How I keep up with what we're eating...make it healthy and quick...all at the same time :)

Didn't you just love Tracy Sorrells!!

Today, I am going to talk about my menus. I have three goals in creating menus:

1) Keep it organized.
2) Keep it healthy.
3) Keep it cheap.

You're now thinking...I don't have time for this. But, I don't have time NOT to do this! Sure, it would be easy to eat out every night of the week. But we would gain 50 pounds and be broke. So, this is a better alternative!

1) Keep it organized. I think of a couple of things as I'm planning my menu. (I plan it weekly...monthly is just overwhelming right now.) a. what do we have that needs to be eaten: i.e. veggies, fruit, etc. that go bad   b. what nights am I going to be late getting home? Plan accordingly with crockpot/easy meal. This is really the core of my planning. I write it down on this to keep Justin informed:

Yes! It's from Pinterest :)





2) Keep it healthy. This is a huge priority for me. I'll talk about how I balance health and cost on point 3. I get most of my ideas from blogs and Cooking Light. Here are a few blogs that I highly recommend:

http://www.skinnytaste.com/

http://www.neverhomemaker.com/

http://goodcheapeats.com/ (not always healthy, but a good combo of economical and healthy)

3) Keep it cheap.  There are a couple of ways I do this.

a. I buy fruits and veggies on sale. It's best to buy fresh. The second best is frozen. (it keeps in more nutrients) I typically do not buy fruits and veggies in a can. I can get it fresh or frozen just as cheap if I stock up when it's on sale. For example...it's apple season. I bought apples for .99 cents a pound and making applesauce and freezing. I stay stocked up on frozen veggies and fruits too. There are many veggies that you can freeze as well. We were in a farm share association this Summer. So, I have green beans, okra and corn frozen in my refrigerator. I just googled recipes on how and what to freeze.

b. Buy good meat when it's on sale! We eat a lot of chicken in our house! A-LOT. So, when chicken is on sale, I stock up. You can find chicken at $1.99 a pound atleast once a month. But, what kind of chicken is it?!? I prefer Spring Mountain Farms chicken which is normally $5 + per pound. But...here's my scenario: It goes on sale B1G1 = $2.50 per lb. I have a $1 off coupon. Get the smallest package possible. Use your $1 off coupon and voila - $1.50 - $1.99 a pound. This only happens every once in a while. So, I buy 20 or so coupons on ebay and stick the chicken in the freezer.

c. Use less meat ... Sneak in beans where you can. Buy dried beans if you have the patience.

Soo...I think it took me longer to write this post than it does to plan my weekly meals. But...it keeps me sane and my family fed!

Happy beautiful Fall weather weekend!!!