by Claire
As most of you know, we have made major changes to our eating habits in the near five months I have been blogging. I continue to see the tangible benefits to the budget as well as to our overall well-being so I must share. Stop by www.100daysofrealfood.com and take a look at the reviews of online meal planning sites. There’s something for everyone and the pros and cons are put out there. I’ve decided to give The Six O’Clock Scramble a try (www.thescramble.com) and so far, so GREAT! This is just our first week using this but talk about simple–time and money saving too! Each week a menu is sent out and via ZipList I get the grocery list on my mobile device and it is super easy to use at the grocery store. The recipes stay away from anything processed and if there is something that isn’t “real” the substitution is easy to figure out.
Steve and I went a on a little, tiny shopping trip today. We bought a new blender because we killed the old one and I found an ice cream maker on clearance for $15. Nothing fancy at all but I really wanted to try out homemade ice cream. There were a couple of things that struck us on this shopping trip…A) that it had been a very long time since we actually went shopping and B) that we didn’t get too distracted by the temptation of all the other many things in the store. That’s such a liberating feeling–to just not have the need/urge to drop money on thoughtless purchases.
We came home and made homemade peach sorbet! 3 ingredients–peaches, maple syrup and water. We loved it!!! Wow! We got peaches at the Farmers Market yesterday and nectarines in our produce co-op basket so we had lots to work with. This adventure got us that much closer to unanimous support for real food. I told Steve that the $15 we spent on that ice cream maker was less that what one trip to an ice cream shop would have cost us. That feels good!
Born and raised in Texas. I’ve at least driven through every state in the US courtesy of a roadtrip loving Dad.
I’m single with two children and a good parenting relationship with their father.
I am a “life is just half full of funny” kinda gal. Humor is my saving grace and I am thankful for it every single day. I have a strong Catholic faith and am thankful for that foundation.
I read a lot for a living but still enjoy a good book. I love biographies but in recent years have found the need for fun fictional books–sadly, for a long time I just didn’t enjoy fiction!
I love live theatre of any kind–from local productions to Broadway.
I love to scrapbook and pride myself in my kids’ albums.
I love being a mom but also love my career. I’m blessed to have found a balance allowing me to be at everything my kids need and want me to be at–while also having a career.
Favorite Quotes: Well behaved women rarely make history.
Behold the turtle. He makes progress only when he sticks his neck out. -James Bryant Conant
Great job, Claire, on staying focused during your shopping trip and not caving in to impulse buying all the shiny beckoning trinkets. Well, except for the sale item, but what a great reward for you both – an ice cream maker. Yummmm.
I think that ice cream maker is a great investment in that it could help your kids in not noticing/feeling like they’re sacrificing something by not going out. 🙂
Amanda–how right you are! We made to-die-for chocolate ice cream tonight and the kids went wild! They LOVE it!
Those menu planning sites can help reduce your food budget and your waistline at the same time. It stops you from doing alot of impulse buying. My motto is “if the item is not on the list you can’t buy it!”