Family Meal Plans

I FINALLY HAVE TIME TO SIT DOWN AND ANSWER SOME QUESTIONS ABOUT THE NEW FAMILY MEAL PLAN! 

1. How has this affected your grocery budget???
This month I was able to stay within my allotted grocery budget.  However, we have had more events this month as a family than usual so there have been some extra nights of eating out or at other people's homes that have not gone in the grocery budget.  Therefore, I believe I am going to see a $20-30 influx in the budget in the coming months to continue this eating plan.  I did spend an extra $150-200 for two months as I got rid of everything in the cabinets and replaced it with healthier things so that was a financial commitment!

2.  How are you getting your boys to eat vegetarian meals?

Good question.  As me and my friend Jen discussed, us Texans do not really do vegetarian so this has been a big adjustment even for myself!  I shared all the information I read from the books about eating with Matt and he has greatly helped me by encouraging everyone in the house to eat the new, healthy food!

3.  Do you take vitamins too?

YES!  They take Juice Plus once a day.  My boys seem to keep up their immunities when taking it so I have bought that for them for a couple years now.  Since we have changed our eating, I only have them taking one gummy a day since they are eating so much fruits and veggies so that saves money!  Also, we all take Lil Critters Omega 3 gummy fish once a day too.

4.  What does a typical meal plan for the week look like?  

This is what I have been wanting to share!  Cooking and baking is a hobby of mine so it has been really fun to play around with recipes...put wheat flour in, substitute sugar with honey or agave, throw in some flaxseed for good measure...it's been fun!

Breakfasts:
I make a lot of breakfasts ahead of time because I am not much of a morning person! I keep batches of wheat waffles, carrot muffins, and blueberry muffins in the freezer all the time. One morning a week, I make this oatmeal and  throw in a 1/2 cup ground flaxseed to it.  I am wanting to implement a smoothie morning but haven't got their yet.  Depending on how hungry Jack is before school, sometimes we just have plates of fruit.  I also like to have another hot meal in the morning like eggs and bacon or pancakes, not exactly healthy but I don't want to take everything away from them!

Lunch Ideas:
PB & J, nuts, fresh fruit
Chicken noodle soup with vegetables & crackers
Greek Quinoa and Avocado Salad
Salad w/ ranch and grilled cheese sandwiches
*Most of the time we have leftovers from the night before with a fresh fruit or vegetable.

Dinners:
Baked Chicken Tortillas

Cheesy Spinach Lasagna Soup
Minestrone Soup
Baked Potato Soup -Auntie Suzie's recipe
Lemony Chicken and Noodles
Andma's Chicken Spaghetti
Slow Cooked Sticky Chicken, brown rice, broccoli
Turkey burgers and home fries

Vegetarian
Roasted Butternut Squash Lasagna-has become a favorite, it doesn't look like it would be, but it's yummy!
Garden Vegetable Lasagna

Ratouille
Sesame Tofu Stir Fry
Spinach and Mushroom Calzone

 Those are just some ideas! 

Oh and Fridays we always make pizza together for family movie night!  We use the Bob Mill's pizza crust recipe on the bag and use half wheat flour.  Then we put pizza sauce on and whatever toppings sound yummy to us.  We usually have one pizza with meat on it and one that's vegetable.  I save leftover meat and vegetables throughout the week and freeze them so we have plenty of toppings.

We have one soup a week, two vegetarian meals, pizza on Fridays, and one new meal a week.  That helps me to know with my menu planning.

That's it girls!  I am still trying out recipes and tweaking everything for the taste buds of the Vincent fam, but those are some we are all liking right now and the answers to some of your questions.  Thanks for journeying with us!