Finishing up SNAP...days 5-7

I know, I know...I was doing so well with blogging each day about our SNAP challenge. Sadly, something tragic happened in our country on Friday & drew my attention away. I did, however, keep track of our food for when I got back to this place. Let me go through our food & then we'll do a final blog with our thoughts from this experience.

Friday.
My turn:
 I started my day as I have many days this last week. For breakfast I had a bowl of steel cut oatmeal with cinnamon and half of my last grapefruit. I also had 1/2 cup of almond milk.
 Lunch: I finished the last of my salad, about 1/3 of the container was left & I finished the last of the crockpot meal that we made for Monday night's dinner. This meal has served us so well. I believe we got 6 meals out of it. However, I have to say, I'm a bit sick of it.
 Snack: banana with 1 TBS of peanut butter
 Dinner: I was overwhelmed with watching the news until it was time to go hear Mayor Cory Booker speak so I didn't eat before I left. I got home from his inspirational lecture around 9:40. Too late to eat anything heavy. I toasted 2 slices of that crappy bread I bought Zach & put some peanut butter on it...voila..dinner!

Zach's turn
For breakfast was HIS standby for the week....generic cornflakes w/ some milk.
For lunch he had tuna fish (not his favorite but I nagged him to bring lunch), a pack of 100 calorie snacks & a banana.
For dinner Zach made himself an egg sandwich...2 eggs, 2 pieces of bread.

Saturday
Mom's turn:
I got up this morning with some errands to run so I quickly scrambled 2 eggs & at the last of my grapefruit for breakfast.
I skipped lunch because I was running errands. Since I sleep a little later on weekends (when I can), I tend to only eat 2 meals so this didn't feel like a biggie to me.  (During my errands, I picked us up a few groceries since I had $12.79 left to spend..I'll go over that list later).
For dinner I grilled up some veggies & ate a giant plate of them. I used one of the onions I bought on my original shopping trip, the bell pepper & the zucchini. This is one of my favorite, filling meals, actually.
For a snack I had a yummy granny smith apple with a bit of peanut butter.

Zach's turn
Zach often eats worse than mom on weekends!
Breakfast:  he slept through breakfast.
Lunch: He ate the last of the tuna with 2 slices of bread and had a banana
Dinner: He had chicken breast, brown rice & french style green beans that I picked up on my shopping trip.

Sunday
This morning began with us both leaving the house too early to go get a Christmas tree. Of course we already had one but it was sooo dead that we knew it wouldn't make another 10 days. Ornaments were on the floor & so were lights. It wasn't pretty!

We ran out w/o breakfast.
When we got home, for brunch,  I made us some eggs, turkey bacon & home fries (made from those canned white potatoes). We also had toast b/c we still have bread left.

For dinner we splurged. Zach loves red meat and has missed it this week.  (he doesn't eat it often but he does eat it more than never. I don't eat it as often). At Shop Rite, I was able to find one of those "manager's specials $1.00 off stickers on 2 little steaks. I don't know what cut they were but I will tell you they were NOT fancy and they were not particularly tender!! Also, they were small! With the manager's $1.00 off, they cost $4.63. To go along with them, I grabbed, from the freezer section frozen corn that was on special. So that was our dinner: little steaks, brown rice & corn. I only had a few bites of rice b/c I try not to eat too much starch. I wanted Zach to eat it b/c I wanted him to feel more full than he's been feeling (more on that in the last blog).

Here is what I purchased at the store Saturday to get us through our last 2 days:

turkey bacon (on sale) was 3 for $5.00. I got one package making it $1.66
another dozen eggs (I always keep on hand for pops of protein). $2.39 (not the sale price they were last week)
those substandard little steaks: $4.36
can of sliced white potatoes: .68  (all cans of everything seemed to be .68. I assume that is the regular price)
can of green beans: .68
frozen corn was 2 for $3.00. I purchased 1 for $1.50 I should have, of course, grabbed a can & I'm not sure why I didn't, to be honest.

My total today was $11.27 of the 12.79 I had left...leaving me with $1.52.

We have to say, we are glad the week is done, done, done. We both have thoughts we'd like to share as well as facts that we learned during the week.  It's getting late & football is one so we're going to table that until tomorrow. Until then, friends, be well!!

