Eating at Home

My husband and I love food and we really like to eat out. Eating out has always been our weakness when it comes to budgeting. This month we have been putting extra effort into staying on budget. We have been known to have a refrigerator full of food and still eat out. But this weekend has been a milestone, I would say, we bought groceries yesterday and have not eaten out this weekend!

I'm not truly meal planning yet. We have a great new local and organic grocery store that just opened and we love it. They actually have many produce items on sale each week and some are even organic. So we basically buy what is on sale and cook accordingly at this point.

My husband is a little less convinced of the benefits of eating organic so I choose sale over organic items right now. My goal is to start a price book to get an idea of price differences for sale and organic items and see if there are trends in the sales, which would aid in meal planning ahead of time. There are certain items, such as pears, that I always buy organic because they are a staple at our house and Baby Girl loves the skin.

Last night we had grass fed hamburgers for the first time. They were good with a little less fat, so drier but had a good taste. It was a little pricey but when we compare it to a meal out, it is cheaper. We got four burgers and they were about $1.50 per burger. Going organic with beef will be a much slower process I believe. I hope to talk with farmers at the farmers market this spring and try more grass fed beef items.

This week we have tomato soup (dairy free), tacos, steak, grilled chicken and veggies on the menu. My husband is a huge help in the kitchen and he really likes to cook so I'm very thankful. He made the tomato soup today and will fire up the grill tonight for the steaks and chicken (this meat is antibiotic and hormone free but not grass fed or free range). We like to cook on Sunday's for the week, although as I get my routine down I would like to cook more during the week. This week I will cook vegetables and the tacos. No, tacos are not difficult or time consuming, but every day is a new and exciting adventure with a two year old and an eight week old and sometimes even the easiest tasks take the most time. I always consider any task accomplished, big or small, a successful day!