The road that is paved with good intentions . . .

Okay, let me just say that this whole $21 a week/food stamp "diet" would have been easier if I had no family.  Of course, I love my family.  But last week, I bought the daughter and friends bakery cupcakes (which did not fit the $21  a week budget) for her birthday.  Then, four days into the project, I spent a weekend with extended family.

On the upside, I bought NO groceries.  They took me out to dinner Friday night (thanks Uncle Russ), took me to lunch on Saturday (thanks Aunt Joan) and out to dinner on Sunday (thank you Uncle Bob).  And there were potato chips on the table (I rarely buy them, because I will eat half the bag if they are easily available), and a six pack of Pepsi--16 oz cans.

Plus, being in the car for 16 hours over the course of the week-end lead to the inevitable snacking.  Bought a soda as I left Tacoma.  Bought a latte going over the pass.  And a cookie.  And a slice of pizza.  On the way back I had a 16 oz soda (furnished by my aunt), a small bag of popcorn, coffee, a latte, and a slice of pizza.  

Crap.  So much for my good intentions.

Came back today, spent the afternoon at the office and then went grocery shopping.  Last week, taking into account Pam's concerns about my weight and health, I used the handy dandy machine they have at Fred Meyers to find out what I could about my health.  I repeated that exercise today:
Weight: 169.2 lbs
BMI: 25
Blood Pressure: 114/73

Okay, so I lost weight?  Like, three pounds.  In a week.  Without trying.  

Today's grocery shopping was not as fun as last week, because I ran out of a household staple--olive oil.  I love cooking with extra virgin olive oil, and resolved to pick a small, inexpensive bottle of the stuff.  The store brand was the cheapest--but there were three varieties of the stuff: Italian (with notes of grass, buttery with a peppery finish), Spanish (with bright high notes, herbal overtones and a peppery finish) or California (notes of grass with a buttery finish).  When did buying olive oil become something akin to buying wine?  I love the buttery finish, but the California style, while a store brand, is $1 a bottle more than the Italian (which was the cheapest of the three).  I'm a girl on a budget, so the Italian variety it is.

2% Milk: $3.79
Mushrooms: $1.99
Mushrooms: $1.99
Hlsr links: $3.99
Lettuce, Shredded: .98 cents
Spinach: $1.67
Apples: (1.82 lbs @.98 per pound) $1.78
Bananas: (.84 lbs @ .64 per pound) .54 cents
Cabbage: (1.24 lbs @ .89 per pound) $1.10
Potatoes: (2.76 lbs @ .49 per pound) $1.35
Olive Oil: $5.99
TOTAL: $25.17

This works largely because I have left over oranges, bread, eggs, sweet potatoes and carrots from last week.  No, the mushrooms being posted twice is not a typo.  I ran out of mushrooms last week, and don't want it to happen again.  

The good news is that the links (beef brat links) will last for a couple of weeks--I typically use one or two in a pot of soup that makes several servings.  And I should not have to buy olive oil again during this experiment.

But I love bananas--I had been eating one a day before this experiment started, and this week, I will be reduced to two.  I miss them.  

Dinner tonight:  Yep, sauted spinach and a baked sweet potato.  Back to the basics.  Which I love--but which will get boring very soon.

When you don't get enough calories . . .

Wednesday/Thursday - 

One of the things about living on food stamps is that you can take advantage of other programs that help feed people--places like food banks, hot meal sites, etc.  Or, you can go to church.

Wednesday was the first day of Lent, and the start of soup and bread dinners at my church.  I had a large bowl of clam chowder and two rolls.  This, on top of my usual breakfast (orange, bread, glass of milk) and lunch (apple, cheese, crackers, hard boiled egg), put me in a good place for protein, but I am fairly sure that I am lacking vegetables. I will have to work on changing that.

But I got to thinking--what about a family?  How would a single mom with a teen-aged son fare on my food?  Mom could probably make it, but the kid would be starving all the time (actually, teen boys are starving all the time no matter what, but that is a bigger discussion).

