In my previous blog, I mentioned eating for fuel and rethinking what you can cook quickly and conveniently.
Below is a typical grocery list we use at our home to make food with less additives, less unhealthy fat and more nutrients. Most meals and snacks on this list can be prepared in as little as 2 minutes, but no longer than 30 minutes. When we’re really on our “A” game we follow this type of eating style at work and at home. Our kids eat pretty close to this, but sometimes during lunch time, we just pack 4-6 snack items such as grapes, apples, cucumbers, hard boiled eggs, cookies and juice. They love having all the items in their box and the lunch is packed with much more nutrition than a lunchable or sandwich with chips.
The average lunch for two people at a local restaurant will cost approximately $17. Here you can feed almost your entire family for the entire day at the same cost. Now these foods may not look normal to your family and that’s ok. We never used to eat this whole and/or nutritious ourselves. The average family/person, eats the same 16 meals each week. Once you get in your groove, your healthy 16 meals per week will become a natural habit/lifestyle for you. We slowly tweaked each meal at a time, starting first with our snacks, then with breakfast and so forth. Take a look at your current diet and see which area is easiest for you to tweak first. The main goal is to make room for a few treats, make food that is enjoyable and always think “How can I make this meal slightly healthier for me?”. You will see as you make these small changes, you will not only eliminate high priced packaged snack foods, but you will also develop cravings for the new, healthier snacks.
Try this list today! Get creative adding natural herbs, spices and veggies to your meals.
|
Food
|
Average Cost
|
|
2lbs Murray’s Chicken Breast
|
9.00
|
|
2lbs Organic Beef
|
16.00
|
|
4 Tilapia Fillets
|
16.00
|
|
2lb sirloin beef roast
|
10.00
|
|
Rotisserie Chicken
|
6.00
|
|
Bag of organic Baked potatoes
|
3.99
|
|
4 Sweet Potatoes
|
3.00
|
|
Head of Lettuce
|
1.30
|
|
Cucumbers
|
1.00
|
|
Radishes (1 bunch)
|
1.00
|
|
Bag of peppers
|
3.00
|
|
broccoli
|
1.50
|
|
2 bags Frozen Organic Veggies
|
3.00
|
|
Can of Butter Beans
|
1.00
|
|
1 bag of white/ brown rice
|
6.00
|
|
Bag of organic apples
|
5.00
|
|
6 bananas
|
2.00
|
|
Natural Peanut Butter
|
2.00
|
|
Organic Veggie Soup 2 cans
|
3.00
|
|
1lb grapes
|
1.99
|
|
Raw cashews
|
4.00
|
|
1 package cheese sticks
|
3.00
|
|
Natural Rice Cakes
|
2.00
|
|
Newman’s cookies
|
3.00
|
|
Quaker Oatmeal
|
2.00
|
|
Dozen Eggs
|
3.50
|
|
Chicken/turkey sausage
|
3.00
|
|
100% juice
|
2.00
|
|
Case of Bottled Water
|
3.99
|
|
Total cost
|
$123.00
|
* Prices may vary based on sales, produce stands and bulk purchasing. The amazing thing is you will see your grocery bill stay the same or decrease as you diminish costly packaged foods. The average family of four could live off of these items for the entire week at an estimated $17 per day.
|
Meal Time
|
Sunday
|
Monday
|
Tuesday
|
Wednesday
|
Thursday
|
Friday
|
Saturday
|
|
Breakfast
|
2 eggs with roasted potatoes and turkey sausage
|
Oatmeal with an apple
|
Rice cake with peanut butter and banana on top
|
Oatmeal with scrambled eggs
|
2 eggs with roasted potatoes and turkey sausage
|
Hard boiled egg and a banana
|
Veggie omelet
|
|
Snack
|
Grapes with cheese stick
|
Rice cake with peanut butter
|
Apple with cashews
|
banana
|
Grapes with cheese stick
|
Cashews and apple
|
Rice cake with peanut butter
|
|
Lunch
|
Salad with 3 ozs grilled chicken
|
Rotisserie chicken w ½ cup butter beans
|
Sirloin tips with rice and green beans
|
Leftovers from previous night
|
Rotisserie chicken with veggies
|
Lunch out
|
Organic Veggie Soup
|
|
Snack
|
apple
|
Cheese stick
|
Hard boiled egg
|
Small salad
|
banana
|
Roasted sweet potatoes
|
Grapes and cheese stick
|
|
Dinner
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Ground beef mixed with rice and stir fry veggies (add low sodium soy or teriyaki)
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Tilapia with baked potato and broccoli
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Chicken Kabobs with potato and peppers
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Lean Burgers with sweet potato fries
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BBQ Chicken breast cut into small pieces with rice and green beans
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Sirloin tips cut from roast with baked potatoes and veggies
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Dinner out
|
|
Snack
|
2 cookies
|
grapes
|
banana
|
Cheese stick
|
2 cookies
|
Cup
100% juice
|
2 cookies
|
*serving size varies based on age, weight and sex
Making healthy choices daily, will save you money now and in the future. Not only will you enjoy your food, but you will also enjoy how your clothes fit each day, how you look in pictures and what your health numbers look like at your physical. That’s much more gratifying than eating whatever you want, when you want.
At least I think so. Have a healthy week!
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