Overall food bill is much cheaper. I ventured into cutting and slicing a few more veggies than last week and it saved some money. By chopping my own chicken I saved money and SODIUM! Pre-cut and cooked chicken is expensive per serving and loaded with sodium to retain flavor. It really didn’t add much time to the whole cooking process. I was done in under two hours including clean up. I was also able to teach my some a few thing in the kitchen so that was fun. Most of the food was organic or all natural because I read my labels. 
Last week I spent $283.00 and we ate out one time for my splurge meal. That was a little over $300.00 for the week. This week I spent $227.00. Both of these numbers include household products, my son’s food, and my husband’s meals that I prep for him to take to work. (Yes, he’s taking a week’s worth of food and keeping it at work. He bought his own tiny fridge for his office.) So, I don’t think those numbers are way out of line for three people, all meals, and three snacks a day, plus household goods.
Ziploc Snack Bags are awesome. They are tiny, portion controlled bags you can toss snacks into. I bagged up baby carrots, celery sticks, red pepper slices, cucumbers, and mixed nuts for easy grab and go snacks for my cooler.
Chop and slice while your meats are cooking. I had the lion’s share of my veggies done by the time my meats were finished. This week I boiled a bunch of chicken for salads, cooked ground, organic low-fat beef for my marinara sauce, and baked a couple of pieces of Mahi Mahi from frozen. I also boiled some eggs to use for my salads for bonus protein and fat sources.
Recipe of the Week: Beef Marinara over Zuchinni and Squash
I am always in need of a way to eat more veggies while keeping my evening carbs low. Since I love pasta, I wanted a way to have the Italian meal without bloating and loading on carbs. Here’s what I made and it was delicious.
1lb of lean ground beef (I prefer organic)
3 zucchini sliced
3 yellow squash sliced
1 jar of organic marinara (look for low to no sugar…under 2g per serving)
olive oil
**** Extra additions to veggie selection: spinach, red and green peppers, onions, or carrots.
Sautee your zucchini and squash in olive oil until cooked. Move to mixing bowl. Cook your beef in same pan until done. Pour marinara sauce over beef and simmer for 10 minutes covered. Cover cooked squash and zucchini with beef sauce. You can sprinkle with cheese optionally and serve with a green salad.
Last night I was able to have a carb at dinner so I added in a baked potato and took a small portion of the squash mixture and placed next to a potato while pouring the beef mixture over the potato. It was wonderful.
Best Lesson Learned: This week I felt wonderful knowing I was in total control of my food, it was all so healthy, and my workouts were better because of the fuels I gave my body. If you are currently working through one of my Fat Blasting Schedules, consider meal planning to further boost your results.