Frugal Recipes

Lori got an email recently with the subject line:  "Save With 5 Suppers Under $3."  The above images were linked to recipes for each item.

They are:
Buffalo Chicken Pie
Slow Cooker Steak & Potatoes
Slow Cooker Chicken Marsala
Slow Cooker Chicken Show Mien
Beef Taco Bake

Since the email was from Betty Crocker, all of the recipes call for brand name items like Bisquick.  Store brand substitutions can be made without compromising the recipe and further reducing the cost.

We have not actually tried any of these recipes, nor are we endorsing Betty Crocker or any of the brands mentioned in the recipes.  They are presented here as an example of how low cost recipes are out there.  We would appreciate our readers sharing any of their favorite low cost recipes.  We could have a recipe swap and all try new low cost meals.

We Are Not Alone

Our last few trips to the grocery store have been for an item or two wanted for Christmas baking or candy making.  We have dutifully subtracted that from our SNAP balance and have $42.82 remaining to last until December 22.

We contend now that we have nearly 60 days under our belts that individuals and families can live on the SNAP allotment alone.  Particularly considering that school age children get breakfast and lunch at school year round in our area.  (School cafeterias remain open during breaks and summer for the express purpose of feeding children.)  There are other resources for hungry people like Second Harvest Food Bank and the Nashville Rescue Mission.

We received solicitations from both organizations recently.  Both point out that the smallest donation will make a difference.  Second Harvest contends that it can provide 4 meals for $1, although it does not say what the meals are.

The mission tells us it can provide a "Complete Christmas Dinner" for $2.26.  The enclosed letter does not tell us exactly what the meal is but explains that bulk purchases keep the per meal cost low. which is one thing we noted during our challenge.

We are not alone in our experience that it can be done.  The real key for us was cooking using real food in its most natural state - whole fruits and vegetables,  meats like chicken and beef that were bought raw and cooked at home, real ingredients like flour, eggs and milk to make breads and treats.  

We understand that cooking can be time expensive, but it can be done.  It can be done with a little planning like weekly cooking sessions.  One of our readers even told us about a friend that cooked one weekend per month, so that all she had to do for the rest of the month was pull something out of the freezer to heat & eat. Family members can and should be included in the prep process.  There are many ways to plan an organize.  Each family must find what works for them.  

We will continue to monitor our spending because that is how we roll and we will periodically update our balance here.  If we run out of money that will certainly be shared here.

The thing we'd really like to share is showing actual SNAP families how we were able to do what we did.  We'll gladly share budgeting tips, couponing & shopping how-tos, along with recipes and meal plans.  Feel free to pass along this blog site or our email address:  johnlorisnap@gmail.com to anyone wanting to assistance.

A Quick Financial Update

We have $86.84 left on our imaginary SNAP EBT card.  Our next deposit will be December 22, which is just a little more than a week away.  We're going to make it just fine.

A Financial Update

Lori has made another shopping trip.  We now have $111.22 remaining on our imaginary EBT card.  We have until December 22 before we get another 'deposit' to the card.  We still spent more than typical with extras purchased for holiday baking.  We don't expect to have any more of that spending.  From now on, the major purchases will be for our typical eating and between what we have on hand and the remaining funds, we should be fine.

As far as holiday baking goes, since Thanksgiving Lori has made ~100 cinnamon rolls for Breakfast with Santa, and 3 dozen oreos.  Both took some special ingredients that would not have been purchased if we were just eating in our typical way.  We believe that SNAP families would want to do holiday baking if their budgets allowed, (even though we don't think they'd actually  make over 100 cinnamon rolls!) so we decided to see if we could make it work.  So far, we've eaten well and stayed within our spending parameters.

We'll see how long this lasts.

A Little Publicity

Our little experiment was mentioned in this electronic wellness newsletter.  Scroll down to the third story.  It is the article just above the pictures of the bathroom.  Hope that isn't a commentary on what the editor thought about our blog.

Boring Blog

There hasn't been much to say lately.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving feast with Lori's family.  After the meal we all divided up the leftovers so we've been using those as the main part of our eating, not to mention still a few leftovers from prior to Thursday.

