bacon and low cost SCD food

Again, I must apologize for lack of posting!

However, I do have several recipes in the works, but I'm not quite ready to post them yet.

Tonight, though, we'll be having legal bacon for dinner!

It's hard to find legal bacon, so I always check packages whenever I go shopping. So I was pleasantly surprised when I learned that Ralph's brand low sodium bacon was SCD legal!

I do believe that Ralph's is part of the Albertson's/Jewel family of stores so you may find similarly marked store brands of bacon at those stores as well. It's usually on sale, too -- 2 packages for $6 or $7.

One caveat: I have heard that some companies use undeclared corn starch to keep bacon slices from sticking together. I do not know if this is true, and I go by the label. My son is pretty sensitive to most SCD illegals and he has had no issues, but if you have an allergy, by all means contact the company to ask about any additives during processing.

I also wanted to share some of my bargain basement food finds with you.

Guys, it really, REALLY pays to shop around when you are on SCD. The variance in prices is simply astonishing. In my area, the major supermarkets (like Ralph's for example) sell produce at a huge markup. In fact, most of it is what I would consider to be unaffordable.

When I was living in my old neighborhood, I was about a block away from a store called Jon's. I never went there, for some reason. I usually drove down to Albertson's. We are creatures of habit, after all.

Anyway, one day I ran out of something and I didn't have time to go to Albertson's, so I decided to walk to Jon's and check it out.

I found the most amazing prices on produce I'd ever SEEN.

Apricots for 59 cents per pound. Roma tomatoes, 2 pounds for a dollar. Oranges, 3 pounds for a dollar. Big bunches of fresh herbs for 89 cents apiece. Pickling cucumbers for 99 cents a pound. And about ten different kinds of peppers (this is southern California, after all). Yellow onions, four pounds for a dollar.

The entire department was humming with activity, and all of the produce was incredibly fresh. I was absolutely STUNNED.

So now, I always go to Jon's for produce. I recently moved, and one of the first stores I looked up was the closest Jon's. Recently I got raspberries for 99 cents per little container (which I don't think is quite a pint ... or is it?) and fresh strawberries for $1.50 per pound. I've gone home with something like ten pounds of produce for under ten bucks more often than not.

Now, I amuse myself by looking at the prices at Ralph's when I go there!

I do still go to Ralph's for cheap fresh chicken parts without additives. I can buy large amounts of fresh Foster Farms chicken parts at Costco, but when I want to buy smaller quantities, I go to Ralph's. Read the packages and you'll likely find some kind without additives. Sanderson Farms is one of the good brands.

I also check their meat markdown section -- if it's expiring in a day, that's fine by me!

Where else have I found some great prices? Trader Joe's. Cheap food at Trader Joe's? It's true! I had someone snort at me when I told them Trader Joe's had cheap frozen spinach. They thought my definition of cheap was somehow different from theirs.

Try $1.29 per pound -- and it's pesticide free!

I usually can't afford organic produce all of the time, much as I'd like to be able to. So I make do with what I can get. I get five pound bags of organic green beans at Costco for about $5. I get five pound bags of organic baby carrots there, too, for about the same price. The pesticide free spinach at Trader Joe's isn't organic, but it's certainly better than the conventional stuff -- and it's even cheaper than the conventional stuff!

I also get light coconut milk at Trader Joe's. It's SCD legal, and only a dollar per can. Their almond butter is only $5 per jar, which is cheaper than the Whole Foods 365 brand. And TJ's also has goat cheddar for around $7-$8 per block -- far cheaper than Chevre Noir, and better tasting to boot.

I would be remiss if I did not mention the olive oil, however.

If you love the taste of good olive oil, check out the TJ's California olive oil. A 16 oz bottle costs $6 and it is AMAZING in my opinion. A review is here. I am no snob when it comes to food, but I can't get enough of this stuff. It tastes so good!

And one other thing to look for -- the NutriClean Certified sticker. I recently bought a butternut squash with this shiny purple sticker on it. I had no idea what it meant.

Turns out it is part of a program that tests produce for pesticide residue. If there's no detectable levels of pesticides, the food is then NutriClean Certified.

So if you can't afford organic, then look for NutriClean! It's pretty great for those of us who can't exactly break the bank when it comes to food.

So! Hope that helps you save a few bucks. In this economy, we can use all the help we can get.