Weekend Food Stamp Challenge

Saturday and Sunday we maintained our budget for the Food Stamp Challenge. It was a busy day, preparing SHARE's Thanksgiving Dinner to show on WTMJ4 News sunday morning.  Still there was time for a delicious dinner using chicken drumsticks from the BIG Value Package.  yum!

I baked the drumsticks in BBQ sauce and also roasted potatoes with just a drizzle of olive oil, sea salt and fresh rosemary leaves from my garden.  Tomato quarters made our salad.





 

On Sunday I was tired after the interview and didn't feel much like cooking.  Luckily, I could substitute Spaghetti and Meatballs from Tuesday's menu plan.  This was easy to prepare using fully cooked beef meatballs from the BIG Value Package and canned sauce.  Salad and garlic bread completed our meal.

Today is Saturday, Day 3 of our Living Richly With Food Stamps

Saturday is always a busy day around our house. It's windy and cold and trying to rain so Mike laid in a great fire. I did my part. I busily curled up in my chair and went about helping Jake Grafton solve the 'problems of the collapse of' the  largest bank in Hong Kong per Stephen Coonts' great book called Hong Kong. This is a firm rule in my universe. When everyone gets really busy, find a good book , curl up in your chair, and read  said book (I might add that the rule really doesn't work until you pass age  age 80).  Every one is all full of  energy around here,  because we started the day with a hot bowl of oatmeal chocked full of raisins and topped with milk and brown sugar! tonight we are having the chicken legs. Uh oh, I hear the call to dinner. It's been a great day today..

Food Stamp Challenge Day 2

Friday was a very good food day.  I got up early as I usually do and made a pan of oatmeal.  The sleepyheads could warm theirs up later!  Then I made lunches for the three of us using the deli sliced turkey breast.  Since we have such a generous amount of fresh fruit it can be added to almost every meal.  I left for work before anyone else was up.

Dinner was delicious: baked tilapia, brown rice and steamed cauliflower and carrots.  One problem: I forgot to start the rice until I already had the vegetables steaming, so that put dinner a little later than planned.   Brown rice takes about 45 minutes, so I usually put it on first.  I like to season the rice with a dollop of olive oil, a little bit of soy sauce and diced onion, which I add to the water as it's cooking.  The tilapia fillets are very good and cook quickly.  I simply drizzled a bit of olive oil on them and sprinkled with seasoning and pop them into a hot oven for about 15 minutes. I had some dried dill from my garden, but you can use whatever you like on this versatile fish.  It looked nice on the platters as you can see in the photo.  We had some rice and one piece of fish left over that my husband will probably eat for lunch.

Day 2 of the Food Stamp Challenge...Thoughts From "Mom"

Tonight our dinner is Tilapia, which is a tender white fish fillet.

It is almost a delicacy. It needs to be served on china plates and use the good silverware, if you please.

This brings up another memory from my childhood in Texas.

Sometimes on Friday night Dad would go down to the fish market and buy a bushel--yes a bushel--basket full of shrimp. This may sound icky to some folks, but how Mom served the shrimp was the best. She boiled the shrimp and let them cool and drain out on our screen porch. Then on our large mahogany dining room table, she spread out the Dallas Morning News at least an inch thick. At each place there were individual condiments: lemon slices, mayo, ketchup, and shrimp sauce. (Very fancy!) I remember I only wanted mayo; some others had all four. After the shrimp had drained, she piled it all in the middle of the table and we shelled and ate shrimp until we were stuffed to the gills.

I don't think we can serve Tilapia like that.

This Food Stamp Challenge can be fun. The menu we created from the SHARE BIG Value Package and a few dollars left over will work. The most important ingredient in any meal is how it’s presented on the plate and the smile on the face of the presenter.

Food Stamp Challenge Day One

We got off to a good start with the Food Stamp Challenge. I got home late from work and decided to switch around the menu and make the meat loaf that was planned for Saturday. This is a fully cooked item that just needs to be heated. What I like about having a menu plan is that I can switch things around if my week goes haywire (as it often does!). 

When I left the office I called home and asked my husband to put some potatoes in the oven to bake. By the time I got there it was just about time to pop the meatloaf in the oven. To jazz it up a bit I made some mushroom gravy, see the recipe below. We all agreed this was a tasty, fast, work-night dinner.


Mushroom Gravy

2 Tbsp olive oil

4 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced

½ onion, small dice

1 clove garlic, minced

2 Tbsp Flour

2 Cups water, divided

1 beef bouillon cube

Salt and pepper to taste

1) Heat oil over medium heat in skillet; add mushrooms, garlic and onions and sauté until soft.