I ran my menu for Wednesday through a calorie calculator, and found that I consumed a total of 1516 calories (give or take--depends on the size of the apple, etc.)

Then I look on several websites for nutrition, including WebMD and find that a boy between 11 and 21 needs between 2100 and 3100 calories a day--TWICE what I am eating.

He could probably use some more vegetables in his diet also.

Me too.  People worried about me gaining weight from my diet?  I am concerned that I could be eating too few.  I am trying to shed about 20 pounds, but this diet has me more than 500 calories A DAY under what is recommended for my age--and that is if I am sedentary.  Which I am not.

I know that I am looking at just one day--and I will start checking my calorie intake more carefully.  

Today I actually did worse.  I managed my regular breakfast, but got busy and skipped lunch.  Dinner was delicious--wonderful corn chowder provided by the community center I work at, with salad and angel food cake with berries for dessert.  The meal is provided each week to anyone who wants to come, and many of those who come are obviously hungry.  Tonight I was too.  Every bite tasted better.  But I also felt more self conscience than normal: I regularly eat at this meal--we are trying to build community, and you cannot do that without sitting down and joining the community for meals.  But some of them have so little--and they have kids.  Many of them are on food stamps, and clearly not making it.  They make use of the food bank down stairs, and enjoy the meal upstairs.  

Someone I knew once referred to the people who come to the food bank and the meal as "those people".  And not in a good way.  In a way that made it clear that "those people" were some how less than the rest of us.  But they are not.  They are moms and dads trying to raise their kids.  Or raise their grandkids, in some cases.  They are single parents doing the best they can.  They are seniors, who worked hard for years, and don't need the food bank or really, even the meal, so much as they need the relationships and the community.

Spend day after day with them, and you start realizing that they are not "those people" but rather, they are people who do whatever it takes to take care of their family.

In the next few weeks, a bunch of congressmen and women in DC will try to take a bite out of food stamps.  They will talk about the need to spend less on "entitlements".  Some of them will talk about the "47%" who pay no taxes (this is a myth folks), and talk about how helping people keeps them from helping themselves.  What they won't talk about:

 - $100 million a year in food stamps are provided to current and retired members of the US Military

 - the average person on food stamps is only on the program 9 months.

 - the largest group of people benefiting from food stamps: children, who make up 47% of those people on food stamps.

 - 21% of people on food stamps also receive Supplemental Security benefits targeted at seniors and the blind.

When congress talks about cutting $2 billion from food stamps, they are talking about taking food out of the mouths of those who need food the most--and placing an additional burden on the thousands of food banks and meal sites across the country.

There are smarter spending cuts that hurt fewer people.

Work, food and a birthday

Day Two - And did I mention it is A's birthday?

I get up and have my orange, toast and glass of milk, and head off to work.  

Did you ever contemplate the amount of food present at work?  Pot full of coffee with creamer, which I partake of, without thinking twice.  During this morning's webinar, there is fruit and cookies on the table.  I eat the fruit and skip the cookies.

I have brought lunch to work--an apple, cheese, crackers and hard boiled egg.  And the good news is that it will be there waiting for me tomorrow, because things kept happening, and I never quite got around to lunch today.  This is no one's fault but mine, but still, I am glad I ate fruit during the webinar, because it is going to be a late, late dinner.  I did leave work at a reasonable time (4:00 pm) but I went to a meeting--and it ran long.  The good news: they had cheese and whole grain crackers.  

In other good news: my daughter A, a member of the Tacoma Symphony Choir, has a concert tonight.  And by the way, did I mention it is her birthday?  So though there is no time to run home and eat, I stop at the grocery store and debate--if I buy cupcakes for her and her room-mates, as a birthday present, is it breaking the rules?  After a moment I decide I don't actually care if it breaks the rules or not.  I purchase three cupcakes and flee.  

