Turner Philosophy on Food and Meal Planning

Turner Philosophy on Food

One of the most important things I have learned on this journey is prevention.  Healthy eating, sunlight, managing stress, avoiding toxins, attaining adequate sleep, and exercising go so far in preventing both the common cold and more serious chronic illnesses.  In regard to 'healthy eating', it seems that EVERY single person has a different opinion as to what 'healthy' means.  One person says Paleo all the way.  Another Mediterranean all the way.  And another is all into Shakeology.   We are none of the above.  I make from scratch and use little to no processed items.  I am in the kitchen a lot but currently figuring out how to make in bulk, freeze, etc. to minimize that time.  We eat tons of veggies and fruits, beans and lentils, probiotic rich dairy such as yogurt and keifer, organic meats- mostly chicken and deer meat, farm fresh pastured eggs, whole grains such as oats, quinoa, brown rice, etc, tons of water, healthy fats such as coconut oil and olive oil, and little to no sugar.  We use supplements where needed.  We try to eat like this 80% of the time.  There are certainly exceptions such as a family ice-cream outing, and we gladly eat whatever is served at a friend's house, etc.! 
A great summary of what real food is: http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/real-food-defined-a-k-a-the-rules/

Importance of meal planning
In order to stay in my grocery budget, I meal plan.  Roughly every two weeks, I plan my menu for 2 week increments, which includes all breakfasts, lunches, and dinners.  I do a run at the beginning of the month and then halfway through the month.  There are exceptions of course, but I have truly found, the less I am in the store, the less I spend.   In order to get nutrient dense food toward the end of the two weeks, I spend a couple days cooking like crazy in the beginning of the month.  I double and triple recipes, freezing as needed.  We also eat fresh veggies in the beginning and frozen toward the end.  Apples and celery tend to last the whole time!

All about preserving my time

So to save time and avoid being in the kitchen ALL the freakin time….and since school has started for the boys around here, we are going in shifts of three for breakfast and dinner….same three breakfasts and dinners and then we switch.  For lunch, we eat the same thing for a week.  I prep the food one day, pull it out of the fridge and cook in the oven, etc. the day of with the exception of a few meals.  So if we are having omelets for breakfast.  I would prep the eggs in three separate containers & prep the veggies in three separate containers.  The day of- I cook. Saves so much time!