It’s launch time!
The new Spain in Iowa membership site is done and the week 1 menu plan is ready for download.
You’ll find all the information you need by visiting, www.spain-in-iowa.com/menuplan. Once you decide on a membership level and subscribe, you’ll automatically be emailed a username and login to get into the membership area.
By subscribing, the first two weeks of menu plans are free.
I’m excited to start this journey with you as we learn how to cook whole foods, in season, and on budget!
Since this is my very first product to offer at Spain in Iowa, I’m going to host a giveaway!
Annual Subscription Giveaway!
That’s right! I’m giving away 3 annual memberships! An $85 value!
Scholarship
I know that many of you, just like my family, are on a tight budget. For that reason, I’m going to give away 5 annual subscriptions to families in need.
If you’re family can not budget a menu plan, please email, diana (a) spain-in-iowa.com an essay on why feeding your family whole, real foods is important to you.
The essay should be a minimum of 1 page and well written. By writing and submitting an essay, you are giving Spain in Iowa copyrights to share the essay on spain-in-iowa.com, Spain in Iowa facebook page, or the Spain in Iowa Menu Plan blog.
Best Wishes To All Of You!!
Affiliates
Now that the menu plan website and first menu plan is complete, I’m going to be working on setting up affiliates to sell the menu plan! Coming SOON!!
If you have any questions at all, don’t hesitate to ask and I’d love a comment on your thoughts on the new menu plan and website!
Making a menu is one of my biggest challenges. Once that is done everything goes a lot smoother.
The most difficult part of cooking? Right now it is incorporating all the information of the Wahls Diet. I thought eating three cups of greens a day was going to be difficult, but it’s actually pretty easy. Right now it is upping the amount of food to replace the calories we were eating from grains and dairy. I should to look into more traditional fats. I think I see making lard and tallow in my future. I also think once this month is up, I will consider soaking/sprouting/souring as options to keeping some grains and legumes in our diet.
Planning ahead/making a menu and then the time time/who is doing what. My husband does most of the cooking in our house so I don’t want to add anything to the menu that is too weird, complex, or takes a lot of time. Need to work on doing prep work and other things that can be done ahead of time by myself (like making broth).
Hardest thing for me about cooking? Deciding what to make, which is why your menu plan is a godsend for me! SO excited for this journey.
Making the menu and gathering all the ingredients necessary while staying in budget.
Time and money. We are a one income family with four children. I also homeschool! So money and time is tight! But I am convicted that eating a real food diet is worth both. I need all the help I can get. Too often, I feel like I’m a sale to my kitchen.
We are making your white bean and kale slow cooker soup for dinner tomorrow, I’m looking forward to seeing what other great recipes you have to share with us!
The most difficult thing about cooking for me is making real food econmomically.
Lack of food sources in north central Iowa is the biggest hindrance to our meal planning, especially in winter
Budget, I want to be able to afford to buy cleaner meats and organic produce.
I’m VERY interested in this feature because a lot of food goes to waste in our home because we get busy, and end up grabbing something fast…or I buy items and it goes to waste. I hate this…we all would like to change this.
Time and budget get in the way of meal planning at times.
Hardest part of planning is coming up with new meals that everyone will love and not eating the same old stuff all the time.
For the last few months I have been really interested in nutrition, wholefoods…I did a wholefood workshop and I am soon starting another one, however, even if I have been trying new recipes, it seems I am often doing the same recipes from one week to another, because I find it hard to sit and plan meals for the coming week, to look for new recipes because I know my 2 little picky eaters will make a face when they see what I cooked; so I am a bit discouraged with the whole process (planning, trying new recipes and stay within our budget…), However I am willing to keep trying and improve in meal planning and Iowa’s Traditional Menu Plan On A Budget seems to be what my family needs right now to keep going, and not go back on quick fix meals like white paste, red sauce just because kids like it !! and it seems the easiest path to take…so excited about what you created, that looks terrific !
Right now it’s all about the bottom line. $$$$$
You are so good to give some scholarships. Great work, Diana!
