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The big food budget debate

Once again, our budget was overrun by the food budget. We spend WAY too much on food. It is insane considering that we get half our food for free and I make enough that we really honestly shouldn't EVER be eating on Don's paycheck at all. But yet, we did. YIKES!

So in comes the budgeting, and the recipe filing, and the planning with ways to save in that area.

I have gotten some really wonderful ideas from these two ladies.


This is a whole foods website that does about 4 recipes a week. Each and every one is whole foods. Many are dairy free and vegan as well. She does a great job posting the shopping list for the following week at the start so you don't have to wonder whether or not you have enough Agave Nectar to make all four recipes this week. Many recipes are "out there", but I find myself very compelled to try them out. It is a wonderful format and I can't wait to search through her recipes and find new favorites, which I am sure to with beauties like Walnut Banana Muffins.


This lady is very special in my life. Not only is she constant inspiration for me in many ways, but she also happens to be my best friend. :) She and our other dear friend Heather came up with this amazing binder idea for food recipes. I think it is brilliant! I haven't yet tried to figure out how to do this on a local diet, but it is worth a try as it would make meal planning SO much easier!

I also just got the book "In Defense of Food" by Micheal Pollan (the author of "The Omnivore's Dilemma") from the library and I can't wait to dig in and get back into food on the intellectual level as well. The first line makes a great start for a good conversation:

"Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."

Yep.
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Anonymous said…
The prices of everything has gone up so much. Just a simple gallon of milk is about $3.67 a gallon here now. The baby drinks whole milk and we drink 2% milk so that adds up. I saw cheese the other day in slices for sandwiches at over $4 for a pack of 24 slices. I normally use the block cheese for cooking, but I may start having the kids use that on their sandwiches too. Its cheaper than buying both. With the prices of gas going up, its affecting everything else unfortunately. Organic food is already pricey as it is so buying organic isnt saving any money; atleast not around these parts. I grow what I can too and that helps but back to Trader Joe's I go once my garden dies for the season. Ugh.
7:02 AM
Anonymous said…
Thanks for the links. All I can do is agree with the price of food and it's effect on the budget. We do not have a choice (I guess we do have the choice, but going back to junk isn't an option) but to eat naturally and organically.

I do need to plan better though because we don't have the option of eating out. There aren't very many restaurants near us we can go to for a family dinner and the ones we can go to are very expensive for our budget. Our dietary change has really opened our eyes to the lack of resources here in Kansas City on the Missouri side for families with young children.
12:55 PM
Val in the Rose Garden said…
I understand the need to eat naturally and organically. It doesn't feel like a choice to me in many ways either. But of course, it is... I mean we could be filling our small children with pesticide and foods grown on unsustainable plots of land where the same chemically enhanced monocrop goes on for miles and miles. We could... in theroy. lol...

I have really enjoyed the challenge of trying to cut back, although now I feel bad about my little indulgences.

But to find balance, you need to go to one extreme and then the other. Then balance comes. I hope.

Val
2:17 PM
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