When I get to Slavonian Hall, they have a spread of cookies and treats out.  I opt to be good and drink decaf.  Afterwards, a large group of us sang Happy Birthday to A, and I gave her the cupcakes; C. wanted to know why there were only three.  "It's her blog thing," T. explains.  The three cupcakes (if I were counting them--and yes I should, but I won't) cost $4.50--more than a day's worth of food.  I am hungry.  I could stop at McDonald's and pick up a $1 burger, but instead, I come home and throw a sweet potato in the oven.  Saute spinach and mushrooms.  Dinner is served.  

When I open my facebook, there is Alison, like my own private cheerleader:
Russet potatoes are 3 lbs for $1 at Freddies this week.  I know you've already spent your weekly amount, but I am telling you because it's a good filler for the rest of us.  Thanks again for doing this and getting me on it too!  The funny part was seeing the teenage boys on Sunday at my house wondering where the load of food I usually have is, and wondering why I was rationing my rice milk and apple juice.

Yes, somewhere along the way I inspired Alison to join me in this experiment.  It may have been the wine on Friday night.  But I am betting she was smart enough to eat dinner before 9:00 pm.

As I look at living on what food I could buy with an average food stamp benefit (SNAP) I see that Households CAN use SNAP benefits to buy:  food for the household to eat such as breaks and cereals; fruits and vegetables; meats, fish and poultry; dairy products.  Seeds and plants which produce food for the household to eat.

Households CANNOT use SNAP benefits to purchase: beer, wine, liquor, cigarettes or tobacco; any nonfood item such as pet foods, soaps, paper products and household supplies; vitamins and medicines; food that will be eaten in the store; hot foods.

So, toilet paper, Kleenex, sanitary items for women, and bath soap aren't covered?  Where do these items come from?  What do women do each month . . . . ?  What do you do when have a cold and a runny nose?

How very fortunate am I?  VERY!

This is why more and more food banks are carrying these items.  Too many people who use their food stamps carefully simply don't have money for things like shampoo and toothpaste.

Alison is, of course, right.  We are very fortunate.  We live in a country where even though people may live with hunger, we have programs like food stamps, food banks and free and reduced hot lunch programs to help them along--so true starvation is rare.  My $1 a meal seems so small--until I remember that there are many living on much less.  $1 a day.  If you look at large chunks of Central and South America, Africa and Asia, you see the kind of poverty that we have not had in the USA in decades.  And that $1 a day doesn't just cover food--it covers everything.

Let me put it this way: could you live on $365 a year?  Of COURSE not.  Realistically speaking no one can.  This is the kind of abject poverty that leads us to some heartbreaking statistics:
32,000 people die every day due to hunger related causes.  
The majority of them are children.
1 child every 5 seconds.  
12 children a minute.  
720 kids an hour.
17,280 a day.
Day after day after day.

So yes, today I bought cupcakes for my living, breathing daughter, because it is her birthday--one of 23 that she has celebrated on this earth.  But this evening, I cannot get too upset about my missed lunch or my late dinner--because in the time it takes me to eat a meal, 240 children will die because they could not eat at all.

If I had all three cupcakes here right now, I am not sure I could eat them.  Either that, or I would drown my sadness in chocolate and buttercream.

DAY ONE:  Breakfast was an orange and piece of bread and butter with milk.  Lunch, an apple (forgot I had apples in the fruit bowl on the table), crackers, cheese and a hard boiled egg.  More about dinner below.

I used my Facebook page to invite a lot of my friends and family to follow along as I try this little experiment.  A few people immediately expressed concerns:

Pam: Not sure how this will work - seriously, don't eat meat; however, it seems to cost more to purchase items that don't have meat products in them. If you look at the percentage of Americans on food stamps and look at obesity - one might find a connection. Mac & Cheese, other pasta quick meals or even just plain in their own packages are some of the cheapest items in the store - much cheaper than meat and even fresh fruits and vegetables. So not all obesity might be from over-eating, just not eating healthy food that will sustain the body without being all carbs. And this may not be a lifestyle choice; however only what can be afforded for food. Anxious to see what you come up with for ideas, recipes, etc. and if weight gain comes with less food choices, rather than just affecting those who frequent fast food establishments and/or purchase more expensive food items in the stores. Weigh before you start :).

