Grocery Shopping 101

So what's the most annoying and expensive chore when running a household? Here at Pure Living it has to be grocery shopping. I hate it. Shane hates it. And we always try and do it as quickly and cheaply as possible. I recognize this is totally a first world problem and I try to keep a positive frame of mind while shopping. I tell myself it's a privilege to shop the way we do and that I should be thankful that we can afford to purchase food and stock our fridge.

But some days...Let's just say I find it hard to stop myself from playing bumper car(t)s with that lady taking up the entire aisle as she makes the life altering decision between chunked or flaked tuna. (It's tuna lady, pick! Or at least move your cart so other people can pass down the aisle!)

But I digress...

While shopping this week, I thought it might be helpful if we shared our method for efficient and budget friendly grocery shopping. For me, the key to efficiency and staying on budget is being organized (this can be applied elsewhere in your life). I think organization is a learned behaviour and to be honest, the main reason that I'm organized is because of my mom (woohoo for mom's everywhere!). My mom (like most) was a multitasking mama who worked full-time while taking care of most of the household chores. If she wasn't organized everything would fall apart.

Most of the tips that I am sharing with you are things I learned watching my mom over the years, but some are my own. All of these tips presuppose that you and your family have allocated a household budget for groceries. If you haven't, stay tuned for our "how to budget" post that will be coming in the future.

Without further ado, here is Pure Living's Grocery Shopping 101: Part 1 - The List

Pure Living's Shepherd's Pie

Who doesn't love a tasty and filling (and budget friendly) Shepherd's Pie? Well, what if I gave you a lower-cal and low-carb version? Yep, you heard me! How do we do it? Well we swap the potatoes for cauliflower. Don't wrinkle your nose because you really can't really tell the difference once it's all put together. Trust me, Shane doesn't even really like cauliflower, but he eats this up! 

Pure Living's Shepherd's Pie

We let the broiler get away from us on this one

The Twilight Saga and Manliness

Your first question is probably what the hell gives me any authority to comment on what makes a man or what constitutes manliness? Well, being a man myself is a good start. But, aside from that, nothing, but this is no different than most, so I figure I'll toss my hat into the ring.

I don't claim to have all the answers (perhaps I have none - things are never simply black or white), but what I'm hoping to do it to comment on things that I come across that strike a chord with me. Thus, I hope to focus on one thing at a time and turn this into a series over time.

So without further ado, welcome!

This post is inspired by a comment I saw on Facebook recently. After posting about his excitement for the release of the Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 trailer the very first comment the poster received was by another man who suggested he surrender his man card.

One-Pot Meal

Like everyone else in the world, we lead very busy lives and our schedules can get pretty wonky. To avoid the trappings of expensive and unhealthy take-out, we have invented what we like to call our "one-pot" meal.

The one-pot meal doesn't require a lot of planning or skill in the kitchen and cooks in about 25 mins. And the great thing about it is that you can substitute any meat/beans/tofu, starch, and veggies that you have on hand. And, leftovers are great reheated for lunch the next day!

And bear with me, we don't measure in our kitchen so everything is an approximation.

Sausage One-Pot Meal

Marisa's Morning Shake

Breakfast is a tricky meal for most people and if you're like me, you choose extra snooze time instead of preparing a healthy breakfast. This results in either one of two things: 1) not eating, which I can't handle because I get hangry (angry when hungry) or 2) grabbing something super starchy with zero nutritional value.

So here's my recipe for a protein packed shake and a dose of fruits and veggies. Add a shot of Progressive's VegeGreens (see Shane's review here) on the side and you're good to go!

 

Product Review: Progressive VegeGreens

Welcome to our first product review!

Before I begin and in the interest of full disclosure, I have NOT been asked to review this product by the company. And although we do have a store linked to this blog and yes, Progressive VegeGreens is a product we sell, this is a product that my wife and I purchase and use regularly (before we created the store). 

This review (and all others we will provide) will be our honest opinion of the product and we hope the information is valuable. If you do find the information valuable and want to buy the product, we'd obviously love for you to purchase it from us. But, the product is carried elsewhere and in most health food stores. We do encourage you to at least compare our prices to your current store or provider.

Now to the nitty gritty...

Welcome to Pure Living!

Pure Living is the mutual brain child created by us, Shane and Marisa. I  know you don't know us yet, but I promise you will!

So, first things first, who are we?

Well we're a newly married couple, two years in July (whoohoo!), based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada (for now). We recently moved to the "belle ville" (beautiful city) from Toronto so that Shane could begin a doctoral program. It was a big move for us both, but it was a move toward bigger and better things.

Journey from Toronto to Montreal