Know WHERE your buying:
When it comes to buying organic food, you have many options on WHERE you get it.  Regular chain grocers tend to charge a higher premium for organic fruits and vegetables.  I opt to purchase my organic produce from stores like Trader Joes and Sprouts, as they tend to have more organic options and have closer relationships with local farmers.

Your BEST bet for saving on organic produce is going to the source.  Farmers Markets, or the farms if you are lucky to live in a rural area where you can build those relationships.  Even living in a metropolitan area like Phoenix, there are co-ops through my Naturopath's office, or through farmers at the Farmers Markets where you can sign up to get a box of organic goodness delivered monthly to a designated pick up location.  Kind of like I am doing with my Honest Essentials Bundle for my house cleaning supplies. 


Know WHAT your buying:
To save money, not EVERYTHING you buy has to be organic.  While in a perfect world we'd all eat healthy, organic food all the time, however, when we're trying to save, there is a happy medium we can apply to find balance and save some pennies.

The EWG published a list of the DIRTY DOZEN.  These are the fruits and vegetables most likely to be heavily contaminated with pesticides and other nasties. 

I also buy all of my frozen fruits and veggies that I use in my soups and smoothies organic, because I don't know where the non-organic products come from before they are bagged. 

On a happier note, there is also a list called the CLEAN FIFTEEN.   Vegetables and fruits with thicker skins, usually ones that aren't eaten, help to protect that food from exposure to excessive toxins.  This makes them ok choices to buy non-organic.  Remember to still wash them very well.  I have mixed fruit and vegetable washes, I just soak them for a long time in water and scrub the skins lightly without harming the fruit or veggie.  If you are going to opt for a fruit wash, I suggest Honest Co. fruit and veggie wash since it itself is organic and pure. 

*Nosh&Nurture does not agree with corn being listed on the Clean Fifteen, since most corn is GMO.  Being  grain-free, I also don't consume corn.  I also buy organic cabbage, as I think it's just as exposed as lettuce.  

Know how to keep it fresh:
Now you have all of this tasty, healthy organic food at home that you paid a little more for.  How do you make it last?  Remember that keeping produce in the fridge, as opposed to on the counter, is going to help it last much longer and help prohibit mold growth for a longer period of time.  I generally keep my fruit in the fridge.  I'll keep my sweet potatoes, onions, avocados and bananas in my fruit bowl.  

Also, a great way to keep onions, garlic and shallots fresh for MONTHS, you have to check out this post at The Yummy Life blog, this idea is genius. 

When it comes to looking at organic living from a financial perspective, remember, you will be saving a large amount of money by NOT going out to eat.  By replacing your meals with home cooked, organic food, you can easily get a few healthy meals out of what you'd pay for one meal in a restaurant that doesn't pack nearly as much nutritional value.  Mr. Charming and I were easily spending a lot more when we'd go out all the time than we do now. So while the grocery bills may seem a bit heftier, in the long run your health, family and wallet will thank you. 

Tickle Me Tuesday List Of The Week:

1.  Good food & time to cook on a Monday.  Nom Nom. 

2.  Mr. Charming's, well, charm.  I had a crazy busy day yesterday of helping out friends at work, training, editing and writing, and meetings.  When I got home last night my hubs had surprised with an adorable designer summer dress.  Yeah, he's a keeper. 

3. Farmville 2.  Why is this iPad game so addicting, it calms me at the end of the day, and I totally played for like an hour in bed last night.  I know a goal is to purge electronics from the bedroom. But I just really wanted to feed my little goats, and make peach yogurt on my dairy farm last night ok?  Don't judge. 

4. Hart Of Dixie.  This show, I guess it premiered in 2011, is adorable.  I don't watch much TV.  But this Southern drama reminds me of Gilmore Girls and it's cute to watch when I'm editing. 
5. Ballet.  I guess I should give a ballet update.  It's hard, I'm so meant for hip hop and salsa.  My glutes and thighs kill. I still feel pretty in pink though... 