Yay! So excited to “dig in” to your new meal planning site. Thanks and God Bless, Diana! 🙂
My biggest challenged is time and energy. Some nights when everyone gets home, I’m so tired all I want to do is order a pizza 🙁
I love to cook! But I struggle with working the preparation into my schedule, and right now my whole family is revamping their food choices, so I need some help with learning new techniques and finding good recipes they’ll actually eat!
I love the idea of eating a whole foods diet, but have the hardest time following through with it. I think that having it all planned out for me would be such a blessing!
Right now the most difficult part is planning ahead….not sure why I am just not good at this part. I really want to plan meals ahead so that if I am not feeling well, my family can just look and see what is on tap for the day. Real foods are great for my fibro and I am trying to switch every one over. Another difficulty is I am one of those moms that make two meals….kids and adults. Ugh….they are getting better at not being so picky but I know I created it and now trying to get them out of it!
I’m so excited about this — I’ve been waiting anxiously since I saw you mention it on Keeper of the Home. Thanks for all the work you’ve been putting into getting it up and running!
I have been on a great menu planning routine for about a year and half; my challenge is sticking to a budget while eating the most nourishing, traditional food possible. So excited to discover your site! God bless!
Time is my most difficult item when it comes to cooking and I am limited to which days I actually cook.
Right now the most difficult thing about cooking for me is the money, without a doubt. There just doesn’t seem to be enough of it! 🙂 and the second most difficult thing would be the time (even though I’m a stay at home mom, homeschooling takes a good chunk out of the day).
Menu planning never gets too far off the ground here. And staying in my grocery budget is that much more difficult because of it!
The most difficult part for me is remembering to pull items out of the freezer so they are ready when we need them.
Planning a menu that everyone likes !
The most difficult thing for me about cooking healthy meals is time. I work full time and drive throgh rush hour traffic. The last thing I want to do when I get home is cook an elaborate meal. I also have a difficult time planning meals in advance and having all of the ingredients on hand. I only go grocery shopping once per week.
The hardest part is not making the same meals over and over. I’ve given myself daily themes to help with planning. I also have two picky eaters, but they are getting better. It’s a process. Healthy eating is so important to our family as my husband survived a heart attack 9 months ago and we have a child ADHD. But there is no denying that we all feel so much better since we changed our diet.
The most difficult thing for me is motivation and energy. The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak. 🙂
Taking the time to menu plan is my most difficult task!
I AM SO EXCITED! *Feeding a family of 10 on a tight budget isn’t easy, THANK YOU! **I CAN’T WAIT TO HEAR ABOUT THE AFFILIATE PROGRAM!
Time is the hardest thing for me, I’m a single mom, so there is no way for me to make all the food from scratch that I would like to.
Making the menu and gathering all the ingredients necessary while staying in budget.
I have budget issues trying to feed my family healthy and as little processed as possible. Working full time doesn’t help either!
The most difficult part of cooking for me right now is trying to switch to more whole foods & less convenience foods. I know it is do-able, but I have to readjust my thinking. 🙂
Planning is the hard part for me. I always mean too but…. 🙂
I think the hardest thing for me is planning in variety. I buy from a food co-op and we get a produce order once a month. It is harder in the winter to plan to use up all the produce (because we have to order a case of something and I cannot get a small amount of a variety of items). I’m not a natural cook and it has always been hard for me to find a good variety of dishes using what I have. I have built up my pantry over the years so I do have most of the real food supplies such as traditional fats, grass fed meats, pastured eggs, etc. I just need help using them creatively. We have just a handful of standby recipes and they can get boring.
In cooking for the week, the challenge is to use all that my CSA offers me without waisting food, without tiring the whole family with the same or similar recipes, and stay in budget.
love following a menu, just not very good at preparing a menu!
Time & Money!!! I try hard to feed my family organic, whole foods, but I’m not ready to give up on all the convienences… We are a busy family. I need simple, quick recipes that work with my budget.
My biggest challenge is that my kids don’t like meat!