A trip to the grocery store is not needed.  Yet, a trip to the grocery store is likely to be made in the next day or so to take advantage of some sale items that will be used at some point.  That is our more typical way of shopping.

We'll post the tally once the trip is made.  It may not make for an exciting blog post, but it will be interesting to see just how long the money lasts.

The Shopping Trip

Lori went to the grocery store on Saturday armed with a long list of items.  Most of the items listed were 'wants' rather than 'needs'.  She wanted to make several desserts and side dishes to the family Thanksgiving gathering on Thursday.  She could have volunteered to bring some very simple and inexpensive items like mashed potatoes.  Instead, she wants to try a new recipe for potato poppers.  They require a few extra ingredients.

There was very little on the list that were to restock the pantry.  We had quite a bit remaining, not to mention the ham and fajitas in the refrigerator.  Tea was on the list since there won't be enough to last the week.  Virtually everything else was for special dishes that are to be made for the upcoming holiday season.  Much of which was on sale or she had coupons or both.*

She spent a total of $125.99, which is a huge amount for us.  That leaves $205.71 for us to use through most of December.  We are committed to shopping and eating as we typically do.  We are curious as to how long this money will last.  As we mentioned last post, this is a season in which we typically spend more money on extras.  We are sure that SNAP families want special treats particularly during the holidays.  This will be an adventure for us.

As we enter this time of Thanksgiving, we especially want to thank our readers.  We are a little surprised as to how wide spread this has become.  We really appreciate it when one of our readers mentions something on the blog.  We even are glad to get questions and concerns about the blog that readers don't like or understand.  THANK YOU!

* Lori bought two pounds of Domino confectioners sugar normally priced at $3.29 but on sale this week for $0.97.  She had a coupon for $0.65, which doubles at her grocery store giving her an additional $1.30 off.  The store gave her $0.33 to leave the store with the sugar!!

Facts, Figures & Phase Two

On October 24, we began our SNAP challenge with $256.80.  That represented the average daily SNAP payment of $4.50 per person, per day through October 31, and $4.20 from November 1.  During that time we kept detailed records of what we spent both actual purchases at the grocery store and purchased from our own pantry.  That total was:  $166.58, leaving a balance of $90.22.  We ate out costing us $10.52. Although SNAP money cannot be spent in a restaurant, we subtracted that from our balance for a final remainder of $79.70.

Balance on October 24	$  256.80
Food Purchased	166.58
Remaining Balance	$    90.22
Splurge Meal	10.52
Final Balance	$    79.70

                                            ====

We kept very careful records of what each meal cost.  So that we would know if we were overspending for certain meals before things got out of hand. We ate $151.60.  Leaving us $14.98 worth of food in the pantry.

Some of those items are:

• saltines
• cereal
• tea
• cornmeal
• onions
• apples
• eggs
• milk
• coffee
• sugar
• sour cream
• flour
• shortening
• carrots
• broccoli
• chicken broth
• lentils
• sausage
• tortillas
• rice
• pancake mix

Even though everything is a partial package, it still gives a nicely stocked pantry on which to build in addition to the remaining funds.

The remaining food and funds along with the nagging feeling that we hadn't quite accomplished all that we could gave us the desire to continue this challenge but in a slightly different form.  Going forward we will track our grocery store and pantry purchase spending only.  We will not keep detailed records of each meal we eat.  We don't think SNAP families go to such great detail as to determine the exact cost of each ingredient used in each recipe.  (Besides the fact it was driving Lori around the bend!)

We have added 30 days of funds to our remaining balance giving our imaginary EBT card a balance of $331.70 on November 23.  SNAP balances do roll forward to the next month so this is legitimate.  We feel like this will be a challenge for us, since Lori likes to bake especially this time of year.  She has already agreed to make 100 cinnamon rolls for Breakfast with Santa, cookies for a Christmas program and communion bread for the month of December in addition to the desserts and side dishes she volunteered to bring on Thanksgiving.

We are leaving this phase open ended.  It will be over when we run out of money.  If on December 23 we have any money left, we'll add funds and keep going.  If before that time we run out of money we will consider the challenge over.  Lori has already made one trip to the grocery store to get supplies for the aforementioned dishes.  We will report on that next time.

