I have decided to start a separate blog for my Food Stamp Challenge musings. You can find it at http://21dollarsaweekforone.blogspot.com
Meantime, I will keep this blog as a separate spot to talk about other issues and do some creative writing that I want to share. I hope you will follow both blogs and give me some encouragement. I find writing is enjoyable for me. I can only hope that some people enjoy reading what I write.
Saturday, June 1, 2013
Saturday, May 4, 2013
Here we go again . . .
It has been a month since I ended the first round of the Food Stamp Challenge.
I am committed to giving it another go around, starting Monday, in part because I want to see if I can eat better on my Food Stamp Budget now that the farmers markets are open. I am also going to grow some of my food in my garden plot at church (if it ever gets dry enough to plant!)
Seeds and seedlings that provide food are things you can purchase with food stamps. Of course, seedlings are not cheap, and either way the cost will bite into my food budget, but I am hoping that come, say, July, I have fresh produce that helps me eat healthier on my limited budget.
So, if you are new to this, we are talking about a food budget of $21 a week. And I am curious (please post below), how much do you typically spend on groceries each week? For how many people? And what is a typical menu like at your house?
Please share your thoughts with me!
I am committed to giving it another go around, starting Monday, in part because I want to see if I can eat better on my Food Stamp Budget now that the farmers markets are open. I am also going to grow some of my food in my garden plot at church (if it ever gets dry enough to plant!)
Seeds and seedlings that provide food are things you can purchase with food stamps. Of course, seedlings are not cheap, and either way the cost will bite into my food budget, but I am hoping that come, say, July, I have fresh produce that helps me eat healthier on my limited budget.
So, if you are new to this, we are talking about a food budget of $21 a week. And I am curious (please post below), how much do you typically spend on groceries each week? For how many people? And what is a typical menu like at your house?
Please share your thoughts with me!
Monday, April 8, 2013
A return to the Food Stamp Challenge. For now.
So today I am returning to my Food Stamp Challenge. Why?
Well, there are several reasons. The first is obvious--you cannot really understand in 40 days what people got through for months and sometimes years. And second, (and this may seem odd) I need the discipline and quite frankly, the financial savings.
I don't know how long I will continue. But the average length of time a person is on food stamps is 8-10 months.
But also, I want to see if there are ways I can draw more attention to those in this country who are hungry, and what their real needs are. I want to bust open some myths about people on food stamps and help bring reality back to the conversation. I have an idea on how to do this, but I have to check some things out to see if it is workable. If it is, I will share it with you (and hopefully a lot of other people).
And I want to see if there are resources out there that I have not previously found or talked about.
So we will play it by ear. This will continue while it continues.
Spent $14.15 on groceries so far this week. Black bean tacos are on the menu. Stir-fried spinach is on the menu. Oddly, Cream of Wheat is on the menu (there will be cinnamon and brown sugar in it).
One thing I want to check is if any of the local farmers markets take food stamps. Produce, when in season, can be very cheap there. But while I love the farmers markets, I have never really paid attention to this . . . so I will be looking into that.
Saturday, April 6, 2013
The Food Stamp Challenge, one week after
So, Easter has come, Easter has gone, and for a week I have been eating whatever I please.
What did I miss the most?
Mindless eating. I could survive on food stamps if I had to, but I spent a lot more time planning my shopping and cooking than I have in years. This week I have eaten chocolate, drank soda, and generally ate a ton of unhealthy crap.
I was better off when I had to plan.
I am grouchy, bloated, and I spent more on groceries and food than I had any good reason to spend.
And what did I learn?
That you CAN survive on food stamps, given the right conditions. I have no teenagers living with me, which made it easier. For someone like Allison, a teen boy on a special diet made this challenge much more difficult. I was willing to eat the same foods over and over, and that was okay too. But it took a couple of hours a week to plan my meals and do the shopping. And when produce went bad--as happened a couple of times--it wreaked havoc in my plans.
But there was never a week that I didn't struggle, particularly toward the end of the week. And the purchase of a staple that I had run out of--such as olive oil--put a whole in my budget. And I still don't know how people who live gluten free or dairy free (or worse, both) manage to eat something resembling healthy on $21 a week.
With the effects of The Sequester starting to trickle into the economy, I am grateful that congress in its wisdom did not include the food stamp program in the Sequester. It is enough of a struggle to get by on food stamps without having even less to purchase food with.
You want to help kids learn, improve test scores and stay healthy? Ensure they have enough to eat. Keep funding for food stamps.
I feel like there is more I need to know. So starting Monday (because I have lunch plans today and tomorrow) I am going to go back on the food stamp challenge. I want dig deeper, learn more, and see where and how I can help create change. Stay tuned.
What did I miss the most?
Mindless eating. I could survive on food stamps if I had to, but I spent a lot more time planning my shopping and cooking than I have in years. This week I have eaten chocolate, drank soda, and generally ate a ton of unhealthy crap.
I was better off when I had to plan.
I am grouchy, bloated, and I spent more on groceries and food than I had any good reason to spend.
And what did I learn?
That you CAN survive on food stamps, given the right conditions. I have no teenagers living with me, which made it easier. For someone like Allison, a teen boy on a special diet made this challenge much more difficult. I was willing to eat the same foods over and over, and that was okay too. But it took a couple of hours a week to plan my meals and do the shopping. And when produce went bad--as happened a couple of times--it wreaked havoc in my plans.
But there was never a week that I didn't struggle, particularly toward the end of the week. And the purchase of a staple that I had run out of--such as olive oil--put a whole in my budget. And I still don't know how people who live gluten free or dairy free (or worse, both) manage to eat something resembling healthy on $21 a week.
With the effects of The Sequester starting to trickle into the economy, I am grateful that congress in its wisdom did not include the food stamp program in the Sequester. It is enough of a struggle to get by on food stamps without having even less to purchase food with.
You want to help kids learn, improve test scores and stay healthy? Ensure they have enough to eat. Keep funding for food stamps.
I feel like there is more I need to know. So starting Monday (because I have lunch plans today and tomorrow) I am going to go back on the food stamp challenge. I want dig deeper, learn more, and see where and how I can help create change. Stay tuned.
Saturday, March 30, 2013
Food Stamp Challenge and a Facebook Meme
Okay, so you HAVE to love how people read the meme's that others post on facebook and never stop to question them.
Making the rounds today . . . an internet meme thanking Florida, Kentucky and Missouri for forcing food stamp recipients to get drug testing. It reads (in part) "It's okay to test people who work for their money, but not for those who don't?"
So let us talk about the 39 million people in this country who get food stamps but are not on TANF (cash benefits). You know WHY they are not getting cash benefits? Because they fall into one of three groups:
1. Low income seniors.
2. Children
3. Low wage employed.
Yep, these people largely are retired, or working for a living. And the largest employer of people who work for a living and get food stamps? That would be WalMart. Got to love those low, low prices.
Why do people buy into the stereotypes of the poor? Florida tried this, and found that less than 2% of the people they tested had drugs in their system. Several studies suggest that it is the lower middle class that have the most access to illicit drugs. And a federal study showed that the largest group of people using drugs--that would be the full time employed.
Why, why, WHY do we continue to demonize the poor? And why, when it happens does not one cry "class warfare"? Suggest the rich should pay more taxes and the conservatives cry class warfare. Suggest the poor pee in a cup to get $21 a week to buy groceries with, and it is just and fair.
Many of my Christian friends are, like me, living through Holy Week, and I just came from one of my two favorite services of the entire year: Easter Vigil. And we walk through the history of God and his people, from the beauty of the Creation Story, to the terror and ugliness of the Crucifiction.
As Christians we have no right to judge (though everyone, including me, does so all the time) But I would suggest that a Christian who is familiar with the Bible would know that God doesn't demand a drug test to offer food. Look at Jesus and the feeding of the 5000. He didn't listen to those who told him it was crazy to try to feed so many people--he just DID it.
And honestly, it isn't like Jesus was drastically changing what God had put before us from the start . . .
“‘When you reap the harvest of your land, do not reap to the very edges of your field or gather the gleanings of your harvest. Leave them for the poor and for the foreigner residing among you. I am the Lord your God.’”." Leviticus 23:22
"There will always be poor people in the land. Therefore I command you to be openhanded toward your fellow Israelites who are poor and needy in your land." Deutoronomy 15:11
"He raises the poor from the dust and lifts the needy from the ash heap; he seats them with princes and has them inherit a throne of honor. “For the foundations of the earth are the Lord’s; on them he has set the world." 1 Samuel 2:8
“Because the poor are plundered and the needy groan, I will now arise,” says the Lord. “I will protect them from those who malign them.” Psalm 12:5
More thoughts on this after Easter Dinner. Which, thankfully, I am not cooking.
Friday, March 29, 2013
Good Friday and the Food Stamp Challenge
Most of my friends know that the community center I work at shares a building with a food bank. In fact, the building was specifically built with the food bank in mind; the community center was planned, but with a less solid idea about what it would do.
This afternoon I went downstairs to the put some stuff in storage. Our store rooms are right off the food bank, and I know many of the volunteers, so I started chatting with Barb. Now, don't get me wrong. ALL donations are gratefully received, and people use them. But what is up with the tubs (like, ten of them) that are full of bubble gum? And there is green tea--more than I could drink in a year.
The shelves of food are not bare, but they are missing some essentials. Like tuna.
Oddly enough on the food stamp challenge, I have only used tuna a couple of times. I like tuna, I just got hooked on black bean tacos and stir fried spinach, and so tuna moved down my list of things to eat.
