So what is my food focus? What is it that I really want this website to convey? I am all about authenticity. I don’t want substitutions for the real thing…I want the real deal. Yes, I believe in good nutrition…but I also believe that it’s okay to have a little fun with your food, too. I have always described myself as ‘traditional with a twist’…a bit ecclectic. Well, the same holds true with food for me. I love to put a spin on my recipes and do so using real food, not artificial food colorings, HFCS, trans fats, etc. I don’t want genetically modified this or that, or meat that has been unnaturally raised to yield more muscle/fat/etc…those things ultimately detract from the true flavors of the food at hand. I don’t need to reinvent the wheel, but it’s okay to add some extra traction or fancy hubcaps to dress it up a bit. But at what point does a dressed up meal become a modified meal? Where does that line fall? When does the line get crossed into not being authentic anymore?

Thoughts, anyone??

I only plan to list my dinner menus for the month on the blog. Our breakfast generally consists of either cereal or eggs/toast…nothing too exciting or costly. And lunch usually includes some sort of sandwich or perhaps leftovers from dinner the previous evening.

Tonight’s menu is comprised of chicken breast (skin on/bone in) which I will bake in the oven after sprinkling each breast with garlic, olive oil and salt and pepper. I will serve brown rice with it, and plan to pour any pan juices over the rice for flavoring. To round out the meal I will cook some frozen broccoli and will use up some salad ingredients I have in my refrigerator. I have not accounted for the salad items in my budget yet, but it will deduct approximately $3-4.00 from this week’s remaining budget dollars.

As far as drinks are concerned, I am not including any alcoholic beverages, coffee or tea…I often have water with my meals, and if I were truly in need I would be more diligent about that. I will, however, include milk, juice and any alcohol I might cook with (as if!).

Finally, in an effort to make my meals as user-friendly as possible (for the time-crunched) I will record my cooking times. Tonight I began cooking at 5:40 PM. The brown rice will take the longest. To help out time-wise, I made enough to serve with my meal tomorrow night. If I truly wanted to help out for future meals I could make a large batch and freeze it in portion sizes. Cooked rice freezes very well, and since brown rice takes longer to cook than white rice (about 1 hour all said and done for brown vs about 20-30 minutes for white) this could be a huge time-savings that would also help with keeping meals healthy…

More to come….

I have returned from Whole Foods…My total expenditure for this visit was just shy of $71. Of that amount I have a few foods which will carry over into next week (some dried friuts, rice and pasta). However, I do not have much in the way of fresh produce, and this week we will be relying on frozen vegetables to round out our nutrition. I am going to work on my menu a bit more diligently for next week to see if I can remedy that situation. Today I went online and discovered that the maximum amount of food stamps for a family of 4 in TX is $668/month, which works out to just shy of $6/per person, per day for food.

I have decided that as far as my budget is concerned I will allow $5 per person per day. I have decided to break it down per person because for 4 days of most weeks I only have to provide food for 2 people: me and my youngest son (a teenager, so no break in the amount consumed…). The other 3 days my husband is also here. My total budget for most weeks will be $85. Therefore, I have approximately $15 left to spend for this week. I have bought my meats/fish, breakfast and lunch foods and most, if not all, of my dinner ingredients. That $15 will be used for fresh fruits/vegetables if needed. I did buy some staples even though I already had them on hand so I could properly allow for them in the budget, but there may be a few items from my pantry which I end up using. In those cases I will approximate their value and add that amount to what I have already spent. So while my total cost may not be exact each week, it should be within a few dollars.

There were some specials this week which I am contemplating going back to take advantage of…mainly on the bone-in/skin-on chicken breasts (organic) for $3.49/lb. I can buy some to freeze, making sure I allow for that cost in my future weekly budgets. I also discovered their frozen fish. I bought 12 ounces of frozen wild Sockeye salmon for $8.99 and 12 ounces of frozen Mahi-mahi for $6.99. If the flavor is good that will be a substantial savings over buying fresh, and the quality should be equal to or better than fresh since the fish is flash frozen when caught. This will be a wonderful way to economically add fish to my diet.

Wish me luck!!

I am working on refining my experiment, and trying to resolve a few details. One, I have not found a consistent measurement of the average American family’s monthly food budget. I have seen various numbers ranging from $550/month to over $750/month. Therefore, I have decided to set my budget at $600/month, which gives me $150/week for a family of four (still working on this since we are usually only a family of 2 or 3 most days). I do not plan to post my breakfast or lunch menus since they stay fairly consistent, but those meals will come out of my weekly allotted budget. Eating out has provided another area of thought…what if we are invited to dine at a friend’s house or go out to eat? I don’t plan on this happening with any frequency, but I will make note of any of those occassions when/if they arise.

In a mildly related subject, Taco Bell is testing their new ‘Drive-Thru Diet’. Apparently 70% of Americans believe that if fast food restaurants offered healthier food options in their drive-thru menus they would feel encouraged to eat healthier…Really? I mean…REALLY??? Am I missing something? How sad is it that our society has become so dependent on fast food that it NEEDS the fast food industry to influence its eating habits? Haven’t we been influenced enough by the industry? Even more mind-boggling to me is the fact that these choices are touted as ‘healthier’ choices, which does not mean they are actually ‘healthy’. Fast food has gone from the occassional treat to a several-times-a-week reality for many. We ALL need to take responsibility…Yes, we are inundated with fast food establishments – they are everywhere. However, they wouldn’t be everywhere if they were not supported. Our lives have become so chaotic and filled with stress that we look for ways to make life easier. In many cases these solutions are fine, but food nourishes our bodies, our souls…family dinners keep us connected…is this the sacrifice we are willing to pay for these time-saving short-cuts???

And that’s my rant for today…what do YOU think???

I often hear Whole Foods referred to as ‘Whole Paycheck’. Are their prices higher than the average grocery store? Yes. In my opinion it is a small price to pay to get good food which nourishes one’s body…they research all of the products they choose to carry in their stores, and I feel good about the food they offer. I am in the fortunate position to not have to worry about the amount I spend on food, so if I am in the mood for something in particular I can usually buy it, no matter the cost. I know I am blessed in that respect.

HOWEVER, I have decided to set out on an experiment to prove that one does not have to pay a lot of money to eat delicious yet healthy meals. For each week in February I will develop a menu plan which makes use of in-season, healthy foods at a reasonable price. I will not use any processed foods/ingredients (this ain’t no ‘Semi-Homemade with Sandra Lee!!), and I will NOT cut out meats/fish/poultry; however, I may include vegetarian meals in my plans and my portions will be reasonable. In other words I don’t plan to skimp on the food – we will not go hungry to prove a point. In the spirit of the average cook with time constraints I plan to design meals which are time-sensitive. I will set a budget – a budget the typical American family usually spends on food per month for a family of four. I am researching what that amount is and will post the results before the onset of my experiment. February 1, 2010 is the start date and the experiment will last the entire month.

I welcome any budget suggestions or ideas to incorporate into the experiment…