clean eating and meal planning on a budget

"do the best that you can until you know better. and when you know better, do better. "

this quote from maya angelou hit me pretty hard when i first read it (yes, on pinterest). like all humans, i tend to fall short of putting good knowledge into practice, for whatever excuse. but it's so much easier to keep doing good when you see the fruits of your labor showing. one thing that has shown very quick results for us is a change in our nutritional lifestyle.

a lot of you have heard the term "clean eating" and maybe are fuzzy on exactly what is "clean". basically, it all boils down to eating foods that are in the closest form of how they occur in nature. if it's ingredients don't occur in nature, don't eat it. if it can't break down and decay sitting on your counter within a few days, don't put it in your body. we live by these standards probably 95% of the time.

for us, we've taken it a step further to include eliminating gluten. i did some research on the matter last fall when i had some crazy hormones being mean to me. i tried it, but it didn't stick. especially when people think it's just a diet and you can cheat when you're not at home. then when my husband's migraines started increasing to a weekly occurrence, something had to change. for a while i had been telling him maybe he was gluten intolerant (he showed other signs as well). within a week of going gluten-free (for real, hardcore) his headaches stopped. since sometime in february he has been migraine free.

i often find that people treat nutrition exactly the way i did for a long time. they know how to eat properly, but they don't. either because it's not an instant gratification, it requires too much time/money, or they just plain don't know where to start. i come from a background of italians and deep south farmers. to say i love food is an understatement. cheesy carbs are my favorite thing on the planet. fried green tomatoes, sweet tea, pies--all that good stuff. i could literally eat pasta every day. so i get it. i really do.

but i can also say with 100% truth that i have not felt deprived since we started this lifestyle change. and the longer you go, the more enjoyable it becomes. it's like second nature. like all things there are sacrifices, but  nothing good came from something easy.

to complicate things more, we also have a very tight budget. i'm just gonna get real with you. our total food budget each month is $300 for 2 1/2 people (the 1/2 being a toddler, who i feel like sometimes should be counted as a third person for how much she eats). total. that includes eating out. so, we basically don't. i can count on my hand the number of times we've eaten out since we started this thing. we don't always stick to our budget but we don't go over by a lot either.

so you can do it, too. and i've had a lot of questions lately on what we do. so maybe i can help! here's how we've done it:

1. do your research; find what works for your family. i'm a stickler for research. i check my sources and i check multiple ones. the internet is great, but don't believe someone just because they have a blog (ahem, case in point: i am not a registered dietician or nutrition expert). find published articles, studies, clinical research, and trained professionals with experience. if you think that the way we live is weird or you don't believe that drinking whole milk is better than skim or 2% (just throwing out one example), then look it up. and don't just make that a broad action. use research for all kinds of things. if you want to know what BHT is and why it's in your cereal, look it up. there are also some great documentaries for free on netflix if you hate reading. my favorite one so far is "hungry for change." it completely reshaped how i think about food and my body--i stopped hating my body and started trying to understand it.

2. plan and budget. i was cleaning up after dinner one night this week and told my husband "i love the way our refrigerator looks." an odd statement, sure. but you know why? because it doesn't look like a toy chest. it's full of meat, eggs, milk, cheese, yogurt, butter, a lot of produce, a lot of leftovers, and condiments (mostly marinades, hot sauces--thanks to my husband--and salad dressings). if i sound proud it's because i am. i just hope i don't sound pretentious :) but it's because it's taken a lot of work and planning to get to this point. it didn't come easy. this is how we got there:

a) i keep a meal idea list on the side of our fridge with ideas for cheap, healthy, and easy dinners that can make enough for leftovers (i almost always make enough for leftovers, even if just enough for lunch the next day). we sat down one sunday afternoon and just started naming things. and you can make notes on your list as you go along in a trial and error fashion, like "lots of prep work" or "makes lots of leftovers"
b) my grocery list is kept in my phone and contains ingredients only for the things we need to make meals for the week--i do not stray from the list (except sometimes ice cream just jumps into my cart somehow)
c) we took "eating out" almost entirely off the table. even sunday after church, when it seems to be the hardest. something about church makes me ravenous. and everyone eats out after church.
d) we have a phone app called mint and i highly recommend it--it keeps track of how much money you spend in different categories; it's really helped keep us on track
e) we always have ingredients around for nachos :) they're not super healthy but none of the ingredients are highly processed either--a good saver for bad days or botched meals. and CHEAP!

3. shop at different grocery stores/markets. i know, i know--don't freak out on me. some of you are like "i barely make it to once store a week, much less two or more." but hear me out: how many times have you had to run to the store, mid-week because you didn't prepare for the week? or how many times did you spend way too much on a restaurant dinner because you had nothing planned at home? unplanned grocery trips usually take more time from you in the long run. it doesn't take a lot of research to know that you can get some things cheaper/better at different stores. trust me, it's not easy for me either. i have a toddler. doing anything with her is impossible these days. so i have to wait until 9pm to do my shopping. and for the things that aren't open that late, i just have to suck it up and take her and have everyone stare at me while she has a melt-down because i won't let her run up and down the aisles or cause a flash-flood of apples in the farmer's market. i have a routine of about 3-4 different stores/markets: a big-name retailer for big-name organics/gluten-free and non-groceries; a local farmer's market for produce and eggs; a local grocery for meats, dairy, and various other items; a specialty health food store for hard-to-find items or non-local produce. when you have a list, and you stick to the list, it is much more efficient. my longest trip takes me less than an hour, and i don't do it all in one week. it's usually spread out over two weeks. so i go to the store twice a week on average. not so bad, huh?

