Last week, I was standing in the Costco aisle, staring at the organic whole chickens like they knew something about me I hadn’t fully admitted yet. You know the ones. The $38 2-pack of organic whole chickens with the little green banner on their packaging telling you they are better than the $10 2-pack of UN-organic whole chickens in the blue & yellow packaging.
There is this version of myself who has her life soooo together and can just casually grab the 2-pack of $38 organic whole chicken, toss them in the cart, and keep moving like I’m not even remotely concerned about the price per pound.
I fantasize about her. I really do.
But right now, I am not that girl.
Right now I’m in the middle of a career pivot, grocery prices feel like they’re based on monopoly money on steroids, gas prices are doing things that seem apocalyptic, and I have four kids who all, at the exact same time, need everything. Yearbooks, end of year outfits, banquets, field trips, ceremonies, SAT money.
It’s like May showed up, looked around, and said, “You know what this family needs? Financial pressure.”
And the one thing we cannot opt out of, no matter how hard we try to romanticize it, is feeding everyone. Every. Single. Day. 3 meals a day. Rinse. Lather. Repeat.
So there I am in the Costco meat section, having a full on mom identity crisis, while doing aggressive mental math, trying to figure out where the line is between the version of me I fantasize about and the version of me who has to make decisions that actually make sense this week.
Can’t we just do the regular chickens? How bad are they really? I think most of the organic ones are still dipped in a chlorine bath anyway, not the preferred method of air chilled. So that’s still chemicals right?
Here’s another thing that factors into my poultry decisions, we already cut the expensive lunch meats. I was spending on average $50-$60 a week on deli meat and cheese. What can I say… It’s an easy way to pack lunches. And then last fall, I got the results from my colonoscopy (because 45 am I right?) and well… bye-bye lunch meat and bacon and super over processed foods.
In my mind, this feels like progress. The regular whole chickens are definitely better than over processed lunch meat. Not perfect, but better. And if I’m being honest, better is the lane we’re in right now.
So after waging this week’s chicken math battle in the aisle, I put the $10 2-pack of regular whole chickens in the cart.
I typically roast two chickens a week, usually on Sundays. Night one is roasted chicken, potatoes, vegetables. The next day I toss all the bones, leftover juices, onions, carrots, celery and thyme into a giant pot and make stock. The next meal we get is homemade chicken noodle soup complete with homemade noodles because it’s my kids fav meal of the week and they help roll out and cut the noodles. It’s one of the only meals we all agree on.
The rest of the chicken goes to making sandwiches and salads for the lunches. I usually have a couple of quarts of broth left over to make quinoa or rice for other meals.
I just have to accept like a lot of us right now that this is not my organic, perfectly sourced, clean everything era. I can’t afford it. So I have to make trade offs. Ones that make sense for my family and my wallet.
Don’t get me wrong, I still care about all of that. I read labels, I pay attention, I absolutely want to be the person who doesn’t hesitate in front of the organic chicken. But I’m also not interested in pretending I’m in a season I’m not in.
And that’s ok.
There is a difference between lowering your standards and adjusting your strategy, and right now this is a strategy season. We’re eating real food, we’re stretching what we buy, and we’re making it work without blowing up the budget or my sanity.
I think this is the part no one really talks about. Not every season looks like the highlight reel. Not every Costco cart needs to say something about who you are as a person. Sometimes it just needs to get you through the week without a financial spiral in the parking lot.
Maybe I’ll get to my organic chicken era. Or maybe I won’t.
But for now, we are very much a twelve dollar chicken family.
And honestly, we’re doing just fine.
Stay sane in the aisles people.
~Christy
0 comments