I have been reading many posts lately about not sacrificing nutrition in the name of frugality. As I have mentioned before, my family has never eaten better since I undertook the task of bringing our grocery expenses under control. Menu planning and cooking from scratch are the solid foundation on which my savings have been built - NOT on eating low quality, low cost foods.
In an attempt to continue our journey towards better nutrition, I have been trying to eliminate many of the convenience foods that have a list of unknown, unpronounceable ingredients. Here are some of the changes that I am working on over the next month or so:
- No more breakfast cereal. Weekday breakfasts are largely self-service at our home so this is a bit of a sacrifice for me. It means making oatmeal, homemade pancakes and waffles, and eggs on mornings when I’d rather be checking my email. In the past, I have proposed this change; but I find that as long as I have cereal or PB and crackers around, I tend to rely on these lower quality breakfast choices. So I’m not going to buy any more cereal!!!
- No more crackers. Ritz crackers have truly become a staple in our home. They say that they have no trans-fats yet they list partially hydrogenated oil in their ingredient list. They are also high in calories given the nutritional value (I believe 5 crackers are 2 pts. in the Weight Watcher system - the equivalent of a slice of Whole Wheat bread. And I certainly find whole wheat bread to be more healthful and filling than Ritz crackers!!!) So we will be buying and making more Whole Wheat bread.
- Home-made salad dressing - this will be the hardest adjustment as I begin to try some simple recipes. Any suggestions???
I am determined not to make any other major changes until we have fully incorporated these three. I tend to backslide when I bite off more than I can chew!!!
3 responses so far ↓
1 Jamie // Jan 30, 2008 at 12:46 pm
I have tagged you over at my blog
2 Mary Alice // Jan 30, 2008 at 3:05 pm
My comments were too long, so I posted them on my blog…this is a great plan!
FROM HEATHER: Here’s the link:
http://sevenandtheburbs.blogspot.com/2008/01/to-our-friends-at-doodle-acres.html
3 Heather // Jan 30, 2008 at 4:57 pm
Mary Alice:
Thanks for all the input.
Your suggestions are great.
What a blessing you are!!!
Love,
Heather
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