Are you enjoying these “what we ate on a budget” posts? My intent is twofold: to hold me accountable with our grocery spending and to give some ideas and insight into how we eat on a budget. Our budget is currently $500 for my family of four. Although my kids are young (9 & 6), they truly eat like adults, truly. Let me know your thoughts in the comments.
You may have noticed that my homemade sugar-free applesauce is a constant side dish on my menu. We eat it a lot during through out the cold months. I was running low and that would cause all sorts of drama and havoc at my house. So I went to the local apple orchard and took advantage of their end of season apple sale and made 12 more quarts–that should carry us until spring.
My oldest daughter has started to sit down with me weekly and plan our menu. She has always been a really good eater. She will try new foods and when she tells me she doesn’t like something, I believe her, because it doesn’t happen often. My other daughter, however, just looks at something and decides she doesn’t like it and will not eat it. I don’t force my kids to eat something they don’t like, BUT I do expect them to respect me with nice words about my cooking and they will not have anything else unless they at least make an attempt to try the food. How do you handle this with your kids?
This Week’s Dinners:
Saturday: My daughter asked for New England Clam Chowder.
Sunday: Super Bowl Sunday. My husband is a huge NFL fan so we always make a big deal about the Super Bowl. My family requested wings, nachos, and carrots and hummus.
For the nachos, I browned some ground turkey, added my homemade taco seasoning and simmered for 20 minutes. I placed tortilla chips on a rimmed cookie sheet and then layered with the taco meat, cheese and a little onion. Bake at 350 for about 20 minutes. We then loaded them with salsa and avocado. They were awesome.
Monday: Turkey & Black Bean Chili in the Slow Cooker that we loaded with avocado, shredded cheddar, salsa, and tortilla chips. Homemade applesauce. This is one of my favorite slow cooker meals and it was included in my freezer cooking session last fall.
Tuesday: Parmesan Chicken Breasts, steamed corn, broccoli and homemade applesauce.
For the chicken: I dredge the breasts in flour and then dip in egg. Then I coat the chicken with a mixture of panko, Parmesan and seasoning salt. Place in a baking dish that was coated with non-stick spray and bake at 350 degrees for approximately 40 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. This is an easy weeknight dinner.
Wednesday: Turkey Cornbread Potpie, homemade applesauce.
Thursday: My family was not too happy, but it was “Clean out the Fridge/Leftovers” night.
Friday: I have not decided yet. I have Slow Cooker Chicken & Black Bean Tacos on my menu, but we ate a lot of beans this week and I think we’re all beaned out for a few days. So I need to regroup.
This Week’s Breakfasts, Lunches & Snacks:
Breakfasts included eggs & toast, oatmeal, and green smoothies. Lunches and snacks included pb & j, leftovers, soup, apples, oranges, tortilla chips, pretzels, popcorn.
Did you try a new recipe this week that your family enjoyed? Let us know in the comments.
My kids are a lot like yours, my oldest will eat almost anything and be happy, my youngest is kind of picky and would rather eat no vegetables and lots of meat. I don’t force them to eat what they don’t like, but they do have to try the food before they decide they don’t like it. Then if they don’t like it they’re free to make something for themselves. I don’t make multiple meals (I know people who make a different meal for each kid!).
Great idea having the child make something else themselves. I also know people who make 2 different dinners to appease everyone in their family—no time for that! Thanks for stopping by and taking the time to comment.
The rule at our house is you have to take at least 2 bites to decide if you don’t like it. Just because it doesn’t look “good” doesn’t mean it isn’t good.
Rebecca – “2 bites” is a good rule! I’ve found that when they take a really good sized bite of the food that they usually end up liking it.