Yet again another podcast I have listened to Don't waste the crumbs. She has a website and I like to follow her. on instagram. She has such good things to learn.
This was about minimalism in the kitchen. I have never been good about cooking or anything in the kitchen except eating. I am good at that one. I love to eat.
She talked a lot about how to grocery shop to save money. She said the grocery store is there to make money off of you. I had never thought of it that way but its 100% true. They want you to buy all of their food and they say things on are sale when really they might not be but if someone sees a sale sign they assume its a good deal. I have fallen for this one a lot. You have to do your homework and find out what really is a good deal on that certain food. Can you eat that whole bunch before it goes bad? Be smart about sales.
The most important plan in grocery shopping is to have a list and to STICK TO IT. Only get things on your list. If you see something else write it on a list again and get it next time. At least wait a day and think over if you really need it. That will save a lot of money right there. Making that extra trip to the store was it really a good deal and do you NEED it? She also said go once a week and get fresh fruits and veggies. Then go once a month and do a big shopping where you get the other staples and stuff like that. I know I haven't gotten to this point yet but I am striving for that. I go once a week and get the fresh food and I usually have other stuff I am getting too because I am making a lot of new meals and we need a lot of new ingredients. Its all a process.
I have done this on and off but recently I have really stuck to my list and its been great. I have been making a menu plan and a grocery list each week. Then my daughter and I go on a date and buy the groceries together. Its so fun to have her help me. We have been having better meals and not eating out as much because we have a plan and we have the food to make the meals. I really struggle with this and so I feel great that the past few weeks have gone according to plan. Also not being pregnant helps with motivation to cook a lot more.
Another thing she talks about is to not waste food. American's on average waste 40% of the food they get. How terrible is that?!? I couldn't believe that. Then I paid more attention to what I threw away or wasted. I let food go bad in the fridge and then we end up tossing it. If we leave food out and it goes bad. I have really tried to be better at this. If I know we wont get to eating this left over or something is going to go bad. I have tried to freeze it or make something with that certain thing expiring. Smoothies are great for this. If its a fruit or veggie you can throw it in any smoothie then its not wasted.
Ask the kids what they want to eat. If we ask them and make what they like they are more likely to eat it right? Yes. I did this and my kids said cereal.... um no... not a good plan then they said lasagna ... that I can do. If they feel like they have a say in what gets fixed for dinner they might be more likely to eat it. This can work with letting them help make the food. They will be excited to eat something they made and helped create.
She had so many good ideas that I need to apply. Another great one was when you pintrest a new meal. Half it and only make half of it. If it turns out good... great put it in the cookbook if not then you don't have a ton of left overs that no one wants to eat. This is a great idea. We have had our share of bad new meals. It could be my lack of cooking skills that made it bad or just the meal is not good. This is a great way to not waste food.
She says "Patience and contentment is another benefit that comes from this kind of saving and eating" I believe it. I feel a sense of contentment when we use up our food and save money. I feel a sense of accomplishment when i am able to plan well for food that week, maybe because I have always been terrible at it so far in my life. I know its probably common sense but it makes it so much easier to get dinner ready when you have already planned it out. I usually get to 3:00 and think oh man what should we have for dinner. Not recommended. We ended up having a lot of breakfast for dinner. I find if I meal plan for 10-15 minutes on Sunday then the whole week is better. I know I should have learned this like 10 years ago. I really only plan 4 meals and then the three other nights we eat left overs or come up with something random.
