Do it with me week 6, how to eat healthy and use coupons!

So you want to eat better and you clip coupons, can you possible do both of these things?

Very easily. With a large family we try to not eat out very much. It is a hassle and expensive, most of the time I just feel guilty for taking so long to eat when I could have a made a meal and cleaned up by the time we were done in a restaurant, not to mention the bill. The food that you prepare at home is more healthy than the food you buy anywhere else.

Now if you eat completely vegan, macrobiotic, or prepare every single thing from scratch, I am talking about grinding your own wheat and have your own cows etc. then you are the exception and sure, couponing for food isn't for you. Although I am jealous of those lifestyles it isn't practical for us right now. But for the other 95% of the population, we can all work coupons into our food plans.

Breakfast: During the summer and weekends we drink a lot of smoothies for breakfast. This is a great way for me to throw in spinach and other vegetables and have the kids drink it up. The only thing in the smoothies that I don't get on sale is the protein powder. Cold cereal is usually free for me. I refuse to pay for it. But, I am selective when it comes to what the kids eat. I stay mostly with Cheerios, Kix, Kashi, Fiber One, and the occasional frosted mini wheats and for special occasions the sugar stuff. But they don't eat it everyday. We also eat a TON of fruit for breakfast, although there are not a lot of coupons for fruit I almost always buy my fruit at Walmart and price match it to other stores. Milk can be found on sale and I often have coupons for it, we buy stuff that is marked down for the expiration because we drink it so fast I usually don't worry about it going bad.

Lunch: I prepare the kids lunches, summer and school year. I purchase every single item with either coupons or price matching. School lunch for us would cost $52.50 a week for just my 4 kids in public school. I spend about $20 for all 6 kids making lunch at home, this saves me $130 a month alone. Last week I was able to get 18 boxes of Juicy Juice at Kroger for $.75 cents a box (8 count) I don't like Capri Suns, too much sugar. If you don't like granola bars and fruit roll ups because of the sugar content, don't buy them.

Dinner: This needs to be a post alone. I think I will do it next week! My husband won't let me skimp on dinner! I do price match my meat and vegetables. I buy whole grain rice and pasta, and we always have salad. I have not bought bagged salad in the past 2 years with out a coupon. They are out there! I usually find them in the store by the salad as either a tear pad or a little blinkie box.

If there is a specific brand of food you like, go to their website and look for coupons. I have even written a company asking for coupons. I once wrote a company telling them how much my kids loved their organic milk and wondered if they sold it in little boxes. The company not only sent me coupons but an entire box of the product! This is a list of organic and whole foods sites that I check regularly for deals and coupons.

I have found Mambo Sprouts site to be very helpful. They have a ton of coupons and they will send you out coupon books if you ask! Go HERE to check them out!

Brown Cow Farm

Print a coupon from the website.

Cascadian Farm

Get $5 in Cascadian Farm coupons when you sign up for their newsletter.

Dreamfields Pasta

Sign up for the newsletter to get $1 off any box of Dreamfields pasta, plus get even more coupons in the newsletter.

Earthbound Farm

Take a quiz about organic farming, and get a coupon for $1 off when you answer all of the questions correctly.

Earth's Best

Choose from two printable coupons: $1 off of two Earth's Best Sesame Street products or $1 off of 10 jars of Earth's Best baby food.

Eden Foods

Sign up for the e-newsletter to receive special offers.

Hain

Check the "Special Offers" page regularly for the latest offers from Hain.

Horizon Organic

Click on the "coupons" link at the top of the screen, and enter your name and e-mail address to access several printable coupons.

Imagine Foods

Sign up for the quarterly e-newsletter to receive special offers and promotions.

Knudsen Juice

Print coupons from the website. Current offer: $1 off an 8-pack of Sensible Sippers juice boxes.

Organic Valley

Choose one coupon to print from several listed on the site.

Mambo Sprouts

Print organic coupons directly from the site, or sign up to receive a coupon book by mail. Includes Seventh Generation, Ecover, Santa Cruz juice and more.

Mrs. Meyer's

Sign up for the e-newsletter, and receive a coupon for $5 off $25.

Muir Glen

Get a coupon for $1 off a Muir Glen tomato product.

Pearl Soy

Sign up for the e-newsletter to receive special offers.

Seventh Generation

Print coupons directly from the website.

Simply Organic

Click on the "Save" link in the left-hand column, and choose the coupons that you'd like to print.

Stonyfield Farms

Print coupons directly from the website.

How are you successful eating healthy and couponing? In what other ways do you save money?