I just got back from Whole Foods and I have to vent for a moment. I bought five pounds of chicken thighs (that's a huge pile of thighs) on sale for 99 cents/pound. Great! And the pork shoulder was on sale for $1.99/lb. Also great! But my stupid, tiny little cauliflower was $5.25! That pitiful little piece of vegetable fluff cost more than the entire mountain of chicken thighs. Is it worth it? No!

I'm not working right now and I'm seriously thinking of going carnivore for a while to save money. Isn't that bizarre? But American groceries work that way. They always run specials on meat to bring you into the store and expect to recuperate the money on soft drinks (and apparently, vegetables). But if I just followed the meat specials at the local stores and stopped buying veggies, I think I'd save a lot of money.

Do you carnivores use marinades and rubs on your meat? Or do you just eat it straight up everyday?

I like rubs and marinades sometimes, especially for chicken and pork. For marinades, usually garlic and olive oil with whatever dry spices catch my fancy, sometimes with a little lemon/lime zest and juice, ditto some really hot pepper, like a scotch bonnet. For ribs or even cheap pork I'll usually do a dry rub of suitable spices (cumin, cayenne, mustard powder, etc. sometimes I'll even use a bit of celery salt or go the other way altogether and use a five-spice powder) and cook them low and slow. Beef I like on it's own, but I'll sometimes go with a rub of garlic and/or black-pepper, etc.

Ok I'm jealous! My WF never has meat on sale for that cheap. That's what I get for living in such an expensive area.

Why not shop at other stores? Whole foods is soooo over priced. I can get cauliflower much cheaper at Henry's (Wild Oats).

I could get cheap stuff from other stores but I'm not willing to compromise on the quality. I'm actually trying to switch over to buying mostly from farms, but it's a learning process to keep my supply steady and affordable, so I use Whole Foods to round it out til I get the hang of it. Also it's within walking distance of my apartment.

ETA: just realized I was assuming you were talking to me...but are probably talking to the OP...

So then is that the full extent of your diet? Do you eat anything else?

This is new. I think the economy has hit WF really hard and they're desperate. Have you checked lately?

Just think how much more meat you could have bought for that $5.25. I eat my meat with a little mustard. Good stuff.

I'm a native of California too, so I understand your perspective. But outside of California vegetables are scrawny, pitiful, bruised, and shriveled. It's hard to make such a big readjustment to the standard quality available here. Second, prices of vegetables are high everywhere outside of California, not just Whole Foods.

I live on the border of Boulder. Boulder was the headquarters for Wild Oats and Wild Oats had stores all over Boulder. There was a chain called Alfalfa's that was taken over by Wild Oats and all those stores became Wild Oats. There was a chain called Ideal Market that was taken over by Wild Oats and those became Wild Oats. Whole Foods opened a big store. Then, Wild Oats was taken over by Whole Foods and all the Wild Oats stores became Whole Foods. Albertson's had stores here and they went bankrupt and closed. Whole Foods is the most prevalent grocery here; it's everywhere.

There are a few other single stores, but they don't have much selection. I shop in them as much as possible but it's a little pointless. Vitamin Cottage has two kinds of meat: turkey or ham sliced sandwich meat in a plastic packet. When I shop at Sunflower Market I keep getting glutened. (And the people are rude there.) Costco is my other grocery store but the packages of veggies are too big for a single person. It's a long drive to anything else. I keep meaning to hit the farmer's market Saturday morning but the last few times I went the prices were even higher than WF.

If you like veggies, stay in California.

Aw, sorry to hear it's so hard to get good veggies there!

How about frozen veggies?

When I visited America about 8 years ago, I stayed for a month and rarely saw a vegetable. I lived mainly on pizza, Taco Bell, Noodles and bread. After a couple of weeks I was so desperate for something green that I ordered a side of broccoli one evening at a restaurant. The waiter looked confused. I was later on presented with this shrivelled up, pathetic excuse for a piece of broccoli. It was tough and chewy and I imagined that they had to search high and low in the kitchen for this one piece of broccoli that they had probably ordered weeks before, just because it was an item on the menu.

That was in Virginia. My more recent experiences in North Carolina have been the total opposite, where I've found there to be an abundance of fresh, whole foods available in supermarkets and restaurants!

A whole, fresh cauliflower over here in the UK is around 40 to 70 pence (or 60c to $1.10 US).

Oooh! I just had a thought... You can grow your own veggies for next to nothing!!! Even if you don't have much outdoor space, if you've got a windowsill you could at least grow some salad leaves. I've been meaning to do this for some time, but I just haven't got my act together.

My diet is 95% Fatty Ribeye's, Chicken, and Pork ribs

If it wasn't for my SAD eating Hubby I'd be saving a ton.

I don't season my beef, but I do season my chicken and pork - no marinades. I use a lot of garlic powder, onion powder, and paprika.

I think going carnivore would be a great way to save - veggies and fruit cost a fortune.

Good luck!

When I was there yesterday regular bone in chicken thighs were $2.49/lb I think. And I noticed the boneless/skinless thighs were $3.99/lb. I have never never ever seen any kind of meat cheaper than $1.29/lb there, and that was only for their lowest grade of whole chicken.

I also live in a county whose real estate dropped 0.2% over the past year rather than 30-40% like everywhere else.

Even with the prices around here though, you're right, it seems like meat is probably a better deal than veggies. I think a small head of cauliflower was $3.99 yesterday!

allison, you created a lightbulb moment for me.
i am always shopping for the best deal on organic produce since i am currently without income. it never occurred to me just to quit.
it has for other reasons but not $$.
so i will focus on my meat/protein.
i have a teeny garden w many tomatoes so that'll be what's to eat.

I think cauliflower is a cool weather crop so it's going out of season. They probably have to ship it form Norway this time of the year.