The Cost of Eating Real Food and My Favorite Fats on Thrive Market
It’s no big secret: Eating healthy, real food while living an active, busy lifestyle can get expensive, even if you really try to keep costs down. This isn’t our fault: Our food system in the US is designed to make the gluten-y, corn-y, sugar-y things cheap, and the real, whole, nutritious things expensive.
There’s also the fact that our lifestyles are demanding. It’s not in our culture to spend 2–3 hours in the kitchen. It’s not even in our culture to sit down at a table and eat a proper meal like a real person. We live in the era of the sad desk lunch and the meal delivery kit, where any amount of time spent on making and enjoying food is seen as a waste. I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been told (by people of all generations) that the amount of work I put into cooking and eating is insane/anal/crazy/ridiculous.
Well you know what? Food healed me of near-daily migraines, migraines that were completely impairing my ability to function in daily life. Eating the right foods has helped me control my chronic anxiety and depression, as well as joint pain, fatigue, eczema, digestive issues, and more.
So no, I don’t think that the amount of work I put into it is insane or ridiculous. I think trying to throw a pill to treat symptoms instead of dealing with the source of chronic, widespread inflammation is insane and ridiculous.
BUT I DIGRESS.
All of these reasons and more are why I’m passionate about Whole 30 and the paleo diet. It’s taken us a while, but as a society, we’re starting to come (back) around to the idea that buying raw ingredients and cooking meals at home can be incorporated into our daily lives. It’s because of the movement towards whole foods that people are getting back in the kitchen, and recognizing just how flawed our food system actually is. And it’s because of this recognition that my beloved Thrive Market can exist.
WHY I LOVE THRIVE MARKET
Thrive Market is an online natural grocery store. A $60 annual membership gives you access to thousands of natural, sustainable foods at 30–50% lower prices than you’d find at Whole Foods and other natural grocers. Your membership also provides a membership to a family in need, giving them the same access to real, whole foods. If you buy from Thrive regularly, you’ll earn your $60 back in savings in just a few orders. Thrive estimates my current lifetime (past 2 years) savings to be over $1400. 💪🏽
I love Thrive Market because it allows me to save time and money buying pantry staples that make this lifestyle sustainable. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be sharing my favorite Thrive Market picks from different categories. Here are my favorite, Whole 30-compliant fats!
OILS AND FATS
Thrive Market Organic Coconut Oil (54 oz.) — $21.95
We order this giant-ass tub of tropical goodness about once a month. I always think it’s cute when I accidentally add the teeny tiny 15 oz. jar to my cart. LOLZ! Ain’t nobody got time for that.
This organic, unrefined, cold-pressed coconut oil can be used in a million ways — from cooking vegetables, seafood, and chicken, to making paleo fudge (not Whole 30) to oil pulling, a practice which has helped me reduce sensitivity in my teeth.
Primal Kitchen Avocado Oil (16.9 oz.) — $9.75
Alex is on my side about most food stuff, but he struggles to understand my disdain for vegetable oils. I almost exclusively refer to food-like products like canola and vegetable oil as “toxic sludge.” It’s one of few things that I get very “crunchy” about.
That’s because I truly believe that we are what we eat. I believe there’s a reason these oils are so cheap, and that reason isn’t because they’re full of goodness and healthy fats. It’s because they’re essentially chemical waste, made by over-processing genetically-modified rapeseeds (high in inflammatory compounds). There is no actual canola plant — canola is actually an acronym that stands for Canadian Oil.
Meanwhile, avocado oil is made by pressing the seeds of avocados. Sounds better to me.
We use this avocado oil for all high-heat cooking — basically, anytime our food is cooked above 400, whether in an oven or on the stovetop, we’re using avocado oil.
We also use this avocado oil to make our paleo mayo!
Thrive Market Ghee (14 oz) — $9.95
Ghee is, simply, clarified butter — butter that has been lightly cooked so that the milk protein separates from the fats. The end result is a lactose-free, buttery cooking fat that is just the thing for dishes like mashed cauliflower, mashed potatoes, or hollandaise sauce. Because it has a high smoke point, you can also use it for searing steaks!
You can get different flavored ghee (I’ve heard awesome things about this Madagascar Vanilla Bean Ghee) but I like to buy this plain, large container of pasture-raised ghee from Thrive Market. At $10 for 14 oz., it comes at a better price point than I’ve seen for similar products in grocery stores. The flavor is buttery and smooth and lovely.
Stay Tuned for More Thrive Market Faves!
Over the next few weeks, I’ll share my favorite Thrive Market snacks, pantry staples, and more — stay tuned!
