30 day grocery challenge

I preach a lot about healthy eating/real food and the number one thing that I hear back is that it is too expensive to eat healthy.  While it is true that sometimes boxed food can be cheaper than if you were to buy fresh ingredients and cook them yourself, I still don't buy this myth.  It's my firm belief that you can feed your family on a budget without sacrificing nutrition and resorting to unhealthy processed food.  To make sure what I believe is actually doable, I am challenging myself. 

Currently I spend $100/week on groceries and household items.  I am going to attempt to cut this in HALF, so our weekly budget will now be $50 a week to feed 3-4 people (I will cook portions for 4 people).  Eli is not eating solid food but will start before the whole 30 days is over. 

Is this going to be a challenge for me?  OH YES!  Is it doable?  I think so, at least I hope so, or my whole belief system on food and what I've been "preaching" is all down the drain.  So I'm putting my challenge in front of you for all to see and keep me accountable.  I'll put my receipts on here as well as meals and recipes so you can see that I'm not cheating.  We have been eating mostly grain/gluten/legume free,  but for this purpose, my main goal is to eliminate processed foods, so whole grains/beans/etc would be considered ok in moderation.  Every meal won't be spaghetti or beans and rice. 

Oh and one more thing.  This also includes eating out so if we decide to go get ice cream one night and spend $10, our food budget gets cut to $40.  Make sense?  I'm excited about this and excited about the extra $ that we should have in the bank at the end of the 30 days as well.  :)  Stay tuned!  I usually do my shopping Sunday or Monday so I will begin this Monday.

Bacon and apple porkchops

This meal just screams fall!  We recently went apple picking and have been making our share of sweets like apple cake, crisp, etc.  I was searching pinterest for some inspiration to finish off our oodles of apples and came across porkchops with applesauce and bacon.  I thought the bacon and apple combination was a great idea but wasn't too wild about the applesauce.  Apples in a savory dish sounded like a good change of pace from the desserts I had been making with them, and well, we all know how I feel about bacon.  :)  This meal was completely experimental. I started with a general idea of what I wanted it to be like and pretty much winged it.  Ken and I both really liked them.  Tart sweet apples, carmelized onions, salty bacon...What's not to like?  I served the chops with sauted dark greens.  Yummo!

What Bailey ate:  porkchop, strawberries, grapes



Bacon and apple porkchops
Ingredients
boneless porkchops ( I cooked 6 small ones)
2 small-medium apples (peeled and diced)
3 slices of thick cut bacon (sliced into bite sized pieces)
1-2 garlic cloves( 1 large or 2 small) minced or pressed
1 small onion (diced)
drizzle of honey
salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

Directions
Season both sides of porkchops with salt, pepper and garlic powder.  Heat 1-2 T of your choice of fat in skillet (preferably cast iron) over med-high heat.  Place porkchops in skillet and sear both sides.  You are looking for a golden brown color.  Turn back heat to med-low until porkchops are cooked all the way through.  Do not overcook!  While chops are cooking, add bacon to second skillet over med heat.  When bacon is starting to get crisp, scoot it over to the side of the pan and add onions and garlic to the other side.  After a few minutes, onions should start to soften.  Add apples and stir the bacon, onions, and garlic together.  Cook for about 10 minutes until apples are soft.  Heat may need to be lowered.  When porkchops are done top with apple mixture and drizzle with a small amount of honey. 


Linked to The Idea Room

Letter of the week- E

Here is our letter of the week round-up. I'll be honest, it was a rough week for me. Very few naps took place, Ken was gone a lot and I found myself wanting to pull my hair out most days. Looking back on these pictures though, I guess there were some good times. :)

Elephant E

Elephant lunch #1 with apple ears and blueberries (supposed to be water sprayed out by the elephant)

Elephant lunch #2. I got a bunch of new cookie cutters on sale at Hancock's. Yay! Yes I went a little elephant crazy this week.



Lesson on Emotions

 

 

Bible story: Eve and Adam in the Garden of Eden and the Fall (not pictured)

E is for Emotions

Bailey just loved this activity! We played with it for a long time making different faces and then she wanted to make an entire family, but we might save that for another day. This project was super easy and inexpensive. I have tons of felt laying around my house so this was free for me but even if you don't have felt it is extremely cheap at your local craft store. All I did was cut out a circle for the face and used scraps to make hair, eyes, eyebrows, and different shaped mouths. She had to have bows in her hair per Miss B's request, so I also added some bows. Felt sticks to other felt pretty well so there is no gluing or velcro in this project especially since we just did ours on the floor. It was a great easy project to talk about our emotions and feelings. I wanted to call her Emotional Ella but B didn't like that idea. She thought it looked like her so she wanted to name her Bailey. Oh well.

happy

sad

Surprised or excited

Scared


Mad

5 months

Wow time is flying! I can't believe 5 months have already passed. Eli is truly a joy. This pic is a pinterest recreation and I thought it was just too cute.

Pink (and green) smoothie

Smoothies are one of the most easy, quick, portable breakfasts or snacks that you can make. They are healthy and you can put just about anything in them making them very versatile to suit everyone's tastes. This one is our typical "pink" smoothie: strawberry banana. I also add spinach to just about every smoothie I make to get more veggies in. You can't really taste it but it just boosts the health content up even more. I like my smoothies on the thicker side so I use frozen fruit. If you are using fresh fruit and you like a thicker consistency too, use some ice as well. If you use a lot of frozen fruit and it seems to thick for your taste, add a little water to thin it out. I also rarely use any kind of sweetener because the banana sweetens it up but if you don't have banana and it seems a little tart for your taste you can use a little honey or stevia. Here is my basic recipe but you can customize it to fit your needs. Some other smoothie ingredients are mango, blueberries, blackberries, nut butter, raspberries, coconut milk, etc.

Pink smoothie
1 cup frozen strawberries
1 ripe banana
1/2 cup plain yogurt( I prefer either Greek or my homemade
1 cup loosely packed baby spinach

Put all ingredients in blender and blend until smooth. Add ice if you desire a thicker consistency and water for a thinner consistency.

Slow cooker chicken taco meat

Doesn't that look pretty! Looks like it took a while doesn't it? NOPE! Ten minutes tops of work on my part. The crockpot did the rest. This was a complete experiment and I was pleased with the results. I used this chicken to make chicken tostadas (sprouted corn tortillas in the toaster oven, topped with lettuce, chicken, cheese, salsa, and sour cream). I really wanted quacamole on it but didn't have any avocados on hand. :( You can also use it to put on salads, tacos, taco lettuce cups, quesadillas, etc. It was a quick and easy weeknight meal.

Ingredients
3 small thawed chicken breasts (I put mine in frozen but I wouldn't recommend it. You'll end up with scum to scrape off. Ewww)
1 partially drained can of Rotel or tomatoes with chilis
1 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. garlic powder

Directions
Dump chicken and tomatoes in the crockpot. Cook on low for 5-8 hours. Shred with fork. Add seasonings, stir, cook for about another 20 minutes. Eat!

Note: You might be able to dump everything in at one time but I didn't try it. If you experiment with this, let me know.