Food Friday

 I have struggled for a long time with food in this house from organic to not organic, processed foods to unprocessed foods, gluten free, dairy free, clean verse unclean meats and eggs, etc....

My dad was recently diagnosed with a stomach issue that is directly related to the food he eats. For some reason his illness was the final straw for me. Our food is making us sick, and I need to do something about it. NOW.  The conspiracy theorist in me thinks that so many people are diagnosed with autoimmune diseases (partially or fully) because of the food we eat.

The shelves are lined with food/diet books in bookstores and in libraries with solutions to our problems. Each seems to contradict the other - making someone like myself a crazy person (or a crazier person than I already am). So, what's a girl to do? Follow my gut instinct - that's what. So, what does my gut tell me? Right now it says this...organic is good, but be wary because organic is becoming too mainstream which means that the corporate giants are going to cut corners to create a bigger profit margin while still being able to carry their products with the organic label. Meat and Eggs must be clean. By this I mean must be organic, sustainably farmed, must be grass fed (if beef). Homemade is best. My kids like cookies and other treats. It is not feasible for me to give up all of those things entirely, and I won't. But, I think that homemade is a billion times better than store bought, so I am going to try like the dickens to make things from scratch as much as I can when it comes to sweets, breads, etc...Preparation is key. I know this, but I fail a lot in this area. I no longer plan out a weekly menu I just kinda look at what we have or what I feel like making and either prepare it or run to the store and get the ingredients I need for just that night or the next day. Plus, I tend to use packaged snacks a lot because I am not prepared either in time or ingredients to make something healthy or homemade that I know that the kids would enjoy. If I was more prepared I could mitigate both of these poor excuses of not having better food choices available in my home.

Another issue with food that I have (and this is where I am going to sound extremely whiny) is that it is so much easier to go to the store and buy something in a box. Stouffer's Mac and Cheese is a good example. Who has the time to make the good, healthier, homemade version of mac and cheese? Or if you do have the time who wants to eat that kind of goodness when our taste buds have been trained to crave the processed deliciousness that only Stouffer's can offer?  It is really, really hard (for me anyway) to consistently prepare and keep on top of our food choices when the food industry, via good deceptive advertising, is constantly telling me how hard it is to make things homemade and to just go out and buy their products because it will make my life easier. I fall prey to that ALL the time. The crazy thing is that I know better, but I convince myself that I am too busy to focus on food because of everything else going on in my life. The fact of the matter is that some of my issues could be helped (and some of my children's as well) if I spent more time focusing on food and what we ingest daily.

On top of all of this is the astronomical costs associated with the food that we eat in this house. Including takeout/dining out we spend around $1750 a month in food. Can you freaking believe that number? I cannot either. That is a lot of damn money. That is a lot of variable money. That is money, that if I saved just $500 a month, would be enough for my family to rent a sweet house in Cape Cod next year for two weeks, and be able to enjoy things such as whale watches, fishing excursions, etc...Or it would be enough for the 6 of us to go on a sweet cruise to the Caribbean. Either way, that money could be put to good use.

So, I need some help. If anyone has any ideas or suggestions as to how they save money on their groceries I would love to hear them. With summer approaching, and the kids lives slowing down, I will be focusing almost entirely on how to cut down on costs, feed my family healthier homemade meals while not spending the entire day in the kitchen. Yeah, I know, I have my work cut out for me. Wish me luck!