Shopping

Today was shopping day so you get a breakdown of my list.

I always grab some fruit so today we got bananas and kiwi.
My toddler loves fruit so we always keep some handy. I'm a fan and it makes for a healthy snack.

Meat-I got some pork stew meat. I'm going to grill it with some hot sauce and lime juice. I picked up some skewers for those. Also some chicken thighs, but those were on sale and I need them next week.
Like I said, we're still eating meat a few days a week so I plan a few meals with them. I always keep an assortment of ground meat on hand, mostly chicken or turkey. I happen to have a lot so I didn't need to pick any up.

Veggies-Green onions, tomatos, lettuce, cucumber, and an avocado
Most of this is for burrito bowls.

Other- chow mein noodles, ranch dressing, quinoa, cinnamon life cereal, vegetable pasta, spaghetti sauce, sesame oil, and whole corn
Contrary to the belief of my husband, corn is a grain and not a vegetable. So it falls under the "other category". Quinoa and ranch are for burrito bowls. My son likes cinnamon life and pretty much no other cereal (we've tried generic. Not even close to the same taste.) I like to grab the vegetable pasta because who doesn't need extra vegetables? And it isn't so much more expensive. I try to buy organic when it's not crazy expensive. Sesame oil and chow mein noodles are for sesame noodles. I like the texture of the chow mein, but I'm pretty sure whoever wrote the recipe just uses spaghetti.

Staples- flour, milk, eggs, muffin mix, bread, and coffee creamer.
This is stuff that is always in our house. Sometimes I get a bug and get a baking fix and I make scones or something. Most of the time we eat eggs or muffins for breakfast. We buy whole milk because my husband drinks it so that's where most of it goes and I just don't argue (Anyone notice how particular he is yet? Too soon probably). He drinks coffee, but I switched to green tea with 1 tblsp. of honey. We get one in a bear because...toddler.

So as you can see I'm not a total health nut. I believe in eating what is good. I ate canollis on Wednesday with a white pizza and wine. Which was a treat. We rarely eat out.
I'm also not rich. Tack on another $35 worth of non-food items and all this comes out to a little over $100 for the week. I usually sit around $100-$125 for 3 people. I believe in leftovers. My husband hates eating the same thing. I'm not always sure what or if he eats, but I stick strictly to my budget. He usually gets himself stuff for lunch because he usually just tells me to get "whatever" and then hates what I get him. He's one of those people who is too busy to eat or falls asleep before getting to eat.

So this week's menu is:
Sesame noodles
burrito bowls
grilled honey lime pork with seasoned corn cooked in the crockpot
Spaghetti
and I keep Tuna patties as a stand by in case I misjudge how long food will last.

Usually during the winter I make a soup every week and we never run short. I've yet to find something that works for summer. I think it might be burrito bowls, but I might have to switch back to rice. I believe in leftovers. If you can make a lot of something that everyone likes and it isn't too expensive then go for it.

Fun fact: I can not cook rice to save my life. It never turns out right. Even when I use my rice cooker. That's why I use quinoa. Feel free to substitute.

OK so here's the part where I share the recipes. Very few of them are my own so I'll hand out the links, but this is literally what I'm eating.

Spaghetti- I dunno how you make it. Make it how you make it. I cook noodles, usually twisty because toddlers love them (I think they're called rotini), cook ground meat, and then dump everything in one pot with the sauce.

Burrito bowls-cook grain of choice, add veggies, add meat of choice (optional), add tasty dressing. Voila! Healthy delicious meal. It's like a salad with rice or something for those few unaware of what a burrito bowl is.

Sesame noodles- I do not use the chili oil in this recipe because a) I can't find it and b) husband (who I will now refer to as D. and toddler is now E.) can't do spicy or he gets heartburn, but it's still yummy and everyone loves it. Also, if you don't have canola oil any kind works. I've used grapeseed and it's still delicious.
http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/2010/08/simple-sesame-noodles/?crlt.pid=camp.L1rrvZsNX9cW

Honey Lime pork kebabs and seasoned corn- These are both something new so I hope they're good. If a recipe has cilantro or red pepper flakes in it I usually omit. The red pepper flakes due to D. and I really don't like them. I find that cilantro doesn't seem to make a difference if it is there or not so I just don't use it. Even tho it is a chicken recipe, I am using pork.
http://kitchenmeetsgirl.com/honey-lime-chicken-skewers/
I haven't decided if I'm doing one or more of the flavors here, but I'll let you know when it happens.
http://www.theyummylife.com/slow_cooker_corn_on_the_cob

And last but not least Tuna Patties- There are plenty of variations of this so feel free to explore. I am a huge fan of Pinterest. I really like this recipe though. I buy the 4 pack of cans and just add enough of the ingredients until it seems right and eat it with a nice veggie or applesauce.
 http://www.kaylasjoy.com/tuna-patties/

So that's what we're eating this week. It may seem overly healthy, but have no fear I'm making pizza next week.
I don't like counting calories or avoiding carbs. You can still eat healthy without doing all that. It's just about being concious of what and how much you're eating.