In the meantime, there is one other statistic that may be of interest - Lori lost 1.8 lbs on the challenge, John lost 2.4 lbs

30 Day Thoughts

As we end phase one (yes, there will be a phase two) of this challenge we decided we'd each take a turn sharing our feelings and/or what we learned.

Lori's Turn:
As this 30 days comes to an end today, I feel victorious.  I challenged myself to stay within a budget and I did it.  I have accomplished something for which I can be proud, but I am not spending a lot of time celebrating.  I also feel frustrated.  The issues surrounding poverty and government subsidies are huge.  Far too much for one regular person like me to surmount.

Although, I accomplished something on a personal level, I don't know anything new or special to share with those struggling to live within the same constraints.  I would only echo what I have read from several sources.  Shop wisely, watch for sales, use coupons, take advantage of store loyalty programs, buy whole fresh food, cook from scratch, all things we've all heard before.

All of these things and more like low cost recipes are listed on the SNAP website.  Why people do not take advantage of them are as diverse as those individuals.  They don't have access.  They don't have time.  They don't have the education.  I don't know how to fix that.  That is frustrating to me.

I also feel excited for phase two, which we will announce soon along with an accounting of how much money we spent.

John's Turn:

I'm glad we took on the challenge, but I'm also glad it's over.  I never was hungry other than getting hungry a little earlier before meal times than usual.  That's probably a good thing.  I had fallen into a pattern of eatting because it was time to eat rather than because I was hungry.  That was the result of eating each meal until I was very full rather than eating until I was no longer hungry and at a point where I would be able to get to the next meal and start to feel hungry about that meal time.  It's easy to live to eat rather than eating to live when you've got so much food and can get it in so many forms in so many places.

I got tired of thinking about food--what can I eat, how much can I eat, etc.  It wasn't always on my mind, but was enough of  a constant companion that I wished for that companion to go away.  I guess that's something a person actually living on SNAP can't do, or at least not until you develop some patterns and routines so that you have enough to eat on a given day and don't have to worry about eating too much and then having to skimp toward the end of the month.

I think it's been good to have to dismantle my eating habits and consider them.  If I'm wise I'll create a new and better way of eating from this point forward.  I really do feel better not being stuffed so much of the time. And I thought since I didn't stuff myself that I'd lose more weight than I did and I'm still not quite sure why I didn't lose more than I did.

My conclusion is that, under our scenario and with the assumptions we used when we started this experiment, many families can live on the SNAP assistance they get.  One cannot eat all you want at times or everything you might want.  It takes a lot of planning, preparing of food at home rather than just heating food that comes more or less ready-to-eat, and trying to waste nothing.  I know those at the lowest end of the economic scale might struggle with all this, but many families can, I think make it despite the efforts of many people in the press and in political positions saying it can't be done.

Food, and in abundance and variety, is a great blessing.  I'm grateful to have what I have and to be able to eat and enjoy different kinds of food in different places and times--both at home and away from home.  I always have been grateful in that general way that most of us are, but I think my gratitude is now different and has a little more meaning.

Two Extremes

This is a little of what we get from our friends:

Those in extreme need to those not so much.

In the first link, the author describes a situation in which the family is in such dire need that they try to use the SNAP program to cover all of their needs.

The second link is a radio caller explaining why she gets food stamps among other government subsidies.  She and her husband do not see the need to work.  They like to hang out with their friends and smoke some weed.

Both situations are sad.  Neither one should exist.

Finishing Strong

Friday is the last day for our SNAP experiment.  It is likely that we will not visit the grocery store again and eat leftovers through the rest of the week.  If that is the case, we will finish with just over $90 unspent and a minor stock of pantry items remaining to be eaten in the weeks and months to come.

What we will also have is a much greater awareness of what it is like to live on a very strict food budget.  We know that we are unable to replicate completely all of the issues surrounding individuals and families forced to live on SNAP.  Our level of understanding is minimal to be sure.

