Years ago it seemed like health food stores were only for the rich and famous. The secret savings were not advertised and only known by the patrons.

What I’m writing about is buying in “bulk”. Most health food stores have bins of product and spices that you buy by weight. By buying in bulk you don’t pay for the brand names of products, the packaging is a lot less so that adds to savings plus all the cost involved in shipping little cases of product to the market. My local, HFS (Health Food Store), has around 50 spices, for example, that I can get a tablespoon full of a spice, for a particular recipe, instead of having to buy a expensive bottle and having the rest sit on a shelf and get old and gather dust and take up space. The, HFS, also has nuts, granols, grains, beans, rice, “additives” like nutritional yeast and bran (wheat&oat) used in baking, and snacks that you only get what you need for a reasonable price.

I hope this will help with your budget and nutrition as well. Have a healthy, happy, budget friendly New Year. Chef Jim

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