This is the third post in a nine-part series on my experiences with eating on $4.50 a day as part of September's Hunger Action Month.
I've had to deviate from my plan of eating everything from our local Food Coop for the SNAP Hunger Challenged organized by Feeding Illinois. I have had to combine staples from the Coop as well as Aldi's and County Market.
Plus, it is taking a TON of time calculating how much each ingredient costs and then buying things from the cheapest places. If you've seen a blonde white woman, sporty build, about 5' 8" with a calculator, pen, and mini notebook in the grocery aisle, that's probably me making my next calculation.
I spend an hour each day planning for the next day and reading feedback from friends who have been offering suggestions for healthy filling foods. I baked, not cooked, brown rice this morning after a tip from my friend Sandra and others who said brown rice is filling.
Had another bowl of filling oatmeal from the recipe I found on the blog The Hannah Cafe. If it works and it is filling, I'm going for it. I don't have time to try something new!
So, for breakfast, I had the oatmeal again. You can find the ingredients in yesterday's post.
Total cost for breakfast: 88 cents (I used peanut butter instead of cashew butter and tea instead of coffee)
Lunch consisted of:
2 cups of organic brown rice from Coop bins ($.46)
Gala apple from Aldi’s ($0.36)
1 cup organic chocolate soy milk from Aldi’s ($0.29)
Total cost for lunch: $1.11
Fill factor: ok
Nutritional value: good but is it enough to stay healthy?
At 2pm, I had a snack: 2, hard-boiled large eggs from Aldi ($0.20)
And now it gets interesting. I am leaving town for two days and have had to pre-plan everything and take food with me. No eating out for me on this road trip.
Here is what's on the dinner menu tonight:
2 cups of Homemade Barley Vegetable Soup
Organic barley from bulk bins at Coop ($0.13 cents)
Cabbage from IGA ($.05 cents)
Celery from Schnuck's ($.11 cents)
Organic carrots from Coop($.16 cents)
Organic zucchini from Coop ($.13 cents)
Vegan veggie broth ($.26 cents)
1 cup organic chocolate soy milk from Aldi’s ($0.29)
1 Gala apple from Aldi’s ($0.20)
2 pieces of organic sprouted Ezekiel bread from County Market ($0.50)
Total cost: $1.83
Nutrition value: excellent
Stomach fill value: excellent
Total cost for the day: $4.01 that makes up for overspending by 50 cents yesterday. Yea!
The official SNAP Hunger Challenge does not start until September 19th. When it does, you can read other people's experience on the Challenge Blog where I am also cross posting.
If you have any tips about taking food with you when you are on a budget, I'd love to hear them.
Thanks!
Hope to be back in this space Thursday.
The first of my eight blog posts is here: Keeping Hunger Away on $4.50 a day? Getting Ready
The second of my eight blog posts is here: DAY 1: SNAP Hunger Challenge
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4 comments:
I always travel with food now. I take a Ziplock bag of cereal with raisins and I can almost always find a place to buy enough milk to eat it in mornings. You can try taking the oatmeal, if it is instant, and using hot water to make it. I sometimes keep items in my room by using the ice bucket to keep them cold during the day if there is no refrigerator. Beans are also cheap and filling. Beans and cornbread were a weekly meal when I was growing up. Buy some Beano if you have issues with beans. Good luck!
I agree - the ice bucket and a personal cooler are great in a hotel room. A coffee maker can supply hot water for dehydrated foods. If you are in Chicago, I discovered the 7/11 on Randolph has some fruit and some meditaranean salads and hard-boiled eggs. Trader Joe's is up farther north near State and Ontario, but as decent deals. I always carry almonds with me and high-quality granola bars. Good luck.
At the Beard ranch, one of us (not me!) is an oatmeal-phile. He actually prefers microwaving regular old oatmeal. It's cheaper than instant, which is chopped up a little more finely to cook more quickly, I think! Have to watch for boil-overs, but hey. It's do-able!
Good luck, KK. We're planning to take up the challenge Sep. 18!
Thanks, Cynthia, Elaine and Danda. I did take a cooler of ice with me and some of my staples: soy milk, carrots, baked brown rice. And I bought the aormeal, too. The place had a full kitchen so it was just like being at home except for lugging everything.
Thank you for the tips.
Danda, I am so glad you are going to be taking the challenge!
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