Schools hold massive food drives for Thanksgiving and Christmas, as do many other organizations. But something happens after January. Donations start to falter a little. We remember the hungry during the holidays, but the rest of the year . . . well, not so much.
I went back up to my computer and used facebook to invite everyone to bring tuna to church on Easter Sunday. I called it Loaves and Fishes day. And already four or five people have said they will help out. Which is a start. But the reality of it, according to Barb, is that they need 300 cans of tuna fish every time they open the doors to serve. They go through it fast.
First off, it's a shelf stable protein. And you can do a lot of things with it: make a sandwich, make tuna noodle casserole or tuna with rice. Peanut butter is the other common shelf stable protein, but most people just use it to make PB&J sandwiches. Tuna is a bit more versatile, and fewer people are allergic to it. Canned chicken is good for the same reasons.
But 300 cans? Tuna used to be cheap, but the price has gone up in recent years. In the long run this is probably good. Tuna fishing often catches other fish, and hurts endangered populations.
But still . . . I wonder if we can get anywhere NEAR 300 cans of tuna on one Sunday? It seems unlikely, if for no other reason than this was a spur of the moment ask--and I have no idea how many people will bring tuna.
Next week will be hard for a lot of low income families, as their kids will be on spring break and miss that free or reduced cost hot lunch. It makes it harder for the dollars to stretch. So please, pick up a can or ten of tuna and take it to your local food bank or church collection site.
Because kids should not have to go hungry just because school is on break.
This afternoon I went downstairs to the put some stuff in storage. Our store rooms are right off the food bank, and I know many of the volunteers, so I started chatting with Barb. Now, don't get me wrong. ALL donations are gratefully received, and people use them. But what is up with the tubs (like, ten of them) that are full of bubble gum? And there is green tea--more than I could drink in a year.
The shelves of food are not bare, but they are missing some essentials. Like tuna.
Oddly enough on the food stamp challenge, I have only used tuna a couple of times. I like tuna, I just got hooked on black bean tacos and stir fried spinach, and so tuna moved down my list of things to eat.
Schools hold massive food drives for Thanksgiving and Christmas, as do many other organizations. But something happens after January. Donations start to falter a little. We remember the hungry during the holidays, but the rest of the year . . . well, not so much.
I went back up to my computer and used facebook to invite everyone to bring tuna to church on Easter Sunday. I called it Loaves and Fishes day. And already four or five people have said they will help out. Which is a start. But the reality of it, according to Barb, is that they need 300 cans of tuna fish every time they open the doors to serve. They go through it fast.
First off, it's a shelf stable protein. And you can do a lot of things with it: make a sandwich, make tuna noodle casserole or tuna with rice. Peanut butter is the other common shelf stable protein, but most people just use it to make PB&J sandwiches. Tuna is a bit more versatile, and fewer people are allergic to it. Canned chicken is good for the same reasons.
But 300 cans? Tuna used to be cheap, but the price has gone up in recent years. In the long run this is probably good. Tuna fishing often catches other fish, and hurts endangered populations.
But still . . . I wonder if we can get anywhere NEAR 300 cans of tuna on one Sunday? It seems unlikely, if for no other reason than this was a spur of the moment ask--and I have no idea how many people will bring tuna.
Next week will be hard for a lot of low income families, as their kids will be on spring break and miss that free or reduced cost hot lunch. It makes it harder for the dollars to stretch. So please, pick up a can or ten of tuna and take it to your local food bank or church collection site.
Because kids should not have to go hungry just because school is on break.
Tuesday, March 26, 2013
The Food Stamp Challenge and Current Events
I have to say, today something happened on Facebook that truly startled me. An amazing number of people changed their profile pic to proclaim their support for marriage equality. It is a worthy issue. Marriage equality is important.
I wasn't one of them. Not because I don't believe in marriage equality. I do believe in it. But I don't believe that the US Supreme Court should judge the case based on popular opinion. And I suspect the court will come out in favor of marriage equality because legally, I don't think it has a choice--I think the law is on the side of marriage equality.
But the reason the whole thing astonished me is this: today, 32,000 people died of hunger on the planet. A child died every minute of malaria. And we never see thousands of people change their Facebook profile pics to bring awareness to the issues of hunger and poverty in this country, or in the world in general. Why is that?
It is, apparently, easier to be concerned about marriage equality than it is to be concerned about starvation, hunger, poverty, homelessness, etc. And I do not understand this. Is it because there is no court case to be fought and won?
If I were to express a wish, a deep heartfelt wish, this Holy Week, it would be that we pay a bit more attention to those who we continue to leave by the side of the road--the hungry, the poor, the homeless, the mentally ill, the wrongly imprisoned. We ignore these groups at our own peril. The child who is hungry tonight will not learn well in school tomorrow, and will struggle to get a job and support himself the day after that.
I am angry. I hate to put it that way, but I am. I want Equal Rights for EVERYONE. I want the hungry to have the same right to a meal as the rich person. I want the homeless person to have the same right to a safe place to sleep as the businessman. I am not advocating socialism or communism, just basic CHRISTIAN DECENCY.
And I have to say, the church is part of the problem (I mean the church in general, not my congregation). The church has spent way too much time worrying about who is sleeping with whom, and the morality and legality of it all. Personally, if you think it is a sin, that is your issue, not mine. If it is, it is surely not the only sin happening on the planet.
In Matthew 25, Jesus explains (for the umpteenth time) the duty and privilege it is to feed the hungry. We are to look into the face of each hungry person, each prisoner, each naked person, each societal outcast and SEE THE FACE OF JESUS. Instead, too many of us see a person we prefer to think of as "those people".
My grouchiness may be due to hunger. Got home late, and just ate dinner. Baked sweet potato and red beans and rice. I was so hungry, I barely tasted it. I think I burned my throat. But I am full. Thankfully, blissfully full.
And I am lucky, because I can abandon this project any time I want. There is nothing to stop me from a McDonald's run tonight (well, I am in my pajamas, so I would have to get dressed). Or I can chose to continue to walk (as best I can) side by side with those who struggle with hunger daily.
How long until people care?
I wasn't one of them. Not because I don't believe in marriage equality. I do believe in it. But I don't believe that the US Supreme Court should judge the case based on popular opinion. And I suspect the court will come out in favor of marriage equality because legally, I don't think it has a choice--I think the law is on the side of marriage equality.
But the reason the whole thing astonished me is this: today, 32,000 people died of hunger on the planet. A child died every minute of malaria. And we never see thousands of people change their Facebook profile pics to bring awareness to the issues of hunger and poverty in this country, or in the world in general. Why is that?
It is, apparently, easier to be concerned about marriage equality than it is to be concerned about starvation, hunger, poverty, homelessness, etc. And I do not understand this. Is it because there is no court case to be fought and won?
If I were to express a wish, a deep heartfelt wish, this Holy Week, it would be that we pay a bit more attention to those who we continue to leave by the side of the road--the hungry, the poor, the homeless, the mentally ill, the wrongly imprisoned. We ignore these groups at our own peril. The child who is hungry tonight will not learn well in school tomorrow, and will struggle to get a job and support himself the day after that.
I am angry. I hate to put it that way, but I am. I want Equal Rights for EVERYONE. I want the hungry to have the same right to a meal as the rich person. I want the homeless person to have the same right to a safe place to sleep as the businessman. I am not advocating socialism or communism, just basic CHRISTIAN DECENCY.
And I have to say, the church is part of the problem (I mean the church in general, not my congregation). The church has spent way too much time worrying about who is sleeping with whom, and the morality and legality of it all. Personally, if you think it is a sin, that is your issue, not mine. If it is, it is surely not the only sin happening on the planet.
In Matthew 25, Jesus explains (for the umpteenth time) the duty and privilege it is to feed the hungry. We are to look into the face of each hungry person, each prisoner, each naked person, each societal outcast and SEE THE FACE OF JESUS. Instead, too many of us see a person we prefer to think of as "those people".
My grouchiness may be due to hunger. Got home late, and just ate dinner. Baked sweet potato and red beans and rice. I was so hungry, I barely tasted it. I think I burned my throat. But I am full. Thankfully, blissfully full.
And I am lucky, because I can abandon this project any time I want. There is nothing to stop me from a McDonald's run tonight (well, I am in my pajamas, so I would have to get dressed). Or I can chose to continue to walk (as best I can) side by side with those who struggle with hunger daily.
How long until people care?
Sunday, March 24, 2013
Palm Sunday on the Food Stamp Challenge
I had an interesting Sunday morning. First off, about half the choir, myself included, thought we were singing at both services, resulting in an arrival at church about 2 hours earlier than needed.
Because it was Palm Sunday, we of course sang about Jesus arriving in Jerusalem. We sang Bret Hesla's "Pave the Way with Branches", while the kids brought their branches to the front of the church. For those of you unfamiliar with the lyrics:
Jesus is coming . . . Release for the captives . . . . Jesus is coming . . . Land for the landless . . . Jesus is coming . . . Hope for the down trod . . . Jesus is coming . . . Debts are forgiven . . . Jesus is coming . . . Pave the way with branches . . . Hosanna
We sang these verses joyfully--the tune is joyful, celebratory, and exuberant. Much like I imagine Jesus processing into Jerusalem.
But afterwards I picked up a pencil, and wrote in the margin of my bulletin:
"How does this work? How do Christians sing these words on Sunday and on Monday return to their self-centered lives? Where does the compassion they sing about, pray about on Sunday go when they leave the building?"