Day 4....SNAP!

Alrighty kids, here is a quick update from our 4th day of the SNAP challenge. I had another project that I was working on this evening so I slacked on getting this done.

Mom's turn: 
For breakfast I had 1/2 cup almond milk, 2 fried eggs, 2 pieces of turkey sausage & 2 pieces of Zach's bread. Normally, if I eat bread it's sprouted bread (no additives, no preservatives, lots of good, crunchy stuff added in) but I wanted fried eggs so I toasted 2 pieces of the very inexpensive bread I bought for Zach's school lunches.
For lunch I had a nice salad. I had another 1/3 of the container that I originally purchased.
For dinner I had spaghetti squash that was left from the other night & some of the leftover marinara sauce.
I was going to have a banana tonight since there are 6 left, still.  However, my potassium was high at my last appointment & my dr wanted me to cut back on potassium rich foods. (can you even imagine such a thing??)

Zach's turn:  (I'm going to type this up since he is in bed!)
For breakfast Zach had a bowl of corn flakes...generic, of course (do you see a pattern here...) with 1% milk and drank the milk before putting the bowl in the sink instead of loading it into the dishwasher. ;)  This is a normal breakfast for Zach, even w/o the Challenge. He's not big on getting up early & eating right away. He also may or may not have scarfed down a banana!
For lunch Zach waited until he got home from school (I hate when he does this!). He ate some of the leftovers from the crockpot that we made on Monday. We got a lot of mileage out of that meal. We got 5 meals and there is still a little bit left in the fridge!!
For dinner Zach had the same thing I had for breakfast: eggs, turkey sausage, toast.

I was hungry before dinner tonight but only because I had a show for work & didn't get home to have dinner until almost 8pm. Normally, I would have a snack with me; maybe a 100 calorie pack of almonds or a small protein bar. My budget didn't allow for such things so between meal snacks are minimal if at all.

3 days to go. About $12 left.  Looking forward to talking to Zach when we're done so I can gather his thoughts!

SNAP...Day 3...Goin' strong...

Hi everyone!
Well, it's Wednesday...day 3 of our SNAP challenge.  Once again, poor planning for lunch left me a bit hungry!

Mom's turn:
Breakfast: Steel cut oats w/ cinnamon, 2 links turkey sausage, 1/2 cup almond milk. (deja vu anyone??)
Lunch: 1 hard boiled egg, 1 banana with 1 TBS of peanut butter.  (in my meager defense, I had a show and was in the car at lunch time on my way there. I needed something quick & easy to eat. Bad planning & left me hungry for dinner.
Dinner: Leftovers from the crock pot meal we made Monday night...still delicious. Still have some left (I told you it made a lot!
  Night snack: an granny smith apple w/ a TBS of peanut butter (boy, this generic pb isn't very good!!)

Zach's turn:  (he's in bed but told me what to write)
Breakfast: bowl of store brand corn flakes & milk.  Drank the milk once cereal was gone.
Lunch: a tunafish sandwich, a 100 calorie pack and water (Zach usually drinks water!)
When he got home, he had a small glass of milk
Dinner: he had his left over pasta from last night w/ some of the marinara sauce. We still have some sauce left that I'll use on my spaghetti squash tomorrow!

Nothing fancy today but no problem either..unless you count me being ticked at myself for not packing a better lunch! Better planning for tomorrow...you'd think I would learn!!!

If you have time, you can read more about food stamps and the challenges of families living "below the line" here:  http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2099709,00.html

On we go..

SNAP....Day 2...checkin' in...

It's Tuesday so that means Zach & I are on Day 2 of our SNAP challenge.

Mom's turn:
Today was much better than yesterday. I planned better so I made sure to have protein throughout the day.
My day looked a little like this:
Breakfast:  1/2 cup almond milk, steel cut oats w/ a little cinnamon, 1/2 grapefruit, 2 links of turkey sausage.
Lunch: About 1/3 of the container of spring mix salad I bought on Sunday, 2 hard boiled eggs..  more water.
Snack: a banana w/ 1 TBS of peanut butter
Dinner: Spaghetti squash.  I made some marinara sauce from crushed tomatoes & seasoning to go over the squash. I also cooked & cup up about 4 oz of boneless, skinless chicken breast.
  *the spaghetti squash was rather large but sadly about 1/4 of it was no good once I cut it open. I had a nice helping for dinner & have plenty left for hopefully 2 lunches!*

Except for the almond milk I had this morning, I've had nothing but water to drink, but that is the norm for me so I'm not missing anything. I didn't find myself to be hungry today like I did yesterday. I'm pretty happy about that!!

