Confronting a few Realities

I love everything about food from planning to eating! A creative challenge always raises my adrenaline level. A little worry here a little excitement there. Urgency . . .I thrive on it. Do you suppose that is why I am a procrastinator? Pre-planning and analysis is a bit much. It's curious to me that these thoughts and ideas are rolling around in my brain. Do I really want to risk giving up the pleasure of eating and eat to live? I don't expect low-budget eating to so dramatic a change. But, some pleasurable and satisfying foods may not be affordable.

Foods I love:

Kenilworth Garden Tea - One of life's best pleasures is a cup of tea in the morning while reading the newspaper. It is made by pouring freshly boiling water over loose tea that has the most delicious sweet apricot aroma. Steep four minutes. I am an admitted milk fat and sugar addict, so that cup of tea is with cream and turbinado sugar.

Organic, Fair Trade Coffee, Milk Eggs, Produce - Foods without chemicals and pharmaceuticals at a price fair for those who produce it.

Fresh Orange Juice - Don't get this often. Not from concentrate is the second choice.

Turbinado Sugar - much more flavor than white sugar.

Grape Juice- Welch's

Fresh Mozzarella, Asiago, Fontina cheeses

Butter, mostly in baking. Bread, sweet rolls, coffee cakes, cookies I don't use shortening.

Quick Meals of desperation: TJ's frozen pastas

Where to shop:
I went to Aldi's yesterday. Doesn't Aldi's have the same parent company as Trader Joe's? I was hoping to see some similarities. Aldi's is much closer than Trader Joe's. The store was neat and clean. There was not a variety of choices for any one food, which is okay if the one on offer is good as well as healthy. The brands were not familiar, and the price was not significantly different than Meijer. Making another grocery stop makes the trip more time consuming and complicated for very little gain. I think I'll skip Aldi's.

Trader Joe's has excellent frozen corn, chocolate (for eating and baking), tofu, and turbinado sugar. Their frozen pasta meals are delicious, and they are so simple and quick my husband can make them. The store is close to Penzey's and other shopping. It makes a nice day trip.

I'm anxious to explore food buying online. Some of my friends have found very good dried ingredients such as potatoes and milk.

Spring or summer would have been a better time to start this experiment. I must rely on store bought foods rather than Farmer's Market and home grown fresh produce I've frozen or canned.

Wondering if the balance of foods will change: less variety (especially vegetables), less animal fat (may not be such a bad thing) and a decrease in quantity.

This is taking quite a bit of time to think this through, plan, and, no doubt, prepare meals. I hope it gets easier after I've done it once or twice or for awhile!

I'd love some recipes for low cost, healthy, delicious dishes. Please share if you have some!

Food Stamp Meals for a Month

The budget was very tight we were in graduate school. We lived on an austerity program.  I didn’t know how to cook very well then, although I thought I was doing well.  The concept of using only ingredients my grandmother would have recognized and few ingredients per dish were not anywhere in my consciousness.  That was more than 30 years ago.  Conservation of resources, making healthy food choices, and as much as possible, making and baking foods from scratch are the way we prefer to live.  The food budget didn’t exist.  I purchased everything I needed to make the meals we loved to eat.    We ate well!  We are healthy, are a healthy weight, exercise almost daily.   So this is not an attempt to morph to a healthier life style.

Why eat on a Food Stamp budget for a month? I catered a wedding dinner for a friend last week. Now, I normally cook for two or occasionally for four or six.  Planning a dinner for 30 is way beyond my comfort zone.  I didn’t want to not have enough food, so I over planned. This week we have been eating up some of the left over fresh food.  We had left over roasted vegetables for breakfast this morning in an egg blanket with left over biscuits.  I was so pleased with myself that all breakfast “cost” was two eggs and a half-ounce of cheese. Then I got to wondering could we eat on well on a very small budget?   It seems to fit the way we eat: all fresh ingredients, foods made from scratch, moderate portions, use everything (I need to work on this more!).  I like a challenge, can I do it?  I love the incentive to create new ways of eating foods and new recipes. 

Although we can afford to buy premium ingredients, I want to see if it is not necessary to spend so much on food.  My husband would like to retire soon. Saving a few hundred dollars a month on food will not determine when he may retire. I am retired, and do not contribute financially. So if I can save some money on food, I feel as if I am earning a little, helping so to speak. I bake and occasionally make meals for friends’ that also earn a little spending money. I am not at all certain these hobbies are profitable, but I earn enough to pay for some of the baked goods we eat.  

I’m getting off track here! November is my experiment month. A challenge because of Thanksgiving.  I expect it will be a humbling, learning experience. The food will be on a budget; how it is processed will not. Last year we built a new kitchen. Induction cooktop, double ovens, tools and utensils, small appliances (toaster oven, mixers, breadmaker, blender, rice cooker, food processor, microwave). I enjoy spending time in the kitchen. Finally there are no frustrations about layout, efficiency, storage, and appliances. I’ve learned a lot about how to cook and plan to use that knowledge to make this experiment work.  We’ll see . .   

Thanksgiving is a great time for this experiment.  One thing I’ve been wondering recently:  food plays an essential role in society, friendships, entertaining, and traditions. What effect does the food budget have on how these human needs are met?  If one does not have enough money for basic food needs, is how human interaction occurs, the frequency and what form it takes different? This may not answer such complex questions. Perhaps that has already been studied. If not, it would be interesting. Do cultural norms arise from one’s financial status? Country club dinners vs. backyard picnics? Okay, side tracked again! 

I plan to prepare these last two weeks of October.  Budgeting will be backwards, because that is just how I do things.  Decide what I need/want, find the least expensive way to get it, adjust or vary ingredients, and take advantage of sales.  Coupons sound good, but rarely do I come across coupons for fresh ingredients.  They are mostly for expensive, processed foods.  Last week the market had a sale on many of the ingredients I use: 10 for $10 and the 11th free.  Bags of fresh spinach; red, yellow and orange peppers, mushrooms.  Buy inexpensive and freeze or use it before it spoils.  So the menus will not be ridged. A good bargain will change my plans. 

I will try to post along the way, every day if possible. How planning is going, menus, recipes, and photos.  It may be pretty basic! I am not a writer or a photographer.  Good luck to me! I think I’ll need it. :-D