Here’s wishing you and your loved ones a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!

Still facing the bird with no clue how to cook it?  Got a finished turkey and unsure how to carve it?  Missing an ingredient and need a last minute substitution?  Check out our Holiday Guides & Tips for some help!

Thanksgiving is a holiday filled with tradition - celebrating the fall harvest with a bountiful array of fall vegetable sides and a succulent turkey centerpiece, giving thanks at the dinner table before the meal, watching the Thanksgiving Day parade and football games on TV and taking long naps after too much turkey and red wine.

Why not start some new traditions this year by “greening” your Thanksgiving?  Check out some of these great tips on how to make your holiday celebration memorable, while being a little kinder to the environment.

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Yes, I couldn’t resist posting a Whole Deal tips post featuring Thanksgiving tips.  As you can see from our chosen tips below, we’ve got some creative customers out there!  From using whole turkeys year-round to spreading out your holiday shopping to planning for leftovers - there are many ways to make your food budget more manageable - even during the holidays!

Remember, each week, we choose tips to be featured in our weekly The Whole Deal™ blog post. Every chosen tip gets a $25 gift card, so submit you tips and recipes here.

Pamela W.
Use whole turkeys throughout the year, not just at Thanksgiving. I stock up on whole turkeys when they are on sale around the holidays then use them throughout the year. I thaw the frozen turkey, and cut the breast off. This can then be used the same way you would use boneless, skinless chicken breast, for stir frys or kabobs, etc. I then cut the legs off, roast them, then coat with bbq sauce and finish on the grill, just like at the fair. The rest of the turkey gets roasted and I remove the meat and use it for turkey enchiladas or turkey salad for sandwiches. Then I boil the bones for broth that I store in the freezer to use whenever I need it.

Jane V.
With the holiday season rapidly approaching, I have found a way to help with the extra food expenses. I like to plan out my menus several weeks in advance and then spread out my shopping for Thanksgiving and Christmas over several shopping trips. I then absorb the extra costs over several weeks, rather then taking a big hit all at once. This also helps me to take advantage of any special sales(stock up and freeze things if you can) and allows me to try some of the goodies I don’t normally buy.

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You may remember back in summer when we first started up on Twitter and chose our favorite Tweet of the Day until the end of August. Well, Tweet of the Day is back - starting on Monday November 17th 2008 (coincidentally, also my birthday!).

Monday thru Friday of each week, we’ll be choosing our favorite. This person will then be entered to win the title of our Tweet of the Week and a $25 gift card. The winner will be announced on Monday of the following week.  We’ll be choosing winners for TOTD and TOTW until December 26th 2008.

What do you have to do? Just mention @wholefoods in a tweet and you’ll be considered in the running.  Don’t have a Twitter account?  Get started here.  Happy tweeting!

This week, we’ve got a spring in our step and a silly grin on our face - could it be love? Perhaps, perhaps… but seriously, folks - we’re just elated with the positive feedback we’ve gotten this week! You like us, you really like us!

First off, we were named America’s Healthiest Grocery Store by a panel of leading health experts.  Hooray!  According to the article, we topped the list because:

Whole Foods has the whole package — from an extraordinary selection of fresh conventional and organic fruit and vegetables to delicious prepared foods with healthy ingredients and clear labeling. (Most other stores offer mystery meals that may very well be loaded with butter.)

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I’m one of those people who can wander a grocery store for hours, weaving in and out of the aisles, often times doubling back just because.  However, this means that sometimes wonderful and unintended purchases end up in my grocery basket and raise my total bill beyond what I’d expected to pay.  The best way to combat this?  Have a game plan.  This week’s tips are all about efficient shopping - for better health, a faster trip and a smaller checkout total.

Remember, each week, we choose tips to be featured in our weekly The Whole Deal™ blog post. Every chosen tip gets a $25 gift card, so submit you tips and recipes here.

And now for this week’s tips on speedy shopping.
From Hillary M.

I follow a meal time schedule Monday-Friday. I eat Breakfast at 7:30 Lunch at 12:00 and Dinner at 5:30 with a 10:00 fruit and another fruit/pretzel snack around 3:00. The times don’t need to be precise everyday and if it can’t be followed exactly a granola bar always comes in handy. Doing this allows me to see what I actually eat more clearly and helps me to plan my grocery list. I always prepare dinners at night making sure to leave left overs for my lunch the following day. You’d be surprised at how much you save at the grocery store when you get what you NEED.

I also bring a calculator with me (small enough so when people see me they don’t think I am too anal). I set a limit and get the necessities first, if I have money left over I let myself indulge.

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Food and its obvious necessity to sustaining life has been a particularly hot issue this year with increased concerns about rising costs, safety and quality.  This week, we’d like to share with you two interesting projects that unveil aspects of the current state of food in the United States.  Let us know what you think!

Food Fight! Documentary

Check out the trailer for this new documentary by Chris Taylor about food culture in the United States.  The film features interviews with culinary heavy hitters such as Wolfgang Puck and Alice Waters, as well as nutrition expert, Marion Nestle and acclaimed author, Michael Pollan.

Food Fight is a fascinating look at how American agricultural policy and food culture developed in the 20th century, and how the California food movement has created a counterrevolution against big agribusiness.