For me the most difficult thing, by far, is deciding WHAT to make! It seems like we have the same things over and over, and over again. BOOORING! Also I’m not a “happy cook”, I don’t find cooking all that fun. I hope by winning this giveaway, it will change my attitude about cooking! Thank you so much for the opportunity! =)
My biggest struggle right now is with healthy menu planning!
The most difficult thing in cooking for me at the present time is having all the ingredients to prepare a healthy meal. I am looking forward to fresh produce from the garden. I then plan around what is in season and availible.
The hardest part for me is changing it up. It is easy to get in the same old routine.
The hardest part is deciding what to make. I really need a menu plan so that there is never a doubt.
I want to say money, but I know that would not be quite as hard if I just would meal plan! So, yes, meal planning is my hardest thing to get done!!!!
Challenges…getting stuck in a rut! We eat the same things over and over because we don’t want to take the time to create our own meal plans.
The hardest part for me is planning ahead. I really will need to do most of my prep on the weekends in order to be successful.
I’m impressed that you are giving the scholarships. As a brand new start up, that’s unexpectedly generous and thoughtful.
I am about to quit my full time job to stay home with my 4 month old son. Our income will be cut in half! We sat down to actually look at our spending and realized that just between my husband and myself we were spending more then $1000 a month on groceries, eating out, and junk. I am determined to learn how to survive on half of our income but I am feeling stressed about learning how to cook and plan all of our meals and stay in our budget. I think this could really help.
Time and energy seem to my biggest challenges. I get inspired but then work and family obligations make it difficult to do the meal planning, shopping, and cooking I really need and want to do. I am excited to have some of this already done which should make my life a lot easier.
Planning and organizing-making sure I have everything I need and that I cook something that fits in our schedule for the day-it’s hard to cook creatively (or sometimes at all :)) with little ones at home. Also, I loathe grocery shopping-haven’t figured out a solution for that yet ;).
My biggest issue is time right now with 4 kids plus dayhome children finding time for meal prep is a challenge.
Deciding what to make and not making the same thing all the time.
Definitely budget and time!!!
I think finances are the first hurdle. My husband is self-employed so our money is never consistent. The second would probably be planning ahead.
I try very hard to not support big Ag and to know my farmer, this makes it difficult at time to stay on budget.
TIME!!
I love cooking, but right now the most difficult thing about it is navigating around my roommates’ schedules. I live with three other women, all of whom cook on a regular basis. We’ve never quite synced up our eating habits, so there are usually two or three people trying to prepare separate dinners at the same time. I’m hoping that with some thought and meal planning, I’ll be able to make better use of my time in the kitchen, and to cook ahead on the weekends so that I need to spend less time in the kitchen when it’s crowded and busy.
I love to cook and try new recipes. Fortunately I have a husband who lovingly serves as a great guinea pig. We also both want to eat healthy, organic, real food, grass fed beef and free range chicken and eggs, especially since our son came along a year ago, but the COST makes it difficult. We try to keep spending down on other things and rarely eat out. So, cost and availability where we live are big challenges. Also, I have a hard time controlling my ambition. I want to do so many things….make homemade yogurt, bake bread from soaked grains, make baby/toddler food, do everything from scratch. It’s all so time consuming. I set out to do these things, buy ingredients, etc., then other things come up or I just get lazy, and I end up wasting things and getting mad at myself. I need to learn how to make culinary goals that are more doable for a full-time working mom who wants to do the best for her family but doesn’t have all the time in the world.
Trying to cook with whole foods on our family budget has been so hard! I find myself at times wanting to give up, so a weekly menu would be a HUGE help!
I love to play and try everything, from making cheese to canning, from simple recipies to JuliaChild inspired recipies. Lack of time is definately my biggest obstacle followed by lack of funds for the more “inspired” dishes.
Looks like a great program that will save both time and money!
After working 10 hours a day it is very hard to put a meal together at the last minute. Meal planning is my biggest challenge and knowing what to do ahead of time the night before does not always get done because I do not have a plan. It would really help to have a plan already made up for me to just tell me what to do.
Hardest thing for me about cooking? Trying to decide on what to eat and then staying within our budget.