Shopping Differently

Lately, I have been thinking very hard about how we eat and how we feed our children. It seems that in this rushing busy world we are so pressed for time and the people who manufacture and market our food are using that to their advantage. 

I've been watching the new Jamie Oliver's Food Revolution that is currently being aired here in the US. And it has been inspiring and discouraging at the same time. I think that what he is doing is wonderful and I hope that it sparks a real change in how we feed our children. But I believe that he is just starting in the wrong place. I think that good eating habits begin at home. These children may indeed start getting healthier meals at school, but what happens when they get home? What is filling their pantries and how many times a week are they eating out?

I do something I call 'Grocery Shopping in the Outside Aisles'. This means that most of the food in your cart is from the outer walls of the grocery store where you find produce, meats, dairy, and fresh baked goods.  I try to do about 75% of my shopping this way and do it on a very tight budget. I just got back from my weekly shopping today and here is what I got with a $100 budget:

  

 Well, if you don't count the seasonings on the back of the stove that is! But most of these choices are fresh. I do buy many of my veggies frozen once my stockpile of home grown veggies are gone and the steam varieties go over very well in my home. This is enough to feed all three of us 6-7 home cooked meals a week. We do have a day we either go out to eat or have something fun and quick like hot dogs. But my guys usually prefer something made here at home. 

A typical weekly purchase of center aisle foods

It's not a perfect strategy! We still eat the occasional junk. And I'm still a sucker for the canned cream of whatever soups in my cooking. I also used jarred spaghetti sauces since there are usually not many preservatives in them. And I also get the canned beans instead of the dry since I hate the soaking process. I bake one loaf of bread a week but hubby likes the softer store wheat bread for sandwiches. 

 I can't wait to cut open that pineapple...

All in all though, I think we eat very well when looking at how most families eat now. And it is certainly much cheaper. The processed food seems so much more expensive! And you don't get nearly as much. With my very hungry construction worker husband and a child trying to out eat him, one little box of hamburger helper would NEVER be enough! 

As for the pot roast I promised, It will be soon! I got so busy last time that I forgot to take pictures of the final product! But it is yet another fresh meal I make with food from the 'outside aisles'.