One of my goals for 2014 is healthy eating. I have a lot to learn about it in order to easily incorporate it into my daily life. And I mean a lot. I didn't quite realize the challenge it would present until husband and I were putting a grocery list together over the weekend. Of course we know the basics...forget the processed foods and stick to the vegetables, fruits, lean proteins, etc. However, our 'ordinary meals' that we typically rotate during the month do not necessarily meet up to the clean eating standards we are trying to maintain. So as we were coming up with our weekly menu, we weren't only writing down the ingredients we needed, but finding entirely new dishes to make. And I was beginning to stress; it felt like too much to take on while still figuring out the basics. Needless to say our Friday grocery trip turned into a Saturday trip so that we could back away from the meal planning and look at it again with a fresher perspective. Waiting a day later to tackle our list proved to be effective when a saving thought occurred to me...the Hills are going to eat based on a themed menu. We're going to try it, at least, and see how it works for us.
By themed, I mean giving each weekday a different umbrella to keep certain foods under. For instance, Mondays have now turned into Meatless Mondays. And last night for dinner we had Spaghetti Squash Primavera, which I found here. Having certain dietary do's and don'ts for each day has really helped us zero in on what to eat and what to purchase during our grocery run. I've got my fingers and toes crossed that this works out really well for us. Because if it doesn't, I'm hiring a personal shopper (not really, but I wish).
What I can say that we've learned thus far in the process:
1. Stick to the outside of the grocery store & keep away from going into the aisles
2. Make a precise grocery list and don't stray from it.
Our grocery budget has given us a big thumbs up for our progress with the above two revelations and we're kind of happy about it too! And with a week of themed meals, we should be able to follow, not only our 2014 goal, but also our budget more closely (another goal!). Stay tuned throughout the week as I explain what each themed day entails as far as entrées.
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