My meal plans may be looking similar week to week. I am getting more and more into eating locally. Produce can lose up to 80% of its nutrients by the time its picked, shipped, sits at the supermarket, and served on your dinner table. In order to eat local produce, you can only get certain items certain times of the year. Therefore at the moment, we are eating lots of greens, cabbage, broccoli, sweet poatoes, and winter squashes. We are still eating most of our fruit from out of the area though since we don’t have any other options. I did find some local apples at Whole Foods thought last week. We just got a Whole Foods about an hour away from us and we have been going about every other week or so to stock up. They have lots of local produce, the best selection of organic meats, and amazing cheeses. Oh and the bulk bins are great too. Pretty much I love it. I have never even looked through the rest of the aisles so I’m not sure if they have good pacakged foods but its great for our needs.
This week’s meal plan came from my most recent Whole Foods purchases. It may be a little expensive but its still a heck of a lot cheaper than eating out and what better way to spend our money than an investment in our health?
Dinners:
Steak, sauteed cabbage, roasted sweet potatoes
Lemon Herb Roasted whole chicken, broccoli, homemade buttermilk bread
Chicken and Bok Choy Stir Fry over brown rice
Mock Chipotle Burrito Bowls (seasoned chicken, beans, brown rice, lettuce, jack cheese, greek yogurt for sour cream, guacamole, corn)
Turkey, Lentil, and quinoa stir fry with side salad
Lemon Flounder, sauteed cabbage, buttermilk whole wheat bread
Leftovers one night
Breakfasts:
Banana, chia seed, cinnamon, peanut butter steel cut oats (x2)
Chicken sausage, egg, and cheese on whole grain seedy bread (x2)
Apple omelets
Lunches, a combination of:
Leftovers, butternut squash soup, salads, greek yogurt, loaded sweet potaotes, adult grilled cheese (homemade bread with sharp cheddar)
Later this week I will post the recipe for the Buttermilk Bread. Its amazing. My grandma made it for a family gathering and it was a hit. Its so dense and soft on the inside, but still fluffy if that makes any sense. She sent me the recipe and I got to work healthifying it a little. I took out some butter, added in a little more buttermilk, used whole wheat flours, and changed the cooking time a little bit to accomidate my modifications. I also halved the recipe so I could make one loaf at a time. But man, its SO good!
Yum! We’re big fans of eating locally, too. You’re right that fruit is nearly impossible this time of year! Love our Whole Foods, too… I always spend more than I want to, but you’re so right that it’s still cheaper than eating out, and is worth the investment in our health!
we decided like 2 years ago to just spend the money on local organic foods…we still try and pay attention to sales and prices but we broke it down and we spend roughly 28 dollars per day to feed a family of 4 all 3 meals in a day, not bad!