Meat is expensive...

   After my last post, a few people commented on how hard it can be to keep a budget and be picky about the meat that you cook and eat, including my friend, Geoff, who took the time to comment on the last blog entry.  And this is true.  However, there are ways around this, it just takes a little planning. 
    For the most part, I run our family menu around a Sunday (or Monday if it is a holiday) meal.  This means that when I look at the budget for the entire week, often that big meal takes a big chunk out of the "meat portion" of the budget.  A big chicken, or lean pork loin roast, or flank steak can give you meat for at least two meals (and sometimes three, depending on the size of piece and the number of people you are feeding).  I usually plan for it to be for two meals.  So, on sale ('cause I only buy what is on sale) at the butcher this week are pork loin roasts :$3.90/lb for local pork loin from right here on the Island.   A larger roast can feed us for two meals for certain (and usually at least one lunch).  The first meal would be a regular roast with sides and a salad.  The next meal to plan for would be a stir fry meal, where you can happily stretch a much smaller portion of meat, even between 6 people, when you add lots of veggies and some brown rice or udon noodles.  Now a large roast means about $16.00 (so about 4lbs). 

A little bit of Math to get us through the day:
    First, how many people do you feed? (me = 6)...cost of food per week (taken from Montreal diet dispensary "Eating well on a small budget") $290.00.  I try and keep meat costs (for suppers) to $3.00 a person/per day, so $12.00 a day, which takes us to $84.00 a week.  Now, take into account that fish for one meal will likely cost more ...so $20.00, but a meal without meat (so beans or lentils or eggs), will cost less, about $5.00 (the cost of a dozen eggs + a few extras)...Other meat or poultry bought on sale (or in larger quantities: the MDD estimates the cost of ground beef at a little bit over $8.00/kilogram, but if I wait until the butcher has it for $2.69 a pound, or $5.90/kg, and then buy a few packages to keep in the freezer...and I am buying local beef...If we get ours directly from Mr. McCallum, we will pay about $8.00/kg for the ground beef).  Local poultry however, is quite a bit more expensive, but I am not paying for the extra saline solution the grocery store product comes with (and therefore my chicken legs are a little bit smaller than they might be). 

   As with everything, a little bit of planning goes a long way.  And by budgeting for meat and fish on a weekly basis, it allows you to enjoy the more expensive treats once in a while (like mussels one night, or a nice roast beef) without blowing your grocery finances for the entire month.  Plus lowering your meat costs on a daily basis, means that you are eating more of the healthier foods (like vegetables and fruits and whole grains).

As the month goes on, please share your tips for keeping the grocery budget intact or even cutting from it here and there. 


Happy Packing!

Kim



What does a serving a meat look like?

from Healthy Living - Eating Well

 

 

This chart is from the website of Canada's Heart and Stroke Foundation, and the details are from the Canada food guide.  What is important to remember is that normal activity only requires one serving of meat & alternatives each day.  Often what happens with children is they eat less than they need, while adults eat more than they need.  Small amounts of protein are found in whole grains and dairy products, but not enough to consider them as servings of protein.


Cost estimates and approximate amounts to feed people of a variety of ages taken from Montreal Diet Dispensary Eating well on a small budget, PDF September 2011

Getting them to the table

   Wow!  Thanks for that!  The busy week seems to have found its way to an end at last. 
   A little over a week ago, I came across the local Dietitian's bi-weekly column in one of our town's free newspapers (you know the ones that come wrapped around all the fliers of those stores hoping to grab your money before you realise you even have it).  As a professional, she is employed by our local health unit to supply services to members of the community on dietary issues.  I always read her column when I see it, and this week it was about supplements for children and how children don't need them.
   Now before I begin, let me say that I have great respect for her profession and having used her support services when dealing with a child or two who has come through my daycare, I can tell you I like her no-nonsense approach to diet and eating (however).  She presented as part of a course I took, and the first thing she said was "When a parent tells you their child will "only eat" Kraft dinner and hot dogs, you know you're in trouble, not just with the child..."  I am not a dietitian and have relied on more than one dietitian over the years for advice and suggestions. 
   My feelings on supplements are they are not for kids in general, and this is exactly what her article says.   For adults, yes, and especially for adults with variety of issues that may affect what foods their bodies can and cannot handle, or when one's appetite has been altered because of medications...I could go on and on.  Of course, there are children in these situations as well and there again is where supplements can be vital to helping a child to thrive  (and sometimes to survive!).  However, the majority of children when provided with a variety of nutritious foods on a daily basis, will thrive without supplements of any kind! 
   My big complaint about her article was that all it did was preach at parents not to give their children supplements, and to follow the Canada food guide to assure their children are getting adequate nutrition.  Nowhere does she suggest to parents how to get this nutrition into their children.  Perhaps she means for parents to contact her to get suggestions or that she will continue on in future columns with suggestions, but nowhere does she elude to this.  My experience (as a parent and a care provider) is that parents don't want to be preached at, they want suggestions they can use right now!
   So rather than fill up more space ranting about what she didn't do...I have a few suggestions of my own...