2) Whisk flour into 1 cup cold water.  Slowly add to skillet and stir until smooth.

3) Add one cup water and bring to simmer.  Add the bouillon cube and continue to simmer until thick.

4) Season with salt and pepper to taste.



Let's Go Shopping!

Last night I went to the grocery store to purchase the items I needed to prepare my weekly menu for the Food Stamp Challenge.  My total budget for the week for our family of three is $94.50.  I spent $30 dollars on the SHARE Big Value Package plus $8 on an extra Deluxe Produce Assortment.  This left me $56.50 to spend.  Check out my shopping list and prices!  I still have $3.42 to spend, which I’m sure I’ll need for something I’ve forgotten before the week is over.

How do you think your family would do on $31.50 per person per week?  I really agonized over some of my purchases and it makes me uncomfortable to know I only have $3.42 left.  I sure am thankful to have the SHARE BIG Value Package to use as the center point of my weekly menu plan!

Food Stamp Budget  for 3: $94.50

I shopped with SHARE first!

SHARE BIG Value $30.00

SHARE Deluxe Produce Assortment $8.00

SHARE Total: $38.00

Remaining To Shop At The Store: $56.50

Shopping List:

leaf lettuce $0.89

3 tomatoes $1.31

cornbread mix $0.60

whole wheat bread $1.99

french bread $1.99

carrots $0.48

eggs $0.79

2 gallons milk $3.98

oatmeal $2.79

coffee $7.00

brown rice $0.99

onions $0.98

spaghetti sauce $1.19

yogurt $5.00

white beans $1.69

crackers $5.69

2 qt. cream $3.96

raisins $2.99

margarine $1.89

mushrooms $2.00

brown sugar $1.69

tea $2.19

whole wheat spaghetti $1.00

Store Total $53.08

Grand Total $91.08

Money left to spend: $3.42

The Food Stamp Challenge Begins Today!

Have you heard about the Food Stamp Challenge?  It is a national interfaith Fighting Poverty With Faith mobilization. The idea is to raise awareness and understanding of what millions of Americans face every day by living for one week on the average food stamp allotment-- $31.50 a week / $4.50 a day / $1.50 a meal per person.   The Challenge starts today and last through Thursday, November 3. In southeast Wisconsin the Challenge is promoted by our friends at the Hunger Task Force.

I decided to register for the Challenge and commit to staying on this tight food budget for a week.  I want to demonstrate just how well we can eat if we use SHARE’s BIG Value Package as the base of our week’s menus.  The idea of Living Richly with SHARE is not to just scrimp by, but to really enjoy simpler choices for everyday living.  I put the question to my husband and my mom, who are the other members of my household.  Good sports always, they too accepted the Food Stamp Challenge!

I invite you to follow us as we plan, shop, cook and eat delicious food throughout the coming week.  I will post photos, recipes, shopping tips and more.  The total food budget for our family of three is $94.50.  I know we can do it! 

What Is Living Richly?

Welcome!

This blog is the outcome of many years (most of my life!) of reflection on what it means to live a truly rich life.  As you might imagine, I’m not talking about richness in the material sense. The richness I seek is a life filled with the joy of family and friends, work worth doing, and an abiding contentment in simple pleasures.  For me, richness is not a function of how much money I have or spend.  Rather, it is an expression of an inner sense of God-given worth and gratitude for my many blessings. 

I’m sure I developed this attitude from my mom.  Growing up in a military family we didn’t have much money, but I never felt poor.  Mom made everything seem special.  She turned left-overs into wonderful soups and cut our peanut butter sandwiches into fancy shapes.  She was a gifted seamstress and sewed most of our clothes.  Some girls may have felt funny in a home-made dress.  Through mom’s way of seeing the world I felt great in my one-of-a-kind designer clothes. Mom taught us to see the cup as half full, not half empty.  This lesson has carried me forward through life in good times and hard times.  I feel so fortunate to have had her as a role model as a child and that I still can call upon her wisdom today.

So what’s living richly got to do with SHARE?  Everything.  SHARE is based on the idea of people working together in order to do more with less.  SHARE offers simple food, simple packaging and is spread by word-of-mouth.  You will find SHARE in a church basement or community center rather than a fancy grocery store.  A volunteer packs your bag, not a clerk. It’s friendly and fun and saves you money.  SHARE can give a sense of belonging that goes beyond a shopping experience.

Through this blog I invite you to explore with us the practice of living richly.  I think there is plenty learn about this idea!  Certainly we will post ideas about how to use SHARE food to eat well for less money, including menu plans and recipes. We will also post thoughts on enjoying life’s simple pleasures.  I welcome your insights and observations and look forward to all the richness you have to share.