Fred’s Grocery List

I’ve been trying to “green” my diet while keeping it low-carb, mostly organic, high in protein and veggies. It wouldn’t be that hard, except that finding naturally raised meats (and not the Safeway definition of natural, mind you) is harder and more expensive than you might think. Since I have the luxury of time today, I thought I’d indulge myself in summarizing what I think are the best deals in organic/free-range meat. Here we go:

Organic Chicken Eggs @ $3.99 / dozen. This works out to about $2.66/lb (apparently egg size designations are based on the weight per dozen). You can get them at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods, Berkeley Bowl, Safeway (more expensive), or any of your normal markets. If you can get the “extra large” type for $3.99, then the price per pound drops to about $2.30 or so. A great deal for Organic “meat”. Eggs are also some of the cleanest and most complete sources of protein. Additionally — if you don’t eat the egg yolk, you get almost no fat or cholesterol. On the other hand, then you’re not really getting an egg, but I digress.

Organic Whole Chicken @ $2.29 / lb. This is the winner for most economical organic meat. You can get that amazing price point at Costco (but you have to buy two birds at once). At any other retailer, you’re more likely to pay around $2.69/lb (like Trader Joe’s), but that’s still a pretty good deal…except that you have to subtract the weight of bones and skin. Hey, whatever. It’s still a great price. I usually salt them in advance and then roast them a la Zuni Cafe. Homemade oragnic rotisserie chicken! Woohoo.