1. No matter how little they are, make them part of the meal experience. (Okay well, maybe those not yet eating solid food or walking upright can be excused from this one...)  Even the one year old in the family wants to be part of the crowd, even a crowd of two.  There are simple things that little ones can do to support the table setting process: get a little basket for the cutlery and get them to carry it over, or carry the napkins etc).

2. And if your reason for not doing number 1 is because you don't set the table to eat because you don't eat at the table, then we will start there...Eat at the table together.  We eat almost every night together at the kitchen table.  And if only two or three of us are present at the "sitting down time" of supper, we sit down together.

3. Turn off the TV...even if it is in the other room (this happens in our house) and you cannot hear it, turn it off.  It distracts from the activity at hand, eating the meal together.  As an adult at the table, watching the TV over your children's heads while they eat sends a message that it is more important than they are...As I tell my children frequently, "Those people ON the television are working actors, getting paid to make stuff for you to watch on TV, they are NOT watching TV. 

4. Make meals with your family in mind...If your children prefer raw veggies to cooked, put out a small dish of raw veggies on the table while you are making dinner.  When you serve the meal, put small amounts of everything on the plates...We have something called "no thank you helpings" at our house...One piece of broccoli, three pieces of cooked carrot, a tablespoon of bean salad...All examples of small helpings.  Larger helpings can seem overwhelming for small children, much easier to give them two mouthfuls of roast beef, and then have them come back for more.

5. DON"T MAKE MORE THAN ONE MEAL.  Feed everyone the same thing.  And yes, the fussy eaters will appear to be "starving" but eventually they figure out that breakfast time is a long time from supper time, and they start eating what is on their plates.  Folks have often commented that my children are such good eaters (well, they are, sometimes, and trust me we have struggled to get there).  But we have always fed them what we were eating.  As a toddler, my daughter called Kalamata olives "grapes"..."More grapes please Daddy!"  My son loved avocado when he was little and now likes guacamole.  Of course, this can backfire too: the first time we introduced them to Crab, we figured they wouldn't eat it, since they love the little crabs at the beach and of course the big tank at the grocery store.  Uh uh, loved it...Now, if we want to have crab, we have to get one per person.

6. DON"T GIVE UP!  This is the biggest one.  It will get worse before it gets better.  But it will get better.  They will eventually eat (almost) everything you put in front of them...Especially the boys...And once you get the boy eating everything in sight, his sister will decide she is a vegetarian, and turn up her nose at the meat on the table, but  don't fret about that one because the boy will eat her share, and with any luck, she will be sure and point out that she can eat fish and seafood, and that there should really be more crab on the table. 

There will be more suggestions and I promise that they won't sound nearly so bossy as these ones!

Until then
Happy packing!

More on Supplements and Children: Today's Parent, January 2011

How many of what?

Don't you love it when your kids start to take an interest in something that you enjoy?  My daughter has loved skating since we put her on the ice (at 2), but this year her love of skating seems to have taken off.  Not only the skating but everything about working hard at a sport, including what she eats.  This interest seems to have peaked in the last couple of weeks, in part due to her class at school, where they have been focussing on the Canada Food guide (or, "Guide alimentaire canadien" if you are in French immersion!) especially how many servings of Fruit and Veggies they are eating.  They have a class challenge running and they are trying to get to 800 servings of F & V.
Now, the general CFG suggests "we" should be getting 5-10 servings of F & V each day...But who should be eating how much?  Well, a really great tool came home in the backpack last week that includes all that.
"Boys and Girls, Ages 2-3: 4 servings (serving = 1 piece or 1/2 cup); Ages 4-8: 5 servings; Ages 9-13: 6 servings", at the teenage years it separates boys and girls: Ages 14-18: Girls: 7, Boys: 8"...So we can relax and stop trying to get 8 or 9 servings into our 7 or 8 year olds.  The onlys ones who need 10 servings are Men between 19 and 50.
It's always a challenge getting "enough" of those two things into our kids, isn't it?  I try and stack the earlier part of the day: a piece of fruit and a glass of juice with breakfast (there's two), some raw veggies and dip in the lunchbox as well as some lettuce or spinach or vegetable soup (that could be one more, if they get eaten...Raw veggies that don't get eaten at school are good for filling the hole they seem to get into the car with everyday)...A piece of fruit right after school, there is another serving and then two veggies (one hot, one salad) with dinner...and there is 5.  Your 4-8 year old has the required servings...For Duncan, I have been sending him with three pieces of fruit in his lunch this year, and he has been eating them, so there is a way to get that extra serving into those 9-13 year olds.
Given that this week is so crazy (with me in Victoria for most of the week), we have set things up so that there is a big box of raw veggies ready to go for lunches or snacks, and those also make for a really easy stir fry supper, since they are already cut up.  Toss those with some chopped baby bok choy (packed with nutritrion and easy on the younger taste buds) and some chicken breast or some lean beef strips (or left over roast either beef or pork is great), and your stir fry is ready to go.

Lots more info about the Canada food guide and feeding your family on the Health Canada website
www.healthcanada.gc.ca .

Happy Eating everyone!