Zach's turn: 
Today for breakfast I had a bowl of corn flakes with 1% milk on it. I drank the milk at the bottom of the bowl. This is a pretty typical breakfast for me, even when not on the challenge.
I didn't pack lunch to take to school (again, typical) but I ate when I got home. Today I really splurged and had some grapes. I know...mom yells at me that I don't eat enough. Might be why I felt dizzy tonight. I'll bring lunch tomorrow!
For dinner, I made whole wheat pasta (rotini) and shared the marinara sauce mom made. We have some left over so that will be put to use, I'm sure.
I didn't feel hungry yesterday, during day 1 but I did wake up in the night hungry. I didn't eat anything but I was hungry! I will have to eat more. It's not like we're running out of our "allotted" food yet. I am just in the habit of not eating much during the day.

As a note, yesterday I did buy fat free cream cheese for .99 (on sale...SCORE!) and turkey sausage links for $1.25.  My total before that was $46.97. Once I add those items, we're up to $49.21. I am happy to know we have $12.79 left to spend (we get $62.00 for both of us for the week) if we need to get some more things. Now we'll know how far we can stretch things & how best to spend the extra money if we need to.

That's it for us. So far so good. Learning a bit more each day.

SNAP Challenge..... Day 1

Today is the day we started the SNAP challenge.  So far, so good...but it's only the beginning.

For breakfast I had steel cut oats with cinnamon and 1/2 grapefruit. I was missing protein..mostly because I forgot to buy it. I remedied that today! This is why I left myself some wiggle room!

For lunch I'd packed an apple w/ a tablespoon of peanut butter & a salad. I ate the apple but then got so busy chatting with my pal Nancy (who is in Ukraine to adopt her daughter) that I didn't have time to eat the salad. Now I'm really down protein for the day. Not good!

For dinner (finally!!!), we had a crock pot meal. It consisted of a can of corn, a can of black beans, 3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, salsa and fat free cream cheese (that I scored for .99). Not only was it delicious but we have enough left over that we'll have enough for another protein filled meal & possibly even a little more! 

The only thing we drank today was water but we have milk & almond milk. We're big water drinkers so I'm not too worried about feeling like I'm missing something in that dept. Luckily neither of us drink soda of coffee with caffeine so we have no concerns about going through caffeine withdrawal. Whew! That would be miserable. 

No snack as we sit & watch tv tonight. I would usually have an apple. I'm not feeling hungry so I'll leave them for another time. 

Overall, I was pretty hungry by dinner. I didn't eat most of my salad lunch & if I did, I hadn't packed protein anyway. Tonight, on the way home from work, I picked up turkey sausage: 10 links for $1.25. I figure 1 or 2 will add a little protein with breakfast.  I also picked up the .99 fat free cream cheese. The additional $2.25 keeps us below $50.00 for the week so we have about $13 left in wiggle room.

Tomorrow I'm going to try to get Zach to blog his meals & thoughts as well. For now though, it's a snack-less night as I crawl into bed with my book!  Sweet dreams.

Prepping for the SNAP Challenge...

As I mentioned in my previous post, Zach & I are going to embark on the challenge of trying to eat healthfully on the amount of money given to SNAP (food stamp) recipients while still having enough to eat.  Today I went to the store to do my first shopping for the challenge. Let me be clear..I'm already not good at this. While I never shop extravagantly I never use a calculator as I shop either. I do read labels & try to make good decisions on what we eat. Today, some of that went by the wayside, not by choice, but by necessity. I don't eat  much bread but when I do, I eat sprouted whole wheat bread. It's expensive so there will be none of that this week. For Zach's lunches, I also try to buy whole wheat bread (he doesn't love the sprouted). The loaf can be $3.00/loaf or more. Today, I bought him a loaf of Great Value bread. It cost $1.28.  Oof.  The other big error I made was a spaghetti squash. I LOVE spaghetti squash & know it would be a filling, healthy dinner. However, I wasn't counting on the price. It was .99/lb. I tried to pick a light-ish one but it was still $4.00. I could put it in the closet & use it after the challenge but I think I should have to work with the errors I made along with the good choices.

