Tips on how to eat healthy when the resources aren’t always easy to find!
As you may have guessed from the name of my blog, I live in small town. To be exact, I live in the cutest little farm house on a small beef farm in the middle of the country, and I work about 20 minutes away in a “bigger” small town. I absolutely LOVE where I live and the simple, small town feel, but there is one downside: finding ingredients.
I typically shop at Aldi (shoutout to Aldi–you da best!!!) and Wal-Mart for my groceries, and I visit farmers markets as much as I can in the summer. We have a small health foods store, but other than that, the closest Wegmans, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s are more than an hour away.
I am pretty impressed with some of the foods Aldi and Wal-Mart have started stocking on their shelves–like almond flour, coconut milk, organic fruits and veggies, and gluten free items–but there are still some foods that are just never available.
So how have I managed to eat healthy while living in a small town? Here are a few ways:
Be creative
Have a recipe that calls for an ingredient you can’t find anywhere? Figure out another ingredient to put in it’s place or make the ingredient yourself! I couldn’t find pine nuts to make pesto, so I substituted walnuts instead and it was absolutely delicious! (find my walnut pesto recipe here). Can’t find ghee? Clarify your own butter! All the dried fruit and nut butters at the store have added sugar? Dry your own fruit and make your own nut butter! It may take an extra step, but there are easy ways to make the same recipes by being creative!
Stick to the basics
Do you REALLY need that fancy protein bar? Or those nacho cheese kale chips? Sometimes it can suck to not have access to all the new trends in health foods, but at the same time healthy food doesn’t have to be so complicated. If you stick with the main types of whole foods–fruit, veggies, meat, eggs, whole grains, nuts and seeds–you can eat healthy without struggling! This ends up saving you money, too, instead of filling your cart with expensive, packaged health foods.
Grow it yourself
If you read my post Why YOU Should Start A Vegetable Garden, you’d know I’m a little obsessed with gardening. Having fresh veggies right out my back door has been a lifesaver! Growing a garden comes with countless benefits, one of the most important being you know where your food comes from. You don’t have to question if pesticides were used–you grew it yourself!
Support local
If you don’t have the room, resources, or desire to grow a garden or get a few chickens (someday I’ll have some 🙂 ), then support local farmers who do! As I mentioned, I love going to farmers markets when they’re in season! I also try to get my meat and eggs from local farmers as much as possible (and I’m lucky to have a freezer full of beef from Zack’s family). You don’t always know how an animal was raised or a fruit or vegetable was grown. The closer the food is grown or raised, the better.
Look online
If you can’t find what you need close to home, look online! I’ve used Thrive Market for over a year and I love it! Thrive Market is an online service that you pay a one year subscription to (Like Sam’s Club or Costco), which allows you to buy healthy food and natural products at wholesale prices. They also donate a membership to people in need for each one purchased, which is an added bonus. I still get excited like a kid on Christmas when my Thrive Market package gets delivered! If you’re interested in joining Thrive, make sure to follow this link.
Allie over at Miss Allie’s Kitchen has told me that she has had success shopping for food on Amazon too! I haven’t had any experience with this, but they have a whole department with thousands of food products, which would be especially handy if you have Amazon Prime. Most companies sell directly from their website too! This can sometimes get pricey because of shipping, but if there’s a product you really want to try, check out the company’s website to see if you can get it from them directly.
Take a trip
If you still can’t find what you need or you’d rather just experience the health foods store setting, take a road trip! If my mom and I are visiting my sister in Harrisburg or we’re in Pittsburgh for something, we’ll make a stop at a store to stock up on items we know we can’t find easily at home.
Not gonna lie, I get SO overwhelmed in a Wegman’s, Whole Foods, and Trader Joe’s, because it’s not the type of grocery store I’m used to. The walls of bulk food, all the fresh produce you could ever want, and products people have recommended online but I’ve never actually been able to try. I always remind myself to be careful and not buy everything in site, even though I feel like I want to. If you’re taking a trip, be smart and make a list of items you actually NEED, leaving room for a few fun items you’d like to try.
Eating healthy can sometimes be difficult, but it doesn’t have to be! Just because you live in a small town, doesn’t mean you can’t eat just as good as someone in a big city. Hopefully these six tips can help you on your healthy eating journey, too!
Do you live in a small town? What tips do you have to eat healthy?
We live in a fairly small town and have some pretty good regular supermarkets nearby, but the closest Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods are half an hour away.
Between two of the local supermarkets I find what I need – I’ve learned is to look carefully to see what they have. I find lots of organic choices and fun specialty items.
Yes! I’ve learned what I can find at each store and I can mostly find everything I need too. It’s amazing how many grocery stores are stepping up and adding better items.
There are literally so many things I love about this post OMG. And by so many things, I mean everything. Also, thank you for tagging me girly! I’ve already shared, but I’m doing so again. I think my favorite point is to stay simple. People think you need to have fancy products to eat healthfully and it just isn’t true! Also, holla for supporting local businesses! Whoop whoop!
You are the sweetest, Allie! Thank you so much 🙂 Yes! When I started blogging, I thought I had to make all kinds of complicated meals, but I’ve learned that simple is just so much better. Also, I think what you’re doing in your area is AWESOME. I’m looking into working with more local businesses to teach classes and get the word out about eating healthy. You go girl!
These are great tips. I find it so fascinating to live in a small town. I love the family feel it would provide. Aldi is hands down my favorite grocery store ever, and this is coming from a dietitian! They have great produce items and so affordable.
Thank you Sarah! Yes! There’s such a sense of community and I see someone I know everywhere I go (which can also be annoying sometimes haha). YAY ALDI! I actually enjoy grocery shopping because of ALDI.