Weigh before I start?  Well, as it so happens . . . I have been working to lose weight lately.  I think it is possible to do this in a healthy way (though that would be easier if I had tried this in summer when I have a garden).  But Pam has a point.

Weight: 173.7 lbs

BMI 25.6

Body Fat: 29.2%

Blood Pressure: 98/69

Pulse: 73

This at the high end of the weight range for my height, but within bounds.  I am not much of a meat eater; in fact, I am a carb junkie.  So we will see if the change in diet and the tight restrictions help or hurt me.

I think I have the menu for the week worked out.  But what about the spiritual side of this experiment?  So I have several books that I will be reading as meditations during this experiment.  Anne Lammot has become a fav, and I will start by reading “Plan B-further thoughts on faith”; as well as daily meditations from "A Place at the Table--40 days of solidarity with the poor" by Chris Seay.  And well, my Bible.  

Dinner?  I actually made home-made soup: Half an onion, two cloves garlic, three cups carrots sliced, four cups of diced potatoes, half a head of cabbage shredded and one hot-dog sized keilbasa chopped up.  Add water and one can of vegetable broth to cover, cook until vegi's are done.  My dad would have called this a boiled dinner.  I just call it good.  And in this case, cheap.  I have over half my carrots left, as well as most of my potatoes and half a cabbage.  And left over soup still.  I also had a half a glass of wine--I had an open  bottle and I won't be buying more until after Easter. 

Light on meat--but as Pam pointed out, meat is one of the more expensive things you can buy.  And I have a very tiny budget.  $21.00 a week.

Day one went well.  Day one was easy.  But it could turn out to be a very limited diet.  Pam is right--vegetables are sky high in cost right now, thanks to a cold snap in Arizona.  If I have to eat the same meal day after day, will it get too boring--will I get frustrated and give up?  

TRUTH:  On the way home, I was CRAVING a burger.  Or chicken.  Or really, anything that I could pick up at a fast food restaurant.  

I rarely eat burgers.  They are not a favorite of mine.  But knowing that I COULDN'T eat a burger and fries made me crave it all the more . . . And unlike those on food stamps, I could cheat.  I could buy a burger, and only God and I would know.  

THIS is the part that will make the whole thing more difficult.  Perhaps living in an area with no grocery stores and no fast food joints will make it a little easier to resist temptation.  If you don't drive past Frisco Freeze, you are less likely to get a big greasy burger, fries and a chocolate malt.  And the fact is, I haven't had any of those things in weeks.  But now that I have promised I won't--it is all I want.

The week-end before . . . . 

"How are you preparing for your food stamp thing?" Alison asked.

My reply was simple: I am trying not to.  Over the past few years, many of the people who ended up unemployed, underemployed and on food stamps were people who one day had a great job, and the next day didn’t.  It would have been easy to take the time between making this commitment and the start date to stock up on supplies.  But I have not done so, and I am working hard to resist the urge.

I did do one thing most people didn’t do before landing on food stamps: celebrated my own little Mardi Gras.  Friday evening, Alison and I met at Pour at Four, a fantastic wine bar in the Proctor District of Tacoma.  We had been trying to get together for several weeks, and I knew with my food stamp challenge commitment starting the following week, it was now or never.  So, despite being on the tail end of cold, I was going to enjoy my evening.

And there I was, running late.  People kept popping into my office unexpectedly.  And my old friend J. called out of the blue to chat.  So, as 5 o’clock (our designated meeting time) approached, I picked up my cell to tell Alison I would be late.

“I’m running behind too.  And I was ready for a glass of wine at noon.”

Despite stopping at the bank and the gas station, I still managed to beat Alison to Pour, and was drinking a decent chardonnay when she walked in.

