foodskees

Ok.  So, a subject that is more and more becoming important in my life and the lives of others: food. or as any of my pinterest board followers know "Foodskees".  Truth: i eat too much, i eat a lot of bread and cheese BUT as usual, i'm trying, trying trying all the time and have changed other habits here and there that might counter balance my obsession with extra sharp cheddar.  All in all, i feel like we eat really well.  I have eliminated foods with high fructose corn syrup, (which is in things that you wouldn't think of, read read read!) colors (also mind boggling! pie crust???  are you kidding!?!? yeah, i know, i know "make your own pie crust suz, what the hell are you buying packaged pie crust for anyway?" because i don't freaking bake, ok?) and MSG.  I try my hardest to buy organic vegetables whenever possible.  I stick with The Dirty Dozen when it comes to produce, farmers markets when the season is right of course, we don't eat white bread, snacks are pretty limited and are usually pretzels and hummus, cheese, fruit, nuts, leftover whatever whatever in the fridge.  We don't drink soda (my love does on occasion, but myself and the kids do not, i used to though, GROSS, i'll tell you all about THAT catastrophe some other time). You get it, right?  I'm not perfect.  Not a bit.  I could always find a way to improve this process, but for now it works. I pride myself on making sure what we eat is good, is homemade whenever possible and doesn't contain crazy scary ingredients.  I also pride myself in my meal planning and budgeting.  It's something that, in my opinion, is the only way you can truly eat well when you have a strict budget to follow.  It takes time, but after a while you get the hang of it and can be really efficient when planning. Wanna know what I do?

1.) I brainstorm all the time since my head is ALWAYS spinning, but for the most part, I pick a day.  Usually it's Friday because i do food shopping on saturdays.  I take note of everything i have in the fridge and pantry.  EVERYTHING, even that half of a half of a red pepper, i will make use of it somewhere.  We are at the end of our 2 weeks so today is pay day (yay!) but the fridge and cupboard are very very sad.  so, this week is going to be a bigger week money wise but we will be spending less in others (see how this is going to work, ay???).

2.)  Dirty secret time: i open up the paint program. yup.  that dinosaur that we all used to think was the coolest thing ever 20 errr more years ago.  It's my go to.  i use it for EVERYTHING.  I love it and i don't care who knows.  anyway, trusty paint program and my foodskees board on pinterest open, i start a list.  sometimes i have not added to my board so i need to search for some new ideas, but i get a list of six meals Sat~Fri.  Then, i check my calender: yay! we are playing at mainely meat this weekend! that means i don't cook on saturday! whooooo hoooooooooooo!  the boys will eat at my mum's (the greatest woman on the planet.  no joke.  everyone says that about their mum, but really, she is a freaking saint and i would be lost without her and my dad).  The only thing we have going on this week is visiting a potential school for mr. oliver so that night i make sure it's something that is easy (like a crock pot meal).  It's important with meal planning to adjust it to your life.  If you make a meal plan solely based on what you like to eat, you might find yourself screwed, or preparing a roast at 8:30pm.  If you know that tuesdays are crazy and hectic, plan accordingly, save the roast for a day you have time to prepare it.  You can still eat well and eat with your family, even if you are all only at the table for 20 minutes.

3.) So, i have all my meals on one side, i have items i have on the other, i have my calender handy.  i decide what meal will be on what day, then i go one by one and just write down what i need for ingredients with each meal.  This helps me know what i need to buy, or if i have it already, what i DON"T need.  It also helps me figure out what i can use the ingredients for. example: i'm buying a bag of carrots because we are having vegetable soup this week, but Wednesdays dinner needs vegetable side too, whats left can be used next week, etc.

4.) this isn't really a step, but the rule is, we don't eat a lot of meat.  i make it a point to only eat red meat once a month, maybe twice.  when i buy chicken, it's nature place and it almost always, one package is for 2 meals.  I do this for health just as much as i do it for cost.  i like to get our protein elsewhere and it saves money so that i can buy things that cost more. give and take mama's, give and take.

That's pretty much it.  Really.  It does take time.  I won't lie.  It takes a lot longer than just heading to the store and grabbing whatever whatever, but i guarantee you it costs less, you know what you are making for dinner every night, and you eat pretty gosh darn well to boot.  

I'm lucky.  My kids eat really well.  They eat foods like broccoli, and devour whatever fake meat i decide to experiment making.  They eat leftovers in crazy combinations.  My husband will eat anything (even the fake meat, bless him!).  I get that kids don't like certain things.  I do. Hello?  I was one of them.  I didn't like to eat half of the things i eat now until my late 20's.  I wouldn't even TRY some of the things i eat now not even 5 years ago.  it's a learning process. but the sooner you start, the sooner it will just become the norm.  my kids didn't always eat all their vegetables, but i always put them on the plate. 

So, what's for dinner this week at the Woods'?

Saturday: Gig night! Mainely Meat on Main!
Sunday:  homemade pizza
Monday: Veggie and cheese pockets (avocado, broccoli, spinach, sprouts, etc.)
Tuesday: Spaghetti and salad
Wednesday: avocado chicken pasta bake
Thursday: homemade vegetable soup and sandwiches
Friday: chicken dagwoods

As i get more familiar with all this computer jargin i'll fiddle with links to recipe ideas (though a lot of them exist in my crazy brain). tomorrow, i will post a grocery list.

I want to leave this post with a disclaimer of some sort. is that even the word?   i don't know.  anyway.  what i want to say is this:
I am a really lucky mama.  I am lucky enough (as crazy as some of you know i can get) to stay home with my kids.  We qualify for the WIC (women, infants and children) program and have been apart of it for almost 4 years.  This is a tremendous help.  Some might scoff and turn their nose up at it.  Whatever.  I worked for 10+ years and put my dollars into the system, and i shall leave it at that.  This program is incredible and has changed the way my family eats and buys food.  I get checks for milk, cheese, beans, grain items, eggs, cereal and fresh produce.  every year we get vouchers for a dollar amount that we can spend at local farmers markets.  this helps my budget tremendously and i am very thankful for that.  it maybe makes it easier to buy the more expensive items because we save elsewhere, but dollar amounts aside, the WIC program has helped me teach myself about the basics of meal planning, and i believe that even when we are no longer eligible, we can still eat this way, paying very little extra.  i believe it is possible because of the knowledge i now have, and the awareness.  I wanted to make it very clear about my budget and that i take these checks into account.

Much love to you all out there in this crazy little universe, muah!

<3 Suz