One Dollar Diet Project

We found this linked from a New Year Time’s article earlier this week.  There’s a good overview of the project from their first blog entry:

Today we start our 30 day challenge of a one dollar diet. This means that for the month of September we will each have one dollar to spend on our daily allotment of food.

When we first started talking about doing this, we didn’t really have an agenda, or any developed sense of why we wanted to do it. It  just seemed like an interesting challenge; one that would force us to see things differently.

We are interested in many of the strands related to this experiment; food choices, consumerism, waste, poverty, social psychology, etc., and this experience may provide insights that could help us better understand and teach about a variety of concerns (we both teach Social Justice in a public high school).

One of the great pleasures in life is enjoying a memorable meal with your loved ones. Restaurants eliminate the work that goes into preparing a great meal - but at a price. Preparing special meals at home can sometimes take more effort than you have time for. How do you find the balance?  This week’s Whole Deal™ customer tips focus on getting that great dining experience in the comfort of your own home without all the work of preparing everything from scratch or spending a week’s grocery budget on one meal dining out.

From Channon:

My favorite savings tip is to let Whole Foods cater a Saturday date-night for me and my husband. Rather than going out to a restaurant and having a sitter (which costs!), we can wait until our children go to sleep and have a late super filled with a variety of exotic foods (which are even more reasonably priced and result in less waste since we decide the portions) from the “prepared foods” department; we pair that with great cheeses, fresh bread, and a glass of the 365 label wine and taste the foods of the world - prepared with wholesome ingredients -from the comfort of our home without breaking the bank (or evening using our car).

From Katrina:

We have saved money by shopping the ready to grill section and prepared food section at Whole Foods instead of eating out. My husband and I both realize how we have no control with what goes into the food we eat at restaurants and it can get expensive eating out. So when we have the urge to eat out, we buy amazing already cooked dishes or ready to grill kabobs and burgers and enjoy a meal that is much less than if we went out to eat and virtually little to no effort.

From Sara:

My husband and I enjoy fresh, healthy foods and are always experimenting in the kitchen.

Here are some of my favorite budget tips:

1) A fancy dinner at a pricey steakhouse can cost over $100 for a couple. I recently made filet mignon (fresh from Whole Foods!) with a side of roasted red potatoes and salad for under $15. Certainly, this isn’t everyday cooking, but you’d be hard pressed to eat anywhere for two for under $15.

2) If you have a pricey meal one night , enjoy a less expensive meal the next. Tofu is a steal at $1.50 for the Whole Foods 365 Brand. Pair it with a ready made sauce (e.g. Seeds of Change), jasmine rice, and naan - yum!

3) Eat real food. Why pay $4+ for a 12-pack of diet soda when you could enjoy a 1/2 lb. of fresh salmon, a loaf of whole grain, organic bread, or a few cups of raspberries for the same price?

How do you enhance your dining at home experiences? Submit tips to The Whole Deal™ customer tips page.

As a child, Halloween was my favorite holiday - an excuse to wear an outrageous outfit and walk around my neighborhood getting free candy - what was there not to love?  Sadly, I’m a few years past my trick-or-treating prime (though I still enjoy those crazy costumes!), but thankfully there are many bakers out there making sophisticated Halloween treats right in their own kitchens!  Check ‘em out.

At Home with Kim Vallee

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One of my favorite aisles to walk down in any Whole Foods Market is the bulk section.  Towering clear bins brimming with grains, dried beans, dried fruits, nuts, spices and more - all waiting to be weighed out and taken home - in exactly the quantity you want and need.  Plus, everything in the bulk section comes with minimal packaging and can be stored without the aide of refrigeration.  It’s arguably the greenest, healthiest and most economical place to shop in the store.  So if you’ve never taken a spin down the bulk aisle, I encourage you to give it a try!

Remember, each week, we choose tips to be featured in our weekly The Whole Deal™ blog post.  Every chosen tip gets a $25 gift card, so submit you tips and recipes here.

And without further ado, our tips of the week, featuring some great tips on shopping in this great section.

From Claire:

Beans are a great way to stretch a meal and add protein to your diet. The best way to save on beans? Ditch the can! I used to buy all my beans in cans until I realized I could spend the same amount on dried beans and end up with 3-4 times more food! If you plan ahead and put them in a slow cooker over night, you’ll have all the beans you need for your recipes the next day. Whole Foods has a really awesome selection of dried beans and peas in the bulk bins that are even cheaper than the prepackaged dried beans!

From Ed:

When the money is running a little short, its time to make sure the perimeter of the store is on the radar. Many of the packaged foods we like can be made by hand and save a considerable amount of money. Instead of buying a fancy granola cereal, go to the bulk foods section and buy oatmeal, various nuts and seeds. Get some sugar cane or honey or fresh fruit (will need to dehydrate if you want to keep the cereal for any time). Then with a little creativity add the ingredients together. Congratulations: cereal. Then head to the dairy section and get yourself some organic milk. Eat and enjoy.

From Marissa:

I love the bulk section of the store. As a recent college graduate not making much money, this section is the place to shop. You can buy HUGE bags of quinoa or barley, even polenta, for a fraction of the price. I also love the 365 brand. Everything from their shampoo and body wash to their frozen fruits (which are AMAZING once that particular fruit has gone out of season, just buy and stock in your freezer!!) are sooo cheap that you’d be silly NOT to buy it.