We spent the evening talking, sipping wine and enjoying our meal.  For the record, the Artichoke-Parmesan soup, at $5 a cup, was warm, soothing and delicious.  The brie with raspberry-tarragon compote—DIVINE.  And the Vanilla Crème Brulee (which I was not going to have, until Alison ordered the chocolate peanut butter pie) was probably one of the best I have ever had.  Two glasses of wine with my meal, and it was still under $30.  Not bad, but in just a few days, I will be spending less than that on a week’s worth of groceries.  I went home, snuggled into bed and got a great night’s sleep.  And awoke in the morning with no cold symptoms, for the first time in 5 days.

Still, it would be wise to take stock. I have a half gallon of milk, which for me is nothing.   I love milk, drink a gallon of it a week, and I am picky—I drink organic.  I will have to keep my eyes peeled for bargains and coupons.

But I have cheese—and it is all still in date. A bag of spinach.  This is a staple for me—I love to put a hand full in pasta soups, or just sauté it with mushrooms and garlic. 

The cupboards are not bare, but they have an odd assortment.  Five jars of pasta sauce (and I never eat it as pasta sauce, I use it in other recipes); four cans black beans, three cans green beans, two cans of chili.  Several boxes of various kinds of noodles.  A half a bag of rice, a small bag of barley, and some polenta.  And (again, I don’t know how this happened) 8 boxes of red beans and rice mix.  I bought them on sale a while back.  Four cans of tuna.

One box of Cheerios.  I love Cheerios.  They are a favorite of mine, and I usually eat them as a snack instead of a breakfast food.  Pour some in a bowl and eat them like they were popcorn.

I don’t have any canned or frozen fruit.  I do have half a dozen baby oranges, which I love.  I want more. Time to go grocery shopping.

For week one, I will be shopping at Fred Meyers.  I know what I have at home, so I am going to try to purchase groceries that will fit in with what I have.  

1.54 lb carrots (.59 cents a pound) = .90 cents

2.34 lbs yellow potatoes (.79 cents a pound) = $1.85 (8 medium potatoes)

2.08 lbs cabbage (.99 cents a pound) = $2.06

0.97 lbs polenta (.99 cents a pound) = 0.96

1.16 lbs yellow onions (.69 cents a pound) = 0.80  (2 onions)

1.87 lbs sweet potatoes (.99 cents a pound) = $1.85 (4 small sweet potatoes)

3/heads garlic = $1

Small carton brown mushrooms=$1.99

Bag of satsuma oranges = $6.98

Eggs = $2.69/dozen

Bread = $2.50

TOTAL =  $23.58 

Three heads of garlic may seem excessive, but I use it in making soup and pasta.  And the bag of satsuma's was more than I would usually spend on fruit.  But as I am coming off a cold, I justify it.  Besides, I do this shopping on Saturday--part of it will feed me on Sunday, the day before I start my little experiment.  

And here we are--it is Sunday night.  And tomorrow this starts for real.  

The Challenge: Eat for 46 days (that time period known to Christians as Lent) like you were living on food stamps.  National average for food stamps is $21 per person.  43 million people in the USA receive some food stamps.

Meet the challenger:  Beth Ann Johnson, Chair of the SWWA Synod Hunger Committee; reads cookbooks for fun.  Single. Works in a small nonprofit, where a large portion of the clients rely on a mix of food stamps and the food bank for their daily food.

So where did this idea (lunacy, one friend calls it) come from?

Well, it isn’t new.  The Food Stamp Challenge is part of a national strategy by hunger advocacy groups to make politicians and everyday people aware of what it is like to live on food stamps.  Usually they ask people to spend a week walking in the shoes of a food stamp client.

Of course, if you make $110,000 a year or more (like many of our DC politicians) the idea of eating 3 meals a day for a $1 apiece may be unappealing.  And even if you do it, you are only going for a week, right?  And the challenge usually allows you to incorporate any food you have on hand into your meals. 

For me, in some ways it is a return to a former life.  I was on food stamps for a while when my daughter was little.  It was, at first, very difficult to buy the groceries I was used to with so little money, but as time went on, it became easier.  I benefited from having a college education, a love of cooking, and the ability to think outside the box.  I want to really remember what that struggle was like for me—and what it is like for millions of families in our country.

