My son and I are doing the challenge together…..
I went to the store last night to make my choices. It took longer to spend my $40.00 than it normally takes to spend $125.00…I had to check the price of every item to get the very cheapest, usually the store brand…(I’m saving the other $6.00 for an emergency or for something I forgot)……I usually check packages to get the fewest additives. I buy organic if possible, whole grains, good natural peanut butter to avoid the hydrogenated fats and afla-toxins, and dairy products with no BGH. What a switch!
When I got home from the store I put my meager food stamp choices on the counter next to the food I would have gotten from the pantry…my choices were almost doubled….God bless the SSKP….I can’t imagine making due with just the food stamp food for more than 1 week…I found out you can’t buy just 2 onions at Stop & Shop…you must buy a 3 lb bag! I had to go to another market to buy my 2 onions…and I stopped at the gas station mart to pick up my milk…it’s almost $2 a gallon cheaper than the grocery store….
Then I ate a ginormous green salad for dinner…. my last supper….there may not be any more salads for me this week…I miss them already…..fresh fruits and vegetables are very expensive…I am a vegetarian and most of my weekly shopping is done in the produce section….maybe I’ll buy lettuce and a lemon for dressing with my $6….
Tuesday June 3, 2008
Breakfast: 1 cup of coffee and an egg sandwich on ww toast, Lunch: peanut butter on ww bread with a slice of watermelon, and for dinner we’ll have penne with red sauce and frozen broccoli cuts…I have a cup of dry frosted mini-wheats and a ½ banana for a snack.
The egg, penne, sauce, peanut butter, and mini-wheats came from the pantry larder…
Wednesday June 4, 2008
Day 2:
I’d love to have egg salad instead of an egg sandwich but I can’t afford the mayonnaise. And that peanut butter sandwich would have been so much nicer if I’d had just a little jam or marmalade on it. A sprinkle of grated parmesan on my pasta would have been nice also….little things I normally take for granted are just not possible now….and still no salad
The good news is I haven’t thought about food quite as much today as I did yesterday.
I had to cut my watermelon slices thinner today so I can make it last longer. I’m not sure the bread is going to last either...I may find myself at the section with the out-of-date, marked down bread before the week is out…I don’t think Stop & Shop even has a section for the over ripe produce anymore, since they renovated.
Breakfast: 1 cup coffee, plain yogurt w/ crushed pineapple; Lunch: egg sandwich on ww w/ watermelon;
Dinner: boca burger w/ baked beans and frozen cauliflower; snack: 1 slice ww bread w/ peanut butter and ½ banana
The crushed pineapple, egg, baked beans, and peanut butter came from the pantry larder
Thursday June 5, 2008
My dog ate my loaf of bread yesterday…..I was afraid it wouldn’t last the week…now it’s certain…this could, would be tragic….if I didn’t have $6 left…..I was very unhappy about it…..it’s only day 3…..I don’t think the peanut butter is going to make it the week either….and I may run out of eggs…..4 more days…and still no salad
My son is having more trouble than I am with the no cheating rule……. He’s doing a good job so far though….He usually eats out more than I do….cooking is a burden when you’re used to walking into Subway or Dunkin Donuts. And it’s even more of a burden when there are so few choices to make…I did cheat today….some one brought me a warm pastry from the patisserie in Deep River ….I just couldn’t resist…
Breakfast: 1 cup of coffee, plain yogurt w/ crushed pineapple, Lunch: leftover pasta with leftover broccoli, small serving of watermelon, Dinner: Vegetarian chili with corn muffins
Pineapple, pasta, sauce, chili powder, corn, and tomatoes in chili from pantry
Day 4
I had an hour or two of panic last night...4 days left and I was sure we wouldn't make it...it seemed like over ½ the food for a week was gone.......it was terrible, but nothing like it must be for someone who can't just go to the store if the food runs out....I'm pretty sure that without the pantry food we would be out of food today. And there wouldn't have been any watermelon or bananas, no pasta, no cereal, maybe no frozen vegetables...the peanut butter and eggs would have been purchased first.
Today is Friday...the day everyone at work orders lunch to be delivered....grinders, salads, or burgers, etc.....I ate my left over pasta, feeling just a bit sorry for myself, especially because it was leftovers, again....Breakfast: plain yogurt w/ crushed pineapple, Lunch: leftover pasta and a little watermelon, Dinner: Boca burger with rice, mixed frozen vegetables, Snack: banana and frosted mini-wheats......
I've been there and done that....all week....And still no salad..................
Saturday June 7, 2008
Day 5
Saturday…..I made an egg sandwich for breakfast with 1 cup of coffee, a peanut butter and banana sandwich on ww bread for lunch; and boxed macaroni and cheese with canned tomatoes for dinner…..there were a few tomatoes left so I stirred them into the chili to stretch it a little farther…no salad today either
My son has been really good all week, having a cup of coffee made at home and eating an egg sandwich for breakfast, peanut butter sandwich with either watermelon or banana for lunch, and the same thing for dinner, with a granola bar as his snack…he either drank the bottle of apple juice from the pantry food or water when the juice ran out…………but…...
He walked in at lunch time Saturday with a 12” very meaty grinder for lunch….( all I could see was 2 days worth of food stamps in that 1 sandwich….6 meals for 1 person for 2 days)…….I guess he couldn’t take the peanut butter again
He got to pick the “snack” in the pantry food…he picked a box of granola bars….6 per box so he knew right away it wouldn’t last the week… Thursday evening he ate a second one for the day, meaning the box would only stretch 5 days now….I also wanted something to eat so I took one of the granola bars for a snack…..Friday a.m. I put the 6th and last one in his lunch box…and I went to work...about a ½ hour later I got a phone call at work….he wanted to know why the box was empty…..where had the last one gone…….seriously…..I think it was the first time in his life that he kept track and rationed his food
Sunday June 8, 2008
Day 6
We’re going to make it…plain yogurt with pineapple for breakfast w/ 1 cup of coffee, peanut butter sandwich and ½ banana for lunch; and left over chili for dinner…my 2 year old grandson came over and he had a peanut butter sandwich and ½ banana with me…the peanut butter is about gone but it’s day 6….tomorrow would be pantry day, and thank God for the pantry…I was visiting friends around dinner time…had to pass up a glass of wine there, and dinner out with a friend…
Monday June 9, 2008
Day 7
Started the day with a cup of coffee and plain yogurt with pineapple for breakfast, leftover chili for lunch with the last of the watermelon, and for dinner…Boca burgers with boxed rice pilaf and mixed vegetables…my snack is the end of the peanut butter jar on the last crust of ww bread….but still no salad
Getting balanced meals is impossible on $1 per meal…..and even with the pantry food, fresh fruits and vegetables are just not possible except in very limited type and small amounts. All your choices are limited….Because I had the pantry food, I could pay the extra $.65 to get whole wheat bread instead of white, buy ½ lb of coffee, etc. We started with eggs, peanut butter, pasta with sauce and juice….
I think that if I had to continue with this regimen I would probably become one of those people that takes the sugars, jam, or whatever is on the table of the local café or diner….go to the local restaurant at happy hour, order a cup of coffee and eat my fill of fresh carrots, celery, broccoli and dip, cheese and crackers, grapes or other fresh fruits……
Tomorrow: SALAD!!!
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