Good food brings family and friends together — especially at Thanksgiving. Are you thinking about how to share your table this year while not blowing your budget? In this podcast we talk to nutritionist and natural foods chef Alana Sugar to get ideas for feasting well without breaking the bank (‘cause those banks don’t need any help breaking about now!).

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Don’t forget to check out our huge collection of holiday recipes. Whether you are planning a traditional feast or want to venture outside the norm this Thanksgiving, we’ve got you covered. What dish do you absolutely have to have for it to be a perfect Thanksgiving? Let us know!

Pictured above: Italian Wedding Soup with Vegan Meatballs

With the change of the season, we start craving warm and nourishing soups and chili. Lucky for us, there are many ways to have a great meal like this without putting a strain on our wallets. They are great for feeding a crowd as well as freezing for a quick meal later. Listen in as nutritionist and natural foods chef Alana Sugar shares her tips for delicious soups and chili. Here are a few of our recipes to get you started. Got a favorite? Rate and comment!

• Italian Wedding Soup with Vegan Meatballs
• Slow Cooker Chickpea and Lentil Stew
• Vegetarian Chipotle Chili
• Cheddar, Corn and Potato Chowder
• Mexican-Style Chicken Lime Stew
• More Soups and Stews

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 Pasta [4:53m]: Play Now | Download (3517)

One of the simplest meals to prepare is pasta. For novices as well as experienced cooks, pasta opens the door to many value-focused meals. Listen in as nutritionist and natural foods chef Alana Sugar shares her tips for enjoying pasta on a budget. Here are a few of our favorite pasta recipes. What are yours?

• Spaghetti with Pecorino and Black Pepper
• Penne and Broccoli with Zesty Gorgonzola Sauce
• Spinach and Cheese Lasagna
• Spaghetti with Garlic and Olive Oil
• Capellini Pomodoro

Also, check out our Guide to Pasta for more information.

One of our vendors was featured on Oprah today for their innovative calf raising practices. Inspired by their concern for animal welfare, the Strauss family spent years researching alternative veal raising systems. Ultimately, they say the most humane and compassionate system is the one Mother Nature provides.

For anyone who wants to eat veal, this is the way to go —pasture-raised with exceptional quality and flavor, while raised in a healthy, humane and sustainable way. They promise their calves are:

• Free to Roam – never tethered, raised in confinement
• Raised on natural open pastures alongside mother & herd
• Never raised in feedlots
• Unlimited access to mother’s milk
• Strictly vegetarian fed – never receiving animal by-products
• Never ever administered growth hormones
• Never ever administered antibiotics
• Never experience the stress of industrialized farming
• Traceable to place of birth
• Agriculturally sustainable & environmentally friendly

If you want to know more, check out this video on their website. Strauss Free Raised™ Veal is available in our stores in the Southwest, Southeast, Florida and Rocky Mountain regions. It’s coming soon to stores in other parts of the country.

Everyone talks about beans being a great value source of protein, but not everyone knows how to get them on the table easily. In this podcast, we asked nutritionist and natural foods chef Alana Sugar to demystify the process of cooking dried beans. Listen in to find out how and if you want more details, check out our Beans 101.  Once your beans are cooked, you can freeze them and use in any recipe calling for canned beans.

Here are a few of our favorite bean-based recipes. What are yours?

• Refried Beans with Roasted Salsa and Monterey Jack
• Bread Salad with Pinto Beans and Queso Fresco
• White Bean Soup

 Beans [5:26m]: Play Now | Download (3678)

Yes, it’s our weekly post with customer tips about saving while shopping at Whole Foods Market. Some of these tips talk about coupons and our Mambo Sprouts coupon booklets. Here’s a reminder that the Mambo Sprouts coupons are now in our quarterly Whole Deal booklet. Look for new ones hitting our stores next week!

Here are the picks of the week from our great customer tips. Got a tip of your own? Post it on the Whole Deal page. If your tip is chosen to feature here on Whole Story, you’ll receive a $25 gift card!

From Georgia:

Before Whole Foods opened in Naples, I was concerned that it would be too expensive for everyday shopping. I was so surprised when I found that buying my weekly basics actually cost less then at competing chains. I decided to price more elaborate menus and again found the prices to be more favorable. The secret: Whole Foods own brand name products are better and better priced than recognized name brands. The chicken broth, and pasta are just 2 examples. Then there are the great sales … daily! Today I bought a 2.5 pound sirloin tip roast, 5 pounds of russet potatoes, and 2.5 pounds of vine ripened tomatoes for about $20.00!! Where in the world can you shop like that? Over the weekend, I made risotto pasta with organic asparagus with a side of sauteed organic carrots - total cost to serve 6 people - $12 (includes pasta, chicken broth, organic onions, garlic, carrots, asparagus). Recipes from NYTimes Mark Bittman - my fav! Conclusion: Fabulous foods at fabulous prices at Whole Foods.

From Karen:

We like to shop at Whole Foods once a week. I always make a shopping list and try to stick with it. That way I don’t spend money on impulse buying. I really like the bulk section. Not only can you save a lot of money, but you can also save on packaging by reusing your plastic bags or brining reusable produce bags. Buying WF store brand, 365 Everyday Value, also is great way of saving money.

I like to collect coupons. A great way of getting coupons for organic and natural foods is the Mambo Sprout coupon booklet, which Whole Foods distributes about 4 times a year. You can find printable coupons online. My favorite is Organic Valley who always have great coupons on their web site. I occasionally write to the companies that make my favorite organic foods and ask for coupons.