Now, please, don't get me wrong. I love my church, and it does many great things. But I have for many years now heard some members mutter about people on welfare, people who use the food bank, those people. One person I know is convinced that the recent break in at our church was the result of those people being around.
So let us return to Jesus, the guy who hung out with tax collectors, and women of ill repute, and who forgave them because he knew NONE of us is sinless.
What would Jesus do?
When the people were hungry, Jesus didn't ask why they didn't have jobs, why they didn't bring along food when they came to hear him speak, why they didn't get up off their lazy asses or make them feel ashamed. He just simply made sure they ate.
Over and over and OVER the Bible, both in the New and Old Testament tells us that we are to care for those who do not have enough.
Yet we begrudge them food stamps. We talk about how the government is taking "our money". In one way, I suppose this is true. But in another way, it isn't. As Christians, we acknowledge that what we have, all that we have, is a gift from God. And we are to share that gift.
Now, I know that one of the arguments is that churches should be able to take care of the poor instead of the government. But for this to work, EVERY church, synagogue and mosque in the country would have to spend an additional $50,000 a year. EVERY ONE OF THEM.
I've been in a lot of churches in my area. Some can barely pay the light bill. One I know of can't pay the pastor. How are they going to come up with an additional $50,000 a year?
The government isn't some body of unknown people in Washington DC. It is you and me. WE THE PEOPLE. And in our more perfect union, we strive for justice and domestic tranquility, in part by ensuring that no child goes without a lunch at school and that no family can not afford to eat. Our common defense is programs like food stamps, medicaid and social security; we promote the general welfare by building schools and hospitals; and secure the blessings of liberty by recognizing that we are all in this together, united to be one people, one nation.
Jesus is coming. Release for the captives. Land for the landless. Hope for the down trod. Debts are forgiven. Jesus is coming. Hosanna!
Because it was Palm Sunday, we of course sang about Jesus arriving in Jerusalem. We sang Bret Hesla's "Pave the Way with Branches", while the kids brought their branches to the front of the church. For those of you unfamiliar with the lyrics:
Jesus is coming . . . Release for the captives . . . . Jesus is coming . . . Land for the landless . . . Jesus is coming . . . Hope for the down trod . . . Jesus is coming . . . Debts are forgiven . . . Jesus is coming . . . Pave the way with branches . . . Hosanna
We sang these verses joyfully--the tune is joyful, celebratory, and exuberant. Much like I imagine Jesus processing into Jerusalem.
But afterwards I picked up a pencil, and wrote in the margin of my bulletin:
"How does this work? How do Christians sing these words on Sunday and on Monday return to their self-centered lives? Where does the compassion they sing about, pray about on Sunday go when they leave the building?"
Now, please, don't get me wrong. I love my church, and it does many great things. But I have for many years now heard some members mutter about people on welfare, people who use the food bank, those people. One person I know is convinced that the recent break in at our church was the result of those people being around.
So let us return to Jesus, the guy who hung out with tax collectors, and women of ill repute, and who forgave them because he knew NONE of us is sinless.
What would Jesus do?
When the people were hungry, Jesus didn't ask why they didn't have jobs, why they didn't bring along food when they came to hear him speak, why they didn't get up off their lazy asses or make them feel ashamed. He just simply made sure they ate.
Over and over and OVER the Bible, both in the New and Old Testament tells us that we are to care for those who do not have enough.
Yet we begrudge them food stamps. We talk about how the government is taking "our money". In one way, I suppose this is true. But in another way, it isn't. As Christians, we acknowledge that what we have, all that we have, is a gift from God. And we are to share that gift.
Now, I know that one of the arguments is that churches should be able to take care of the poor instead of the government. But for this to work, EVERY church, synagogue and mosque in the country would have to spend an additional $50,000 a year. EVERY ONE OF THEM.
I've been in a lot of churches in my area. Some can barely pay the light bill. One I know of can't pay the pastor. How are they going to come up with an additional $50,000 a year?
The government isn't some body of unknown people in Washington DC. It is you and me. WE THE PEOPLE. And in our more perfect union, we strive for justice and domestic tranquility, in part by ensuring that no child goes without a lunch at school and that no family can not afford to eat. Our common defense is programs like food stamps, medicaid and social security; we promote the general welfare by building schools and hospitals; and secure the blessings of liberty by recognizing that we are all in this together, united to be one people, one nation.
Jesus is coming. Release for the captives. Land for the landless. Hope for the down trod. Debts are forgiven. Jesus is coming. Hosanna!
Saturday, March 23, 2013
The Food Stamp Challenge
I got an email from Allison on recently. She is a good friend, and in a fit of foolishness (sorry, but at times this feels like the most foolish thing I have done in years) she decided to take the food stamp challenge for Lent also.
She writes: After buying inexpensive bread, cheddar cheese on sale and a little milk on Monday, I took my son to a headache specialist yesterday and he is now on a 100% diary free for a month to see if it is causing some inflammation of the nerves around his nasal passages and thus causing or helping his headache. So, I noticed last night that the bread had milk in it, as did almost everything else I got yesterday. Who knew there was so much dairy in food!
She writes: After buying inexpensive bread, cheddar cheese on sale and a little milk on Monday, I took my son to a headache specialist yesterday and he is now on a 100% diary free for a month to see if it is causing some inflammation of the nerves around his nasal passages and thus causing or helping his headache. So, I noticed last night that the bread had milk in it, as did almost everything else I got yesterday. Who knew there was so much dairy in food!
$21 a week does NOT
work on special diets like gluten-free, dairy free and MSG-free (the three
diets my family members are on right now). Neither do food banks carry
these kinds of food, most likely because they are expensive.
Still trying to figure
out how to live healthy and full (got that teen age boy with the hollow leg) on
this amount of money...Praying for those that don't have an Easter end to their
financial problems.
She is not the first person to make this complaint to me. I hear from people who need to use the food bank, but are on special diets and find little at the food bank that meets their needs. Gluten free is (in my opinion) the worst. You have to really work hard to eat gluten free if you aren't on food stamps. Gluten hides in a variety of things. Imitation Vanilla Extract. Soda and candy. Many lunch meats and processed foods have hidden gluten in them. Instant coffee frequently has gluten in it (don't ask me why, but I suspect that it is the same reason that some soy sauces have gluten--to darken the color).
It is hard to eat healthy while on food stamps. It is harder with a teen aged boy in the house. I have never had to do this.
It is hard enough having a small child when on food stamps. My daughter doesn't remember our days using food stamps (or so she claims), but she does remember eating the same meals over and over and over again. Lots of government cheese (which you can turn into decent soup if you know how to cook).
But if you have to go dairy free, that means cheese--which is high calorie, and therefore a great way to add some much needed fuel to a teen diet--is out.
After reading Allison's email, I do a quick search online, looking for dairy free recipes that might fit into the food stamp budget. Most of what I find is lentils (always a nice choice), beans and such. These are cheap, but teen boys (actually all teens) are not fond of a study diet of these.
I did create a decent gluten free, dairy free, cheap soup this week:
Black Bean Soup for Lenten Dinner
5 cans seasoned black beans (get the gluten free variety if you can--but the regular ones are cheaper!)
1 can whole corn, drained
2 cans chopped tomatoes
Combine in a crock pot and heat through. This soup cost me less than $7 to make 14 servings for our weekly soup and bread dinner. Of course I blew through a lot of my weekly budget doing this, but the soup was healthy, cheap and tasted great! IF you have the money, you can serve a little sour cream and some tortilla chips on the side.
For some reason I have fallen heavily in love with black beans. Black bean tacos, black bean soups (I have created 3 new varieties from my hungry brain), and they are tasty. Healthy. Cheap.
But I still don't see a teen boy surviving on these meals. I have lost weight, because I am (mostly) eating fewer calories than a person of my age and height should. I have enough energy, I think, but when I am tired, I am very tired. I would guess that I am anemic, though I have no easy way of telling.
There is something else. I have skipped some meals. And because of the amount of food that shows up at work, I have not struggled the way some people would on $21 a week for groceries I have traveled to see family twice, and both times there was no way to stay on the food stamp challenge.
There are things I miss:pizza, soda, a hot dog from Costco. For some reason, I am craving meat (and I am not a huge meat eater). I want to be able to walk into Red Robin or the Old Spaghetti Factory and eat whatever I feel like.
But at the same time, I am hopeful. I hope that when I do walk into those places in the future, I will take a moment to think about those who cannot afford to eat out, who struggle to afford to eat at all. And I am contemplating continuing the food stamp challenge through the spring. I feel like the travelling and such has really given me an unfair advantage during the challenge. I feel like there is something I still need to learn or remember.
I did create a decent gluten free, dairy free, cheap soup this week:
Black Bean Soup for Lenten Dinner
5 cans seasoned black beans (get the gluten free variety if you can--but the regular ones are cheaper!)
1 can whole corn, drained
2 cans chopped tomatoes
Combine in a crock pot and heat through. This soup cost me less than $7 to make 14 servings for our weekly soup and bread dinner. Of course I blew through a lot of my weekly budget doing this, but the soup was healthy, cheap and tasted great! IF you have the money, you can serve a little sour cream and some tortilla chips on the side.
For some reason I have fallen heavily in love with black beans. Black bean tacos, black bean soups (I have created 3 new varieties from my hungry brain), and they are tasty. Healthy. Cheap.