4. buy in wholes. not to be confused with bulk (unless you have a deep freeze or you practice canning). the switch to whole chickens has completely saved us. i usually get 2-4 days worth of meals from one chicken, depending on what i make. if i make chicken salad and use a lot of healthy filler like apples, grapes, celery, avocado, flax or chia seeds, i get a lot more bang for my buck. or i use it in a healthy casserole, that, for the love of pete, does not contain any cream cheese or canned soup. i swear if i see one more pinterest recipe.....i digress. whole chickens also produce your own chicken broth. just in broth alone you can save $6 per chicken, assuming everyone goes through chicken broth like i do. the rule of wholes also applies to produce like carrots, lettuce, pineapple, etc. you get the picture. a flimsy bag of lettuce that will get you 2 salads costs MORE than two heads of lettuce that will feed you for a week. an individual sauce or spice packet that will only get you through one meal (and probably contains msg) can be much less expensive if you make your own spice blends. if you're less creative with spices, just read the back of a spice packet or marinade and buy the main ingredients. large upfront investment that will go a long way. you get the point.

5. read labels and choose your battles. this is self-explanatory. sometimes the organic or less-processed versions of your every day foods are not all that more expensive. if you can spare a dollar or two to be able to pronounce the ingredients, then i'd say it's worth it.

6. you don't always have to buy "organic." a lot of times organic is just an approval stamp. there are some items that use mostly organic principles but don't have the label. unfortunately, because we have gotten so far away from knowing where our food comes from, we have to use our best judgement. for those of you who can afford to buy local, this is usually your best bet. there is a great place in our town that carries produce, meat, and dairy from local farms, and notifies you of new arrivals via email. a lot of these farms let you visit, and if not, the buyer has a personal relationship with the farmers and can tell you what the conditions are like. if you don't have the money or resource for a place like that, here's a few things to look for: "no antibiotics", "no preservatives", "no artificial flavors/dyes", "free-range", "no pesticides", "no hormones", "fed a diet of [insert appropriate diet here]". i also look where the product comes from geographically, if it comes down to that. if i don't have the option of an organic potato, i usually buy the one that came from the city or state closest to me, knowing that the travel time was less and therefore the produce is probably fresher. but like i said, we can only use our best judgement. ALSO, "all natural" doesn't mean anything. ALL of our food should be all natural. it's mind-blowingly ridiculous that we have to use labels like that to attract buyers.

7. eat cheap proteins: beans, quinoa, chia seeds, dairy, legumes, eggs. get creative. did you know that eating rice and beans together makes up a complete protein? yep. that's why it's such a worldwide staple. it provides great nutrition and it's very inexpensive--especially if you buy dry beans. just remember to plan your meals so you have time to soak them!

8. be realistic about time. take note of how long it takes you to prepare a meal; jot it on your meal list. can you prepare anything in advance? even the night before? can something pan-fried/boiled be roasted or baked in the oven instead, so you can just set a timer and walk away? i make my husband and myself (and even our daughter drinks some) a green smoothie every morning. it's a little more time consuming (although i've gotten a good system down and it takes me about 5-10 minutes from prep to clean-up, so really not that bad), but it power-packs a ton of nutrients into one shake that we may not otherwise get during the day. it's much easier than finding a creative way to make leafy greens delicious at each meal. trust me. there is not a leafy green out there that i'm just dying to eat. making it taste like fruit is my favorite way to eat them.

9. take it one step at a time; enjoy your food! trust me, there is a lot to get bogged down with. but part of what has made this so easy for me is the fact that i love food and cooking so much. and i have a husband that is willing to try anything i set before him. anything. i definitely have a lot of advantages that makes this work. but i've also overcome a lot of hurdles to get here. the good news is, it's totally doable! you may have advantages that i don't. AND don't beat yourself up for failures: bad recipes, teething toddlers, forgetting to go to the store, or burning 5 batches of sweet potato chips in a row....

10. drink water. it's cheap and it's the best for you.

and you'll reap the benefits! not only are we healthier and feeling better, we're looking better, too. ;) i have put on jeans that i haven't worn since early college. i wear shorts in public. my husbands pants are literally falling off. most of this is due to eliminating gluten, but i have a feeling a portion of it has been because we've been spending less time in a restaurant booth and more time at our own table, which i can honestly say i've enjoyed. and unlike all the other times i've "dieted," this is totally different. it's not a diet. it's a lifestyle change. my goal is not weight-loss. never was. it's health. brain health, energy-levels, skin health, mental health, hormone balance, the health of my children (which is really the main reason i started all this), and disease prevention. the benefits far outweigh the fact that i can't have a krispy kreme donut (which is not to say i haven't enjoyed healthier modifications of "sinful" treats).

{and side note: both my sister and her husband have also been following this lifestyle, and if you know them and know how they are, then you would believe me even more! budget sticklers, taco bell-lovers, and both working full-time with a baby and real city commutes. and they make it work!}

if you made it to the end, congratulations! i hope you've learned something new. and please know, that by no means am i a pro. i just thought by sharing what we've learned, it might help someone else on a similar journey, especially since i get questions often on "how i do it." i may even share some recipes ;)

happy eating, friends!!