Organic Cheaper than Conventional

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Wow I had a busy day…

I went to the regular grocery store and re-stocked some fresh produce.

Bag of apples and package of tofu

Organic tofu was on sale for $1.50

3 pounds of organic gala apples were on sale for $2.99 making organic cheaper than conventional.   Gotta love in-store buys.

Three apples out of bag

Then I went to Whole Foods where I only buy VegenasieWalk in, do not look left, right, or anywhere but to the Vegenaise case and walk right out.  Do not browse or get sucked in! They changed the packaging on Vegenaise, too.

Jar of Vegenaise next to jar of Homemade Vegan Slaw Dressing

I buy everything else at the regular grocery, TJ’s, occasionally farmer’s markets, or order online through iHerb.com Use code AVE630 to save $5 on your order.   Everything from nooch to stevia to protein powder is about 30-40% cheaper than retail prices.

But mayo wouldn’t ship so well, so I buy it at WF’s.  And I go through quite a bit of it because I am addicted to Vegan Slaw Dressing

Inside Jar of Vegenaise and inside jar of Homemade Vegan Slaw Dressing

I made a fresh batch of Vegan Slaw Dressing, poured it over a salad

Salad with vegetables dressed with Slaw Dressing

And got to work on pressing my tofu for Mango Ginger Maple Tofu

Stacked Mango Ginger Maple Tofu

After errand running, grocery shopping, a 3 mile run and 20 minute streamlined at-home workout, it was time to go to paid work. Whew.

From my last post about Flying Away and Happy Places, thanks for the nice comments about our upcoming trip!  Yes, it was a totally spontaneous decision and sometimes, that’s a wonderful thing to not overthink, overplan, overanalyze.  Rather, just do it! Which is what I did on that trip.

I loved hearing about your happy places and why they make you happy.  Such great comments!  I love reading those kinds of comments.

My mention of the amount of sleep I get every night (4 to 5 hours) drew quite a few comments.  Once upon a time, I used to be a “I have to get 8-9 hours or I am a mess” girl.  But life changed and I adapted by sleeping less.

Am I tired?  Yes, but not necessarily any more tired than I was on 8 or 9 hours.  The human body adapts and one day I will get back to sleeping more, but for now, yoga and working out, a plant-based diet, keeping busy, and having a good attitude about life all keep me naturally energized.

Dessert: Raw Vegan Brownies

Close up slice of Raw Vegan Brownies
Easy to make, easy to devour. They just happen to be vegan, GF, and fast to make.

1. Have you found any organic is cheaper than conventional deals lately?

Frequently, organic baby carrots, certain organic salad dressings, and organic salad mixes (at TJ’s), are cheaper than conventional.

Much of TJ’s food, too, is organic and by default, is cheap and just happens to be organic, too.

At the regular grocery, organic or “specialty” chips and crackers are frequently marked down or on sale with an in-store promotion so they are nearly as cheap or the same price as regular type crackers or chips.

If your grocery store has one of of those “walled off” organic sections (which I hate because I wish they would just put the organic food on the same shelves next to the regular food.   I mean, do I really want to go to the organic section to buy cinnamon if I am in the baking aisle?  No!  Put the organic cinnamon next to the regular for side by side comparison)…but if you go into the organic “section” and look for things that are marked down, you can often find some great deals.  Like $6.99 salad dressing marked down to $2.99 or pricey chips marked down to the same prices as mainstream brands.

All that said, I am not married to organic, at all. I buy whatever is cheapest.   May not be your path or choice, it’s mine.  I would rather buy 3 pounds of apples for the cheapest price, organic is great, not a requirement.

I’ve posted about my Grocery Saving Tips, including why I don’t always buy organic before.

2. Do you think that grocery stores should mix the organic food in with the regular food, or keep it in it’s own little “section”?

I am all for mixing in.  I would be more inclined to purchase organic anything from coffee to crackers to sugar if it’s right next to the conventional so that way I can price compare.

3. Weekend Plans?

I have something amazing that I’m doing on Saturday.  I will be sure to blog about it afterward!

Enjoy your day!

About the Author

Welcome to AverieCooks! Here you’ll find fast and easy recipes that taste amazing and are geared for real life. Nothing fussy or complicated, just awesome tasting dishes everyone loves!

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Comments

  1. I’m amazed at the prices of produce by you. Where I live in Wisconsin it’s CRAZY! especially for organic. I was in Madison, however and decided to hit up a Whole Foods and was amazed at the awesome prices that they had compared to our local stores. Our local stores don’t even keep up their organic produce sections. Typically the food is half spoiled and it isn’t priced. I end up having to get non-organic simply because of lack of options. So anyways for 20 minutes I was in grocery shopping heaven. :P

  2. I so wish I was not allergic to the soy in your vegan slaw! I also wish i could eat all of the nuts you mention!!!

  3. That’s awesome news about your upcoming Aruba trip. I like your attitude about “well, it’s just money, I can always make more.” Way to go!

    Like you, I now buy what’s cheapest. Or if organic is just a bit more, I might spring for it. I used to get more caught up in organic or not, but now I don’t. Seriously, it’s important to stay on budget.

    Wow, reading this post reminds me that NYC grocery prices are much more aggressive than what I’ve seen.bought out West. Here, in-store coupons and drastic markdowns like the ones you’ve described are rare. Luckily, I know the least expensive grocery stores in my area and hit them up.

    I’m all for mixing organic merchandise with everything else. Makes shopping so much easier. In fact, they often do this by default out here, probably due to space issues.

  4. I went to Trader Joe’s today and was instantly reminded of exactly why I should go there to do all my grocery shopping. It’s farther, but their organic produce is way better quality than my “regular” grocery store’s conventional stuff. I have no idea how they do it- I got tortillas, meatless meatballs, salad dressing, two pounds of clementines, hummus, Zevia and pizza dough for $15 bucks. Woo!!

    My grocery store here doesn’t have an organic aisle, but the one near my parents’ does and yes, it’s annoying. Especially since some stuff randomly is in other places throughout the store.