Feeding Two for $50 - Week Two (I Just Don't Think This is Going to Work)

I've been putting this post off.

So, as excited as I was to take on this feeding two for $50/week challenge and to reduce our grocery budget, I just don't think it's going to work.

Here's why:

I watched this film over the weekend, and it really changed the way I think and feel about food.

I learned a lot about how processed foods affect me, and I can see the results of eating so much processed food in my life.  I'm always tired and feel like I can't ever sleep enough.  I feel lethargic and crave junk food and pop.  The minute I begin "healthy eating" I automatically feel deprived, and that's not how it's supposed to be.  I think that eating junk food will make me feel better, when really it just makes me feel worse and really messes with my stomach and digestive system.  Ugh.  It's just so not good.

I really have tried to shop for real, healthy food the majority of the time, but there was so much that I didn't realize was affecting our bodies.

I became a bit obsessed and followed this one up with Foodmatters, Forks Over Knives, and Fat Sick and Nearly Dead.  Then I went grocery shopping on Sunday evening, as I normally do.  But this week, I agonized over everything I put into my cart, so torn between eating food filled with chemicals and saving money.  I didn't even buy some things (i.e. milk) because I just couldn't stand buying the regular stuff, but couldn't stand paying so much for organic either.  I knew I had a lot of research ahead of me and would have to have a good convo with my husband about all this and our grocery budget.

So that's what we've done this week.  I've done loads of research, beginning with these documentaries and leading into the Paleo lifestyle and the Whole30 challenge and the Eat Clean diet, and we've talked about it a lot - the pros and cons, the budget worries, the lack of CHEESE in most of these eating plans.  I want to change the way we eat, especially with Liam getting into eating real food and starting to get onto cow's milk instead of formula pretty soon, I really want to make sure that what I'm feeding him is actually good for him.  I know it's going to be tough.  I don't quite think we're ready for something like the Whole30 challenge (but who knows, maybe next week we will be), but I do want to begin making steps towards eating whole foods, little to no processed foods, and more organic & pastured foods.

And with that being the case, I don't think the $50 grocery budget is going to cut it anymore.  Right now, we've decided that since Liam is beginning to eat more and more regular food (and we'll only have to buy a few more cans of formula before we can switch him over to organic cow's milk), we can up our grocery budget to $75 and include Liam's items instead of having a separate budget for baby items - though diapers, etc. will still come out of our "household" budget.  We're going to continue to work with it and crunch numbers and see if we can continue to up our budget reasonably so that we can afford to purchase more organic & pastured meats and stuff like that.

So, beginning with next week, I think I'll still post my menu plan, and maybe how much I spent on my grocery trip, but I won't be sticking that $50 budget on myself because it's just too tough to get good food with that little money.