I find that great way to save money and stay healthy is to eat homemade foods. My husband and I try not to eat out more than once a week, and we both bring our own lunches to work. Whatever we can’t eat while it is fresh, we freeze. In that way no food is wasted.

From Zoe:

It is really easy to get great, affordable food at Whole Foods. All you really need to do is become familiar with the prices of the items you regularly buy at the regular grocery store or discount mart and compare with Whole Foods. I am often shocked to realize that one item I may be buying at the regular grocery store is cheaper (and often a much better quality version) at Whole Foods. The things that have pleasantly surprised me lately are the whole wheat organic noodles, which are about $0.50 less than they are at the local discounted natural food warehouse. The same is true with the peanut butter and edamame. My latest great find is the soy hot dogs and soy butter that i have been buying at the large discount store are $1 to $1.50 cheaper at whole foods! Comparison shopping saves me about $10-$15 a week on a measely $50 weekly grocery budget.

When we asked our customers to share their favorite tips for stretching their food budget, quite a few mentioned roasting a whole chicken and turning it into several meals. So in this podcast, we asked natural foods chef and nutritionist Alana Sugar to walk us through the steps of roasting a chicken. She also suggests delicious dishes to prepare with any leftover chicken.

What are your favorite dishes using leftover chicken? Here’s a nice roast chicken recipe and some options for leftovers:

• Home-Style Roasted Chicken with Vegetables
• Rotisserie Chicken Pot Pie
• Curried Coconut Chicken Salad
• Chicken Tostadas

 Roast Chicken [5:16m]: Play Now | Download (3430)

Last week I made a super simple budget-minded meal that I wanted to share with our Whole Deal™ readers. I’ve already added it to my “make-this-meal-when-everyone-is-starving-and-you’re-running-late” list. It took about 25 minutes to get this meal on the table — awesome on a weeknight! It consists of sautéed sausages with red cabbage and lima beans. (You can easily sub green beans if you hate limas, like my daughter.) You want to use a package of fully cooked sausage – either pork or chicken. (I used our Whole Ranch™ Sausages —$4.99.) I’m guessing you could do the same with vegetarian sausage but I haven’t tried it myself. Here’s how it came together.
1.    Place a saucepan of water on to boil.
2.    Heat a bit of olive oil in a skillet and brown the sausages over medium heat, turning frequently, for about 8 to 10 minutes.
3.    Put frozen limas into the boiling water in the saucepan and simmer for about 15 minutes. Season to taste – I used butter, salt and pepper. (365 Organic frozen limas are delicious and only $2.19.)
4.    Thinly slice ½ head of red cabbage (I used organic – $1.88). When the sausage is cooked, remove from pan and add cabbage. Sauté in drippings for a few minutes and then add about ¼ cup apple juice, broth or water along with a bit of salt. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally for about 5 minutes, until tender.
5.    Serves 4 for a total of $9.06 and 25 minutes. Yeah!!

And now on to the featured tips from Whole Deal™ readers — each will receive a $25 gift card! Make sure to send your value tips – maybe a favorite budget-minded meal? – for your chance to win. These all come from super smart college students who are balancing their food budgets wisely.

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**Update: Friday, September 5th**

We are well on our way to recovery! A huge public thank you to everyone who has helped us get to this point so we can help meet the needs of our communities. There’s more to be done and we are up for the challenge!

• Our Baton Rouge store is up and running – moving off generator and onto city power. This store will be open from 10am to 6pm daily until the city curfew is lifted.

• Our Arabella Station store (New Orleans) opened for a while on Thursday. We do have city power back there as well.  Hours are not defined at this time (team members are making their way back to town). We expect to be running normal operating hours in the next few days.

• Our Metairie store (New Orleans) also has their power back so they will open at 10AM Friday. Reduced hours for now but should be running normal operating hours in the next few days.

• Our store in Little Rock was also affected by now Tropical Depression Gustav. Lost power Wednesday but got it back last night. Team Members scrambled to save product and reset the store, which will open at 8am Friday.

Thanks, everyone!
**Update: Thursday, September 4th**

Hello Louisiana! Want to give you all an update as you plan to make your way back to your homes. We got the following scoop from our leadership team in the Southwest Region.

Last week with Hurricane Gustav headed for the Gulf, our emergency preparedness teams were in the New Orleans preparing for the storm. Just before our Team Members and their families evacuated from the city, we managed to empty our New Orleans stores of most perishables. These foods are extremely susceptible to spoilage during power outages and can cause serious health hazards during cleanup, so we have a leg up on getting opened by moving that stuff out. We also moved store-sized generators from elsewhere in the region to the New Orleans area so that we could be up and running as soon as possible and practical.

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Okay, I can be wrong. A couple of months ago someone asked me, “Do you really think you are going to gain new customers with all of this value and Whole Deal stuff? Who is going to think that Whole Foods is a dollar store?” Of course no one is going to confuse us with a dollar store and, believe me, that’s never been the goal. It’s about helping people who understand the importance of natural and organic foods learn how to keep quality as part of their shopping picture. And truth be told…no, I didn’t we would gain new customers.

But I was wrong. Gladly so! Check out these Whole Deal™ tips from NEW Whole Foods Market shoppers. Read more tips from customers – new and old – on The Whole Deal™.

From Sarah N:

Now that I have my own apartment I just started shopping at Whole Foods and I love it. In order to save money (I am on a college student’s budget) I stock up on the 365 brand products. From sauces to bath products this brand is inexpensive while still giving me the “feel good” feeling of eating organic foods.

I also take advantage of the free food samples in the store. This way I know for sure if I want to buy that particular product.

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