It has come to my attention that I am in great need of a chef.  And a personal grocery shopper.

 

Unfortunately, that is not in our budget.

 

I’ve noticed the past few weeks that we are not eating nearly as balanced as we should.  I pack Hudson’s lunch every day for school, and then he eats almost the same things for dinner.  If we were eating balanced meals, chock full of protein, fruits and veggies, and whole grains, I wouldn’t worry too much.  But…we’re not.  We are surviving on a lot of pasta, chicken sandwiches, taquitos and pizza.  YUCK!  It’s hard enough to please a 6 year old, but add in his food allergies, and we are having a hard time finding balance!

 

We used to eat much more balanced, and healthily, but between my two jobs (as Family Life Ministry Coordinator and teaching musical theatre), taking care of a VERY active baby (Finn – now 7 months 0ld), running Hudson (Kinder) back and forth to school, volunteering at church and for the PTO, and being room mom, I have just let the kitchen and grocery shopping suffer.  Jared (my husband) is great about picking up a few things on his way home from work, when we need them, but most of the time I am rushing in the door at 6 (or after), trying to just get something on the table as fast as I can so that we can all sit down and eat together before it’s time for bed.  (And, of course, trying to beat the clock that is Finn – who has his own food issues and is still is nursing on demand!)

Is this you? How many MORE hats do you wear on a daily basis?

I’m finding that when I go to the store to do a “big shop”, I am getting a lot of stuff, but so much of it is pre-packaged and processed, which I hate.  But it’s easier, right?  I realize, though, that I’m not saving much money, and really it’s not that much time if I would plan ahead.

 

A while ago, Vanessa blogged about her reasons for Meal Planning.  I’m sure a lot of us have a variety of reasons why meal planning would be beneficial, so it’s definitely one of my New Year’s Resolutions.  I was checking out the app/website for Food on the Table – and wondered if any of our readers use the paid subscription?  I’m interested in checking it out for a while, but I am a cheapskate when it comes to things I don’t know about, so I’m apprehensive to spend membership money.  I’m thinking I might give it a whirl…it looks pretty awesome.  I’m also thinking about trying one of the many Pinterest pin’s on freezer cooking.  Anyone have any tried and true freezer meals?  I need to clean out our freezer first, to make room for bulk cooking, but that seems like a legit way to get started!

 

So…until I win the lottery and can afford someone to shop and cook for me (wouldn’t that be awesome!?!?), I am going to start working on a meal planning strategy.

Do you have any tips or tricks?  A website or app that had changed your life?  Have you tried Food on the Table?  I’d love your feedback! 

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