Would you like to feed your family healthier foods but you feel like you don’t have time or money to do so?
I had the privilege of meeting Jessie from Vanderbilt Wife at the Savvy Blogging Dinner last week and she told me about her current project of cooking a once-a-month menu with only whole foods (no processed foods at all). I knew that many of you would be really interested in hearing about how she’s pulling this off, so I asked her if she could share a little bit of her adventure with you all. Here’s what she wrote:
I’ve been fairly convinced our family needs to go to a whole foods way of eating for quite a while. But it seems that every time I make one baby step forward, something comes around to hinder the path yet again.
There’s cost, of course. Currently living on a high-school teacher’s salary with both a mortgage and a rent, it seems implausible to raise our grocery budget. Maybe after we sell the house. After I am bringing in more freelance income. When…
Time is always another factor. Until a month ago, I was a full-time working mom with a toddler, and my husband lived two hours away during the week. I was feeling blessed to feed my daughter something hot for dinner (and even more happy if she’d actually eat it). And yet every time I’d hand her baby puffs or graham crackers, I’d cringe at the fact that these were processed foods, laced with soy and who-knows-what-else.
As someone who struggled with getting pregnant because of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, I try to be cautious about the amount of artificial hormones in our diet. I don’t want my daughter to have to worry about this like I did. I’ve also always battled my weight, and so I hope to teach her healthy eating habits the best that I can.
When my cousin Tricia, author of Once a Month Mom, asked me to partner with her on an upcoming contest on her site, I knew exactly where I wanted to take once-a-month cooking. I’d done some freezer cooking in the past, but many of the recipes included ingredients like cream of mushroom soup, white pasta, or instant stuffing. I wanted to jump start my whole foods eating by creating what I call “Whole Foods in a Hurry“–a once-a-month cooking menu of only “real food.”
It’s been very exciting to create my menu and think about how I’ll be budgeting it, planning it, and cooking it. And of course, eating it! I’ve picked a variety of recipes for breakfast, lunch, and dinner that will help my family get on the bandwagon with real foods. Cooking it all at once will save me time and money as well as allowing me more time for baking bread and trying other kitchen experiments.
You can see Jessie’s first menu plan here. To follow along with Jessie’s Whole Foods in a Hurry Challenge, be sure to subscribe to her blog for weekly updates, menu plans, and recipes.
ashleyD says
i cook once a WEEK. about 3 hours on sunday & i’m done. it really does work for our family!!!!
cuts down on dishes, dishwater, time & i never get the dreaded “what’s for dinner” question!
One Frugal Girl says
I’ve gotten more and more interested in eating a ‘real food’ based diet and I’m really looking forward to following this.
aimee says
thanks so much for sharing! it’s definitely a much healthier way of eating and her meal plan looks great.
Jackie says
Our nonprofit cooking group also promotes whole foods cooking with recipes. We host a cooking session and a play date at the same time.
beth says
I am so grateful for this post. Starting February 1st, my hubby and myself(and our two under 2) started this “diet”(more of a life change) called Manna from Heaven. Basically, _only_ fresh & cooked veggies, fresh fruits, meats and proteins and whole wheats. no processed foods whatsoever! no drinks, no sugars(except the occasional allnatural sweetener!) and it is not easy with this country so focused on convenience and artificial tastes!
Jada @ Food. Fun. Family says
Love this linked back to it, too, from my blog. We have a small food budget and eat very little processed foods. You can eat healthy on a budget.
I just had a friend return a Once-a-month-cooking book to the library, sad that everything included, just about, was processed foods. She will be happy to read this blog posting.
Thanks for sharing this!
Heather says
Can’t wait to check it out! Cheap processed food is not cheap if it harms your health. Throw away the coupons for bad stuff!
To answer the above question: I see whole foods as single ingredient foods as close to how they came from nature as possible. Ex. eggs, milk, meat, spices, vegetables, fruits, honey, wheat, beans, etc. No food coloring, MSG, nitrates, Campbell’s, etc.
Not that we have to eat just plain boring food ! For example it’s easy to make your own taco seasoning, add it to some ground beef and beans, and take it from there. Or chicken soup: chicken, carrots, black beans, barley, herbs, celery, salt, pepper . . . So good.
Crissy says
Thank you so much. We have gone back and forth with using whole foods/organic foods in our family. Money has always seemed to be the big issue. Then I learned all about the coupon stuff and it seems that everything that is on sale with coupon is prepackaged stuff. My dad just passed away of gastric cancer so it is heavy on my heart what we put into our bodies. Thank you so much for this best and good luck and prayers!
Tricia (Once A Month Mom) says
I’m so glad you did a whole foods menu too. So many readers are looking for these resources. Thanks for sharing this with other Crystal!
The Working Home Keeper says
Can’t wait to check this out! Our family made the switch last year to a more whole foods diet, which for us includes local, organic/organically-grown fruits and vegetables, local, grass-fed and pastured meats and eggs.
Mary Ellen
The Working Home Keeper
Jen B says
I am so excited about this!! I’ve been wanting to do the same thing. I want to get away from pre-packaged foods. Thanks for telling us about this.
becky says
Sorry for the stupid question of the week, but what exactly is meant by “whole foods”? Thanks!
Vanderbilt Wife says
@becky,
I sort of have my definition on the post–it definitely is a wide range! For me, I mean fresh meats and vegetables, whole grains, no foods with soy, HFCS, or preservatives (hopefully). But I will admit I am using canned beans, tomato sauce, etc. I just watch the labels carefully.
Jessie
Kelly says
@Vanderbilt Wife, I get everything else but why no soy?
Alyssa says
@Kelly,
I agree, I thought soy was good?
Vanderbilt Wife says
@Kelly,
There is a lot of research showing how soy messes with your hormones. Naturally Knocked Up has a great post about it here. Because I already have a hormone imbalance (PCOS), I have decided to try to stay away from it except in fermented form (soy sauce).