But I still don't see a teen boy surviving on these meals. I have lost weight, because I am (mostly) eating fewer calories than a person of my age and height should. I have enough energy, I think, but when I am tired, I am very tired. I would guess that I am anemic, though I have no easy way of telling.
There is something else. I have skipped some meals. And because of the amount of food that shows up at work, I have not struggled the way some people would on $21 a week for groceries I have traveled to see family twice, and both times there was no way to stay on the food stamp challenge.
There are things I miss:pizza, soda, a hot dog from Costco. For some reason, I am craving meat (and I am not a huge meat eater). I want to be able to walk into Red Robin or the Old Spaghetti Factory and eat whatever I feel like.
But at the same time, I am hopeful. I hope that when I do walk into those places in the future, I will take a moment to think about those who cannot afford to eat out, who struggle to afford to eat at all. And I am contemplating continuing the food stamp challenge through the spring. I feel like the travelling and such has really given me an unfair advantage during the challenge. I feel like there is something I still need to learn or remember.
Monday, March 18, 2013
Food Stamp Challenge Day 36
Yeah, I haven't been blogging. There are a couple of reasons:
1 - my home internet has not been working properly, so that it has taken as long as 20 minutes to log onto the blog.
2 - work got a little busy.
3 - family got a lot busy.
So here is the thing about being busy: it blows your budget.
For about 6 days after my last post I worked. A lot. Over 60 hours in a week. And then I traveled to Idaho to visit my mom for a few days.
That sounds great, but one of the things that it made me realize is how much time and effort it takes to live within a tight budget for food. I was too busy to coupon, too busy to cook, too busy to be careful with my shopping. Of course, I was also too busy to eat, so it didn't much matter.
Then I realized something else: when you are too busy to think about your food, you tend to eat whatever you can get your hands on. Chocolate bars. Soda pop. And yes, I blew my budget. Two weeks running.
This is how things happen in real life. And real life happens to people on food stamps all the time.
This week, back to normal. Sort of. I have a working dinner tomorrow night, church dinner Wednesday night. So I am deducting $5 from my weekly budget. This will account for the meals I eat outside my budget.
Sunday, March 3, 2013
Day 22 of the Food Stamp Challenge -
My day to day diet has been reduced to 1500-1600 calories a day most days. Today, however, was Sunday, and church, and there was cake. And grapes. And a cheese tray. I resisted the urge to eat more than one piece of cake, one cluster of grapes and two slices of cheese. And about four cups of coffee.
I dropped The Daughter at her place, and went grocery shopping.
Yesterday I purchased a small head of cabbage, an onion and two heads of garlic for $2.25. This means that I managed to come in under goal for the week (but I am still paying off that olive oil!). Then I blew it by buying a salad (it was reduced down to $2.50) because I was craving it.
Today's groceries:
2 packages mushrooms, $2.50
carrots, 1.42 lbs @ .59 cents a lb
2 cans reduced sodium black beans, $2.00
yellow potatoes, 2.76 lbs @ .99 cents a lb
bananas, 1.9 lbs @ .54 cents a lb
corn tortillas, $2.99
lettuce, .98 cents
spinach, $1.99
sweet potatoes, .85 lbs @ 99 cents a lb
TOTAL: $16.39
I have a busy week at work, so I planned simple meals. I still have part of my last bag of baby oranges. I still have a little milk and cheese, and an open jar of salsa.
I know that the menu is light on grains. I have part of a loaf of bread left in the freezer, and pasta that I could figure out something to do with.
But I will be eating cabbage-kielbasa soup and black bean tacos a LOT this week. The soup is on the stove, and I will have a cup for dinner. Two days I will have a baked sweet potato for lunch. And there will be soup for dinner at church Wednesday night.
After shopping, I use the magical medical machine at Fred Meyers.
Blood Pressure: 114/68
BMI: 24.6
Weight: 166.8
So I still lost weight, even with the two meals of pasta last week.
I rarely feel totally full. You know, that feeling you get when you eat all you can put in your stomach, until you are not just full, you are almost over-full.
As I said, my day to day diet has been reduced to 1500-1600 calories a day most days. This works for me, as I can fill up on water. I work at a desk job (well, a mostly desk job). If I miss a meal, I can still function, and I have lost weight (which I needed to do).
43 million Americans live this way. And a large chunk of them are children and teens. Another large chunk are working for a living at low wage jobs, which typically are NOT desk jobs. How do they manage it? Imagine working a job that requires you to move boxes or stock shelves on 1500 calories a day. Imagine being in school and trying to learn with your stomach empty. Imagine wanting to play football or basketball in high school and dropping out because you are too hungry to play right or well.
Now, imagine going through it day after day, not knowing when, or if it will ever change. You see on tv that you should have more (thanks American advertisers). You want more. But how do you get there? Hard work--it isn't always enough. All those people who have jobs and still qualify for food stamps are not lazy. They simply don't earn enough, in part because of the priorities of their employers.
Today one in five children in the USA now lives in a food insecure household. ONE IN FIVE. Too many kids in this country are not getting the nutrition they need to grow and learn and stay healthy.
Hungry children don't learn well, Hungry children have more discipline issues in school. Hungry children are more likely to get sick and miss school.
We can and should do better.
Friday, March 1, 2013
Day 20 of the Food Stamp Challenge:Living in a desert not of our choosing
It is Lent, and as such there are soup suppers every Wednesday evening at church. Last Wednesday I was late, after picking up The Daughter from the train station, and get a small bowl of potato soup. That and a roll was dinner on Wednesday. And if I had been at home that night, dinner would have been about the same.
On the tables are table tents from Bread for the World, a hunger advocacy organization I deeply admire. I pick one up and take a look. The Bible verses are not surprising. Nore the prayer. It is the reflection that I pick up on almost immediately:
Lent is a time to remember those who live in a desert not of their choosing, those who have been deserted and long forgotten. (Lawrence Cunningham, emeritus professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame)
A time to remember those who live in a desert not of their own choosing.
And here is one of the great problems of our society. We have forgotten that very few people chose to be poor. Or sick. Or homeless.
Once upon a time, this was a country where we looked at our poor, and took up the challenge to change things for them. Today, we look at the poor and declare them lazy.
And when I say that we once looked at the poor and tried to create change for them, I don't just mean LBJ's Great Society, or FDR's New Deal. Lincoln is widely remembered as the president who ended slavery. But he also signed into law one of the first homeownership bills in our nation's history. The Homestead Act became law in 1862, and provided adult with 160 acres of newly opened land in the West, if they filed the paperwork and paid a small fee. They had to build a 12 by 14 dwelling on the land, and they had to show that they had never taken up arms against the US Government, and work the land for five years in order to become the full owner. This of course kept a lot of southerners out after the Civil War, but that is a different discussion.
The idea behind homesteads was simple: provide land for those farmers who were willing to farm it. Small farmers. NOT plantation farmers. And of course, the system was badly abused, especially by the cattle industry, which filed fictitious claims around water sources and then kept farmers and other ranchers from using the water.
Which is to say, we have always had people who cheat the system.
We have a name for such people: welfare queen.
Reagan popularized the term in 1976 while running for president. In speech after speech he said: There's a woman in Chicago; She has 80 names, 30 addresses, 12 Social Security Cards . . . She's got Medicaid, getting food stamps, and she is collecting welfare under each of her names. Her tax-free cash income alone is over $150,000.'
There is just one problem: she didn't exist. I don't know if Reagan made her up, if his speechwriter made her up or what, but she didn't exist.
But in that moment, Ronald Reagan, fan of Ayn Rand, told Americans that they were all being duped by those lousy welfare cheats.
This last election season, we heard the story again . . .
"I don't want to make black people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money"
Rick Santorum in a speech in Iowa.
"Over here you have a policy which, with Reagan and me as speaker, created millions of jobs — it's called paychecks. Over here you have the most successful food stamp president in American history, Barack Obama," said Newt Gingrich.
So, let's back up a minute. Because food stamps are not about "giving you somebody else's money" any more than the Homestead Act was about giving away someone else's land.
We have about 43 million people living on food stamps in this country. But less than 10% of them are on full welfare benefits. That means that 39 million people on food stamps are . . . children, the working poor and seniors. People who are not lazy. Because they have jobs, or retired from jobs, or are too young for jobs--they just cannot survive without a helping hand. The same people who make up the majority of clients at food banks.
The largest employer of people who receive food stamps in this nation? Walmart. Those low, low prices come at a cost to the American public. In a study of 24 states, Walmart was the largest employer of working poor who received state and federal aid in the form of food stamp and health care benefits. Next time you go to Walmart, ask yourself if the person who stocks the shelves or runs the check out stand is getting food stamps.
These are not welfare queens, they are your neighbors. Your EMPLOYED neighbors But we don't like to think of the poor as our neighbor. OR our friend. Or the person who sits next to us in the pew at church.
And there is a reason for that: IF we accept that our neighbor, friend or the person who sells us our food at the local store makes so little money that they need food stamps and/or food banks to get by, we also have to accept that it could be US in that spot.
We forget how many of us are a paycheck or two from being there. It is a lesson that the Great Recession should have taught us, but did not. So many Americans lost their jobs, their homes, and saw their families shatter and scatter. And yet, even now, many clamor for cuts to the programs that assist those who lost everything due to nothing they did--but largely due to the excesses of the marketplace.
We like to believe that people who lose everything did something wrong, which is simply not always the case. The largest single reason for bankruptcies in this country is medical costs. You file for bankruptcy because you cannot pay your medical bills. What, you got cancer on purpose?
