Grocery Shopping

Getting back on track with the eating after the holidays was easier than I thought it would be. I know I actually felt better when we were eating healthier so I think that made it easier to do. Now that I am only working one job, prepping and preparing healthier food is much easier. My goal is to get into a routine so that while I am preparing dinner I am also working on the next day's food. This morning was nice, lunch was ready so all I/we had to do was put everything into our lunch into our lunch boxes. Here's a quick rundown on our menu:

Monday: (before going to the grocery store)

Breakfast--Toast with cheese, pineapple

Snack-Laughing Cow Cheese, Wasa multigrain crackers

Lunch: Ham Sandwich, carrot sticks

Snack: Steamed Edamame

Dinner: baked Salmon, Rice, corn

Tuesday:

Breakfast: Special K cereal, boiled egg

Snack: lowfat vanilla yogurt, mixed berries, almonds

Lunch: Tuna wrap, small garden salad, vinaigrette dressing

Snack: carrots, hummus

Dinner: Bean Soup, slice cornbread

We are watching portion sizes and have found that by eating those snack it keeps us from being starving and over eating at meal times. If you are interested in recipes or portion sizes let me know.

We went to the grocery store last night. I have approached my meal planning several different ways in the past, but I think I have found one that is going to work for us health wise and for our budget too. We have tried to limit shopping to a certain dollar amount, but then I miss out on some of the sales and things that I can get with coupons that eventually lower our bills. I have also followed a specific eating plan, which while effective for our health and weight loss, totally blew our food budget. I have decided for now that I will "shop" our pantry first, plan as much as I can using ingredients on hand and then making a list for the remainder. Then when we are shopping, I can take advantage of all the sales and stock up on things we use often without worrying about unused food piling up or blowing the budget. I am sure others have thought of this but I just thought of this after trying many recommend, and not quite for us, shopping plans. Another thing I have done to eliminate wasted left over food was to plan Fridays as left over day. 

Included in our grocery budget are all breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks (with the exception of one dinner a week), paper goods, household cleaning items, and toiletries. We spent: $83.20 for the week. I had $8.80 in coupons and saved $25.25 with my store loyalty card, for a total savings of 30%. I hope to get this down lower, but I had slacked off on the coupons so I didn't have as many and we hadn't been to the store in a couple of weeks so the pantry was pretty bare.