This week’s meal-prepping post features a frugal family that knows how to get creative with just a few healthy, simple ingredients.
Welcome to the latest post in TreeHugger’s series, “How to feed a family.” Every week we talk to a different person about how they approach the never-ending challenge of feeding themselves and other household members. We get the inside scoop on how they grocery shop, meal plan, and food prep to make it go more smoothly.
Parents work so hard to feed their children and themselves, to put healthy meals on the table, to avoid spending a fortune at the grocery store, and to fit it all around busy work and school schedules. It’s a feat worthy of more praise than it commonly gets, which is why we want to highlight it – and hopefully learn from it in the process. This week’s responses are written by Anna, who lives in a remote town in Idaho with access to only one grocery store, and yet manages to feed her family a nearly all organic, home-grown and wild game diet that’s also close to being zero-waste and plastic-free. It sounds like the TreeHugger dream!
Names: Anna (34), Cody (34), Owen (4), Angus (1)
Location: Our family lives in Salmon, Idaho, one of the most remote towns in the lower 48, population 3,300 residents.
Employment: Anna is a full-time stay-at-home mom and Cody owns a small construction company.
Weekly food budget: US$150 maximum weekly budget, with approximately $200 every two months or so at a bulk food store in Missoula, Montana, for essentials such as olive and coconut oil, flour, sugar, oatmeal, spices, dried fruit, nuts, beans, rice, etc.
1. What are 3 favorite or commonly prepared meals in your house?
Winter: During the winter an assortment of beans with meat; can be eaten over rice, in tacos, as nacho dip, with a fried egg, avocado and salsa, etc. Stews with meat and lots of vegetables, spaghetti-type dishes with meat; these may be served over noodles, over roasted chickpeas, or roasted veggies/squash. All our meals have a common ‘base’ with vegetable and fruit ingredients changing almost completely depending on the season. This keeps things simple yet fresh!
Spring/summer/fall: Sautéed vegetables with meat over rice, roasted chickpeas or quinoa with coconut aminos, fresh salad with grilled, meat/roasted beans, or fresh caught fish grilled with sautéed vegetables.
Breakfast is eggs, oatmeal, or homemade granola with yogurt and fresh fruit during the winter, and smoothies or egg toast during the summer. We also love dutch oven babies any time of the year! Lunch is leftovers or sandwiches.
2. How would you describe your diet?
Omnivore, local, seasonal, striving to be zero waste, frugal, organic
3. How often do you shop for groceries? Is there anything you absolutely have to buy every week?
I grocery shop once per week; necessities include fresh fruit and vegetables, one jar of organic pasta sauce, organic salsa, peanut butter, local honey, local fresh milk, cheese, local fresh eggs, local sourdough bread. We hunt in the fall, so usually have a freezer full of wild game, thus do not routinely buy meat.
© Anna A. – A stunning view of the Idaho landscape