Wanted: Seasonal Produce Advice!
I mentioned at the end of last week that it's been a budget savvy couple of weeks. Well, I'm happy to report that TOMORROW IS PAYDAY!!! I'm even happier to report that it's somehow a few dollaz more than I thought it would be. Who wouldn't be happy about a little more cushion in the budget?!
We used to meal plan for two weeks at a time, but would usually end up with a lot left at the end of the two weeks. In the worst cases, we would forget about some of the things we bought and they would go bad :( In the best cases, we would just use the unused foods to stretch our budget further the for the next two weeks by incorporating them into the next meal plan.
We saved a lot of money over the past two budget savvy weeks by closely examining what we already have at home and finding ways to eat some of that stuff up (which explains all of the beans, we had a 3+ lb bag of black beans hanging out in our freezer). We also saved money by buying frozen veggies that we could easily toss into any of our meals for a boost of nutrition.
[This week's batch-o-beans, complete with onions and spinach!]
But everything I know about nutrition tells me that the BEST way to do veggies is buying fresh produce. Duh. So I really need help figuring out how to get the most bang for my buck when it comes to meal planning around seasonal produce (because it will be both easier on the budget and more fresh). I don't want to consult a "seasonal produce guide" each time I grocery shop, and then have to search my pinterest archives for a recipe that COULD have those ingredients.
Maybe that's lazy? I just can't imagine that being a quick process. And when my grocery shopping takes too much planning, I know myself well enough to know that my motivation to plan a healthy week will go out the window. Any advice? How do you decide what to make and eat when you're at the grocery store?