We have had many friends share with us stories in their own lives and articles found on the Internet.  We have greatly appreciated every bit of input. The tales run the full gamut from families in deep poverty with few options for relief, to those scamming the system.  The amount of information out there on this issue is daunting and drawing succinct conclusions is as well.

Where do we go from here?  How to we help fix the situation?  The issues are murky and complex.  There is no 'one size fits all' solution.  There has to be something that can be done.  Keeping a budget and eating within those confines was the easy part.  Healing is much harder

In the next few days we will each attempt to encapsulate our feelings as to how this experiment impacted us, in addition to a final accounting of the money and the food.

We truly appreciate all of the feedback we've been given in person or electronically.  We even appreciate those that met our challenge with some skepticism.  Both let us know that we are not alone in this concern.

Three Fails, One Win

Towards the end of last week we realized that we had plenty of ‘money’ left and were trying to decide how we wanted to end things.  Did we want to stay frugal to the end to see just how little we could spend?  Or did we want to have a grand splurge and spend all of our money to demonstrate that treats could be a part of the plan?  We loosened the purse strings some while deciding.  We got a ham, we got pancake mix and we even bought candy.  Then we realized that we were still ‘saving money;’ we couldn’t even spend when we intended to.  Let us explain:

FAIL #1 - When Lori bought the ham last week it was the biggest ticket item she had purchased the entire time.  It was on sale, so she justified it that way.  Then after blogging about it, she realized that it wasn’t really an indulgence after all.  After allowing for waste and using the number of servings on a popular ham store website, the per serving cost of the ham is $0.77 less than the beef tips we ate early on in the challenge!

FAIL #2 – We decided to make waffles as a special treat.  John made Lori waffles when they were dating so it has become a special meal for them.  The waffle mix was on sale.  Waffles use an egg and oil even using the pancake mix requiring only water.  We even used milk to drive up the cost of the batter and still each waffle only cost $0.19 even including butter and syrup!

FAIL #3 – We thought candy would be a fine indulgence.  We went to the store to get a big candy bar (3 ounce) to split.  When we realized that the dark chocolate bars that we both like so much were only $0.97 each rather than $2.49 regular price, we got two.  So, we each got our own candy and still spent less money that we would have if we’d purchased one at full price to share.

WIN (sort of) – We went out to eat yesterday.  We used a $5 off coupon making our bill $10.52 before tip.  That is just barely over the daily SNAP rate for two people ($8.40).  While technically this does not count as SNAP because that money cannot be spent in a restaurant.  We are counting it as if we could.  It shows that even a meal out can be enjoyed every now and then if it is planned and the money has been saved.

Friday is day number 30, our last day on SNAP.  We should make it with money left on our imaginary EBT card.  We’ll give a full accounting of what we spent, what we ate in terms of dollars and what we have left both in the pantry and unspent funds.

It isn’t too late to vote on splurging since we haven’t quite been able to make that happen. -->

The Diet Coke by Lori

One day earlier this week I had an appointment at a place where the visitors are offered a beverage, such as bottled water, colas and the like.  I have been to this place several times and each time offered a drink.  In the past, I'd make my decision based on largely on thirst.  Sometimes, I might opt for one drink over another based on the particular food plan I happened to be following but for the most part let my thirst rule.  I did not always accept the drink.

As I was getting ready to go, I remembered that I would be offered a drink.  I began to anticipate exactly what I would get.  Would I get a Diet Coke or a regular Coke? What if they offered Snapple or juice?  What would I get?  It was fun to think about and never once did thirst enter the equation.

I finally decided I'd ask for a Diet Coke when the offer came.  Then I had a chilling thought.  What if they no longer had this policy?  What if I wasn't offered anything to drink?  I didn't entertain those thoughts long, because it seemed silly to obsess over a drink.  I'd get one or I wouldn't.  It would be no big deal either way.

I went, was offered a drink, and got one of those little bitty cans of Diet Coke.  It was good, but not as epic as I had made it to be initially.  That caused me to think about the people that live on SNAP every day with no end in sight.  A drink is a big deal.  It is a treat outside of the day to day routine.

