For those who come to the Meetings, you probably already know Karrie & my pre-occupation for healthy cooking, here is my addition for those who are bargain shoppers, too!

Having invested in Trader Joe's Peanut Flour - I love this stuff!  It is a cheap protein option to add to shakes & recipes calling for Peanut Butter - lower calories, and all the flavor, without all the fat.  The other reason I started looking for peanut flour - I do not like the added sweetness of SF Syrups.  I found some on Amazon, and still looking for other, cheaper options than TJ & Marlene's.

Coconut Flour is what I have found at Marlene's & WinCo!  Again, you can mix it into shakes, use it for cooking, flavor & protein without all those pesky calories or fat!  WinCo is so cheap, if you can stand shopping there, it is an excellent option!

TVP - Textured Vegetable Protein - soy that looks a lot like Grape Nuts, has little flavor, TONS of protein, fiber, oh and calci-YUM - potassi-YUM - and Magnesi-YUM (corny, but what the heck?).  What is TVP?  De-fatted soy flour, so you are pumping up recipes with 12 grams of protein for every ounce, while adding 80 calories.  I use this stuff in LOTS of things, soups, meatloaf, anything you need to add a little bulk to.  TVP will take on flavor from fluids - chicken broth, etc. - so it is a fabulous ingredient.  Marlene's charges (if I remember correctly) about $12 a pound - but it weighs next to nothing!  Here is my better option - WinCo!  TVP was just over $3 a pound, in the bulk section.

Unflavored Soy Protein - my next deal - again, WinCo!  I found it in the bulk section, and freaked at how cheap it was - sorry, I forgot the price per pound, but it was CHEAP!

Do you want flavor without alcohol (extracts contain alcohol) or sweetness?  http://www.faeriesfinest.com/  &  http://yumdropsflavoring.com/  Cheap ways to add flavor - just a few drops, lasts a long time.  I still have a couple bottles in my pantry from previous meal replacement shake days!

Your body NEEDS potassium, and for me, the cheapest way to get what my body needs is at Costco & Sams Club - right now save $3.50 at Costco.  I buy a case of 11.5 ounce Low Sodium V8 (non sale price around $14), 70 calories with a third of your daily potassium needs.  Potassium is not easily found in supplements, it is in food.  Since we are limited in what & how much we eat, I love having a Low Sodium V8 every day or so.  If you have room, just stock it in your pantry! 

We all have our favorites when it comes to protein supplements, so I won't even muddy the post with what I buy.  I am preparing for a month away from home, so planning a little will save me a lot!  If you take a little extra time shopping, you can save a lot & get more bang nutritionally for your buck!

Brenda  : )~

Sure!  It's yours.  Let me know when you can stop by and pick it up.  I live at 640 Van de Vanter Ave. Kent, WA 98030.  I'm home all day today.

I've got a working treadmill that I am looking to give to someone that will use it.  It works but I have no room for it.  If you can use it and have a means to haul it away, let me know.

 Welcome to the group.    

I just saw this post of the top 50 diet sites. I thought I would just add them in here for a reference.

This was from an article by DietSpotlight.com

Dietspotlight.com’s Top 50 Diet Blogs

At Dietspotlight.com, we’ve read hundreds of blogs and websites discussing diets and dieting. We get over 25,000 visitors every day, and readers are always emailing us with their blogs, and with sites they think we’ll like. Out of all of the diet blogs we’ve checked out, these 50 are the ones we keep coming back to for healthy weight loss advice and tips. Some are entertaining, some are serious, and some are inspirational. If you’ve got a blog you think should be on here, drop us a line. Happy reading!

Blog Name
A Life Less Sweet	http://alifelesssweet.blogspot.com/
A Weight Lifted	http://www.fitwoman.com/blog/
Angie All the Way	http://angiealltheway.blogspot.com/
Anonymous Fat Girl	http://www.anonymousfatgirl.com/
Back in Skinny Jeans	http://www.backinskinnyjeans.com/
Body By Pizza	http://bodybypizza.com/
Bye Bye Fat Pants	http://www.byebyefatpants.com/
Chubby Chicks Run Too	http://fatrunnergirl.blogspot.com/
Defining Wellness	http://definingwellnessblog.com/
Doublechinned	http://doublechinned.blogspot.com/
Down Home Dieting	http://downhomedieting.wordpress.com/
Eating Bird Food	http://www.eatingbirdfood.com/
Fat Girl Dives In	http://fatgirldivesin.blogspot.com/
FatBloggers.net	http://www.fatbloggers.net/
Fight Fat Phobia	http://fightfatphobia.blogspot.com/
Follow the Fat Girl	http://www.followthefatgirl.com/
For the Love of Oats	http://loveofoats.com/
Girl Heroes	http://www.girl-heroes.com/
Healthy and Sane	http://healthyandsane.com/
Healthy Mom on the Run	http://healthymomontherun.com/
Healthy, Hott, Housewife…	http://healthyhotthousewife.blogspot.com/
In Weigh Over My Head	http://inweighovermyhead.blogspot.com/
Just Another Weigh	http://justanotherweigh.blogspot.com/
Kat’s Adventures in Dietland	http://katdoesdiets.blogspot.com/
Log My Loss	http://logmyloss.com/
Mama Sweat	http://mamasweat.blogspot.com/
Melting Mama	http://www.meltingmama.net/
Minus the Whipped Cream and Cherry	http://mandysthirtysomethingblog.blogspot.com/
Pimp My Protein Shake	http://pimpmyproteinshake.blogspot.com/
Running Around Normal	http://runningaroundnormal.com/
Skinny Hollie	http://www.skinnyhollie.com/
Skinny Me!!	http://weigh****cher76.blogspot.com/
Smoothie Girl Eats Too	http://smoothiegirleatstoo.blogspot.com/
The Blubber Blog	http://blubberyblogger.blogspot.com/
The Chubby Girl Diaries	http://chubbygirldiary.com/
The Daily Dietribe	http://www.thedailydietribe.com/
The Fat Assassin	http://fatassassin.blogspot.com/
The Great Fitness Experiment	http://thegreatfitnessexperiment.blogspot.com/
The Health Nut	http://healthnut-em.blogspot.com/
The Healthy Apple	http://thehealthyapple.com/
The Healthy Everythingtarian	http://www.thehealthyeverythingtarian.com/
The Token Fat Girl	http://www.myallnaturalweightloss.com/
Thinspired Blog	http://www.thinspiredblog.com/
Tippy Toe Diet	http://tippytoediet.com/
Trayn Harder	http://traynharder23.wordpress.com/
Weighing in with my .02	http://sarahsweightlossjourneyblog.blogspot.com/
Weight Maven	http://weightmaven.org/
Who Ate My Blog?	http://www.whoatemyblog.com/
101 Reasons I Hate Being Fat	http://101reasonsihatebeingfat.blogspot.com/
12 Million Steps	http://www.12millionsteps.com/