Groceries

Let's talk about groceries for a minute. Are you as shocked as me when the 30 items you buy totals to the equivalent of a car payment?! It is disgusting. But a family has to eat, right?

I have couponed, played the grocery game, shopped sales, fed my family egg sandwiches, all in the name of reducing the amount of money we spend on groceries. Like many moms, I find it a delicate balance to feed my family healthy on a budget.

I want my family to eat as healthy as possible. I also want to be able to pay the mortgage each month. Magazine articles and blogs all offer advice.....buy the "dirty dozen" fruits and veggies organic; make sure your meat is organic, grass fed; organic diary is a must; no processed food; food with only five ingredients; avoid food with gluten; no wheat; no dairy; non-gmo (still don't quite understand this one); no artificial dyes; no artificial sweeteners; definitely no high fructose corn syrup; no carbs.....the list goes on and on.

Quite honestly following this "advice" leaves me stressed. Listen, I know organic is best. How could adding chemicals to your body be good? I understand gluten is a problem for many. Protein is great fuel. Sugar and carbs should be consumed in moderation. GMO's mean somehow your food has been genetically modified. And dairy and wheat are common allergens.

But what does eating healthy on a budget for my family look like? As I was praying through this the Lord laid something on my heart. He reminded me that first, I need to respect my husband and the income he provides for our family. This includes the grocery budget. This does not include nagging my husband that I need more money for groceries because I have to feed my family all organic, non-gmo, grassfed meals. Because, for our budget that we agreed on for groceries, this is not feasible. And, let me get real honest with you here, there isn't much room to cut from other budgeted items to add to our grocery budget to even accomplish buying all organic. So, while some are able to cut out other items to afford organic milk to hydrate their family of five, this isn't an option for our budget.

By respecting my husband and the grocery budget we can afford, I am obeying God. And doing the absolute best for my family. We try not to eat tons of processed snacks. Chips are for weekends only. No cokes (or sodas, whatever). No juice. I buy grassfed beef when it is on sale and stock up. Same for chicken. I do BOGO at Publix only on items we actually eat. I shop at Sam's for cheese, milk (freeze for the whole month), bread (freeze for the whole month), and dog food.I try to keep meals simple and less processed, but I don't stress if there is boxed mac and cheese every now and then either. I cut down on grocery trips (and my stress levels that elevate when grocery shopping with 3 kids) by eating what we have on hand. (Meals can get real interesting in the Ward house!) There is very little organic in our house. But there is also less stress about going over on the grocery budget.

When I start to look at food blogs or blogs of other women feeding their family different, I lose sight of what the Lord has revealed to me. To my family. (I know your family is different!). So I try to avoid those sights, and blog entries. I too easily fall victim to comparing myself to others.

And, have you ever thought about this? I read this somewhere......God gave us the ability to pray over our food?! Ever heard this, "Lord bless this food to the nourishment of our bodies."? Back before we had all this knowledge about how to prepare, cook, and store food, a family literally had to pray that what they were about to ingest wouldn't kill them! The Lord wants what we put into our bodies to be healthy, to nourish what He has given us. But, for me, He also doesn't want me to draw our family into debt over food. I would rather pray that the Lord blesses the boxed mac n cheese that I was able to purchase while staying within my budget and being obedient, than pray that He get me out of debt incurred over food. He wants to bless my family when I respect my husband, stay on budget, pray over my food, and feed my family as healthy as I can. And that, my friends, is better than organic.

(Let me just say that if the Lord has called your family to eat different than mine, I am not implying that you are being disobedient. I understand that all families have differing dietary and budgeting issues.)