tomatoes, 1 chopped onion, 1 chopped bell pepper, several stalks of finely chopped celery, peeled and diced turnip root, 1 packet of Goya hamflavored seasoning, 1 can water chestnuts, 1 container of sliced mushrooms. Bring to hard boil for 15 minutes to let veggies tenderize.

Add shredded cabbage, sliced squash, cover and turn to low. Remove from heat when cabbage and squash are tender enough for your taste.

(Note: The Goya seasoning has MSG in it, so don't add if you are sensitive to it or have allergies. Rotel tomatoes are on the spicy/hot side, so only use them if you enjoy spicy foods. If you do not care for spicy foods, use regular tomatoes instead.)

This soup is loaded with thermic vegetables, so you can eat this whenever you are hungry.

Welcome to our new venture!

Hey friends! Thank you SO much for stopping by to check out our newest project!

We are so excited to be able to use this platform to enhance your fit living journey!

We'd like to encourage you to subscribe using the box in right-hand column so you can get our updates right in your email inbox.  We've still got tons of tips and recipes to add and will be sharing photos from Team events too, so you don't want to miss out!

Speaking of Team Events, we have a few things coming up in the next week for our local friends!  Heck, if you're nearby, we'd encourage you to consider driving over to check them out!


Strawberry Festival - Sat & Sun
This weekend we'll have a booth at the Strawberry Festival in Starke, FL!  It's always a lot of fun and we'll have XanoLean & SPN Energy samples!  So come out and see us!


Upcoming Challenge Parties
Tuesday, April 24th 5:45 -7:15 pm
Mamma Mia's Ristorante Italiano (click for map)
Downtown Starke, FL
Click here to RSVP (its not required but is appreciated)

Thursday, April 26th 6:00 -7:30 pm
Bethel United Methodist Church (click for map)
Lake City, FL
Click here to RSVP (its not required but is appreciated)

Come take the new 90-Day Ultimate Body Challenge with us!! Get free personal coaching, recipes, and more! Mark your calendars because you will NOT want to miss this PARTY! Bring as many friends/family members as you want so they can learn about the challenge and take it with you!!! You could even get your Challenge Kit FREE!

We hope we get to see you soon!  In the meantime,  take a look around and let us know what you like about what you see or if you see any typos or grammatical errors!  And if you will, leave us a comment below!