2. How to Buy Real Food on a Budget

In this Episode, I talk about how to prepare real food on a real budget.Real Food on a BudgetIt seems like “real food” is one of those terms that has a hundred meanings on the internet. For the most part, I think all of the “real food” definitions are an improvement of the standard american diet, but I also think it is important to define that term these days.For me, real food simply means un-processed, non-modified foods in as close to their natural state as possible with a focus on nutrient dense foods. At our house, the bulk of our diet is made up of proteins like grassfed meats and pastured poultry, vegetables, fruit and lots of healthy fats.In this episode, I cover:Why fat is a more efficient fuel than carbohydrates or proteinsWhy counting calories is not effectiveWhat my typical daily and weekly meal plan template looks likeFoods I prioritize when budget is tightSpecific foods I consume when pregnant or nursingFirst foods for babyFoods to avoid during pre-conception, pregnancy and nursingThe one food I avoid at all costs – it might not be the one you’d thinkSupplements I take dailyFoods I make sure my children get each dayHow I get my kids to eat real food without a fightMy five tips for eating healthy on a tight budgetPosts I mention:My Food Rules for helping kids eat real foodStocking a Real Food Kitchen7 Meal Planning BasicsRead TranscriptHello and welcome to episode 2 of the “Wellness Mama Podcast” where we provide simple answers for healthier families. In my first episode, I talked about why I wanted to start a podcast in the first place and my mission in doing so. And I’ve asked my readers online what would be helpful for me to cover in this second episode. And a lot of the feedback I got was that help in figuring out what actually it practically means to be on a real food diet and how to make that happen especially on a budget. So that’s what I’ll be covering today. Just my most asked questions in dealing with real food. And it seems like “real food” is one of those terms that has a hundred meanings on the internet. For the most part, I think that all of the real food “definitions” are an improvement over the standard American diet certainly, but I also think it’s important to define that term these days because it’s used so often across the board. So for me, real food just simply means unprocessed, non-modified foods and as close to their natural state as possible with a focus on the most nutrient dense foods available. And obviously just doing the best we can with where we are in our state of life. So at our house, the bulk of our diet is made up of proteins like grass-fed meats and pastured poultry, lots of vegetables. There’s a hashtag online going around called “more vegetables than a vegetarian,” and I think that’s extremely important especially when we’re talking about green vegetables, and that’s an easy way to get extra nutrition in the diet. And then also things like fruits and healt