Meal Planning 101-A Week of Whole-Food Recipes

Life gets crazy. Heck, I am a stay-at home wife right now (no kids, just a golden retriever), and I feel like my life gets crazy. We all have things that get in the way of eating well and being frugal. I know how tempting it is to just pick up a pizza, or to go out to eat. We still do that occasionally. It's okay, for us, once in a while, but we can't do that often because of our budget. I do know that while I was single, I blew a large portion of my money every month on eating out. Cooking at home is one of the easiest ways to save money, trim a budget, encourage family togetherness and conversation, and to make sure you know exactly what you are eating. Restaurant portions are massive-way more than we need to eat. They are loaded with fats and oils, and you really never know what is going into your food. I don't like that to happen to me very often. So I have made it my mission to cook at home. You can see my earlier post on budgeting and eating well on a budget here. Today, I want to focus on meal-planning.

I don't do this perfectly all the time. But most of the time, I choose a day of the week (usually a Saturday, but because of being sick this week and Easter this weekend, I am doing it today) and plan our meals out. I am not a super-stickler. Sometimes I change the order of meals around, and sometimes I pitch an idea the day of and end up eating pizza. It happens. When I do take the time to plan meals, make a grocery list, match up any possible coupons I might have, and set a budget, I am able to eat healthier, be less stressed, and enjoy the fact that I am not scrambling to figure out what to make for dinner every night.

Eating Well (Healthy, Clean and Natural) on a Budget

My husband and I were married about seven months ago, and once the honeymoon period wore off (which was actually pretty quickly, since I got sick right after we came home from our honeymoon), we were smacked in the face by reality. The reality of our budget. And believe me, it is a tight one. I worked as a teacher for five years before I moved and we were married, and I haven't been able to find a full-time position this year. I tutor independently, which helps a bit, but we live off my husband's salary, and it has been a challenge. Our situation is one that has brought us both frustration and unimaginable blessings. I am grateful for the constraints that we have, because we have learned to do more with less, to show gratitude for little luxuries and everyday necessities, and we have learned to communicate well about what we can and can't afford.