It made me realize how fortunate I am to be able to have a drink of whatever I want, whenever I want.  And, have more of an appreciation that not everyone has that luxury.

Surprises So Far #2

Here are a few more things that have been surprising to us:
Lori's Turn:
This far along in the challenge I had expected us to be counting our pennies and trying to decide the best value for every one of them.  I was not expecting to have as of this writing $96.40 left to spend and only 8 days left.  That works out to just over $6 per person per day.  Not a king's ransom by any means but still a lot especially considering I bought a ham today!

I never, ever, ever expected to buy a ham.  It is one of our favorites and it last a long time between ham steaks, sandwiches, omelets, ham bone soup, etc.  We will eat this ham long after the challenge is complete.  The full price of the ham was $30.37, but I paid only $18.37.  I have not even begun to try to calculate the number of meals we will get.  If we get 10, which in my estimation a very conservative figure, we'll pay less than $2. per meal.  I'd bet considering all of the options I just listed we could get 20 meals.  Those meals would be less than $1.

I'm sure it would be hard for a SNAP family to pony up nearly $20 for a ham.  It was for me.  I really gave it a lot of consideration before taking the plunge.  After all, I'd been averaging around $30 per week spending and this was nearly 2/3 of that.  Then I realized that I really didn't have that much else to get this week and it really would fit in the budget.  So, I did.  And I'm glad.

I didn't think that I'd be polling our readers as to if we should have some sort of indulgence at the end to 'spend' the rest of the money.  (Go to the right sidebar and vote now. -->)

I won't go so far to say this has been easy.  It has been a lot of work, particularly the record keeping.  The prep & cooking have been enjoyable and I love having my house smell so good during the day.  It makes it seem like a warm and inviting place.

I'm glad we did it.

John's Turn:

The biggest surprise for me is that I thought I'd lose more weight on a more basic diet.  I can't understand why I haven't as it seems as though I'm eating much less, though I haven't gone hungry.  I don't leave the table feeling stuffed and I don't go around as sluggish as when I could just pig out as I please.  So, I feel better even though the pounds didn't continue to fall off as they did at the beginning.

It's also surprising how much more I enjoy and appreciate some of the tasty "extras" I've enjoyed when eating at a church or school function.  I've learned just how spoiled and indulgent I've tended to be and it may be hard not to go back to those ways when this all ends.

S is for Supplemental

As we pointed out in our initial blog post the S in SNAP stands for Supplemental and that the government expects SNAP recipients to contribute 30% of their own income to the food budget.  We all know that is not reasonable in some cases.  That the SNAP money is all some families have for this use so they must eat only what they can buy with those funds or supplement at food banks and other charitable and civic organizations.

A friend volunteers at a local food bank and supplied us with the following information regarding that organization.  If we had gotten food on November 5:

1  2 lb. smoked turkey breast

           2 breads (1 pkg buns and 1 small loaf of bread)

1 doz eggs (we don't usually have eggs but we did get them yesterday on the truck)

            2 desserts (1 pkg cookies and 1 small cake)

             1 pkg of dried pinto beans and 1 can of pintos

5 cans of green veg. (green beans/green peas)

                5 cans of non green veg. (carrots /corn)

            1 small can of mandarin oranges

1 jar peanut butter

1 lb. rice

2 cans of soup ( veg. beef or chicken noodle)

2 pkg. mac & cheese

2 cans diced tomatoes

1 bag of cereal

1 sleeve of crackers

What we have depends of what Second Harvest sends us.  People who come early on  Wednesday get lots of things as the truck comes on Tuesday and Friday at noon.

This is probably enough food for 3-4 days.  The pork patties are USDA (you would qualify for that)  and we are required to give all USDA "families"  3 pkg. regardless of family size.  Some weeks we get pork patties and chicken leg quarters - then all USDA "families" get 3 pkg pork patties AND 2 5 lb. pkg. chicken leg quarters.  Some weeks we don't get any USDA meat so we give out the other frozen meat we have and/or tuna fish.