I have $64.00 to work with & spent $46.97. I wanted to leave myself money to use later in the week.
Here is the list of what I purchased along with the prices:

Great Value Wheat Bread: 1.28                                       1 lb whole wheat pasta:   $1.00
3 lbs bananas:  $1.78                                                        store brand salsa (for crock pot meal): $1.98
1/2 gallon 1% milk: $2.38                                                 3 cans store brand tuna in water:  $2.22
3lbs boneless skinless chicken breast: $6.98                      can black beans:  .68
spaghetti squash: $4.16  (ouch)                                         can store brand corn: .68
Spring mix salad: $1.50                                                     almond milk: $1.69
bag of yellow onions: .99                                                   steel cut oats: $2.69
granny smith apples: $3.34                                                1 dozen eggs: $1.79
green squash: .49
2 grapefruit: .80  (.40 ea)
green grapes: $2.43
red bell pepper .57
box of store brand corn flakes: $1.98
1 lb brown rice .78
100 cal packs (Zach's lunch): $2.50
peanut butter (generic): $2.28 (I always get all natural PB w/ just peanuts & salt..this one has more stuff..
                                               not loving that.)

So there ya have it....tomorrow morning we're off & running.

Food Stamp Challenge?? Why not?

There is a lot of talk lately about the SNAP (food stamp) challenge. It's been all over Twitter, Facebook & the news. It's a simple concept:  try to eat for one week on the amount of money equivalent to what recipients of SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) would receive.  Here in NJ it is right around $30.00 per person per week. That may sound simple:  pasta, beans, the go-to staple of ramen. But really, how healthy is all that pasta?  The whole purpose of the challenge is not only to eat on $30 a week but to do it healthfully, meeting your nutritional needs AND avoiding hunger. Now it's starting to sound a bit more like a challenge, no?

The Mayor of Newark has been all over the news because he is undertaking the challenge this week. He isn't alone. Many are joining him & not just those from his beautifully city of Newark! His Twitter followers from around the country have committed to the challenge. There are religious groups that have challenged their congregations to join.  I read a story on Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. They had their students take the challenge (in 2010). The reason behind it was so they could better understand their patients who struggled with obesity, diabetes & myriad other illnesses that can contribute to poor diet. That kind of compassion can only help them in their jobs. ( http://www.mc.vanderbilt.edu/reporter/index.html?ID=8150 )

At our house, we've been talking about this challenge, how difficult would it be, what we would eat, where would we shop (you can only shop at places that would accept SNAP), would there be enough food? Then it happened: Zach said he wanted us to do it. He said we should shop and eat, both of us using just $60.00 total for 7 days. I said, "well, why would we do that?" (I asked b/c I always like to see how his mind is working) and he replied, "because then we can better advocate for people who live like that all the time."  He is right. Doing the SNAP challenge won't change our lives, per say. It's just one week in our lives. But as Mayor Booker pointed out, the last time many folks took the food stamp challenge, they had a lot to say about its shortcomings. From this, changes were made to the system. Changes were put in place to help those who rely on this assistance. But more can be done, must be done. We want to have a better understanding of the legitimate struggles of too many families in this country. We want to know first hand, how they can & often do run out of SNAP money before they run out of month. It's what brings them to food pantries to help supplement their family's food.

...and so we're in. We're going to give it a shot. A woman I met at the food pantry, who gets SNAP, told me that it takes a lot of thinking & planning to shop on that sort of budget. She said she compares stores, clips coupons, checks sales. She shops according to what is on sale week to week. She can't be spontaneous & so we won't be either. For one week, nothing can "catch our eye" and end up in our cart. We will use the calculator as we shop so we can keep within our budget. We will blog about not only our meals but the nutritional value and also how we feel. Are we hungry? Grouchy? Time will tell.  We think we'll start next week. In the meantime we'll continue to follow the blogs of those who are taking the challenge now & hopefully learn tips and hints from them.  Wish us luck....