When we lived in a small apartment in Mesa, AZ, I got caught up in the coupon excitement for a bit. We only had the small freezer above our fridge. Unfortunately it was filled with junk that I had gotten free or for pennies. Was it a good value? Not at all. I was putting pure junk into our bodies. I was able to get a few things cheap that I would consider healthy, but most of the stuff in my freezer was garbage. I should have had it filled with fruits, veggies and pre-cooked meat.
If you CHOOSE to go to fast food places that's an entirely different matter. If you feel like you MUST go through the drive thru in order to feed your family then you need to get busy filling your freezer! You don't have to do a major Once a Month Cooking (OAMC) session. You can double up on recipes. Or make a couple of big hunks of meat at the beginning of the week with a plan on how to use that meat the rest of the week. Make sure you have fresh fruits and veggies and you'll be set. Might not be exciting, but it's much much healthier for you and much cheaper than going out to eat all of the time. With the busy-ness of spring, I need to plan more, but cook less. I need to plan on having food available that I can bring to baseball and softball games (throw in a few track meets as well!) One of my favorite meals to make and bring with to ball games is a baked chimichanga. Here are some other ideas:
- pizza rollups
- sub sandwiches
- hamburgers
- tortilla wraps with mayo, meat, cheese, veggies and Italian dressing
- good ole Peanut Butter and Jelly
- chili, soup, etc in a thermos (we have some frigid ball games here!)
- peanut butter and apples or bananas
- salads
This post is linked up at 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven and Life As Mom.
Oh...I should really read these posts in order. You can ignore my other question about OAMC. How long did you say you have been trying this? I'm not quite this good (once a month)...but I think every other week shopping is doing pretty good, too. (Sometimes I can even push it to three weeks!)
ReplyDeleteI actually don't do a true OAMC session. More like a dedicated day in the kitchen to get ahead. I do a lot of batch cooking too where I make too much (intentionally) and freeze extras. You're doing great shopping every other week or more!
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