We want it to be the fault of the person who is poor, who is struggling. Not because it makes us feel superior (although, yes, for some people it does), but because it makes us feel secure. Surely we would never make the mistakes that that person made. We would never be in that position.
Lent is a time to remember those who live in a desert not of their own choosing.
Let me put it another way. Some of us are poor. Some of us struggle with depression. Some of us struggle with addiction. Some of us are lonely. Some of us are scared of everything. Some of us are angry. Some of us are sick with cancer or AIDS or some other terrible, potentially terminal disease.
But all of us live in a desert not of our own choosing from time to time. It may not be the poverty desert, but we will each live in one or more deserts in our life. We have become good at deciding which deserts are socially acceptable, and which are not, because it makes us feel better about ourselves. But it doesn't make it right.
It is easier to judge others. It is harder to not judge at all, and simply offer friendship and a hand to the person you see in need. It is hard to remember those who are in need. It is easier, more culturally acceptable to think only of our own needs.
In America, the hungry, the poor, the homeless have long been demonized and damned. Deserted and forgotten. It is time we walked side by side with them.
Today I ate left over spaghetti, an apple, two baby oranges, and a sweet potato. A glass of milk. And water. This cost me very little of my food stores. But I am hungry, so I made a little rice for an evening snack. And am still hungry.
On the tables are table tents from Bread for the World, a hunger advocacy organization I deeply admire. I pick one up and take a look. The Bible verses are not surprising. Nore the prayer. It is the reflection that I pick up on almost immediately:
Lent is a time to remember those who live in a desert not of their choosing, those who have been deserted and long forgotten. (Lawrence Cunningham, emeritus professor of theology at the University of Notre Dame)
A time to remember those who live in a desert not of their own choosing.
And here is one of the great problems of our society. We have forgotten that very few people chose to be poor. Or sick. Or homeless.
Once upon a time, this was a country where we looked at our poor, and took up the challenge to change things for them. Today, we look at the poor and declare them lazy.
And when I say that we once looked at the poor and tried to create change for them, I don't just mean LBJ's Great Society, or FDR's New Deal. Lincoln is widely remembered as the president who ended slavery. But he also signed into law one of the first homeownership bills in our nation's history. The Homestead Act became law in 1862, and provided adult with 160 acres of newly opened land in the West, if they filed the paperwork and paid a small fee. They had to build a 12 by 14 dwelling on the land, and they had to show that they had never taken up arms against the US Government, and work the land for five years in order to become the full owner. This of course kept a lot of southerners out after the Civil War, but that is a different discussion.
The idea behind homesteads was simple: provide land for those farmers who were willing to farm it. Small farmers. NOT plantation farmers. And of course, the system was badly abused, especially by the cattle industry, which filed fictitious claims around water sources and then kept farmers and other ranchers from using the water.
Which is to say, we have always had people who cheat the system.
We have a name for such people: welfare queen.
Reagan popularized the term in 1976 while running for president. In speech after speech he said: There's a woman in Chicago; She has 80 names, 30 addresses, 12 Social Security Cards . . . She's got Medicaid, getting food stamps, and she is collecting welfare under each of her names. Her tax-free cash income alone is over $150,000.'
There is just one problem: she didn't exist. I don't know if Reagan made her up, if his speechwriter made her up or what, but she didn't exist.
But in that moment, Ronald Reagan, fan of Ayn Rand, told Americans that they were all being duped by those lousy welfare cheats.
This last election season, we heard the story again . . .
"I don't want to make black people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money"
Rick Santorum in a speech in Iowa.
"Over here you have a policy which, with Reagan and me as speaker, created millions of jobs — it's called paychecks. Over here you have the most successful food stamp president in American history, Barack Obama," said Newt Gingrich.
So, let's back up a minute. Because food stamps are not about "giving you somebody else's money" any more than the Homestead Act was about giving away someone else's land.
We have about 43 million people living on food stamps in this country. But less than 10% of them are on full welfare benefits. That means that 39 million people on food stamps are . . . children, the working poor and seniors. People who are not lazy. Because they have jobs, or retired from jobs, or are too young for jobs--they just cannot survive without a helping hand. The same people who make up the majority of clients at food banks.
The largest employer of people who receive food stamps in this nation? Walmart. Those low, low prices come at a cost to the American public. In a study of 24 states, Walmart was the largest employer of working poor who received state and federal aid in the form of food stamp and health care benefits. Next time you go to Walmart, ask yourself if the person who stocks the shelves or runs the check out stand is getting food stamps.
These are not welfare queens, they are your neighbors. Your EMPLOYED neighbors But we don't like to think of the poor as our neighbor. OR our friend. Or the person who sits next to us in the pew at church.
And there is a reason for that: IF we accept that our neighbor, friend or the person who sells us our food at the local store makes so little money that they need food stamps and/or food banks to get by, we also have to accept that it could be US in that spot.
We forget how many of us are a paycheck or two from being there. It is a lesson that the Great Recession should have taught us, but did not. So many Americans lost their jobs, their homes, and saw their families shatter and scatter. And yet, even now, many clamor for cuts to the programs that assist those who lost everything due to nothing they did--but largely due to the excesses of the marketplace.
We like to believe that people who lose everything did something wrong, which is simply not always the case. The largest single reason for bankruptcies in this country is medical costs. You file for bankruptcy because you cannot pay your medical bills. What, you got cancer on purpose?
We want it to be the fault of the person who is poor, who is struggling. Not because it makes us feel superior (although, yes, for some people it does), but because it makes us feel secure. Surely we would never make the mistakes that that person made. We would never be in that position.
Lent is a time to remember those who live in a desert not of their own choosing.
Let me put it another way. Some of us are poor. Some of us struggle with depression. Some of us struggle with addiction. Some of us are lonely. Some of us are scared of everything. Some of us are angry. Some of us are sick with cancer or AIDS or some other terrible, potentially terminal disease.
But all of us live in a desert not of our own choosing from time to time. It may not be the poverty desert, but we will each live in one or more deserts in our life. We have become good at deciding which deserts are socially acceptable, and which are not, because it makes us feel better about ourselves. But it doesn't make it right.
It is easier to judge others. It is harder to not judge at all, and simply offer friendship and a hand to the person you see in need. It is hard to remember those who are in need. It is easier, more culturally acceptable to think only of our own needs.
In America, the hungry, the poor, the homeless have long been demonized and damned. Deserted and forgotten. It is time we walked side by side with them.
Today I ate left over spaghetti, an apple, two baby oranges, and a sweet potato. A glass of milk. And water. This cost me very little of my food stores. But I am hungry, so I made a little rice for an evening snack. And am still hungry.
Thursday, February 28, 2013
Spaghetti and cooking lessons
Day 19. Ate way too much spaghetti at dinner tonight. But it was so good.
The community center I work at has a community meal each Thursday, which I run. The meal is free, and open to the public. A mix of people come. Seniors who want a night out with company; young families struggling financially; and yes, food bank clients who use the food bank right that shares our building--it is open the same day as the meal.
Frequently I don't eat during the meal, though I try to at least get something to drink and sit with someone for a few moments. The meal isn't just about feeding the body; it is about building community and creating bonds between people.
Tonight's team served spaghetti. An economical meal, to be sure: Sauce at 88 cents a can at Winco, with a bit of added spice and herbs, and browned hamburger. I ate two plates of the stuff. Because I was amazingly hungry. And I really didn't realize it until dinner was served. I am guessing on the amount of sauce and meat, but if I am close to correct, dinner had over 1000 calories. And I didn't even eat the ice cream.
I came home sleepy and totally full and satisfied. And so did about 150 other people who dined with us this evening.
Here is the big problem: the cheapest, easiest meals for the poor, just like for the middle class, are high in sodium and calories. Your stomach doesn't say you are full when you have had 500 calories. It says you are full when you have a couple of cups of food in you. And it doesn't matter if the food is high calorie pasta with meat sauce and parm, or a low calorie spinach saute with mushrooms. It is about SPACE.
Today I thought a lot about the things I miss. I miss soda. I used to drink a lot of Pepsi, but gave it up a couple months ago to save money and lose weight. Oh, I occasionally had a soda (usually when driving long distances), but it was no longer my daily fix. And after the first few days it really didn't bother me. Now that I cannot have it (because if I am being true to the Food Stamp Challenge, I cannot afford it), I crave it.
And cinnamon dolce lattes.
The first couple of days I craved burgers, but the news about the horse meat in the beef in Europe has kind of put me off hamburgers. Thank you Ireland, which is apparently where that mess started.
But something else happened today. Anna came and did a cooking lesson in our kitchen. Anna is a nutritionist, and she works with food bank clients to teach them how to cook and shop for nutritious, delicious food on a budget. All the clients in the class got a cookbook of high nutrition-low cost recipes.
This got me to thinking about Daughter A. She is a great cook. Learned the basics from mom, and ran with it. But a lot of her friends never learned to cook. I have friends that never really learned how to cook. Oh, they are great at the Hamburger Helper meal, or fixing something from the freezer case, but cooking? Not much chance of it happening.
Stay with me here, because I have an actual train of thought. Back in the 1970's, when I was starting high school, my school district made an announcement: my graduating class would be the first class that did NOT require girls to take home ec (or boys to take shop). My friend Deb took shop--one of the rare girls in the class. But none of us took home ec. And I regret that, because cooking is something I really love now. I could have learned to love it about a decade sooner.
