The Power Of A Food Challenge

by Guest Author: Shelly Longenecker from Dinners for a Dollar

No matter what we do, our family must eat. Every day. Several times a day. Day after day. Week after week. 
This can get exhausting.

When we hear the words, “Mooooom, what’s for dinner?”, we can find ourselves cringing and wishing we could just skip food. Has anyone else wished we could just skip food? I know I have.

But, we can’t. And – if we don’t find a way to handle cooking fatigue, we can resort to unhealthy convenience foods or budget busting take-out.

#1 way I know to handle cooking fatigue…..by REDUCING DECISION FATIGUE!

Decision fatigue is when we make so many decisions that we literally wear out from it and consequently, end up making poor decisions - choosing the quickest, simplest solution to our problem. Turns out, we as humans have a finite amount of self-control and that can get depleted by chronic decision making.

So, how do we reduce decision fatigue? By MAKING A FOOD PLAN.

Let me show you what I mean.

In our family of 6, we all eat 3 times a day. That’s 18 meals a day or 126 meals a week. 2 kids have snacks twice a day. That’s another 28 food decisions a week. So, I am responsible for 154 food decisions per week. That is A LOT OF DECISIONS!!! You can probably see now why food is so exhausting!! But, it’s not the food – it’s the decisions about the food!

However, when I make a food plan, I sit down – ONE TIME A WEEK – and make all the food decisions for my family AT ONE TIME!! In 1 hour, I make all 154 food decisions. Then, it is set. Nothing to think about later in the week. Yes, it will take time to sit down, once a week and make a food plan. But, trust me when I say that the amount of time and energy you will spend making a food plan is a fraction of the amount you will spend without a plan - making 154 separate food decisions – all week long.

Take time this week to sit down and make a food plan. Your tired brain will thank you!

Back in November, Shelly graced us with her presents on A Sunny Side Up Life Podcast! We chatted about some of her amazing tips for creating dinners for a dollar. Intrigued by the promise of dinners for only a dollar per person? Check out the podcast episode to find out more.

Shelly Longenecker is a wife, mother of 4, and the author of Dinner for a Dollar. When her son was diagnosed 10 years ago with several food allergies, she felt completely overwhelmed, believing the myth that she had to spend a fortune on food and all day in the kitchen to feed her family safe, whole foods.  She couldn't find anything on the market that taught her how to eat a frugal, simple, allergy-friendly whole food, veggie-forward diet, so she created her own system that ticked all these boxes and turned it into a book to share with you.

Free Chapter: Dinner For A Dollar
Website: dinnerforadollar.co
Facebook Group: Dinner For A Dollar
Email: Shelly@dinnerforadollar.co

Dinner for a Dollar explains how to feed your family a simple, allergy-friendly, whole food diet with loads of fruits and veggies for $1 per person per meal. Dinner for a Dollar isn't just a book, it's a whole system, complete with detailed action points to follow along so you can start saving time, and money.

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HEY I'M SAMI WOMACK

I'm the wife to my high school sweetheart, Daniel, + homeschooling momma to our 3 girls. I'm the Budgeting Coach + Motivational Speaker behind 
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My family used to be in $490k of debt + living paycheck-to-paycheck, but after we hit rock bottom everything changed for us!

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