We are also aware that many churches and other charitable/civic organizations give out food, particularly this time of year.  Last month our church gave out 90 bags of groceries.  We also gave bagged lunches, but don't know how many.  Both the groceries and lunches are given to anyone that asks.  There are no qualifying conditions, no questions asked, no need demonstrated.  The grocery bags differ from week to week depending on what our membership donates.  Most every week the bag will contain spaghetti & sauce, peanut butter crackers, canned fruits/vegetables, macaroni & cheese, canned chicken/tuna/ham and various other staples.  There will be at least 16 items per  bag.  The lunches have beanie-weenies, peanut butter crackers, a sweet treat and a drink.

  

We knew that these and other resources were available to us should we run out of ‘money’ before the 30 days lapsed.  We would have not actually taken the food, but purchased it and valued it a zero.  Since we are a little more than a week away from the end of this challenge and have plenty of ‘money in the bank’ we won’t be making use of this resource.

As of this writing, we have the following items still available in our own kitchen:

• ·         Cornmeal
• ·         Flour
• ·         Carrots
• ·         Broccoli
• ·         Potatoes
• ·         Onions
• ·         Apples
• ·         Eggs
• ·         Rice
• ·         Cereal
• ·         Saltines
• ·         Peanuts
• ·         Tea

On the last day, we will do a full inventory of what is remaining and the estimated value of what would be carried over into the next month were we doing this indefinitely.

Thanks for following us on this journey.  We value the responses we have received.  Please feel free to cast a vote as to how we wind this up.  See the poll to the right -->

Yum, Yum, Goodness

We enjoyed the Mexican pork all the way around.  It smelled so good cooking and eating it was just as good.  We also had refried beans made from the pinto beans cooked over the weekend, served with warm tortillas.  We are big fans of Mexican food and will gladly incorporate these inexpensive and easy meals into our rotation after the challenge is over.  We will eat the leftovers for the rest of the week, and Lori will  probably whip up some fajitas in the next day or two.

Many thanks to Lori's most fabulous hairdresser for sharing.  Since she was so generous to share her recipes,  we'll pass them along.

Chicken Ole
1 can each (not drained) black beans, pinto beans & corn (I cooked the pinto beans and black beans over the weekend and measured out the amount of one can for cost savings)  can double one of the beans or corn if wanted
16 oz salsa
2-4 chicken breast (I used a couple of pounds of chicken pieces for cost savings)
Mix all together and pour over chicken bake @ 350 for 45 minutes until chicken is tender.

This can be made in to a soup, which we're sure we'll try by adding 2 cups of chicken stock.  This can be simmered in the slow cooker all day and shred the chicken before serving.

Mexican Pulled Pork
2 to 2 1/2 lb pork shoulder roast or butt, boneless
2 T each, oregano (we grew it in our backyard!), unsweetened cocoa powder, chili powder
1 T each, cumin, garlic powder
16 oz salsa
Mix everything but the pork in the bottom of the slow cooker. Coat the pork with the mixture on all sides.  Simmer until the pork shreds easily with a fork.

For the record, today is day number 20.  We have eaten $106.97 worth of food.  For 20 days we could have eaten $172.80.  Ten days to go.

How should we finish up?  Should we continue to try and be frugal and see just how little we can spend, or should we splurge at the end with some wonderful indulgence?

A Mexican Fiesta

John and Lori enjoy Mexican food and have planned to have fajitas sometime during the challenge but haven't yet.  Late last week Lori went to her therapist hairdresser and the conversation turned as if often does, to favorite recipes.  This time however they focused more on low cost recipes.  Lori's most excellent hairdresser, shared a couple of favorite, low cost Mexican recipes.  Lori left that day not only with fabulous hair, but an idea for the week ahead, making this week a Mexican themed week for their evening meals.  When she discussed it with John, he was all for it.

Tonight we are having chicken ole.  It is chicken smothered in pinto beans, black beans, corn and salsa. served over rice.  I cooked the black beans and pinto beans over the weekend.  Using only the amount called for in the recipe there are plenty for the rest of the week.  (Love that no cooking theme!)  Tomorrow night, we plan to have Mexican pork.  It should be an easy slow cooker meal.

Both recipes should yield at least 6 servings.  So we could easily alternate nights for the rest of the week between chicken & pork.  We're both ready for some fajitas so we'll work those in one night as well.

