Granola Mom #1

Okay so I'm pretty sure this is going to be the start of a series...I realized the other day I have changed alot of habits in my life, trying to get to my goal of an overall health filled life. The funniest part being I changed these habits not out of want, but out of necessity. Which is the story of my life, really.

I never had any intention of becoming a crunchy granola kind of person, let alone mother. I thought it was expensive to keep up a healthy lifestyle, and if I ate organic, no meat and very few sugar/processed foods, I would instantly start braiding my hair down my back, wear no makeup and have an arsenal of long flow-y skirts in my closet. Turns out all that was just a myth. So here is my way of slowly becoming that crunchy granola kind of mom/wife/woman. Really its just about becoming educated about what I put into my family's body. And finally confirming that I just want to feel good. Let's start with how I grocery shop and meal plan...and how I can get it all under $100.
(Keep in mind its my small family of 3 that I'm shopping for)

I DID IT!!! 

I finally had my first grocery trip with everything in my cart consisting of either organic or all natural foods: no processed crap, nothing filled with high fructose corn syrup or some other weird sugar substitute, no meat, no dairy, no ingredient I couldn't pronounce...2 weeks worth of groceries and meals for literally $104 (20$ at the Farmer's Market, about $80 at the store)

Here's what was in my cart from Kroger:

1 lb of raw almonds
bag of dried cranberries (to make my own trail mix)
Almond milk (we no longer drink cow's milk)
Almond creamer
Bananas
All natural peanut butter
Grape jelly (no sugar added, no HFCS)
Mom's Best All Natural cereals (LOVE these cereals...)
Diya vegan mozzerella cheese
Prego veggie spaghetti sauce
Veggie frozen lunches (3 of them)
2 boxes of quinoa
2 cans of organic black beans
2 cans of organic diced tomatoes


There were a few other things on my list..like mascara, toothpaste and hydrogen peroxide, etc that also added the bill up a little more. I also buy in bulk when I can, and I have alot of things that carry over from week to week. Hence my list not being very long. I also ONLY buy what I need. Rarely do I get desserts...and since we have cut out anything processed for the most part...there isn't too much crap mixed in there.

The other important new habit I have: buying almost ALL of my fruits/veggies from a farmers market. I bought just $20 worth of fruits and veggies today and I filled two brown paper grocery bags.

Here is my menu plan for the next two weeks...keep in mind I plan enough food for leftovers. Meaning I make sure I make enough dinner to last our family dinner the first night, and then either lunch the next day or dinner the next day. Rarely ever do I make dinner to be for just one night. Unless its a special occasion or something.

Dinner menu for two weeks (I grocery shop every two weeks so food doesn't spoil):
(everything is vegetarian by the way..another way to save money at the store)

Veggie pizza

Spinach/tomato/pasta casserole

Couscous and roasted veggies

Mexican lasagna

Sweet potato veggie medley on top of spinach

Spaghetti (because there are nights I just need something quick)

Quinoa and veggies/pasta

Brown rice stir fry

Nothing overly complicated or fancy...I work full time and don't have a lot of time to cook by the time I get home. Click here to go to my Pinterest "Fav Recipes" page. Some of the dinners above are included there.

So that's it folks! That's just the beginning of how I grocery shop and how that leads to myself and my family making better choices...not just for food but all the other areas of our lives as well. I'll post soon about how and why these choices started to creep into my life...but I would love your comments and questions as well!!