Cost and convenience. No matter how you look at it in order to eat organic and fresh it takes time and money. Once upon a time we were spending more time at home, especially Mom’s. Now we are working longer hours if not both parents are working outside of the home. And fast food restaurants are more available then grocery stores and gardens. Then lets step inside the grocery store. The freshest foods and healthiest are going to cost you more and you are going to spend more time preparing it. When my husband and I made the decision to start cooking and eating healthier food our weekly grocery budget went up at least 20%. Then with every natural weather disaster the costs keep going up. And, last year, I participated in a 21 day Daniel Fast aka true vegan diet, no animal product of any kind, milk, egg or cheese. And I spent even more money and a lot more time preparing food then ever before.

The good news is it can be done within a budget and without sacrificing an enormous amount of time. The key is you have to plan every step ahead of time. Plan your meals, make your grocery list and then set a side a time to do as much prep work as you can to cut down on your time spent cooking after a long day of work. I don’t mind sharing with you that our average grocery bill is $125 a week. That includes breakfast, lunch, 2 snacks and dinner for all three of us for 7 days. Thanks to our fabulous dietitians last year I’ve also made a habit of buying snack bags and prepping all my families daily snacks and such on saturday. It only takes an hour or possibly 2 and its a great chore to get your kids involved in. I have Chase, who just turned 7, sit down and help me measure and bag stuff as 1 one of his responsibilities. Helps me get it done quicker and teach him good eating behavior.