Filling bellies and the freezer ....

For as long as I can remember Monday is my day in the kitchen...I usually try to make a few things that my family will enjoy during the week but also try to add a few items to my freezer for those nights we are running late I haven't prepared anything that day.

Faruq and I have committed to not eating out more then once a month.  In all honesty, it bothers me when someone else prepares my food and more importantly what is being put in these meals.  I try very hard at home to cook organically so I can just imagine the crap that goes into some of those "yummy" meals in restaurants.   I wasn't always this way though...there was a time when we would eat out (or at least bring in food) 3 or 4 times a week !  Not only did my health suffer with a huge weight gain but so did our bank account.  What we spend on one meal can now feed our family of four suppers for 5 days - it's really hard to justify it !

I have found through weekly meal planning (I consider this the most important step),  a few great cookbooks (my fav's are" The Complete Light Kitchen Cookbook" and "Fix it and Forget it for Slow Cookers", some time prepping food when you bring them home from the grocery store,  a slow cooker (a must in my kitchen) and a little prep time each day my family can have a good healthy supper every night.

Our grocery bill still sits around $800 a month  but again I buy organic where available so sadly we pay way more .  One example is 4 litres of milk will cost us almost $12.  I know my kids are healthy and honestly I wouldn't do it any other way.   I was watching a segment on our local news last night that was comparing prices of food across Canada and Calgary was the highest in almost every category so that isn't working in our favorite.  As they stated in the segment it would be nice if the government would regulate food pricing the way they do liquor.  Makes sense to me ???

I will start to post a few of our favorite family recipes for you to try...I hope your family will love them !!!

Happy Cooking and more importantly Happy Eating !!