23 years ago, when I was on food stamps for real? THAT is when I learned how to cook. I figured out that if I made a meal from scratch instead of from a box or the freezer case, I would save money.
Daughter A runs a tight budget, eats mostly vegetarian (one of her room mates is totally vegetarian) and is probably better off for it.
So one of the problems confronting people living in poverty is that many of them did not learn how to cook from scratch. I have volunteered at the food bank and watched them refuse dried beans and lentils because they simply have no idea what to do with them.
Hence Anna, teaching food bank clients how to cook, nutritious and delicious meals.
Maybe home ec should be required for ALL high school students. A semester to help them learn how to cook, create a household budget, etc.
Of course, we won't see anyone in congress proposing spending money on such a concept any time soon. Instead, congress in its foolishness, is determined to allow us to take a fiscal flier, and see where we land.
The rest of what I ate today:
Breakfast: slice of cheddar, apple, three rye crisp crackers. I am out of eggs.
Snacked on three baby oranges
Forgot to eat lunch--which is part of why I was hungry.
Tuesday, February 26, 2013
The invisible poor . . .
Day 17 of the Food Stamp
Challenge - When you are on a tight budget all your
decisions have consequences and trade-offs. Last night in a fit of hunger
I ate two pieces of bread that were supposed to be this morning's breakfast
toast. No toast for me this morning. So I started the day a little hungry
(and I have to say, since I am not a huge breakfast eater, usually skipping
breakfast is not a big deal for me, so it was a surprise)
And a great dinner: three black bean tacos. A little more salsa tonight, and I skimped on the beans. I have two corn tortillas left, and think I will have black been quesadillas on Thursday or Friday for breakfast (yeah, I know, not normally a breakfast food, but I like breakfast foods for lunch, and dinner foods for breakfast occasionally).
And I am drink a lot more water.
My friend Allison who has embarked on this same challenge wrote that she is reading a great book (and I have to recommend it, as it is really very good) "Nickled and Dimed". Allison wrote: A very interesting read. Some of the critiques of the book have been slamming, because they hated that this woman was so shocked about discoveries on this practice. I am experiencing some of the same surprises and, though slightly embarrassed that it took this practice to get me to feel so passionately about the topic, I feel compelled to do something about the hunger/poverty/food stamp crisis in this country.
Allison is right--the book is good. I read it a few years ago, and after re-reading Allison's email, I pulled it back off the shelf. Barbara Ehrenreich, author of the book writes:
When I watch TV over my dinner at night, I see a world in which almost everyone makes $15 an hour or more, and I'm not just thinking of the anchor folks. The sitcoms and dramas are about fashion designers or schoolteachers or lawyers, so it's easy for a fast-food worker or nurse's aide to conclude that she is an anomaly — the only one, or almost the only one, who hasn't been invited to the party. And in a sense she would be right: the poor have disappeared from the culture at large, from its political rhetoric and intellectual endeavors as well as from its daily entertainment. Even religion seems to have little to say about the plight of the poor, if that tent revival was a fair sample. The moneylenders have finally gotten Jesus out of the temple.”
― Barbara Ehrenreich, Nickel and Dimed: On (Not) Getting By in America (1998)
The poor have disappeared from view--while growing in numbers over the past decade. Even before the Great Recession started, the income gap--the difference between the rich and the poor--was growing. The middle class was shrinking, as people slid backward economically. And that trend will not reverse itself easily or overnight.
For starters, there are not enough jobs out there for everyone who is ready and able to work; in four days there will be fewer jobs, as the federal government kills jobs with a single inaction.
Let's start with the good news: You may have heard that congress, in it's infinite wisdom, has done nothing to prevent the sequester. So starting Friday, many government programs could seem some pretty big cuts. SNAP Benefits (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program), also known as food stamps are NOT going to be part of the sequester.
The bad news--a lot of other programs that help the poor will be cut, at least temporarily. Student loans, vocational rehab programs (and by the way, these programs have many vets making use of them) are two of the programs that will see cuts. If congress doesn't get its act together in the first few weeks, they will inflict new damage on a fragile economy.
In 2010, the most recent year I could find statistics for, over 16% of women and children in this country were living in poverty.
Ehrenreich spoke at a symposium on poverty in January 2012. She said "The theory for a long time--coming not only from the right, but coming from some Democrats--is that poverty means that there's something wrong with your character, that you've got bad habits, you've got a bad lifestyle, you've made the wrong choices. I would like to present an alternative theory . . . poverty is a shortage of money. And the biggest reason for a shortage of money is that most working people are not paid enough for their work, and then we don't have work."
Being poor isn't something to be ashamed of, yet many people are. I can distinctly remember when I was on food stamps 23 years ago--back when food stamps were paper coupons and everyone in line knew you were using them. My first trip to the grocery store was late in the evening, at a store where I didn't normally shop. I wanted to minimize the chances of anyone I knew running into me while I was shopping. I had my 6 month old in her baby seat in the cart, and moved through the grocery store as quickly as I could, relieved when it was done. After a few weeks, shopping with food stamps became my new normal--but it was never something I became comfortable with. I made every effort to shop as economically as possible, remembering all the tales I heard of people buying steak with food stamps.
Are there problems in the
program? Yep. And we should talk about them. But I am
currently grateful that congress, which has been so foolish about so much for
the past several years, was wise enough to exempt food stamps from the sequester.
Of course, if the
sequester puts people out of work, there will be more people using food stamps,
so the savings in other programs will be negated by the increase in food stamp
use. I don't know if that is the kind of trade off we need.
Another great book by Ehrenreich is "Bait and Switch" (2006) about the struggle for those who have done everything right--gotten the college degree, been careful with their money, built the great resume--to stay financially solvent.
Both books were written
before the Great Recession. Both have a lot to say about what we have
been living through for the past few years.
Monday, February 25, 2013
Black Bean tacos save the day . . .
I ate well today, but arrived home starved, and I cannot explain why.
I drank a large glass of water, trying to ward off the desire to consume whatever I can in the first 5 minutes after I walk in the door. This is not stress eating. I had a great day at work, and things are pretty good overall. I just want to eat. I cave in and have a piece of whole wheat toast (the bread that I bought a a couple of weeks ago I broke into two slice freezer bags and stuck in the freezer. Then I toast another.
Drat. This was not apart of today's meal plan. I did well all day long. A baby orange, three rye-crisp crackers, a single slice of cheddar and a hard boiled egg for breakfast. A large bowl of vegetable barley soup for lunch, along with a second baby orange, and a piece of cake (small) left over from the luncheon rental (they left the cake and cookies for us). I should not be this hungry. But I am. And it wasn't a particularly active day.
Again I wonder to myself how a teenager or a a fully grown young man would deal with my low calorie diet. I know there are ways I can add calories--there are low cost ways to eat (think box of mac and cheese).
After taking the edge off my hunger, I start dinner. Black bean tacos. Which I have never had before, but the recipe is easy and cheap. And I have everything in the house, because I have left over groceries from last week.
While my black beans are heating, I call up a friend. Her advise: Coupons.
They arrive in every Sunday paper, and you can print out coupons from several web sites now. A few months ago, a local food bank even hosted a class on couponing to bring down the cost of your groceries. And there is something to that, but here is the problem for me: coupons do not exist to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, and there are not a lot of them out there for things like flour, sugar, etc (except during the holidays).
I took the time (and it took some time) to count the number of coupons in this Sunday's Paper: 162. Only 42 were for food items that were food stamp eligible. Most of them were for items like high sugar breakfast cereal, or kid's yogurt. Of those that were good for item that everyone needs that food stamps don't cover, most were for the higher end versions of tooth paste and toilet paper. Oh, and there were two coupons for condoms. Which is not the worst idea ever, but they aren't on my shopping list.
Coupons are not really meant to help the poor; they are their to hook the middle class on purchasing a particular brand. $1 off a box of high sugar cereal is really not all that much, when the cereal costs $4 and would only feed a teenager for a week.
IF you have a computer and printer at home (or can use one at the library), you can print your own coupons. Albertsons and Winco allow you to print manufacture coupons, printing only the ones you need. Safeway has a cell phone app for coupons and discounts. I don't do cell phone apps, but I have no problem printing coupons. This is slightly better for me--I can at least get coupons for cereal I will eat (plain old Cheerios), I print $15 dollars worth of coupons--some for me, some for my daughter, and a couple for items we use at work. But I have already done the bulk of my shopping for the week, so they will have to wait.
Coupons have been around for 125 years. You can thank a guy by the name of Asa Candler for this--in 1888 he had a new product he was selling, and he wanted to encourage people to buy it. So he created coupons for a free glass of his new product: Coca Cola. Back then it contained coca leaf extract. The same plant we get cocaine from. But that's another story to be told another time.
CW Post made use of a 1 cent off coupon to sell a new cereal he was introducing in 1909: Grape Nuts. By 2000, over $3 BILLION a year in coupons were used in the USA.
It is kind of a shame that so few of them are for nutritious food. There are few for frozen or even canned vegetables and fruits. There are fewer for anything like fresh salad ingredients--even the ones that come in bags. Lots for meat that has sauce or frozen meals or canned soup (traditionally high in sodium, and not particularly healthy).
My black beans were in the cupboard from before I started this challenge. I usually use them for soup, but I am tired of day after day of soup (I may freeze what is left for later in Lent).