Thanks to all that voted in the poll and sent messages on Facebook regarding what extra special "day of the week posts" we should incorporate to accompany "Fitness Fridays".  Meatless Monday only got ONE vote, telling me that my following is truly a Paleo living, grass-fed beef eating group of ladies. :D And that is perfectly alright.  Wellness Wednesdays came in third with just a few votes, but since this blog is ALL about Wellness and whole organic living, I can see where it wouldn't have had its place to stand out as "special".  

The winners were "Tickle Me Tuesdays"  which was a reader favorite on my original personal blog back in the day, "Me and Mr. Charming", hence where Mr. Charming got his nickname on Nosh & Nurture.. and "Thrifty Thursdays" which I am quite excited about!  I love to help women budget and save on things that are GOOD for us.  So since I am running with both, I may not post every week on those days, maybe every other.  I couldn't choose between the two.  So, on with my first "Tickle Me Tuesday" post.  My reason for bringing this back was, through this journey to eating healthier, taking care of my body, my husband and our home in a healthy way, I learned that gratitude is critical to healing.  So aside from my morning devotionals and using my Happier App every night before I go to bed, I wanted to bring back this top 5 list of things that made me smile in my day.  I encourage you to also list in the comments, 5 things that brought you happiness today.  And if you spread it through social media, use #ticklemetuesday to get it trending so we can see your posts too! 

1.) My spiralizer came in the mail today.  You have no idea how excited I am to take sweet potatoes, carrots and zucchini and turn them into pasta.  So excited, that after 11 hours of work today I still went to the store to pick up some organic sweet potatoes to make dinner with it tomorrow night. 
2.) I dressed up for me today.  So many days when I'm working on magazine edits, I chill in my Victoria's Secret Pink Sweats, and a tank top.  Today I rocked a white tee, with Roxy drawstring tan linen pants and my favorite cropped denim jacket and fully did my make-up (mineral, organic favorites!) Sometimes it's just fun to be super-girly.  That and I like to still do that for my husband. 
3.) I had a delicious salad of butter lettuce, crumbled ground garlic turkey and organic french dressing made with apple cider vinegar and all organic ingredients for lunch.  It was delicious. 
4.) Then I made a big sundae. A bowl of chocolate coconut milk icecream and a fruit-sweetened brownie sundae, because I am PMSing and it just sounded incredible. Oops. Maybe I shouldn't have had as big of a bowl as I did.  But I never splurge.  So today, today I splurged.  Darn, hormones. 
5.) I got to spend time with a girlfriend today talking about Honest Co. cleaning products, mommy blogging and fun stuff. The soul needs that sometimes.  Relationships are so important.  God has blessed me with some good ones.

So, tell me about your day... 

So, as you can see we have an all new layout.  And I honestly have to say I am so in love with it.  I know I was on the fence about stepping away from the all green website, but thanks to your votes, it forced me to really look at it from a fresh perspective and I'm so glad I did.  

The light look is just so clean and, although I so passionate and excited about this blog and what it's growing into already, I am even more excited to add more content to something that feels so shiny and new.

I like shiny and new.


Speaking of new.  I recently ordered my first trial pack of Honest Co. cleaning products for my home, and beauty sampler for my body.  I am signed up to receive my first bundle and I'm excited to review the line. 


Mr. Charming and I will be doing some Spring cleaning this weekend, so I will let you know what I think of the "all purpose cleaner".  I've been making my own cleaners recently with white vinegar and baking soda, but Mr. Charming still likes to use regular store cleaners for tougher jobs, so I thought our Honest Co. order would be a good compromise and a step in the right direction. 

Free of all harsh chemicals, the products are supposed to be extremely safe for the home, even with little babies around.  So kudos to Jessica Alba for that one.

I have one more poll coming your way later today, as well as today's Fitness Friday post.  So stay tuned! :)