I’m surprised – happily – that I can save money and get a ton of blood sugar friendly foods at the Sam’s Club 10 minutes from my house.  I’ve certainly changed my shopping habits to do that.

Before prediabetes was on my radar, I often stocked up on Sam’s Club’s supersize packages of carbs that I thought were pretty innocent: pretzels, baked chips, water packed mandarin oranges, Kashi Go Lean Crunch and low fat Skinny Cow ice cream sandwiches.

Those foods may be low fat, but they are high carb and all low fiber except for the Go Lean Crunch (and the fiber in the cereal doesn’t  compensate nearly enough for all the carbs.)

After I learned my blood sugar was too high, I started shopping for more quality foods.  At the same time, I tightened my grocery budget.

Increasingly, I’m driving to Sam’s.

I like to buy organic foods, but I’m no purist.  At Sam’s, I find I can fill my cart with a combination of organic and conventional foods at much lower cost. Prices vary over time, but the following products at Sam’s cost less than at a typical Northeast Ohio supermarket.

Produce

Bagged avocados.

Packaged leafy romaine lettuce

Bagged lemons

Haricort vertes (long very skinny green beans, delicious when roasted)

Giant package of coleslaw

Bagged organic mini carrots

Bagged organic quinoa, much cheaper than at a supermarket or health food store

 Dairy

Three pack of Horizon organic 2 % milk  ( milk freezes very well)

Bags of Babybel light mini cheese rounds

Snacks

A case of Annie’s cheese popcorn (7 carbs, 100 calories a mini bag) A pre-portioned snack  that everyone likes.