Food Stamp Challenge

Next week I will be taking the “Food Stamp Challenge” as part of the United Way’s Hunger Action Week. It doesn’t look like my local United Way is participating in this, but it is something I have been interested in trying for some time now so I’m going to go for it. The goal is to see if it is possible to eat healthy, well-balanced meals on a food stamp budget. According to the information I found online, the maximum benefit for a family of 4 is $22 per day. That comes out to $154 per week, which I think is more than I am currently spending on groceries. I usually spend around $75-$80 a week at the grocery store, but then we take occasional trips to Sam’s to buy in bulk and that could change our weekly total quite a bit. It will be interesting to see how much we actually spend.

My goal is 3 healthy meals a day for 4 people plus snacks, drinks, etc. The key to lowering our food bill so far (and I have been working very hard on this over the past year) has been to focus on a few key things. We eliminated juice boxes and prepackaged snacks, which weren’t very  healthy and the kids almost always waste them anyway. We buy store brands over name brands on everything, and do not notice a difference – other than the lower price! We have limited our meat consumption to about once a week, and haven’t really missed it at all. And finally, trying to focus our food budget on purchasing whole foods rather than convenience foods. The more you make yourself, the cheaper it is. And it usually tastes better too! I was worried at first that this would take up too much time, but honestly I have not missed the 2 minutes saved by purchasing individual packets of instant pre-flavored oatmeal. The giant box of unflavored oatmeal cooks in no time  and I can add in frozen blueberries or fresh fruit and brown sugar at the amounts I think are appropriate. Popping corn on the stove instead of the microwave may take a few extra minutes, but it is fun!

So in preparation for next week, I am putting together a list of my top budget-friendly meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Dinners are the most important, as they can provide leftovers for lunch and kill 2 birds with one stone. I’m pretty sure we can meet this challenge. It certainly isn’t easy – it takes planning and time and a little creativity to keep it from getting boring. We like beans and rice, but don’t want to eat them every day, right?  I really think it can be done. Stay tuned – I’ll post each day with a list of what we are actually eating and how much it costs!

Breakfast

• yogurt ($.50 – less if bought in big containers instead of single-serving ones) and homemade granola
• oatmeal
• cereal and milk
• cheese grits
• homemade muffins
• homemade raisin biscuits

Lunch
• leftovers (great for the adults, but the kids don’t always like this option very much)
• peanut butter & jelly sandwiches
• Boca chicken burgers $1 per serving (the kids share a burger, so they are $.50 each)
• fish sticks $2.99 for 44 sticks = $.30 per serving
• cheese quesadillas

Dinner (I’d like to have no more than 1 pasta and 1 bean meal in the week, for variety)
• Cheese & nut stuffed shells ($7.80 – lots of leftovers)
• Lemon Avgolemono Soup (made with homemade chicken broth, $2)
• Toasted Orzo with Peas & Parm ($4 – plenty of leftovers)
• Pizza Rolls ($7.50 – plenty of leftovers)
• Calamarate al tonno e olive ($7)
• Black bean cakes with salsa ($6.95)
• Coconut Lime Chicken Soup
• Pasta Puttanesca (plenty of leftovers)
• Spanikopita ($10.27 – lots of leftovers)
• Manischewitz Bean soup mix ($2)
• Welsh Rarebit ($4.14) with homemade bread ($.75 per loaf) and zucchini coins ($1.83)
• Tofu & Veggie stir-fry over rice ($4.98)

snacks/sides for breakfast & lunch
• organic bananas $1.74 per bunch = $.29 each
• organic blueberries $1.84 per 4.4oz. container = about $.46 per serving
• cantaloupe $2.00
• organic drinkable yogurt $4.12 per half gallon
• cereal (the sugary kind – they love it and for snacks I don’t mind) $4
• apples $.25 each
• popcorn (popped on the stove – it is snack AND entertainment!) $1.99 for 27 servings! That is only about 7 cents per serving!
• homemade cookies ($2 per 2 dz.)
• jello (made from powder, not premade) $.20 per serving

Beverages
• organic milk ($6 – less if I get it through the coop)
• orange juice (from concentrate – why pay for water? $3)
• water (free!)
• canned “bubbly” water ($4.29 per case)
• diet coke – I know I shouldn’t drink them, but I try to limit myself to 1 can per day