Hey everyone. Welcome back to Real Food with Jen Owen, N.P. I am so happy to have you along for this journey! After working diligently on Real Food in my home for the past several weeks, I have much to report and many tips to offer, but first, watch the newest video below now:

As you can see, planning is the key. What if you made food as important as your regular work or running kids around to activities? When we schedule the time to plan our meals, grocery lists, and prep needs, we can be more efficient and be sure to always have healthy options around. Here are my basic planning steps:

1. Schedule (yes actually on your calendar) the time when you will do your meal planning with grocery list and shopping.
2. Look at what you already have ready to go and make a list of those things.
3. Plan each meal making sure to prioritize the items on your list from step 2. List the days for each meal you need that week and list what meal you will have.
4. While making your meal plans, make your grocery list side-by-side.
5. While making your meal plans, include what needs to be prepped for the coming days.

You see how I have each meal on one side and necessary prep for the next day on the other side?

Here is a list of the things I have been working on recently and some tips from what I have learned:

Cook a whole chicken and use every part:

• Eat the meat for the meal right after cooking. Then, pick off all the meat from the bones to use for another meal like tacos or stir fry in the next few days and/or freeze in portion sizes for future meals.

• Use the bones for bone broth. I like to save scraps from when I cut up veggies to use for broth when I have bones available. (I did the same thing for beef broth after I made those beef ribs for the Super Bowl.)

• Use the drippings from cooking the whole chicken as the fat in other dishes. I made a stir fry with the chicken fat and it was delicious! (I got this tip from the awesome people in the Real Food Facebook group.)

Make your own mayo and then make ranch:

Making your own mayo is incredibly simple. Come on into the Facebook group for recipes and information about the various oils to use. We have had a lot of fun discussing these!

Organize your kitchen for Real Food:

• Label everything in your fridge. Packaged foods have labels already on them. You have to make your own.

• Buy glass jars and have ready for all the yummy things you are making.

Prep vegetables once a week for convenience. You can then eat them raw with hummus or ranch or add them easily to any dish. I also like to prep my kale weekly for my morning smoothie and other dishes. 

I received two important questions this week:

1. Has it been more expensive to cook Real Food?

No. Actually, we saved $120 from what we usually spend in just two weeks this month. For example, one $10 free-range organic chicken gave us 3 meals, 2 quarts of bone broth, and fat for other cooking.

2. Has it taken more time to cook Real Food?

It has not taken more time, but it has taken more planning. Last week, we had a couple of meals of beans, so I had to think ahead 4 days. That is the time it takes to soak, sprout, and cook dry beans. You do have to think ahead, but the meal preparations themselves, have been shorter, in general.

I am having an absolute blast with this project! I have wanted to convert my kitchen this way for many years and I am finally doing it. If you are hungry for more Real Food tips, come hang out with us in the Facebook group. It is an interactive group and I am learning so much there.

Please comment below with any tips you have for meal planning and be sure to share this post with your friends. If you don’t want to miss any of my Real Food tips, be sure to sign up for my newsletter in the green box up the page.

Let’s all learn about Real Food and then together, let’s change food for everyone! See you again soon…..