“Cheap, Clean” Eating For the Budget-wise Mom with Little Time and Lots of Kids

One of the things I enjoyed most about my recent Mom-only vacation was the chance to eat like a grown up.  Being the only adult in a house with five young children, I confess that I often eat like a kid.  Like WAY too often.  Not meaning I eat candy and gum at each meal, but I must admit that I have eaten far more than my fair share of chicken nuggets, macaroni and cheese and frozen pizza over the last year.  While I was on my own it was so nice to actually eat a hamburger (my girls refuse ground beef!), tomato soup in a sourdough bread bowl (yum!), an arugula/apple pizza (amazing!!), tomato basil goat cheese (wow!), a southwestern salad with a side of fresh bread (mmm!), etc… and actually feel like a grown up for a while.

As in how I would usually eat before we moved to California.  As in how I would love to eat all the time if this was a perfect world.  And you know what?  While it was just me, myself and I, I finally came face to face with my own excuses and put myself in my place. 

My son often complains that he doesn’t want to finish a task because “it’s hard” or because he simply doesn’t “want to.”  As Mom my response always centers along the lines of “I understand, but it needs to be done anyway,” or “You can do it!  Let's focus.”  And you know what?  That is exactly what someone needs to have been telling me all this time.  A good proverbial smack on the head, a little get-it-together-stop-making-excuses chit-chat, a bit of a shove in the right direction…  And you know what else?  That is exactly what I got from myself last week.  

Once I finally had a chance to sit and hear my own thoughts, one of the first things I heard my heart saying was “just suck-it-up, and do-it-right”.  May sound a little like tough love, but it was time I had a little heart-to-heart with myself, which was great because it resulted in the following chart of personal conviction in my journal.

Reasons to Eat Well	Reasons NOT to Eat Well
Feel better Lose weight More energy Sleep better Run better Healthier body Healthier teeth Good example for kids Feel better about myself Kids will eat better Less chemicals More nutrients Fresher food Faster prep Less expensive ingredients	It takes work Have to plan

So, yes, um, not too much left to excuse myself from what needs to be done, huh?  So...  I made a commitment to myself (and subsequently to my kids) – for the month of July I will put forth my very best effort to provide better balanced, fresher, healthier meals than I have been.  Not that we eat all that poorly, we eat pretty well overall, just a lot of the same things because I long ago burned out on cooking every night… but I want to purposefully be fresher and more natural.  To get refocused on the eating patterns I had before life got all crazy and such.  And to find a way to do it on a tight budget.

And so far we’ve done great.  Yes, it’s only been three days, but we are off to a great start and are in a good place heading into the next few days so I wanted to share.  For two reasons… 

First, so that I could brag a bit about actually getting myself back on track because I am really proud of sticking with my convictions, creating a menu for the month that will help me meet my goal, and hitting the ground running on July 1. (Selfish to brag?  Probably, but my kids don’t really appreciate the adultness and Mom-did-good of it all so I will take the camaraderie where I can find it.) 

Second, to share my ideas in case they may spark an idea for someone else.  I have a couple of friends who love to swap menus and recipes with me so I know they will love just getting a few fresh (no pun intended) meal ideas, but hopefully someone else can benefit as well.  I have a whole menu for July planned out, but here I have just spelled out four days to give you an idea of what we’re up to.  Hopefully it will be beneficial to someone.  If not, at least I have a written record of what has worked so I can do it again.

And I have to mention, although the food tastes great, the cost has been low, and everyone has liked what's been served, the best part really is the “clean”.  No junk in our food (or least very little since we had chips…) and VERY LITTLE CLEAN UP.  (A God-send if I might say so.)  It’s amazing how much faster it is to clean up after dinner when most everything is fresh and assembled as it goes on the plate.  I had pretty much become a one-pot, casserole kind of girl as I absolutely hate spending my evening cleaning up the kitchen when I’d rather be snuggling or reading with my kids, but this clean thing is even better.  I had forgotten how nice it is to clean up as I wash and create and have no sink full of messy pots and pans to wash after a meal.

So, it is what it is.  If you feel you just wasted three to five minutes of your time reading this, I’m sorry.  But if there is anything in here that sparks an idea that is beneficial to you, than the time it took me to type this has been worth it. 

MONDAY

Breakfast –

Cheerios

Blueberries (low price at Costco right now)

Fat free milk

Lunch –

Risotto (from bulk section at Sprouts)

Parmesan cheese

Raspberries (low price at Costco right now)

Pistachios or corn nuts (from bulk section at Sprouts)

Dinner –

BBQ Hawaiian Pizza (fresh pizza crust, BBQ Hawaiian sauce – one container=two meals worth, mozzarella, shredded chicken, sliced red onion, torn arugula-taken from a mixed green package)

Tomatoes and lima beans from the garden

TUESDAY

Breakfast –

Oatmeal or cereal (we have tons in the pantry)

Fresh fruit (fresh plums and peaches from my brother-in-law’s backyard “orchard”)

Fat free milk

Lunch –

Nachos (tortilla chips and cheese from Costco) or left-over risotto

Fresh fruit (choice of on-hand: peaches, plums, grapes, apple, etc)

Dinner –

Sandwiches (Honey wheat bread-on sale, mayonnaise, mustard, spinach leaves-taken from the mixed greens package, deli turkey-from Costco, Swiss cheese-on sale, tomato, cucumber)

Chips (choice of VeggieSticks, Snapeas Crisps or Pita Chip)

Red grapes (on sale this week at Sprouts)

WEDNESDAY

Breakfast –

Oatmeal or cereal

Fresh fruit (choice of on-hand: peaches,  plums, grapes, bananas, etc)

Fat free milk

Lunch –

Waffle (from Costco), Peanut Butter, Sliced Strawberry sandwiches

Sunflower seeds and/or mixed nuts (from bulk section at Sprouts)

Baby carrots with Ranch or Spinach/Artichoke Hummus (on sale at Sprouts this week)

Dinner –

Spinach and Cheese Ravioli (from Costco – one bag=two meals)

Mixed greens salad with slivered almonds (bulk at Sprouts), cut strawberries and blueberries, Honey Mustard dressing

Homemade Chocolate Sea Salt Carmel cookies (from our freezer)

SNACKS have included –

Plums, peaches, tangerines, apples, sunflower seeds, chocolate (it is still my house after all…), grapes, tomatoes eaten in the garden, left-over cucumber slices, bananas, graham crackers, mixed nuts, fruit snacks, Tootsie pops

And the plan for THURSDAY (4^th of July)

Breakfast -

Oatmeal or cereal

Fresh fruit (choice of on-hand)

Fat free milk

Lunch –  

Swiss cheese, ham and tomato sandwiches

Tangerines (“orchard”) and green grapes (on sale this week at Sprouts)

Baby carrots with hummus or ranch dressing

Dinner –

Turkey dogs (Costco)

Chips (VeggieSticks, Snapeas Crisps or Pita Chips)

Apple/carrot salad

Blueberries, raspberries and whipped cream (Red, White and Blue..)

Homemade strawberry lemonade (lemons from our neighbor’s tree)

Have a great Fourth of July.  Stay healthy!  And feel free to share your own “cheap, clean” ideas.  You know I'd love to read them, and my kids love to eat!