Celery Convert

1 cup = 14 calories

I was never a big fan of celery however it is one of the few vegetables my husband will eat.  Well actually he will only eat it raw with peanut butter.  In an effort to get more veggies into his daily lunches I decided to buy a bunch of celery, cut it up and put it in Ziploc bags in the refrigerator.  This way I could easily throw it into his lunch everyday.  I normally get up at 4:30AM for work so I need to have things preplanned out for both of our lunches.  I bought the natural Jif Peanut butter to-go cups (250 calories / 1.5 oz. cup ~ $0.25/each at Marc's) since Jif is the only brand my husband will eat.  Even though I have never liked celery or peanut butter, I started eating it just because it was there. It actually wasn't too bad with the peanut butter and this snack left me very satisfied.  I sought out other things I could dip my celery in.  I found some to-go cups of organic hummus (120 calories / 2 oz. ~ $0.27/each) and organic guacamole (100 calories / 57 g ~ $0.33/each ) at Costco which I loved even more.  Long story short, I have been eating about a bunch a day and over the course of about 6 weeks I lost 9 pounds. 

I got so excited about celery that I did an internet search and found out that March is National Celery Month (couldn't find out why though).  I also found that celery is high in fiber, potassium, Vitamin K and many other vitamins.  It is grown in California, Florida and Michigan. Organic celery usually goes for about $2.50 to $3.00 a bunch at Whole Foods and Heinens which seems like a lot.  Celery is on the "Dirty Dozen" list in regards to pesticides.  So it is really a personal choice here.  I usually buy both organic and non-organic (about $1.00-$1.50 per bunch). I usually get about 4 servings out of a bunch.

Price Breakdown
1 serving Jif Peanut Butter + 3/4 cup of non-organic celery ~ .50-.65¢
1 serving Jif Peanut Butter + 3/4 cup of organic celery ~ .90-$1.00
Marc's Jif Peanut Butter ~ .25¢
Costco Organic Hummus ~ .27¢
Costco Organic Guacamole ~ .33¢ 

Try this celery recipe from www.MichiganCelery.com.