Thinking Out Loud on a budget!

Happy Thursday friends! As usual this is a day dedicated to Thinking Out Loud, thanks to the wonderful Spoons who creating the TOL link-up!!

On my mind today? Eating well... without the superfood price tag...

I was thinking back to Tuesday's post about stress and nutrition when I realised the common thought process of most people when upping the nutritional content of their diets is to include all of those new-fandangle super foods that boast so many amazing benefits and health properties that will cure you of anything.

Now, I'm not a super food hater, and in fact have many so-called 'super foods' hanging around inside my cupboard at this very moment (looking at you quinoa, chia seeds and goji berries- which FYI I'm not the biggest fan of and much prefer sultanas :)

So, yes 'super foods' can be really great, however what's more important is making sure you're overall diet is full of fresh wholesome, natural, straight from the earth foods that will truly nourish your body. I don't care how many goji bears you can stuff in your mouth, them alone are not going to make you feel as good as a lifestyle full of fruits veggies and all the other good stuff will!

Also- super foods are expensive! Should we really be forking out all our grocery budget to a third of our usual trolley size when in actual fact some of the cheapest products are jam-packed full of essential nutrients?

Recently I've been following a weekly budget and for the first time am having to consider every item I toss into my trolley (I do my own separate shopping to mum- why should she have to go out and buy all of my food?) Scanning every bar code and jumping for joy at every sale. I've some to realise that many of the foods I purchased before I started on this budget were relatively cheap anyway and made me feel great too!

To give you a picture of what I mean:

A typical lunch plate of mine. Filled with cheap roasted veg (pumpkin, potato and white sweet potato) as well as roasted brussels sprouts and brocoli, with a side of hommus (on special- you can also make your own for next to nothing!) some fresh veg (also very cheap- celery, capsicum and cherry tomatoes) and some air popped popcorn (another fav of mine, simply place some popcorn kernels in a bowl, top with a plate and microwave for 2:30- air popped popcorn!)

You may notice no ancient never-heard-of-before grain, or no magical berry but instead lots of delicious fresh foods that leave our bodies nourished and packed full of vitamins and minerals!

So- fruits and veg- relatively cheap and full of so many good nutrients- a must on my grocery list.
As for grains- brown rice, wholemeal pasta, cous cous, wholemeal crumpets, wholemeal wraps- they're are all pretty cheap! And stacked with fiber and protein- yes please!

Another cheap dinner of mine with some roasted veg (pumpkin, beetroot, parsnip and potato), spinach (family pack... cheaper and makes me use more spinach!) and a torn up veggie burger (so easy to make from scratch and relatively cheap to buy too!)

Wrapped up in a wholemeal wrap and toasted in a sandwich press:

My other tricks?
Instead of buying super expensive jars of nut butter that contain around 3 servings (well for me any way!) I sometimes look out for sales on big bags of raw nuts and then whip up my own in a food processor. I do the same with coconut butter as well (because that stuff is expensive! And a big bag of dessicated coconut is only around $3 :)

And we all know the best way to eat nut butter (other than straight form the jar with a spoon/ finger ;)

Can't get enough this banana + nut butter sandwich at the moment!

Now these are just a few of my little food loves I fall back on when life gets hectic, busy, low on cash ;) and I need an extra boost (nutrition is the answer guys!!) I'm sure I have a stack of other ideas and cheap food additions but my brain is fried from a day of SCHHOOOOOLLLL :) Why, math, do I need to work out the equation of a circle... and then move it 2 units to the right??

Your turn:
What is your favourite cheap 'super food'?
Ever add in some extra nutrients when you're not feeling your most sparkly?
Do you make your own nut butter? If so- favourite combo?

That's it from me today folks! Don't forget to head over to Spoons to see what everyone else is thinking about this fine Thursday! Bye!! :D