The 3 Moms, 3 Kitchens, 31 Days series began as a joint adventure between Toni, Joy, and Kate. During the 3 Moms series, which lasted the entire month of May, we opened up our kitchens to our blog readers. We shared our grocery budgets for the month ($600, $450, and $300 respectively), our menu planning and shopping tips, our grocery trips, as well as our daily meals through pictures and recipes.

What are some of the things we learned throughout the month?

TONI: I thought we ate pretty healthy, but after looking over our month of food, I think we could do much better, especially at breakfast. I also think we would benefit from freezer meals for the days I just don’t
feel like cooking. What impacted me the most was our vacation meals. This is the first time we have ever had a menu plan, and it made huge difference. We ate out less, and when we cooked, it was meals that
everyone loved.

JOY: This could sure be a long list for me! But the most important thing I learned—or rather, I discovered—was that I actually do enjoy cooking. In the past, I’ve always limited my dinner recipes to those which I could fix from out of a box, but through the 3 Moms experience, and with the support of both Toni and Kate, I was able to muster up enough courage to try cooking from scratch—and I realized I actually liked it after all. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to my “cook from a box” days.

KATE: I always knew I enjoyed having meals in the freezer, but this month really made that point clear to me on so many levels. It was a great feeling to know I didn’t have to worry about cooking when something came up that kept me out of the kitchen all day. This also made me realize that I need to start experimenting more so that I can come up with even more freezer functional meals. Although I believe we eat a very healthy, varied diet, I would like to include more fresh produce throughout the month to limit my reliance on canned fruit.

What was the best meal we prepared during the month?

TONI: My favorite meal was the salmon cake sandwiches on whole wheat rolls, but the salisbury steak was a huge hit on vacation.

JOY: If I define the best meal as the one that was most universally accepted and pronounced “good” by my family, that would have to be the wet burritos. My girls are very picky when it comes to their food, and even they gobbled them up and asked for more.

KATE: The white lasagna I made turned out really well and everyone really enjoyed it. As far as big-time exciting meals, that would have to be either the nachos or sloppy joes with homemade macaroni and cheese.

If we were to add $100 to our monthly grocery budgets, what types of things would we do differently?

TONI: I would definitely add in more organic products, especially produce. I would also do some more stock piling of items when they are on sale

JOY: With an extra $100, I’d start cooking with real butter instead of margarine. My husband has wanted me to try to bake flaky, layer biscuits, and I just can’t make them flaky with margarine. Breads would likely taste better if I made them with real butter as well. I’d also purchase different types of meat than I do presently—I’d branch out from making just ground beef or chicken meals—because variety is still something my monthly menu is lacking. And of course, I’d feed my milk addiction and buy several more gallons of milk each month.

KATE: I would also buy more organic products. I would like to make the switch to completely organic in produce, dairy, and meat. Like Joy, I would begin using real butter also. I would also consider buying more fresh seafood. That is something I just do not prepare very often, but all of the kids just love salmon and it would be nice to make that for them on a regular basis.

Have any more questions? If we missed responding to any of your questions throughout the month, or if you have a question now, please let us know with a comment or email.

Calling All Moms!

One of the features we are beginning at Happy To Be At Home is a continuation of the 3 Moms series with you, our readers, as guest bloggers. Each week we will introduce a new mom, and then she will invite us into her kitchen for one week. We would love to have a variety of guest bloggers. If you would like to participate in this series, please leave us a comment or email us at 3moms@happytobeathome.net. Even if you do not have a blog of your own, you are still welcome to participate.

If this is your visit to Happy To Be At Home, you can find out more about our site here.

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