How to Save Money on Your Next Beach Day

Going to the beach for the the weekend gets really expensive. Between tolls, gas, parking, and beer, you can rack up a hefty bill. Here are some tips on snacks you can bring to the beach to save some money on eating out.

1. PB&B - While a PB&J is one of my favorite foods, just 1 tbsp of grape jelly has 16 grams of sugar! On an average PB&J I would usually use between 2 & 3 tbsp of jelly, equaling out to 32 to 48 grams of sugar! Using a banana instead of jelly is a great option. It’s also super cheap. A banana costs about 54 cents a pound. Buy a big jar of peanut butter and a loaf of bread, and you have about 10 meals. Plus, this is easy to tote in a cooler or backpack. AND best of all, it’s not sticky!
   Check out this quick PB&B “taco” recipe.
2. Hummus and Veggies - It’s easy to snack on the wrong stuff at the beach. When you’re just laying around in the sun, it’s hard to put down the pretzels. So bring out the garbanzo and veggies instead. This low mess snack food is filling and nutritious. Plus eating foods with a lot of water in them like cucumbers, bell pepper, or celery keeps you hydrated.
3. Frozen Grapes - Freeze your grapes for a cool refreshing snack. Grapes don’t turn rock hard when frozen. In fact, they are surprisingly easy to eat. Freezing grapes also helps them last longer making it a great way to save the grapes that are starting to soften. Grapes also help level out our pH/blood sugar levels and are full of water. Making them another hydrating summer snack.
4. Tomato Pie - This may be a regional snack, but it’s great on the go and you can buy it by the lice. Tomato pie (image here) is simply a Sicilian pizza without cheese served cool. You can buy a whole pie or a slice from the bakery, pizzeria, or make your own before coming.
5. 3 Bean Salad - combine 3 types of beans with chopped vegetables such as onions, bell pepper, and celery. Then add red wine vinegar and seasoning of choice. (suggested: parsley, oregano, garlic, etc)
   Put salad in a big tupperware and enjoy a hearty salad full of protein.

Quick, Cheap, and Hearty Salad For The Entire Work Week

Making a meal that lasts the entire week is great for those of us on a busy schedule. For the winter I used soup as an example. But as the weather gets warmer, hot soup gets a little less appealing. Here’s a recipe you can make over the weekend to last you the entire work week.

This hearty salad is a nutritious and refreshing meal on the go. It includes 7 different types of raw vegetables and fruit. It also has protein of your choice. This is a great meal for any person who needs to include more whole foods and fiber in their diet.

You only need a few ingredients to make a large portion. The price of all of the produce equals out to be $5 or $6 and makes 4-6 servings. That’s the same as eating out for lunch 1 day!

The salad stays good for a long period of time and actually gets tastier the longer it sits. It’s very easy to bring into work. Plus it acts as a great meal on it’s own, or a colorful side to lunch or dinner.

So without further adieu,

Marybeth’s Diced Salad
(mostly raw)

serves 4-6 people

• 1/2 onion
• 2 tomatoes
• 1 cucumber
• 2 zucchinis or yellow squash
• 6 stalks of celery
• 1 red apple
• 6-7 baby carrots
• 2 handfuls of walnuts or 1 cup of well-rinsed black, white, or garbanzo beans
• 4 tbsp red wine vinegar (not raw)
• salt/pepper/oregano/garlic powder to taste

1. Dice the ingredients in order as listed in to small 2x2cm cubes and place in a large tupperware. Stir each new vegetable in to mixture as you go.
   NOTE: When you get to the celery, before chopping, smash celery with a tenderizing mallet on both sides. This will make the celery more absorbent when it’s mixed with the vegetables’ juices.
2. Sprinkle salt, pepper, oregano and garlic powder on top.
3. Add vinegar and serve or refrigerate.

Special thanks to my friend Marybeth for inspiring this recipe.

Whole food isn’t just a supermarket…

When I explain that I try my best to eat a diet based in whole foods, a lot of times it seems like people just smile and nod and assume I’m saying I shop at Whole Foods Super Market. So I’m here to quickly set the record straight with the definition of whole foods, which as you can see above is a natural food, especially an unprocessed one (such as a vegetable or fruit) .

A whole food based diet is essential for obtaining proper nutrients and promoting good health. When you eat unprocessed (whole) foods, you eat the food while it still has its natural nutrients intact. The more whole foods you eat and the less processed food, the healthier your diet becomes.

Some processed foods, like the ones featured at McDonalds or Burger King, have little to no nutrients. These “fiberless foods” simply allow you to eat until your stomach is full. This is one way we gain weight. Whole foods are different. Unprocessed foods send signals to your brain to stop eating when your body has taken in enough nutrients. In fact, if you ate only whole foods it would be very difficult to gain excess weight because your body would stop you from eating when it received the necessary nutrients. You also wouldn’t be eating the added fats and sugars from processed food.

Besides the obvious nutritional benefits of whole foods, fruits and veggies are also jam packed with fiber, keeping your digestive track running smoothly and regularly ;)

Avocados are AWESOME Heres Why:
Health- Avacados are packed full of good fats that help your body. In salads/with other vegetables, these fats help your body absorb minerals from the other vegetables as well as antioxidants. It has a lot of carotenoids and is a good anti-inflamatory. So don’t be fooled when you hear avocados are a high fat dense food, these fats, like the fats in olives, are anti-inflamatory and are a highly beneficial item to add to your diet.

Food/Cost-Here’s some quick easy ways to eat avocado. You can pick them up most times for $1 each, thats good for about 2 servings (.50 per meal) So I’ll eat half at breakfast and half at dinner. Cut it in to slices to put in a burrito, pair it with sliced potatoes and tomatoes, or in a salad with cucumbers, or just on it’s own for a snack. If you have a really soft avocado, you can even spread it on toast like butter, sprinkle some salt on there or make a sandwich.

***Cheap Easy Instant Guacamole Recipe***
2 Avacados
1 Tbsp Salsa
squirt of lime if you have it.

smash it all together and bam, homemade guacamole. Salsa has all of the ingredients you need to make home made Guac and it’s already in your fridge, all packaged together. (Man I Love Salsa.)