A Stella self-portrait:
I've been feeling pretty tired and sluggish this week. I'm not sure exactly what's going on. I think part of it is that I am impatient for my vacation to start (we leave Sunday afternoon). :) Plus Stella has been waking every morning around 4 or 5 am, crying about some crazy thing. This morning she was crying because she wanted to watch Little Einsteins. The other day she was upset because she didn't have a cookie. I actually started laughing yesterday morning when she told me what she was crying about (though of course I can't remember what it was now!). I don't know if she's dreaming or what, but it's kind of weird. Luckily she settles quickly, but by the time I've trudged downstairs, tucked her back in, gotten her some water or sung a song, made a bathroom stop then back up to my bed I am pretty awake. Then Maggie stirs a little while later...
I also think it's partially due to nutrition (or lack of!). I've been eating crap lately (why oh why did I order those stupid Girl Scout cookies?!), and probably not getting enough vitamins/nutrients and not enough water (too much coffee!). As we are about to embark on a vacation, I don't expect my eating habits to improve in the next few weeks, ;) but I'm hoping to get back on track when we get home. I think a major part is just having a plan. I seriously have to plan every single meal. I need to know what to make for breakfast, and what to make for lunch for us and what to send with Jonathan. Plus I don't exactly have an unlimited grocery budget!
So I'm trying to go for a more whole foods/traditional foods approach. I already try in my cooking to use whole wheat flour, brown rice, honey instead of sugar, etc. But processed foods just creep back into our house, a little at a time, and so we end up eating all kinds of processed flour and sugars and crap. I think I need to just go through the kitchen and throw out all of that stuff, but I feel so guilty doing that, like it's a waste of money. Perhaps I could give them to someone. I found an interesting traditional foods menu mailer that I might try out. But I'm worried about totally blowing the grocery budget! I'd really really love to buy all local, grass-fed meat, organic eggs, fruit and veg, etc, but it is just so expensive. I live in a place where local organic food straight off the farm is relatively easy to find, but I just can't swallow the price. Maybe I've been going to the wrong farmers' markets and natural food stores, but everything costs twice as much than at the regular grocery store. Considering I am already struggling to keep within our food budget just buying conventional items (though if I'm honest this is partially due to poor meal planning and impulse buying), I just don't see how it's possible. (If I were made of money I would happily shop at PCC all the time!) I'm trying to figure out how to prioritze my shopping. I did find this cool pesticide usage guide to help decide when it's worth buying organic.
So. I need a little reader input. What do you do to eat healthy? How do you define "healthy"? And how do you save money on groceries? Please share any thoughts on food, nutrition, and grocery budgeting. :D
And now, after all that, it's time to find some lunch!
14 comments:
I don't know what you're talking about when you say "impulse buying" ... I always buy only what I need at the grocery store (I really NEEDED that Dove candy bar).
If you're looking to get rid of some of those Girl Scout cookies SEND THEM TO ME! I haven't been hit up ONCE this year and I think I may have missed out! Promise me that if/when Stella & Maggie become Girl Scouts they will hit me up...I'm an easy target...I will buy lots.
That's so adorable that Maggie sucks her thumb!
My method for eating healthy is just trying to use fresh fruits & veggies as much as possible. And to keep things simple...our I'm-too-lazy-to-cook-a-real-meal dinner is quesadillas: tortilla, cheese, avocado, salsa, and whatever else is in the house that sounds good...
For example, in an effort to consume more fruits (and to get my husband to), I'm going to make sangria tonight! See, eating healthy is fun! ;)
Ok, I've hijacked the comments section of your blog long enough...
CAN'T WAIT TO SEE YOU 8 DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
my kids have woken up with these weird things.. wanting things..
asher woke up wanting candy or cereal to put next to his bed and he'd go back to sleep.
Hmm, I could seriously ramble for a long time...I'll try not to.
We tend to be basically vegetarian/nutritarian, but that doesn't always happen - plus having 3 extra, non family members, whom I don't tell them what to eat, gets tricky.
I'm usually able to keep our grocery budget really low (unless I go to Costco!) and that's with 7 people here, sometime more.
Simple tricks:
Meal planning only for one week at a time and always plan the meals based on weekly sales. Shop once a week and avoid "running to the store"
Buy less (or no) dairy/processed foods/ meats (or eat leaner meats - ground turkey, chicken)
For me - shop w/out my husband, he's worse than kids wanting things:)
Stick to the outer aisles
Make things from scratch
Give yourself a "budgetary" reward - mine is if I stay in my budget I feel I deserve having one meal a week I don't cook (pizza night, etc, but obviously keep it cheap!) This is purely my own psychosis, Tim could care less if I was out of budget.
Do a monthly budget for ALL expenses (this is no fun, but rewarding).
Sorry! I get a bit intense:). And yes, I did end up rambling:).
