April 2012 Groceries: End of the Month

Sad to say, but this month I have gone over my $450 Grocery Budget, but true to my word, I only purchased milk at the Food Store this last week.

Food Store
Milk
Total: $9.98
 

Editing to add...found a receipt hiding in my purse....$12.76(chocolate/sweets binge...blushing here!)
That brings me to my Grand Total: $494.04.

This is $44.04 over my intended budget!
 Observations/Notes:

• In order to stay on budget, I really do have to keep track and be aware of what I buy, constantly!

• Start keeping track from the start of the month

• Menu Planning is good for knowing "what's for dinner?" and not having to come up with a new idea each night when the clock's running

• Keep away from the junk food! (ok, you can have *just a little*, but not like this last month!)

• Don't shop hungry/with kids if you can help it

Mulling over Wheat-Free for the Entire Family...

After reading Wheat Belly, by William Davis, MD, I have been reflecting on my diet and that of my family.

I would like to take wheat out of the entire family's at-home eating regimen and watch for changes.

I am not going to toss out or give away all of our wheat-containing foods. For one thing, I can't afford to do that.

What I am thinking about doing, though, is simply not buying them for a month and seeing what happens.

This will take some very intentional menu planning, grocery shopping, and maybe a little more work in the kitchen (at least to start out with) to get the whole family on board.

I plan to have our family get together and talk about this, and why I want to do this, so that we can be on the same page. The kids are getting old enough to realize that what we eat does affect our bodies(thanks to allergies). What they don't understand is why they hear a certain food is dubbed "good" in some circles and why other circles say that same food is "bad". So, we will have some discussion on that I am sure. (We've already had that discussion over the topic of chocolate, and I had to explain why not all chocolate is created equal.)

So, if everyone can get on board, and if I can get my ducks in a row,  I may be doing a Wheat-Free Family May Menu.

Book Review: Wheat Belly by William Davis, MD

I just finished reading Wheat Belly by William Davis, MD.

William Davis, MD is a cardiologist who has found that promoting a wheat-free diet in his patients has led to improved health.

Davis is of the opinion that wheat is over-consumed in our society, since it is ubiquitous in the American diet. It is touted as health food and people are encouraged to eat more whole grains. He shows how wheat has been developed over the last half-century and is not nearly as natural or healthy as it is claimed to be.  Our bodies, in consuming so much of it, become more prone to heart disease, diabetes, and a whole host of other health problems, regardless of whether we are plagued by full-blown Celiac Disease.

Davis challenges the reader to remove wheat from their diet for a month and to watch for positive changes in the body.  He has a simple list of what to eat and what not to eat, and a few recipes at the end of the book to help get the reader started.


With  my health challenges over the last few years, I found this book to be affirming.  As readers here might already know, I have been eating Gluten-free for a year now, after years of dealing with food allergies and various immune system problems. I try to avoid Genetically Modified foods, but so far wheat hasn't been put on that list. But maybe it should be on the GMO list; though it doesn't have genes from other species blasted into it, it has been unnaturally changed in a laboratory in a much shorter time than would have ever happened naturally.  I find Davis' explanation and observations of the development of modern wheat to shed a little bit more light on the reasons my immune system (or...my whole body in general, really) dislikes wheat, and why it gives me  "brain fog" and heartburn and makes me  hungry all the time, rather than classic Celiac symptoms.

Dr. Davis focuses on avoiding wheat in his diet recommendations, and replacing that wheat with vegetables, nuts, seeds, meat, eggs and cheese. I can get on board with that!
He tells the reader to avoid "gluten-free" foods. I was confused at this suggestion at first, but then figured out that what he meant was to avoid the highly processed "gluten-free" foods that are mainly starches and not Real Foods.  If you replace wheat with starches, you will have the same junky diet leading to heart disease, diabetes, etc. (and let's face it, highly processed food really isn't the best for us) If you are Celiac, eating this "junky gluten-free" diet would be better than eating gluten, as far as your intestinal health is concerned, but you would still be at risk of heart disease, diabetes, obesity, etc. due to the junk.

One thing that I personally cannot get on board with in his book is his support of artificial sweeteners and his stance against all sugars. My own stance is that natural sugars are better than, say, Splenda or Nutrasweet or even Truvia(GMO corn additives). But I suppose in the grand scheme of things, if one gives up most bad things, there is room for a little "cheat" here and there and most people's bodies can handle it. And I have to agree on one thing: Sugar/Sweetener (whatever the source) in moderation is key. 


