These are ideas that we have implemented in our home or that I hope to implement over the next few months!
- Commit to packing your lunch (or your husband or children's lunch) each week.
My husband has a small amount of money he is allotted to spend each month in the cafeteria at his work. However, that money runs out quickly and the food that is available to him is often less than nutritious and definitely not very delicious. So many of his co-workers eat out through the bulk of the week, but that ends up being so expensive and very unhealthy. We made a (somewhat joking) deal that when I started to stay at home with our kids, I would pack him a lunch every day. It has saved us so much money and I am able to provide him with healthy and satisfying meals. It only takes me a few minutes each night and although it is a commitment, he is well worth it!
If you have a hard time coming up with good ideas for lunch foods, check out this post at Simple Bites that is full of great meals!
- Learn to can fruits and vegetables when you have a bumper crop.
I have long wished I was a canning expert. Wouldn't it be lovely in the winter to have delicious peaches to put on ice cream? My dad is an excellent canner and makes the best sweet pickles I have ever had. I hope in this new year I will truly learn how to make his pickles and that this knowledge would transcend into canning other fruits and vegetables. Wish me luck!
- Make your own baby food.
When Lily was born, I knew I wanted to make her baby food. I knew it would cost us much less to feed her organic produce if we made it at home and did not buy the jars of food. And I was thrilled with the thought of being able to control exactly what went into her food.
However, even though I knew I wanted to do this, I was overwhelmed by the prospect. I thought it would be very time consuming and also very labor intensive.
And, while it was a labor of love, it was much easier than I ever expected!
I found that if I just cooked an extra batch of whatever fruit or vegetable we were eating and then put it into the food processor right away, I could easily make ice cube trays full of baby food to have on hand at any time.
For Lily, I used Ruth Yaron's book Super Baby Food
as a great resource. It tells you how to prepare and store almost any food for your baby and was great to have by my side. 
When Finn was born, I was a bit less uptight about the specifics and often fed him food that was close to what the rest of the family was eating, but just in a pureed form.
I felt confident that my kids were eating very healthy and nutritious meals and it was costing us a fraction of the money that buying the jars would have.
We would highly recommend making baby food when you have a little one. How often do you see Gerber selling kale or beets in jars? Not too often! :)
We hope that over this month, we have given you some ideas of ways you can make small changes in your kitchen in the upcoming year. Even the smallest change can make a big difference!
No comments:
Post a Comment