This is something I get excited about, I'm weird like that. Would love to chat more...
Sister, thanks for the fruit and veggies reminder. I've been using less and less of those. I also like the sangria idea. ;) Can't wait to see you!!!
Danae, glad my kid isn't the only weird one! ;) They must wake up in the middle of a dream.
Esther, yes, let's talk more about this!! :)
Hi Sarah:
This is my first visit to your blog!
I think one very important key to saving money on food is to know what the best price for an item is and watching the unit price, especially at Costco. Some things are a bargain there - some aren't. Some folks create a price book but that's pretty time consuming. I just (over time) have learned what the best (or closest to best) prices are for the things I buy a lot of - such as canned chopped tomatoes, white beans, etc. Costco is tricky since some things aren't labelled with a unit price. You can start with a small chart and just keep track of a few items.
I plan my week's meals and try to rotate stuff so I don't get bored. I actually keep track of what I make in a month and put a * by the ones that are new and went over well with the boys. I pull my recipes from a list of about 35 or so.
I need to make muffins and cookies again. Making your own is SO much cheaper than at Starbucks, etc. Duh! I can make a pretty healthy muffin, too.
Once you move up here, you will be close to a Trader Joe's that actually has parking! :)
I save tons of money getting bread from the Franz outlet store on 164th (Walmart exit). They even have a thing if you spend $8 - you get a free loaf.
I keep snacks (non-perishable) and juice boxes in my car to save on impulse purchases - Mommy I'm HUNGRY!
mmmm. there's some good stuff here:) I didn't know you had a blog, I will stop by often:) I love your friend has a son named Asher, that's my second favorite boy name! (after Max of course:) I agree with Sheila on the Costco thing. Sometimes things just aren't cheaper and if you don't use it all because it goes bad before you can get through he bulk, You've just wasted money:) I make my own loaf bread and that can save since kids love toast and sandwiches. They have CHEAP bread flour @ Costco. I think we may have a new playgroup topic for the future! HMMM....:)
Stella kissing Maggie is my new background on my work computer :)
All these comments have excellent advice, and I only want to add 2 things. The Diabetic Cookbook I gave you should have excellent, healthy recipes, using fresh and unprocessed ingredients. (If you can find it - ha ha!). Also, re: organic - I just read something helpful on balancing budget and health. When buying fruits and vegetables, consider organic on the produce you leave the skin on when you eat it - pesticides can permeate the skin.
See you very, very soon! You can be assured I will be cooking healthy foods, so that should help :).
Hey girl--I'm in the same boat as Esther--feeding three additional people besides Nathan, Amos and I, and it's been difficult to stay within budget.
So here's what I've been learning over the past few months:
1) Shop at Trader Joe's and in your case, Safeway for the stuff TJ's doesn't have. You can get great quality of stuff at TJ's and Safeway, at least before we moved, had an "inhouse" organics label. I miss Safeway! Up here, I found a TJ's and a Super Target (so so great and cheap!) within a few miles of the other. It takes half an hour to get up there, but I stay within budget. Which leads me to...
2) Be realistic about your budget. I consistently was going over and feeling bad, so I finally talked with Nathan to say, let's look at our budget again. Can we up the food budget? What is realistic. We are now to a good place and I don't feel so bad all of the time!
(I buy organic for Amos when I can and regular for us, the rest of the time. Most of the time I stick to milk, eggs, apples, potatoes and yogurt and try to find the meat without hormones.).
3) Getting back to TJ's--they have a great frozen food aisle, with great frozen fruits and veggies, which makes it easy to add on a green veggie every night. They also have great bagged salad--mixed greens with herbs and other easy produce--really long cucs that last for awhile, shredded carrots--so right there, you've got two easy veggie portions to add to dinner.
Also in the frozen section, they have great frozen dinners that don't have preservatives or msg. I stash a few frozen dinners in the freezer and plan to serve one once a week.
4) I do a weekly menu too, so I don't get too overwhelmed. Each week, we have a pizza night (with salad or carrot sticks, too), a soup night, a frozen dinner night and then a "date night" type meal where I really cook, amongst other meals.
5) I realized this week that I don't plan meals for myself--I plan them for everyone else in the house, though! So I had to really think about what I like and need. Here's what I came up with, so far--I'm still thinking about it!--
breakfast: coffee and plain instant oatmeal with a pinch of brown sugar and lots of raisins. I put the kettle on and soon, bfast is made!
lunch: leftovers; curry chicken salad with pita chips; hummus (TJ's) and pita chips with cuc and tomato; sometimes, a bagel and cream cheese--totally an indulgence!
snack: more hummus!; apple and peanut butter; almonds; cottage cheese; yogurt.
Too, you might need to add an iron supplement to your vitamins if you aren't eating well. I tend to feel a tad anemic when I don't eat well. I was when I was pregnant, too. Super Supplements sells a great "non-constipating" iron supplement.
