An ounce of planning.....oh, the possibilities!

It’s nice to see so many healthy foods appearing in Mark’s daily meals. I must say, I was impressed he chose the whole wheat pasta (twice!), considering this is probably his least favorite type of noodle. It was also great to see he was able to put something fairly healthy together for two dinner meals, even with the lack of planning. Maybe this whole healthy way of eating will rub off after all!

I recently found a cookbook titled, More with Less. Aside from its bright orange color, its title caught my attention enough to make me take it off the shelf to browse. Not only did it have some great recipes , it had a host of tips for someone trying to stretch the food dollar. Here are some that I thought I would share with Mark:

1) Simplify meals – make fewer dishes but in large quantities when you have time. Freeze the extra food to pull out during the week. Maybe this is something Mark can try on the weekends when he has a little more time to spare.

2) Plan menus a week at a time - This is a hard task for many us. It really tastes some serious discipline to plan out everything you want to eat so far in advance. But, on a positive note, this gives you the opportunity to do some preparation for your meals in the morning before leaving for work. Also, then you’re not wondering what to fix when you get home.

3) Buy quantity staples that don’t spoil - This gives you more flexibility in planning. Food lasts longer, so you don’t have to worry about potential waste from not using it.

4) Bake 5-6 loaves of bread on the weekend and freeze them - Or, using a refrigerator bread recipe, mix the dough one night and then bake the bread the next.

5) Soak and cook legumes in a slow cooker and use them throughout the week.

So, far, Mark’s proving that healthy eating is possible on a limited budget of $3 a day, with a little bit of creativity and effort, and a lot of determination on his part! He went into this project with the idea of looking at food costs, but the reality is that he's finding out that time is also a cost to eating healthy on his budget. Perhaps once Mark has enough baseline menus for variety in his diet, the planning, cooking, and prepartion process with go a lot quicker.