The Black Bean Tacos are WONDERFUL. Here is the recipe:
I can black beans, drained and rinsed
6 corn tortillas
6 tablespoons shredded cheddar
2 cups Romaine lettuce, shredded
1 cup grated carrots
1/4 cup salsa
Heat black beans in microwave or oven
While they are heating, in a nonstick pan heat corn tortillas. I actually sprinkled the cheese over them before removing them from the pan. Then divide black beans, lettuce, romaine and salsa among the tortillas and serve. 2 servings.
I am short on cheese, so I use a little less than it calls for, but use a little bit more salsa. I don't know if it is the spice or what, but for the first time in a couple of days, I feel happy with what I am eating.
This recipe is adapted from the CarbLovers Diet. I used less cheese, more salsa, and I suspect less beans--I seem to have more left over than I used for three tortillas. But from bite one, it felt wonderful. And healthy. And cheap.
I drank a large glass of water, trying to ward off the desire to consume whatever I can in the first 5 minutes after I walk in the door. This is not stress eating. I had a great day at work, and things are pretty good overall. I just want to eat. I cave in and have a piece of whole wheat toast (the bread that I bought a a couple of weeks ago I broke into two slice freezer bags and stuck in the freezer. Then I toast another.
Drat. This was not apart of today's meal plan. I did well all day long. A baby orange, three rye-crisp crackers, a single slice of cheddar and a hard boiled egg for breakfast. A large bowl of vegetable barley soup for lunch, along with a second baby orange, and a piece of cake (small) left over from the luncheon rental (they left the cake and cookies for us). I should not be this hungry. But I am. And it wasn't a particularly active day.
Again I wonder to myself how a teenager or a a fully grown young man would deal with my low calorie diet. I know there are ways I can add calories--there are low cost ways to eat (think box of mac and cheese).
After taking the edge off my hunger, I start dinner. Black bean tacos. Which I have never had before, but the recipe is easy and cheap. And I have everything in the house, because I have left over groceries from last week.
While my black beans are heating, I call up a friend. Her advise: Coupons.
They arrive in every Sunday paper, and you can print out coupons from several web sites now. A few months ago, a local food bank even hosted a class on couponing to bring down the cost of your groceries. And there is something to that, but here is the problem for me: coupons do not exist to purchase fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, and there are not a lot of them out there for things like flour, sugar, etc (except during the holidays).
I took the time (and it took some time) to count the number of coupons in this Sunday's Paper: 162. Only 42 were for food items that were food stamp eligible. Most of them were for items like high sugar breakfast cereal, or kid's yogurt. Of those that were good for item that everyone needs that food stamps don't cover, most were for the higher end versions of tooth paste and toilet paper. Oh, and there were two coupons for condoms. Which is not the worst idea ever, but they aren't on my shopping list.
Coupons are not really meant to help the poor; they are their to hook the middle class on purchasing a particular brand. $1 off a box of high sugar cereal is really not all that much, when the cereal costs $4 and would only feed a teenager for a week.
IF you have a computer and printer at home (or can use one at the library), you can print your own coupons. Albertsons and Winco allow you to print manufacture coupons, printing only the ones you need. Safeway has a cell phone app for coupons and discounts. I don't do cell phone apps, but I have no problem printing coupons. This is slightly better for me--I can at least get coupons for cereal I will eat (plain old Cheerios), I print $15 dollars worth of coupons--some for me, some for my daughter, and a couple for items we use at work. But I have already done the bulk of my shopping for the week, so they will have to wait.
Coupons have been around for 125 years. You can thank a guy by the name of Asa Candler for this--in 1888 he had a new product he was selling, and he wanted to encourage people to buy it. So he created coupons for a free glass of his new product: Coca Cola. Back then it contained coca leaf extract. The same plant we get cocaine from. But that's another story to be told another time.
CW Post made use of a 1 cent off coupon to sell a new cereal he was introducing in 1909: Grape Nuts. By 2000, over $3 BILLION a year in coupons were used in the USA.
It is kind of a shame that so few of them are for nutritious food. There are few for frozen or even canned vegetables and fruits. There are fewer for anything like fresh salad ingredients--even the ones that come in bags. Lots for meat that has sauce or frozen meals or canned soup (traditionally high in sodium, and not particularly healthy).
My black beans were in the cupboard from before I started this challenge. I usually use them for soup, but I am tired of day after day of soup (I may freeze what is left for later in Lent).
The Black Bean Tacos are WONDERFUL. Here is the recipe:
I can black beans, drained and rinsed
6 corn tortillas
6 tablespoons shredded cheddar
2 cups Romaine lettuce, shredded
1 cup grated carrots
1/4 cup salsa
Heat black beans in microwave or oven
While they are heating, in a nonstick pan heat corn tortillas. I actually sprinkled the cheese over them before removing them from the pan. Then divide black beans, lettuce, romaine and salsa among the tortillas and serve. 2 servings.
I am short on cheese, so I use a little less than it calls for, but use a little bit more salsa. I don't know if it is the spice or what, but for the first time in a couple of days, I feel happy with what I am eating.
This recipe is adapted from the CarbLovers Diet. I used less cheese, more salsa, and I suspect less beans--I seem to have more left over than I used for three tortillas. But from bite one, it felt wonderful. And healthy. And cheap.
Sunday, February 24, 2013
Beard. James Beard. On economical cooking.
Day 14 (Saturday) -
"Within the limitations of your budget you can set a table that has variety and distinction. You can serve gourmet food . . . it is not the basic cost of the food but the care with which it is selected and prepared that makes it gourmet rather than pedestrian." James Beard, "How to Eat Better for Less Money"
I have been reading like crazy lately, and decided it was time to pick up a few books at the used book store. I particularly went searching to see if I could find a great book on cooking cheap. My first stop is Tacoma Book Center, which, if you haven't found it is just one of the best second hand book stores outside of Powells in Portland (when I retire, I want to live in Portland and spend my spare time at Powells). There I picked up a copy of Dicken's "Hard Times" before moving on to the cook books where I discovered two gems: James Beard's "How to Eat Better for Less Money" and "Buffy's Cookbook".
No, not Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy such as in Buffy and Jody, the twins on the 1960's show "Family Affair." There on the cover is little Buffy with a rolling pin. I can hardly wait to read it!
The James Beard is equally exciting--I love reading his cookbooks. He is an icon, and I am surprised to find he did an economy cooking cook book. I have not yet had time to read it, but I am already a bit suspicious. For one, this is the republished version (circa 1970). Apparently you got a copy free with a purchase of Parliament Cigarettes. Secondly, there is a supplement on wines and spirits in this cookbook. Which makes it seem a bit more than cooking on a budget. But time will tell.
Then it was off to Half Price Books, where I was disappointed to find nothing on cooking on a budget. I did pick up "Grub" which is about the eat local/organic movement.
And I wandered over to literature and picked up cheap paperbacks of the works of William Blake and Canterbury Tales.
I am craving Mexican food. The chips and salsa they bring you at the restaurant before the meal; the margarita; the rice and black beans (I like refried, but the fat content). I want a chili relleno so bad.
Once home, I warm up some soup and sit down with Jame Beard. The book is a small paperback, a 1970 re-issue of his 1954 cookbook.Thumbing through it immediately lands me with a recipe for (I am not kidding) Frankfurters in Sour Cream.
Okay, this could be . . . interesting.
You start out with one pound of frankfurters. Which you shred. Yes, you read that right, you are to shred the frankfurters with a knife. Long shreds, the length of the frankfurter. They are then sauted in butter with a finely chopped onion. until the onions are lightly browned and the frankfurter is heated through. Then you add a cup--a cup--of chili sauce and let it come to a boil. Stir in one cup of sour cream or heavy cream. Stir until thickened and serve over noodles or rice.
Huh?
Does anyone else think this sounds, well, like a gourmet preparation of budget food?
I don't think I will be trying this one any time soon.
I will also be skipping the Feijoada, which is a Brazilian favorite.
FEIJOADA
(6 to 8 servings)
3 cups black beans
2 pounds beef brisket, cut into large squares
2 pounds smoked beef tongue, peeled (PEELED? YOU THINK I AM GOING TO PEEL A BEEF TONGUE!!!! YUCK!) and cut into squares
1/2 pound dried Italian, Spanish or Portuguese sausage, sliced 1 inch thick
1 pound salt pork
(5 1/2 pounds meat? And this is economical how?)
1 bay leaf
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 tablespoo butter
2 oranges, sliced
Wash the beans and soak overnight. Drain in the morning, and cover with water to cover and bring to boil. Add 1 tablespoon salt (James, you're killing me here), the meats, the salt pork, the sausage and the bay leaf. Cover and simmer for 2 hours until the beans and meat are tender. Brown the garlic in the butter. Take one cup of the beans from the pot, and mash with the garlic, then return to the pot.
To serve, place beans in the center of the platter, and surround with hunks of meat. Serve with orange slices and mustard greens or collards. This dish is traditionally served with a braised loin of pork (because otherwise, what would you do for meat?) but that can be omitted.
Is it just me, or is this NOT economical cooking on a budget? And WHAT is UP with the ton of protein and lack of vegetables in this meal?
I will have to keep reading but I suspect that the whole "budget" cooking is really not James Beard style. But it is amusing.
Of course, when Beard wrote his book (1954) he was not trying to help the poor--he was thinking of the emerging middle class housewife, who might be trying to cook on a budget to impress the husband's boss (and the bosses wife), or her bridge club. There were no food stamps in that world. The world is very different today.
