This weekend my husband and son built me a raised garden bed for mother’s day. I am so excited to begin this adventure. Now, I have given this a try before and it was truly an epic fail! When my son, Samuel was little, I would buy him a cheeseburger meal from a local restaurant. They offered sustainable items for kids as a prize instead of a toy. It really was neat. One time we planted radish and carrot seeds that came with the meal. I planted them and waited and waited and nothing. I plant flowers every year on my patio, but most everyone knows I am not a green thumb. My grandfather was an amazing gardener. I remember raspberries, fresh green beans, tomatoes, and so much more from his lush garden. I hope he is smiling down on me as he saw me putting good rich compost soil in the new bed and planting. I planted yellow beans, green onions, cucumbers, and spinach to start. I will let you know how this goes.
I planted the garden for a few reasons. I want to see if I can grow my own food. I also want Samuel to know how to take care of himself and grow his own food too. This time in our lives has taught me that I need to be more reliant on myself and focus on what I can provide for myself and my family vs. relying on the store to have it fresh for me. That said, we have had no trouble getting fresh food, just something I’ve given a lot of though to. The other is even though I’m going to work everyday, I am finding I need something to occupy my time in the evenings and weekends.
I recognize many families are facing challenging financial times right now. I’ve been shocked the last several weeks at our grocery bill for three people. While we are fortunate to still have our jobs, spending money like this on groceries is not sustainable forever. It takes me back to my grandma’s stories about the depression and what it was like to put food on the table. Growing my own garden fits in with ideas about saving money and getting more vegetables in our diet. We’ve been buying a lot of junk food. I took a long look at our grocery items over the last several weeks and come up with some ideas and tips. This to reduce money we are spending so we can put more money aside for the future and to reduce the amount of calories and sugar we are putting in our body. I have some recipes to post over the next few weeks that focus on low cost, but high yielding quantities to feed our families.
- Make your own treats – we made a homemade cake from a simple box cake mix, pineapple, and whipped topping for about $5.00, sliced into 16 small slices which is a good serving size, this week we did not buy any candy
- Cereal – buy what is on sale and aim for something with protein and whole grains, does not have to be a name brand to taste good
- Peanut Butter is a great filling food with protein and makes a great addition to a few crackers or celery
- Cheese – I have been shredding my own cheese which guarantees it will be fresh and saves money too
- Frozen Pizza and Salad over take out – I am totally in favor of supporting our local restaurants and we do eat out 1-2 times a week. Personally though pizza is very expensive and I really like frozen pizza. We made a pizza and salad for less than $10 for the three of us.
- Eating out – When we do eat out, I’ve been looking for local places offering good deals, some places have smaller versions of the meals for only $10. Friday we got a platter of Street tacos, rice, beans, chips and salsa for $45 and it lasted for two meals.
- Leftovers – growing up I do not remember eating leftovers, but as an adult we do eat our leftovers in this family. I’ve shared before on Sunday’s I usually cook double so we have dinners throughout the week. I re-imagine leftovers too. If I make spaghetti sauce, sometimes I use the leftovers to make lasagna
- Plan your food day ahead of time – A few people have asked me how to manage eating when they are working remotely. I recommended planning your food day as if you were going to work and said go ahead and pack a lunch for yourself. Allow yourself to eat what you rationed out for the day. I use Tupperware rather than plastic bags to save money and the environment.
- Pack a lunch for your kids – when I told a co-worker what I was recommending for people working remote she said she packs a lunch for her son, gives him a routine and helps with appropriate portions of food
- Package up purchased chips, treats, and snacks after purchasing them – someone told me this week she heard about this idea and I think it’s a great one. I often way over indulge on a serving and then later realize the serving size is much smaller than I would imagine.
- Get your family involved with food prep and meal planning, teaches them life skills and helps them budget too.
- Now might be the time to teach your age appropriate children to cook. Samuel has been cooking and baking and I’m really impressed with his talent and independence with it.
- Storing food away – I used to hide food when I was a kid, but the truth is putting the extra food in a safe space out of reach is a good reminder to eat appropriate portions and make it less available for grabbing – It’s important to feed ourselves and our kids enough food, but I’ve learned these last few weeks, my son has too much access to food while I’m out. We are going to try the idea of planning out his meals ahead of time
- Reduce meat in some recipes – I have recipes like my Chili that I can reduce the meat by half and add more beans to save money and still get the protein
These are just a few tips and tricks, but I’m sure many of you have much more to offer. I would love it if you would share ideas with me too. I’m thinking of all of you. Stay safe and healthy.
Mandy