I had gotten this book from the local library, but I plan on getting my own copy of it so that I can re-read, highlight, underline and write notes in the margins. There is a ton of information in this book, and I would definitely recommend it to my health-seeking friends!

Here's to good health!

April 2012 Menu Plan

I had posted my menu plan for weeks 1-3 earlier this month. I did deviate a little from the week 3 plan, but not overmuch.  I like a little leniency in  my menu planning. :)

April 2012, Week 4 Dinner Menu

Monday: Hamburger Rice Stroganoff (ended up not having it last week), Mixed veggies with pastured butter, sliced cucumbers

Tuesday: Corned Beef and Cabbage in the crockpot, Carrots and dip

Wednesday: Turkey meat (from the big ol' turkey I'd roasted and portioned out earlier this month) in a frozen-vegetable Stir-fry, Rice

Thursday: Turkey Kielbasa, Veggies (cauliflower and carrots, roasted?), Pasta?

Friday: Pizzas (frozen ones for the family, homemade/GF one for myself)


The following Monday, I plan on doing something with the chicken I have in the freezer that needs eating.

April 2012 Groceries: Weeks 3-4

Popping in for an update on my grocery spending. At the time of my last grocery post, I had spent $222 on groceries. I've got a bunch of receipts here, so let's see how I'm doing.

Local grocery S=Sale
Cabbage
Celery hearts
Romaine
Blue Cheese salad dressing
3lb bag of Gala apples
S fresh mushrooms
S 3 cucumbers

S 2 blocks Cheddar
Laughing Cow cheese-garlic/herb

2 cans mushrooms
2 cans green chilies

Corned Beef-because I didn't get much at all this year and still have a hankering for it
Hormel nitrate-free Turkey lunchmeat
Hormel pepperoni sticks--going to try these instead of the other kind I tried and see if they bother me
S Honey ham lunchmeat (because it was on sale and the Hormel nitrate-free is so expensive at this store...compromise)
S Chicken Nuggets

2 bags small tortillas
3 bags burrito tortillas
loaf French Bread for "fancy sandwiches" for Family Night
2 loaves bread
Pretzels
S Cap'n Crunch and off-brand Honey Nut Cheerios (kids really didn't like this...weird, but that's probably good!)

S 2 Lay's potato chips
S 2 bags white corn tortilla chips
S 4 Totino's frozen combination pizzas (so I can only make my own gf pizza on Family Night)

S 4 Honest Teas
S 8-pack of Dr. Pepper.....one of many reasons not to go shopping when hungry and w/kids!

Total: $102.38


Food Store
3 half-gallons Organic Valley milk
3 dozen eggs
parsley
garlic
Chili powder
Sweets 'n Beets chips by Terra Nova (not a hit w/the kids)
Dried Figs
2 bags/boxes GF crackers (nuts/flax, NOT starches)
and a myriad of other things that I can't remember at this time
Total: $57.82

Food Store
4 boxes tea
2 half-gallons milk
Total $27.13

Stites
A mess of bagels, granola bars, cereal, RW Knudsen juices, Cocoa powder, chocolate chips, gourmet chocolate-covered potato chips (meh), yogurts, pack of cookies, pink sweetener, 2 packs Turkey kielbasa, hfcs-free jelly, canned beans, pasta
Total: $61.97

So.... $222+$102.38 + $57.82 + $27.13 + $61.97 = $471.30 Total so far



Bummer, I've gone over my $450 goal for the month. I'm thinking if I'd not purchased so many junk-food sale items, I'd be within budget.  Looking at that one shopping trip with the kids, I really spent a lot more than I had planned to...and was snookered into the "sales"....it was a before-dinner shop. Making a note to myself NOT to shop then if I can help it! (and I can help it....but I had put off a separate shopping trip, thinking to save gas $ and another trip into town....turns out that I may actually have saved more money if I had shopped sans children and earlier in the day).

Another thing I notice is how much wheat is in that one shopping trip! I've recently finished reading Wheat Belly, by William Davis, MD, and all the wheat in my cart (even though I personally am GF) is really standing out to me.

Sigh.

I will go to the store and get some milk this week, since we used the last of it this morning. That's all I will get.

There, I said it here, so I have to stick to it, right?