One of the reasons, I think, that I relied so heavily on takeout in the past is that I wouldn’t ever think about what we were having for dinner on a particular night until about 3:00 each afternoon. The stress of waiting until the last minute and the thought of going to the grocery store every day was just too much for me, so convenience would win out. Now I plan our meals for the week on Saturday morning, make the grocery list, and go to the grocery store once for the week. Yes, sometimes I forget things and have to make a quick trip back. (I forgot two important things yesterday, so I had to go out in the cold rain today, ugh!) But planning and shopping for the week all at once saves so much time, stress, and money!
I use The Fresh 20 for help planning my family’s meals. I have tried other meal-planning services in the past, but The Fresh 20 is by far my favorite. Each week, I get a menu that lists five dinners with side dishes, a grocery list that totals around $75 (for a family of four!), and nutrition info for each meal. The basis of the meal plans is that you can prepare, from scratch, five healthy meals a week for your family based on twenty fresh ingredients, plus Pantry Basics (olive oil, spices, etc). I have no complaints about any of the meals I’ve made thus far, and have been using The Fresh 20 for almost a year. I love not having to make the same few meals over and over again. And the meals are easy to prepare, so my daughter can help me with most of them; when she helps make a meal, she’s much more likely to eat that meal without complaining. J
We use the Classic plan, but The Fresh 20 also offers Vegetarian and Gluten Free options, as well as a Lunch plan. They have monthly and annual subscription options for very reasonable rates. They really have something to fit everyone’s needs.
Turkey chili with maple cornbread muffin. YUM!
Now, some of you may be wondering how I prepare from-scratch meals for my family five nights a week. It’s simple - I don’t. Most weeks I plan to cook three nights (some weeks two, some four, just depends on what we have going on that particular week). I pick the meals I think will go over the best with my family each week. Although I work outside the home, it is on a part time basis and pretty flexible, so I’m lucky in that I’m able to be home a little more than someone who works full time. Most of the nights that I don’t cook, we eat leftovers. One night a week is my daughter’s pick, which usually means a trip to the grocery store salad bar. (I know, how lucky am I?!?) And we usually eat out one weekend night. (When we eat out, we try to stick to locally-owned restaurants that use fresh, local ingredients.)
I know some people spend Sundays prepping meals for the week. If that works for you, fantastic! I wish I could make myself do that, but I just can’t. I do enjoy cooking, but not for hours on end. (And we tend to spend Sundays pretty lazily, lounging in our jammies as long as possible.) But you can find a schedule that works for you and your family. It may involve getting up a little earlier in the morning to prep, or taking a long lunch from work a couple days a week, or spending Sunday in the kitchen – just know that you CAN do it. Your health and that of your children is important, make it a priority. Please.
As a side note… Mine is not necessarily a weight loss story, but changing to clean eating usually means losing weight, if you have it to lose. When we started using The Fresh 20, I weighed about 155 pounds. During the first three weeks that I was following The Fresh 20 meal plans, I lost seven pounds. At just under 5’ 2”, that is a fairly significant weight loss for doing nothing other than eating differently. (I made a couple other changes at the same time that I started using The Fresh 20; the biggest one was cutting out artificial sweeteners, they are terrible for you!) I have since lost another eighteen pounds (and completed a 30+ mile bike ride a few months ago and my first 5K yesterday!), but I’ll save that story for another day. J
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