But even with all of that, I wasn’t sure that I would do this—I mentioned it to a couple of friends, who yes, thought I was nuts for attempting it.   I was inclined to agree.  I knew enough about this, why go back to the beginning?  My cousin Diana pointed out that I love fresh fruits and vegi’s—how would I make this work?

Super Bowl Sunday decided the thing for me.  I went grocery shopping during the game (I doubt that there is a soul on the planet who cares less about pro sports than me—and the stores are amazingly empty).  I left with $42.00 worth of groceries.  And as I was putting it away, I realized, it wasn’t even a week’s worth of food.  And I am single.  And I barely eat breakfast (yes, I know I should).  And I would like to put more money away in savings.

Two nights later, in a meeting with Diane and Alison (yeah, did either of you suspect you would make an appearance in my blog), I mentioned that I was going to do this as my Lenten practice, to re-center myself on the issue of hunger both in the USA and in the world.

So, starting Monday, February 11, 2013, I will be spending the next 6 weeks (up until Easter) living on $21 of groceries a week.  I have selected several books to read to help me along the way, and I will share them with you, as well as my grocery receipts, recipes, and other thoughts I have along the way.

Any thoughts you have are welcome, just remember, this is a family blog, so keep it clean.

It's Monday, and it's been a long time since I wrote.  Well, that isn't strictly true.  I have been writing grants at work, which has become one of my new favorite things to do.

The hard part of living here is the lack of a great grocery story (I have mentioned this before).  But tonight I am lucky--I went shopping over the week-end.  I have fresh spinach and mushrooms, potatoes and garlic in the house.  Soon I have potatoes baking.  Which I like a lot.  Potatoes are comfort food extraodinare!  It is so cold out, that a spinach salad sounded like a bad idea.  So instead I sauted the spinach in olive oil with a little garlic and some red pepper flakes (from Penzey's) and mushrooms.  Usually I would top this with Parmesan cheese--but I don't have any in the house.  What I do have is some great mizithra.cheese.  The result is so great that I have decided that I prefer the mizithra over the parmesan.  Next time I think I will throw in some pine nuts or slivered almonds.  A grilled portabella burger and a glass of white wine to finish it off, and I realize I have not been this relaxed in days.  I can feel every cell in my body thanking me for great, healthy food.

I have not been cooking much lately.  This is a shame, as I find cooking very relaxing.  So I made a decision today--I may not have much of a kitchen (all of 2 feet of counter space), which makes cooking challenging, but I am not going to let that stop me any longer.

Plus which, I got all my fruits and vegetables today.  

Why is cooking so great for me?  I cannot really say.  I didn't grow up with a mom that cooked outside of the meat and potato kind of meal, with a can of vegetables on the side.  So it wasn't until I left home that I realized something fairly startling--I had no idea how to cook.

I could make burgers and a roast, boil potatoes, open a can of vegetables, but I had never really "cooked".  Baked, yes.  My mom was a baker (her home made danish pastries are legend in the family), and so I knew how to make a cake from scratch.  

The only dish I knew how to make from scratch was home-made spaghetti. 

I cannot remember the things I tried to cook early on, or when I became fascinated with food.  I know that I was interested in college.  But when I had my daughter, I only had two cookbooks.  And very little ability to use them.

Today, I have a collection of cookbooks that ranges from the basic (Joy of Cooking) to the exotic (Greek Vegetarian).  And I love them all.  Well, almost all.  

I am anxious for summer and a garden to grow again.  

Meantime, I must satisfy myself with great books about food, books that inspire.  Most recent read: "Comfort Me with Apples" by Ruth Reichl.  I know that "Garlic and Sapphires" has been much more popular, but it isn't as fun.  The other fun read: "Plenty".  This one was written by two journalists in British Columbia (our neighbor to the north) and followed them on their quest to spend an entire year eating local--which they defined as 100 miles from their apartment in any direction.

Now, for a second glass of wine, and after that, perhaps a scan through a great cookbook.