Jan. 4 - And more food prep.....

Today was my grocery and food prep day. I thought I'd show you what $60 of Clean groceries looks like in my little part of the world.

I got whole grain bread and buns from the bakery, a sirloin roast, 2 packs of chicken breasts, sea salt, a pineapple, granny smith apples, some very green bananas, asparagus, baby carrots, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, broccoli, grape tomatoes, organic salad mix, clean pizza sauce, a can of white beans, and trail mix ingredients. The fruit salad that you see already prepared contains: One expensive slice of watermelon, a cantaloupe, blackberries and blueberries. Not pictured is a container of extra virgin olive oil and a 5 pound bag of yukon gold potatoes.

I am going to cook the roast and the chicken in oven bags at the same time today. I am also going to roast the Brussels sprouts and some potatoes, garlic, and carrots. I like oven bags for lean cuts of meat because they stay nice and juicy and there is very little clean up. I'm going to prep the other veggies into steamer bags for future use. We will have decadent leftovers this week!

People often ask me if it's more expensive to eat the way I do. I think $60-$80 is a reasonable grocery bill for a family of 3. We will have to get milk later in the week but we should be okay aside from that.

The expense is in getting started on the new way of eating. You find short cuts and ways to shop less expensively as you become accustomed to the way you are eating. The initial investment in condiments like clean sweeteners (sucanat, maple syrup, honey), whole grains (brown rice, quinoa, whole wheat flour), natural nut butters and clean seasonings can be daunting but now I only replace these odds and ends once in a while. I also no longer eat out, so that is about $40-$50 a week that I was previously spending that no longer figures into the budget.

Today I bought myself a reward for finally breaking the 200 barrier. I was really getting tired of toting my food around in plastic grocery bags. Here's my new cooler bag! I think it's really cute and it's HUGE! I put my Eat-Clean Family and Kids Cookbook beside it for reference. I always photographed one of the 3 water bottles that goes everywhere with me - they will fit very nicely in my bag!

I've gotten a few questions about my trail mix. It varies what I put in it. The grocery photo above has this week's version. It contains:

4 parts raisins

1 part cashews

1 part almonds

1 part banana chips

Some people put some dark chocolate chips in their trail mix but the above is sufficiently sweet for us. The kids love it too (***added bonus***)

Today's food:

M1: whole wheat toast, natural pb, 1/2 pear

M2: Leftover stir fry containing broccoli, cabbage, carrots, mushrooms and chicken

M3: Bean dip w/multi grain tortilla chips ( the chips have gotta go! too high in fat!)

M4: Roast beef, garlic roasted potatoes and carrots, roasted Brussels sprouts, asparagus

(the kids are going to have to try the Brussels sprouts but I'm making the asparagus as a backup veggie)

M5: fruit salad

Have a squeaky clean day!

Daisy