Lastly, I'm not sure if you all could swing it, but I get a few magazines in the mail with great recipes and there's always something good to try. That's been my source for many new recipes lately and it's just plain fun to plop down with a magazine after the kiddos are in bed (or until Maggie is ready to eat again!). Some favs include Everyday Food, Real Simple and Rachael Ray.
Whew! That's a long comment!
Hope this all helps! Keep going, you will always be learning and discovering, reconfiguring etc. We all have good days, bad days, seasons we wish we could redo. But our husbands and kids are still happy and healthy, so it must not have been too bad!
And have fun on your vacation!!
I'm glad everyone is leaving long comments, so I don't feel bad about writing a book, too.
Our family food problems were a little different than yours - I was just really bored with the things we usually eat and so we ended up going out more than we should - blowing the budget in the process. I would go to the grocery store and then get most everything I needed, with a few impulse buys, of course, but leave when I had wandered around too long and Jonas started getting cranky. Then I would get home, realize we forgot one key ingredient and ask Josh if we could just go out... later the other ingredients would go bad and then the guilt would get really awful (rotten food + over budget) I ended up begging friends for recipes, and got a few good ones (thanks Keren and Cheryl!) but not enough to sustain us. And it got really weird how bad I was feeling about myself (it seems like a key task of a wife and mother is to feed the family, right?...and I was pretty well failing)
Anyway, problems almost 100% solved by a recommendation on another mommy blog for a meal planning website called Relish. There is a fee ($7/month), but I think I've more than made up for it in lower grocery (and restaurant) bills. Each week you choose 5 out of a possible 15 meals (usually a main dish and a side or a salad) and then you print out the recipes and the shopping list. You can browse for things that are kid-friendly or low cost or vegetarian or crock-pot meals or quick prep, etc. The shopping list is the best part, its organized by section of the store, so shopping trips are soooo much quicker. And, our eating has been more balanced through the week(a fish, a chicken, a vegetarian meal, etc.). We usually scale our recipes up to 4, and then have leftovers for lunches. Along the way I discovered that its not that I don't like cooking (in fact I get a fair amount of satisfaction from it) I just really hate the meal planning and just need to be told what to do. Anyway, I've gone on long enough - they aren't paying me, I promise! The website is relishrelish.com My only complaint is that I think they way underestimate prep & cooking time.
You have some great friends with some great ideas. I could have used this kind of thing about 20 years ago! That relish website looks quite interesting - let me know what you think of it.
Hey Sarah and all,
thanks for this post and your comments! It has been so helpful to read through everyone's comments. Something that has really worked for us was realizing that I didn't need to cook a new meal every night. With a little experimenting I have figured out that if I plan for and cook three meals a week, we have enough to eat all week long. I usually make enough for 4-6 servings of each menue, and then we use the left-overs for our lunches. I don't have a set day when I plan to make the meals, that way I can make what I am in the mood or have time to make. It also helps me plan ahead so that if a meal takes extra steps then I can do them the days before, so that it doesn't feel so overwhelming to make the whole meal in an evening. when I plan the meals I try to make sure that there is enough protien, a dark green leafy vegetable and an orange vegetable each week. I only go shopping once a week, and I buy the groceries for those meals, any staples I have run out of so that I have everything I need in the house. I also stay stocked up on healthy snacks that we like so that they are around, like cheese sticks, cottage cheese, hummus, and yogurt.
what I like about this plan is that I am not locked into any schedule or any strict rules I have to follow. It takes about 15-20 min each week to plan the meals and write the list, But then the things I need for healthy easy cooking are right there.
I really hope Charlie finds his thumb soon, he keeps waking himself up when he gets his hands near his face...taunting that ol suck reflex! grrrr! =)
Sarah,
This might sound silly, but have you thought about writing down what you're eating? This summer I did it as part of my prayer journaling and it made such a huge difference. Sometimes I really have a hard time believing God cares and that he wants to help me be healthy and take care of my family (and self) (within budget), but I find I'm more thankful, intentional, etc. about what I have. I also only buy food for the recipes I have planned for that week. When I make the menu, I first look through the fridge to see what needs to be used and try to use that to build off of so I have less to buy.
Also, if you're looking for cheap - BEANS! Yes, they take a long time to soak, but they are veggie and protein and like brilliantly cheap.
I LOVE YOU GUYS!
Sucks her thumb already!? Sweet :)
Good luck on the nutrition endeavor. I totally know what you mean about not drinking enough water. And yes, it's because of too much COFFEE for me too!
wow! you win the comment award :)
I can ditto everything Keren said. I'm also, as you know, a fan of spud.com. that website helps me to buy things in season which is a good way to cheaply eat organic. Buying organic is a vote against the current food distribution and preparation practices in our country which is the second biggest reason (aside from the health benefits) that I try to always do it. Things really need to change.
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