At the beginning of January, or at least once we got back home to N.C., we were eating very very healthy. Our fridge was a storehouse of fresh fruits and vegetables, and we spent a week savoring a large pot of homemade vegan soup. We also discovered that we love Kale and Brussels Sprouts! Life was good, and we felt good. But I guess I spent too much money on all of that wholesome goodness, and had to cut back a lot towards the end of the month, and I never thought I would say this, but I feel it. My mood has been depressed, my cravings have been out of control, and my body hasn't felt 100%. Have you ever experienced this before, knowing that it was related to your diet?
Fortunately, Wednesday marks the start of a new month, which has me thinking a lot about what we need to be filling our bellies with. I'm going to try a new tactic of splitting our food budget into sections, with a certain amount allotted to that group, like $20 for veggies, etc. I think that this will at least ensure that we're bring home the right types of food and in the right amounts.
One of the things that I think was really helping me feel great, was my protein intake. I seriously would have never thought to watch the protein in my diet had my midwife not brought it to my attention that I really needed to work on getting 3 servings each day. Mostly what I did to achieve this was eat an apple with peanut butter for breakfast every morning, and boy was it delicious. Because I felt so awful this past week or so, It has me wondering what other ways we (meaning Cody and Seb, too) can get more protein.
Enter... Tempeh and Quinoa. Do you cook with either of these? I would love any tips or recipes that you have. I love that Quinoa is a grain, but is also packed with protein. I'm sensing a good replacer for pastas and rice.
P.S. I found this helpful. (Also image source)
I have a great recipe using tempeh -- it's a bit of a treat because some of the ingredients are on the expensive side, but it is worth it. I'll email it to you if you promise to share some good quinoa recipes - I'm really interested in trying it.
ReplyDeleteWe always have the same problem with the food budget, so in January, we meal-planned and grocery-shopped every week, making sure that we only spent a certain amount on groceries weekly. It worked really well - it just took some discipline and planning ahead.
it looks so good, dawn! thanks for sending it! i am also finding that in sticking to a grocery budget planning is the most important part. i'm headed to the grocery now. we'll see how it goes, haha!
DeleteI use quinoa all the time! I use it whenever I would just eat rice, and often split it 50/50 with a red himalayan rice to cut down on costs (rice is just cheaper, no matter what kind!) but also because quinoa by itself can almost be an overload, and just go through you undigested! I use it in stuffed peppers, on top of lentils, as a topper on top of casseroles, etc. It's amazing. And, you can buy it at Costco (the yellow variety anyways) for the cheapest price that I have found yet. They (whomever they are) say that black is the highest and red is second, but all of it is amazing for you. It's so easy to prepare and so nutritious, and I think it's tastier than rice.
ReplyDeleteI know little to nothing about tempeh- highly interested in this! Please share whatever you learn.
Regarding budgeting, since Jason and I have decided to really trim any excess (eek!) out of it, we've also come to fact that about every other month will be higher, just because you have to restock on some basics that you use all the time. I budget a certain amount for each week of the month, for fresh things like greens and milk and eggs, and then split up the rest of the budget depending on when stores have things on sale. Freezing also makes it doable.
mixing rice and quinoa is a great idea! thanks! and i'll definitely keep you in the loop about tempeh. i'm so excited to try it.
DeleteHi Mary! I'm a hillsdale alum and somehow stumbled across your blog. I saw this post and thought I would recommend the book "Feeding the Whole Family" by Cynthia Lair. It was the perfect cookbook for me when I was pregnant with my second as it had lots of great ideas for my toddler too. Congratulations on number two! Warmly, Liz Slyh
ReplyDeletethanks so much, liz! that book sounds like exactly what i need. glad you stopped by!
DeleteMy midwife and birth class instructor were both adamant about 100 grams of protein a day - 100 grams! It is not easy to fit that into a diet, I know. I ate peanut butter a lot. I also ate eggs pretty much every morning for breakfast. Cheese and almonds and beans were staples as well. My midwife also recommended quinoa, but I never got around to making it, unfortunately.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I can really sympathize with food budget battles. It is such a challenge to provide healthy and interesting meals for the family while trying to save money.
I have one budget recommendation for you. The first is www.southernsavers.com. It's run by one of those "extreme coupon" ladies and she basically teaches you how to coupon; you can do as much or as little as you have time for. She's got a great tool for making a grocery list as well as links to every store and coupon site you can think of.
ReplyDeleteI've learned from there to only buy things that are on sale and keep any coupons I might possibly use, ever; as a result I've saved about $75-$100 the last couple of months (I mainly shop at Kroger, since that's closest and the least ghetto). :) I'm still spending more than I would like, but I also realize that a) fresh food is more expensive and unless I want to go with all processed food, I'm going to be spending a bit more, and b) we have three adults living in the house. This will cost more than one adult. I have to get over it. :) Anyway, the CVS and Walgreens videos are especially helpful; necessities are something that you can save a TON on (sometimes even get stuff for free).
My second recommendation is for soups and stews (you might already do this); save your veggie trimmings in a ziploc in the freezer. Once you fill a bag, boil it in water, strain all the trimmings and throw them away, and you have yummy broth that has all those nutrients we normally toss out. I think about all the sauces, soups, and casseroles I can flavor with it, and get excited. I have a few bags I need to boil.... :)