So, this week I did something I have not done in a while: used the food bank.

I am not out of work, but my work is not economically rewarding.  And a major car repair earlier in the month, plus a major family expense means I am a bit tight on money.

But in a way it is good.  I work day in and out with people a LOT worse off than me, who use food stamps and food banks on a daily basis.  They have to rely on this food to help them make ends meet all the time.  

My food bank  (which is part of the FISH Food Bank system in Pierce County) is pretty good.  I got a nice variety of food. Oatmeal (which I will use for baking--I don't do cooked oatmeal cereal); rice; good multigrain bread.  Chicken legs.  Mushrooms.  Canned pumpkin.  Juice.  Potatoes.  Avocados.  Hamburger helper.  Canned tomatoes, canned corn, and cold cereal.  I already had some milk, and I have my garden (kale, collards, zucchini, beans, lettuce and an acorn squash), and so I bought some turkey to go on a salad and a pound of hamburger, which will provide three to four meals.

A pound of good hamburger isn't as cheap as it used to be.  Meal one is tonights dinner:  One Hamburger Patty (1/4 pound) baked with two potatoes  washed and chunked up, and a bit of onion.  Mash part of an avocodo to top the burger.  Nummy.  Normally I would throw in some carrot, but I am out.

1/2 pound will go into the hamburger helper dinner (they call for a pound, but I will use some of the mushrooms instead, which is a great way to stretch meat).  The remaining 1/4 pound is already shaped like a burger patty and in the freezer for a late in the week meal.

This is actually fairly healthy also.  And the clean up is easy.  Added benefit--if you have kids, they can help assemble the meal.  I put it all in foil and threw it in the oven in about 2 minutes.