Clean eating is such a buzzword and seems to mean something different to everyone. Can't get much more simple than a meat + veggie combo but I have no idea what you like!

My understanding of clean eating, based on what I've read, is cutting out processed foods. Shop around the perimeter of your grocery store (e.g., fruit/veggie section, meats at butcher area, etc). For example chicken breast, steamed broccoli and a small sweet potato would not be pricey. I need to do this again myself.

I blame the litter box (and forums like it) for such nebulousness in the whole "clean eating" thing. Really, is it so hard to understand the concept of eating things that don't come out of a box (unless it's liquid/viscous)? Everyone says there's "essentially no agreement," but if you stop looking at trees and look at the forest, you'll find that the disagreement comes from the individual implementations (is yogurt processed/clean? If store bought isn't, does that mean home made is? or my personal favorite from the mocking side -- cutting is a form of processing!), but the greater idea is generally agreed upon by those who actually follow it and don't mock it...just like every other way of eating works -- the general guidelines are the common thread, and there are differences in given specific implementations. Does that make a given name for a given way of eating meaningless? Hell no. Language as a whole is vague as *kitten*. It doesn't make it meaningless.

In fact, I see more people lamenting the vagueness of "clean eating" or mocking the term than I generally see of people doing things like "I eat more clean than you" or otherwise comparing themselves to one another. I've little doubt such zealots exist -- they exist in every group -- but I see a bigger problem with the people telling boogeyman stories about them than anything else. If you (general "you") don't agree with it and have nothing better to say than how much you think the phrase is "wrong" or "vague" or whatever, then move on to a different thread. Just like every keto person has heard the "but you'll get a heart attack eating that way" lecture, every person who subscribes to the idea of clean eating has heard the "it's such a vague word" lecture.

Shop the perimeter of the store for the most part -- meats, produce, nuts, dairy if it suits you. (The Perfect Human Diet actually has a cool little walk through of "human food vs not human food" in the movie).

If you're on a budget, get the cheaper cuts of meat. They tend to be more nutritious, anyway. Buy whole chickens and save up to get a whole hog or a quarter or half a cow. It's an investment, but you can end up with steaks for as low as $5/lb.

Better yet, skip the "one-stop" grocery stores altogether for as much as you can. Go directly to the farm for meat, dairy, and eggs. You get fresher food that's usually of higher quality, for about the same price as the factory farmed stuff in the store, sometimes cheaper.

Hit up farmer's markets for produce and other such things. Buying in season will also help keep costs down (though will limit your vegetable options in winter if you don't do tubers and root vegetables). Again, better quality, often for better price.

Don't forget the frozen vegetable aisle, especially in the off-season. I often can get bags of broccoli, cauliflower, and other vegetables for a dollar for about 2 cups of vegetables. Stock up on them when they're on sale and thaw them as needed.

If you can't get it direct from the farm, dairy will likely be rather pricey, so you may have to limit it. Butter is probably the most worthwhile dairy on a tight budget, as well as maybe cheese. Skip the cream or save it for special occasions or treats.

Herbs/spices will be a little pricey, especially to stock up on for the first time if you don't have a stash already. Start with the basics -- cumin, parsley, thyme, rosemary, garlic, onion, salt, pepper, cinnamon, etc. Then, branch out with others as needed -- paprika, chili pepper, curry, etc. I keep both fresh and ground garlic and onion, as each has different applications, but other than that, dried/ground spices are sufficient for most recipes. When you start seeing patterns for what you use most, start buying those in bulk at places like Gordon Food Service Marketplace, Costco, or Sam's Club to save some money.

It takes a little more legwork, but you can very much eat minimally processed foods/eat clean on a budget.

Cherie1n2n3n4 wrote: »

I've read a few scholarly articles that suggest frozen veggies actually retain more nutrients that most "fresh" foods due to the ripeness when frozen versus the deterioration as items sit before they're consumed... Not saying fresh isn't better, just don't overlook the option. I buy strawberries fresh when they're 2 tubs for $4 and weight and freeze in 100g bags. I buy poblano peppers at the flea market and freeze those as well.

I also suggest to anyone who is able to plant at least a modest garden. Eggplant, tomato, and peppers freeze very well and thrive in containers. I roast eggplant 30 minutes whole then cut in half and freeze.. The tomato only requires slight blanching before peeling and freezing or you can just enjoy them while they're in season for just the price of watering every day.

Strawberries are also a great garden plant, especially if you have a high-sun area. I planted some in my front bed a couple years ago, which gets sun from dawn to dusk in the summer, and from about half a dozen plants, had nearly a bushel over the course of the summer. Before we had to destroy the bed (due to some type of disease/mold that was attacking everything), I was joking that if we disappeared for whatever reason, the strawberries would take over the house, because they thrived so well in the kind-of-peaty-but-mostly-clay over clay and nearly desert full sun conditions.