Well, friends, mine and my husband's week of dining on just $42 dollars will officially end in about two hours. Today we ate an egg sandwich for breakfast, chicken noodle soup for lunch (quite appropriate for today's weather, I might add!), and some more of that plain ol' baked chicken breast and canned vegetables for dinner.
Surprisingly, I felt somewhat satisfied today. After dinner I sat down and compared Day 1 to Day 7 and concluded that living on a food stamp budget is doable but can be extremely difficult without the outstanding skills in menu and budget planning--something that I, myself, struggled with throughout this process as evident in all of my blog entries.
I'm so happy to have had this experience, and I look forward to participate in it again--just maybe not tomorrow! ;)
Sunday, October 3, 2010
Friday, October 1, 2010
Day Five--almost there!
Didn't eat breakfast this morning...I was rushing before work & forgot about it honestly. I was just planning to eat a piece of toast with peanut butter anyway. Nothing big. I did treat myself to some apple juice mid-morning & ate some leftover rotisserie chicken for lunch, except I spruced it up with some lettuce & balsamic vinaigrette. No added veggies. For dinner I treated my husband & me to some homemade tacos--ingridients which included ground beef, spices (yay!), tortillas, & cheese (that I shredded myself, BTW). I usually buy the whole wheat tortillas when I have this meal in mind, but of course, those were more expensive than the white ones. Eating healthy can be so darn expensive...definitely evident by the fruit & veggies prices...all I could afford this week in that dept. was 4 bananas priced at $0.49/lb. And after tomorrow, so long bananas...
Wednesday, September 29, 2010
Too many noodles
Breakfast: 1 piece of toast with peanut butter (again), treated myself to some apple juice! :)
Lunch: Ramen noodles, water from tap
And now it's dinnertime. I was forced to buy a box of Hamburger Helper due to the very limited funds, and I have to say, I am not looking forward to it. But you gotta do what you gotta do. Wow, I just realized that I had noodles for lunch. Guess I really wasn't paying attention to the quality/nutritional value of the food, I was just happy to be eating. What a reality check!
My very first job was working in a grocery store. I worked there for 4 years. And because of this, I suppose I was one of the few that knew not to include tax in my total, haha. Working there I noticed the prevalence of poor meal choices amongst welfare recipients--processed dinners (that was a big one!), sodas, candy, potato chips, etc. Of course this isn't always this case. I wonder if there was a way SNAP could provide incentives for those that buy healthy foods or they could require some sort of meal planning & budgeting class before receiving assistance. Just a thought. Until tomorrow!
P.S. My nephew was selling some chocolate for a fundraiser at school a month or two ago. I bought some, AND it came in tonight. Tonight! Guess I'll just use it as a reward on Monday. :)
Tuesday, September 28, 2010
Day 2 = Tempted!
Day #2... I met temptation face-to-face today. I started my day off with a piece of toast, half a banana, & some ice cold filtered water from my fridge. :) I was feeling great until one of my friends called & asked if I wanted to meet up during our lunch breaks at a local Mexican restaurant. Shew. Anyone who knows me knows that I can eat onions, peppers, & anything Mexican three meals a day. All. day. long. I explained the Challenge to my friend & respectfully declined her invitation. I made a point to remind myself of the families that are not allowed this privilege of meeting up with friends & family for a nice lunch/dinner away from home. So, instead, I stayed at work & warmed up some leftover chili from last night's dinner. My husband & I made sure to portion out for today's lunch before we fed ourselves last night. This must be what many welfare recipients do on a day-to-day basis.
For dinner I made baked chicken breast--no Italian dressing, no BBQ sauce, no breadcrumbs! Just salt, pepper, and a dash of seasoning salt. Nothing fancy. Just chicken, corn, & carrots. I found myself looking very much forward to our beverage, freshly brewed iced sweet tea! Yum. I could only afford the Wal-Mart brand which was $1.68 (12 bags), & it was surprisingly tasty! I usually help myself to a second glass later on in the evening but I had to think ahead to tomorrow evening when I knew I would want a glass to go along with dinner. So I defeated temptation...for today.
For dinner I made baked chicken breast--no Italian dressing, no BBQ sauce, no breadcrumbs! Just salt, pepper, and a dash of seasoning salt. Nothing fancy. Just chicken, corn, & carrots. I found myself looking very much forward to our beverage, freshly brewed iced sweet tea! Yum. I could only afford the Wal-Mart brand which was $1.68 (12 bags), & it was surprisingly tasty! I usually help myself to a second glass later on in the evening but I had to think ahead to tomorrow evening when I knew I would want a glass to go along with dinner. So I defeated temptation...for today.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Day One
So day #1 of the Food Stamp Challenge is officially through, granted I successfully fight off some major hunger pains later on. ;) No worries, millions of people do it every single day, right? I'll begin sharing what my husband and I had to eat today. And in order to keep sane, I planned meals that we would both eat at the same time.
