Where Your Gifts Go – Food
So, while I have applied for food stamps, living in Texas means extra paperwork and extra time. It could take weeks before I am approved IF I am approved. In the meantime, I still have to get food into these kids’ bellies.
I try to have a meal plan and menu each week, and then I buy groceries according to that meal plan. This is the best way I’ve found to decrease my grocery spending as I can make the menu based on what I already have and then only buy what is needed to fill in the gaps.
There are two problems:
1. My kids are EXTREMELY picky. This is not due to being some kind of bougie and entitled children. There has been a lot of chaos in their lives, and psychologically, food is something they can control (subconsciously). It’s been a coping mechanism. The girls also have sensory issues that prevent them from being able to take on any new foods very easily. All this means is that I buy some groceries not based on what I want to give them but on what I know they will eat. I try to do a good mix and to help them learn to eat a variety, but I have to have several fallbacks.
2. I am a single homeschooling mom who has the entire responsibility for cooking, cleaning, teaching, and transporting to various activities. It is EXHAUSTING, and with the health issues I have been dealing with as well, it is almost impossible not to fall back on eating out more than I want to. I am coming up with alternatives, but it takes time, effort, and a lot of what I don’t have – energy. It just happens that we just need to eat out at times to take the stress off me every once in a while. I cannot physically do everything. It is impossible, and eating out on occasion helps me make it through the week.
I try to check the ingredients for the food we buy, but the better-ingredient food is the more expensive food. I don’t have the time or energy to bake my own bread and such. I am working on it, but it’s a process. I try not to buy too much processed food but do what I can to save time and money.
When you give to us, you’re helping us stay consistent with meals and keeping food out of our worry zone.
Blessings, power, and love
April M Knight 