I want to start by saying thank you for the meal map in ISWF

[Betheranne]

I've been reading ISWF and talking to my DH about it. We're committed to beginning on Monday,July 1. And we're taking our two children along for the ride with us.

 

He's been unemployed for several months now. Last night I sat down and tried to work on a meal plan, but thinking about trying to stretch my limited budget to cover four of us, three meals a day, without any legumes or pasta, or rice overwhelmed me and shut me down. And the blogs I was checking out weren't helping. They had lots of specialty ingredients I knew would eat up a lot of my budget. I was pretty sure I couldn't do it. So I set everything aside for the evening and took a fresh look this morning (Saturday).

 

Thankfully, this morning I remembered the Meal Map appendix at the back of ISWF, and I'm feeling better after looking over the master recipes. We're probably going to have to start with meat that isn't grass-fed or pastured, but it's a start. And I've been reminded that meals don't have to be complicated. So THANK YOU for that meal map. Without it, I would be scrapping the plan completely until my husband was back to work.

 

Here we go!

[Bridget]

Best of luck. I have a husband and six kids, and try to do this as inexpensively as I can. I have yet to buy grass fed anything, but we are making it work. I have a great year round farmers market that I go to every 2 weeks and stock up. I LOVE spending money there ! Then I hit Costco for all our meat and chicken and seafood. I read labels, and stay away from what is not part of the plan. It is expensive, but I really try to use everything I buy- even save the "ends" of the veggies I grate to saute or put in soups. None of us has been sick in a LONG time- so perhaps we are saving there

Remember to try to keep it simple. Ground beef can be used for so many things- and of course,chicken !! I have started using my crockpot more in the last 2 weeks, I somehow stretch those meals quite a bit, and make a big stash of mashed sweet potatoes every week- we use for all meals. SO good !!! Lots more ways to make this work !

Come here often- so many great ideas and tips !

[Guest]

I'm a family of five on a budget that is so tight, it's really nonexistent..  I also live in a very rural area and our tiny grocer has nothing organic in it.  Most of my grocery shopping is done at Smith's in the "big city" and I've done two very successful w30's on grocery store bought meat, basic veggies/fruit or whatever is on sale, lots of eggs. 

 

I stewed in my crockpot a zillion whole chickens to make broth, and then used the meat in tons of dishes.  I eat a lot of hamburger.. meatballs, ground beef crumbles, meatloaf, spaghetti sauce (on zoodles or spag squash),  I add veggies to everything to stretch it.  Tonight is stir fry and it's a ton of veggies and a couple of frozen chicken breasts cut up. I make a lot of golden cauliflower soup if I can get my hands on cauliflower on sale.  I also make a ton of squash soup.  I always check the reduced meat section at the grocery store.. both my little local store and Smith's have manager special, reduced for quick sell or whatever it's called because it's close to the sell by date.  I swoop that stuff up and then adjust my list to accommodate but I can't pass up .99/lb chicken or a 4lb beef roast for $5.00 LOL!

 

What really has helped stretch my budget is Bountiful Baskets.  Do you have a site near you?  I live in Montana and our growing season is not quite a full summer.. more like 75 days.  We grow what we can but participating in BB allowed us to have some really great produce even in the winter months.

 

Also, some nights my kids and husband want rice with their stir fry or noodles with their beef or beans with their tacos so I still make that stuff and that helps stretch too.  Overall, I've made it work just fine and was able to do 2 awesome full W30's and several mini W30's.

[Betheranne]

Thank you both for your suggestions!