Breakfast -- Toast with peanut butter & half of a banana, water from tap
Lunch -- PB&J sandwich, saltine crackers, water from tap
Dinner -- Homemade chili, saltine crackers, iced tea
We usually don't eat breakfast (yeah, I know...) so I feel as if we began the day with a really good start! Lunch wasn't so bad since we make a point to only eat out one day a week, if at all. One thing that was different for us was taking a thermos to work, as we are among the 54% of Americans that purchase bottled water (http://www.nrdc.org/). The working day was done & it was soon dinnertime. I cooked the ground beef this morning and placed all of the ingridients--though not many--into the crockpot. I usually include onions, green peppers, tomatos, garlic, etc. in my homemade chili but the budget just would not allow this. I so wish I had my very own vegetable garden at this point! Maybe this challenge will give me enough incentive to finally grow my own produce in the Spring... :)
My very first day living (or eating) on a food stamp budget has already made this experience more authentic than I had anticipated. Throughout the day I was reminded of the 1 in 6 Americans who are unsure of where their next meal is coming from (http://www.feedingamerica.org/). I began, once again, racking my brain of different ways the SNAP program could improve itself to ensure no family, no child, goes hungry. This is something I will be pondering all week long, I'm sure. Until tomorrow...
Breakfast -- Toast with peanut butter & half of a banana, water from tap
Lunch -- PB&J sandwich, saltine crackers, water from tap
Dinner -- Homemade chili, saltine crackers, iced tea
We usually don't eat breakfast (yeah, I know...) so I feel as if we began the day with a really good start! Lunch wasn't so bad since we make a point to only eat out one day a week, if at all. One thing that was different for us was taking a thermos to work, as we are among the 54% of Americans that purchase bottled water (http://www.nrdc.org/). The working day was done & it was soon dinnertime. I cooked the ground beef this morning and placed all of the ingridients--though not many--into the crockpot. I usually include onions, green peppers, tomatos, garlic, etc. in my homemade chili but the budget just would not allow this. I so wish I had my very own vegetable garden at this point! Maybe this challenge will give me enough incentive to finally grow my own produce in the Spring... :)
My very first day living (or eating) on a food stamp budget has already made this experience more authentic than I had anticipated. Throughout the day I was reminded of the 1 in 6 Americans who are unsure of where their next meal is coming from (http://www.feedingamerica.org/). I began, once again, racking my brain of different ways the SNAP program could improve itself to ensure no family, no child, goes hungry. This is something I will be pondering all week long, I'm sure. Until tomorrow...
Sunday, September 26, 2010
Time to get groceries!
Mission: To purchase seven days worth of meals for two people with $42.
While I've been conjuring up meals in my mind all week long, it was finally time to put the pen to the paper. As expected, much more planning is involved when living on a food stamp budget. I realized very quickly that our menus needed to change drastically. I like to think that my husband and I are somewhat health-conscious, as we generally purchase lots of fresh veggies, lean meats, 100% juices, etc. However, I knew that this would be nearly impossible for this challenge. One big important question: why is healthy food the cheapest?! Of course I know the answer to this question, but I really wish it wasn't so. So I set out to purchase what I believed would create simple meals that could possibly be made into leftovers for lunches the following day.
I brought a calculator with me to ensure that I stay within my budget. I found myself paying very close attention to prices and selecting more off-brands than usual. However, I just had to splurge on a loaf of whole wheat bread instead of white!
My total cost came to $47.97 (without tax), which exceeded my budget by $5.97--good thing we have a $10 leeway.
While I've been conjuring up meals in my mind all week long, it was finally time to put the pen to the paper. As expected, much more planning is involved when living on a food stamp budget. I realized very quickly that our menus needed to change drastically. I like to think that my husband and I are somewhat health-conscious, as we generally purchase lots of fresh veggies, lean meats, 100% juices, etc. However, I knew that this would be nearly impossible for this challenge. One big important question: why is healthy food the cheapest?! Of course I know the answer to this question, but I really wish it wasn't so. So I set out to purchase what I believed would create simple meals that could possibly be made into leftovers for lunches the following day.
I brought a calculator with me to ensure that I stay within my budget. I found myself paying very close attention to prices and selecting more off-brands than usual. However, I just had to splurge on a loaf of whole wheat bread instead of white!
My total cost came to $47.97 (without tax), which exceeded my budget by $5.97--good thing we have a $10 leeway.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Before the Challenge
Hello to Suzanne & my fellow classmates! I just wanted to share a little bit about myself in regards to grocery shopping/menu planning before we officially begin this challenge on Monday.
My husband & I are incredibly blessed in that we have not had to rely on federal assistance to provide our groceries from week-to-week--not to say it won't ever happen! It's safe to say that we can go into a grocery store and half-way look at the prices and still manage to get by. We are fortunate to be able to sometimes plan dinners for our friends & family and even give into our sweet tooth every now and then. I know that so many American families cannot say the same.
This is why I am so excited (and nervous!) about taking this challenge. It's so important that we--not just as social workers but as a people--experience other's hardships in order to broaden our perceptions and understandings so that we never forget the "welfare of humanity"!
My husband & I are incredibly blessed in that we have not had to rely on federal assistance to provide our groceries from week-to-week--not to say it won't ever happen! It's safe to say that we can go into a grocery store and half-way look at the prices and still manage to get by. We are fortunate to be able to sometimes plan dinners for our friends & family and even give into our sweet tooth every now and then. I know that so many American families cannot say the same.
This is why I am so excited (and nervous!) about taking this challenge. It's so important that we--not just as social workers but as a people--experience other's hardships in order to broaden our perceptions and understandings so that we never forget the "welfare of humanity"!
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