Genius Hour Post #7

Hello Readers!
                If you can even believe it, this will be the final posting for my Genius Hour project! For this final week, I have decided to take a step back to the basics. I want to take you back into the grocery store and talk about what kinds of foods to look for when you are shopping on a budget and trying to avoid processed foods as much as you can. When doing my research on this, I found that many of the sites I visited listed the same things. Two lists of tips that I am drawing a lot of my knowledge from can be found on The Kitchn and Authority Nutrition.
                When you are trying to determine what kinds of foods to buy on a budget with a goal of eating healthy, there are a number of things you should consider. Of course the main concern is that you are able to buy healthy foods that are relatively cheap! One way of doing this is by buying foods that are in season. Authority Nutrition explains that produce that is in season is both cheaper and typically at its peak of nutritional value! The Kitchn recommends this and also suggests that when you find a good deal you stock up and preserve it to use in the future. Another great money-saving tip is buy in bulk when you can (who doesn’t love a trip to the Bulk Barn?). It may be a good idea to buy grains such a brown rice, oats, beans, and nuts in bulk and store them in airtight containers to keep them fresh for a long time. Both of these sites also talk about looking at sales and planning your meals accordingly! When I was young my mother did this every week and it used to drive me nuts that she would only buy the sales because sometimes that meant I didn’t get what I wanted that week. Now being older (and more broke!) I understand that she was utilizing an amazing money-saving technique. Thanks mom!



Soler, Yvette. (2011,  November 21).  Bulk Food Goodness(Online Image). Retrieved from https://www.flickr.com/photos/jesseyvette/6394920667

                Another really helpful thing to consider when grocery shopping is trying to buy produces and foods that are really versatile. There are many different food items that are most commonly found in healthy meal recipes. By stocking up on these items regularly, you will find yourself prepared to cook a variety a healthy meals at home at any point in the week. This leaves you more room to experiment with new meals and find some new dishes to cycle into the rotation! Teacher candidate Julie Brum actually investigated this particular topic for her own Genius Hour project and shared her findings with us on her blog Learning with Miss Julie . In her final Genius Post she provides a list of ingredients that she found to be the most used in the healthy recipes she studied. The list includes the following items:

- Garlic
- Ginger
- Salt, Pepper, Oregano, Cumin, Paprika, Cayenne Pepper, Chili Powder, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Basil, Rosemary, Thyme, Parsley, Sage, Cilantro
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil, Balsamic Vinegar
- Sweet Potatoes, Broccoli, Spinach, Carrots, Tomatoes, Avocado, Bell Peppers
- Bananas, Blueberries, Apples
- Chicken Stock, Soy Sauce, Tomato Paste
- Chickpeas, Black Beans
- Brown Rice, Quinoa, Whole Wheat Pasta, Tortillas, Rolled Oats, Bread Crumbs
- Chicken Breasts, Ground Turkey
- Natural Peanut Butter, Pure Maple Syrup, Pure Vanilla Extract, Honey

Consider stocking up on some of these items over time and you will find that you are fully equip to prepare a wide variety of healthy recipes at home! If you are interested in looking at all of the great recipes that Julie tested out during her Genius Hour, check out her Pinterest page here.

Pro-Tip!
At Brock University they now offer a weekly shuttle to and from Sobeys from the campus for students who don’t have access to a car to go grocery shopping!