All the same, I am going to find one "economical" recipe in that book to try. It won't be the frankfurters in sour cream (sorry, it just sounds unappealing), but I am sure that somewhere in that book is something that will meet my budget and James Beards standards.
Meantime, off to another bowl of vegetable soup.
"Within the limitations of your budget you can set a table that has variety and distinction. You can serve gourmet food . . . it is not the basic cost of the food but the care with which it is selected and prepared that makes it gourmet rather than pedestrian." James Beard, "How to Eat Better for Less Money"
I have been reading like crazy lately, and decided it was time to pick up a few books at the used book store. I particularly went searching to see if I could find a great book on cooking cheap. My first stop is Tacoma Book Center, which, if you haven't found it is just one of the best second hand book stores outside of Powells in Portland (when I retire, I want to live in Portland and spend my spare time at Powells). There I picked up a copy of Dicken's "Hard Times" before moving on to the cook books where I discovered two gems: James Beard's "How to Eat Better for Less Money" and "Buffy's Cookbook".
No, not Buffy the Vampire Slayer. Buffy such as in Buffy and Jody, the twins on the 1960's show "Family Affair." There on the cover is little Buffy with a rolling pin. I can hardly wait to read it!
The James Beard is equally exciting--I love reading his cookbooks. He is an icon, and I am surprised to find he did an economy cooking cook book. I have not yet had time to read it, but I am already a bit suspicious. For one, this is the republished version (circa 1970). Apparently you got a copy free with a purchase of Parliament Cigarettes. Secondly, there is a supplement on wines and spirits in this cookbook. Which makes it seem a bit more than cooking on a budget. But time will tell.
Then it was off to Half Price Books, where I was disappointed to find nothing on cooking on a budget. I did pick up "Grub" which is about the eat local/organic movement.
And I wandered over to literature and picked up cheap paperbacks of the works of William Blake and Canterbury Tales.
I am craving Mexican food. The chips and salsa they bring you at the restaurant before the meal; the margarita; the rice and black beans (I like refried, but the fat content). I want a chili relleno so bad.
Once home, I warm up some soup and sit down with Jame Beard. The book is a small paperback, a 1970 re-issue of his 1954 cookbook.Thumbing through it immediately lands me with a recipe for (I am not kidding) Frankfurters in Sour Cream.
Okay, this could be . . . interesting.
You start out with one pound of frankfurters. Which you shred. Yes, you read that right, you are to shred the frankfurters with a knife. Long shreds, the length of the frankfurter. They are then sauted in butter with a finely chopped onion. until the onions are lightly browned and the frankfurter is heated through. Then you add a cup--a cup--of chili sauce and let it come to a boil. Stir in one cup of sour cream or heavy cream. Stir until thickened and serve over noodles or rice.
Huh?
Does anyone else think this sounds, well, like a gourmet preparation of budget food?
I don't think I will be trying this one any time soon.
I will also be skipping the Feijoada, which is a Brazilian favorite.
FEIJOADA
(6 to 8 servings)
3 cups black beans
2 pounds beef brisket, cut into large squares
2 pounds smoked beef tongue, peeled (PEELED? YOU THINK I AM GOING TO PEEL A BEEF TONGUE!!!! YUCK!) and cut into squares
1/2 pound dried Italian, Spanish or Portuguese sausage, sliced 1 inch thick
1 pound salt pork
(5 1/2 pounds meat? And this is economical how?)
1 bay leaf
3 cloves garlic finely chopped
1 tablespoo butter
2 oranges, sliced
Wash the beans and soak overnight. Drain in the morning, and cover with water to cover and bring to boil. Add 1 tablespoon salt (James, you're killing me here), the meats, the salt pork, the sausage and the bay leaf. Cover and simmer for 2 hours until the beans and meat are tender. Brown the garlic in the butter. Take one cup of the beans from the pot, and mash with the garlic, then return to the pot.
To serve, place beans in the center of the platter, and surround with hunks of meat. Serve with orange slices and mustard greens or collards. This dish is traditionally served with a braised loin of pork (because otherwise, what would you do for meat?) but that can be omitted.
Is it just me, or is this NOT economical cooking on a budget? And WHAT is UP with the ton of protein and lack of vegetables in this meal?
I will have to keep reading but I suspect that the whole "budget" cooking is really not James Beard style. But it is amusing.
Of course, when Beard wrote his book (1954) he was not trying to help the poor--he was thinking of the emerging middle class housewife, who might be trying to cook on a budget to impress the husband's boss (and the bosses wife), or her bridge club. There were no food stamps in that world. The world is very different today.
All the same, I am going to find one "economical" recipe in that book to try. It won't be the frankfurters in sour cream (sorry, it just sounds unappealing), but I am sure that somewhere in that book is something that will meet my budget and James Beards standards.
Meantime, off to another bowl of vegetable soup.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Chocolate from God . . .
Day 13 of the Food Stamp Challenge
Once in a while God knows what you are craving, needing, and gives it to you. In my case, I was craving chocolate. Good chocolate. You know, the kind that you spend $3-4 dollars to buy a bar of at the grocery store. But chocolate is not on my shopping list, especially expensive chocolate.
I walked into the church office this Wednesday to drop off some papers, and check my mailbox. And there was a fair trade chocolate bar. Dark chocolate with caramel crunch in it. Salty and sweet all at the same time. I forced myself to wait hours to open it, and I have only eaten 4 squares so far.
Chocolate from God. Or, as my daughter informs me later, from T. who bought it for me Sunday when they were selling fair trade chocolate at church. A small little treasure that I savor more than normal, because usually I can just buy chocolate if I want it.
Meanwhile, back in my kitchen . . .
So having salvaged my sweet potatoes, I have to talk about the soup.
My soup usually has celery in it--but this week I went a couple dollars over budget to ensure I had olive oil. So no celery for me. You could use rice instead of barley, or noodles I suppose, but I like barley best. And barley is amazingly cheap for a bag--less than a $1 usually, but I never use more than 3 or 4 tablespoons in a soup, as it tends to expand. Which makes it filling.
Soup is one of those things you can make and fill up on cheap. I learned to make it 23 years ago when I was poor for real. I never peel carrots or potatoes if I can help it. The skin is high in fiber and in the case of the potato, high in vitamins.
This is my simple soup--Vegetable Barley. About 10 minutes of work for me, and an hour of simmering before I can eat.
Vegetable Barley Soup:
1 yellow onion, chopped
2-5 cloves of garlic (depends on how well you like garlic)
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 oz (1 container) sliced mushrooms (I prefer brown to white, but whatever you like)
2 cups sliced carrots
4 cups diced potatoes
1 32 oz carton vegetable broth
3 tablespoons dry barley
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until soft. Add mushrooms. Saute until the mushrooms get a little color. Add carrots, potatoes and broth. I usually wash out the broth container with a cup of water and add to the soup. Bring to boil, then simmer for about an hour.
Wash barley. Cover with water in small saucepan, cook for about 30 minutes. Add to soup.
This makes a ton of soup fairly cheap, and it is low fat. The mushrooms give it a meaty flavor, and a nice hit of fiber. Sprinkle grated Parmesan Cheese over top, if you can afford it.
Once in a while God knows what you are craving, needing, and gives it to you. In my case, I was craving chocolate. Good chocolate. You know, the kind that you spend $3-4 dollars to buy a bar of at the grocery store. But chocolate is not on my shopping list, especially expensive chocolate.
I walked into the church office this Wednesday to drop off some papers, and check my mailbox. And there was a fair trade chocolate bar. Dark chocolate with caramel crunch in it. Salty and sweet all at the same time. I forced myself to wait hours to open it, and I have only eaten 4 squares so far.
Chocolate from God. Or, as my daughter informs me later, from T. who bought it for me Sunday when they were selling fair trade chocolate at church. A small little treasure that I savor more than normal, because usually I can just buy chocolate if I want it.
Meanwhile, back in my kitchen . . .
So having salvaged my sweet potatoes, I have to talk about the soup.
My soup usually has celery in it--but this week I went a couple dollars over budget to ensure I had olive oil. So no celery for me. You could use rice instead of barley, or noodles I suppose, but I like barley best. And barley is amazingly cheap for a bag--less than a $1 usually, but I never use more than 3 or 4 tablespoons in a soup, as it tends to expand. Which makes it filling.
Soup is one of those things you can make and fill up on cheap. I learned to make it 23 years ago when I was poor for real. I never peel carrots or potatoes if I can help it. The skin is high in fiber and in the case of the potato, high in vitamins.
This is my simple soup--Vegetable Barley. About 10 minutes of work for me, and an hour of simmering before I can eat.
Vegetable Barley Soup:
1 yellow onion, chopped
2-5 cloves of garlic (depends on how well you like garlic)
1 tablespoon olive oil
8 oz (1 container) sliced mushrooms (I prefer brown to white, but whatever you like)
2 cups sliced carrots
4 cups diced potatoes
1 32 oz carton vegetable broth
3 tablespoons dry barley
Saute onion and garlic in olive oil until soft. Add mushrooms. Saute until the mushrooms get a little color. Add carrots, potatoes and broth. I usually wash out the broth container with a cup of water and add to the soup. Bring to boil, then simmer for about an hour.
Wash barley. Cover with water in small saucepan, cook for about 30 minutes. Add to soup.
This makes a ton of soup fairly cheap, and it is low fat. The mushrooms give it a meaty flavor, and a nice hit of fiber. Sprinkle grated Parmesan Cheese over top, if you can afford it.
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