Speaking of ethnic foods, we were both getting a hankering for pizza over the weekend.  Lori made a pizza crust from scratch at a cost of $0.84.  They had some pizza sauce made over the summer with ripe tomatoes and herbs from their garden.  (It is scrumptious!!!)  Adding 1/2 lb of ground beef, 1/2 lb of sausage, 4 oz of pepperoni, and mozzarella cheese brought the cost of the entire pizza to $5.41.  We made it in a 9x13 pan and cut it in 8 generous deep dish slices.  Each slice cost us a mere $0.68!!

We are enjoying a wide variety of food for a very low cost and just a little planning.

A Grocery Store Trip by Lori

I went to the grocery store today and thought it might be a good idea to share some of my shopping routines.  They aren't complicated.

I plan our meals around several factors, what we like (obviously!), what is on sale, and what we have on hand.  I am planning for next week to be Mexican week.  (I'll share how this came about in another post soon.)  I know that soon I want to make sausage lentil soup.  I make my shopping list based on those meal plans for the next several days, I look through the sale papers to see if what I want is on sale.  That will move a meal plan up to the top of the list.  Then, I look through my coupons.  I'll hold coupons waiting for the item to go on sale or until it is about to expire.

 I only clip coupons of things that we use.  I always double check before using a coupon that it is the best price.  Sometimes, another brand is less expensive even after considering the coupon discount. Today, I had two coupons for croutons.  It was $0.40 off.  My store doubles coupons up to $0.99, so the value of each coupon was $0.80.  The croutons were on sale for $1.00.  So, I got two boxes of croutons for $0.20 each.  They are regularly priced at $1.99.  So, I got $3.98 worth of food for $0.40.  I have at least one items like this every time I shop.

As I shopped today for next week's food, I noticed that lentils were on sale for $1.00.  I bought them knowing that we probably won't eat them next week, but we will soon and dried beans keep well.  The regular price is $1.29.  I saved $0.29.  While that might not sound like a lot.  Think of it in these terms.  It is a banana.  I bought some chicken broth for the lentil soup.  It was half price.  That saved me $1.50.  That's a bunch of bananas and then some!  (I bought a bunch today and it was $1.15)

I got what I needed for our meals the week ahead and got a few things for weeks beyond and I only spent $31.03!  It isn't hard and really doesn't take much time.  I spend just a few minutes before going to the store making the list and gathering coupons.  (We also keep a running list of what we run out of during the week.)  I have my list & coupons in hand, making the shopping trip short work.

Whatever time I use preparing to shop and preparing menus is paid back nicely through the savings I get.  And it is fun!  It is almost a sport for me to see just how much I save.  I'm a little disappointed if it isn't 50% or more!

Stats So Far

Today marks the halfway point in this challenge for us.

We have spent $93.51 purchasing food from the grocery store, or our own pantry.  We started with $256.80, so we feel good about making the second half of the challenge on the remaining balance of $163.29.

It is important to note that we have not eaten everything we have purchased.  We still have cereal from the initial grocery store trip and even have two apples from that same trip.  We bought a whole box of saltines along the way and have eaten less than one sleeve.

As we have valued each meal along the way through our evening meal tonight we have eaten $82.65 worth of the food we've bought.

The average allotment of $4.50 or $4.20 each day* for these 15 days is $130.80.  We are under that on both purchases and eating.

We have a list of what we would have received at a local food bank as a SNAP family.  (We will publish the list in a later post.) We were keeping that in mind if we ran out of money before the 30 days.  We would purchase those items ourselves but charge $0 for them since they would be free to a SNAP family.  It does not look like that will be necessary.

All in all we've done well and are well fed.  We are looking forward to the second half of this challenge with perhaps even an eating out splurge.

*The national average through October 31 was $4.50 per person per day.  Beginning November 1, the average dropped to $4.20 per person per day.

No Cooking for a Week!

Our readers since the inception of this blog may remember that the first evening meal we had was chili, with cornbread and cooked apples.  We have mentioned the chili a couple of times since we had a hard time determining the number of servings that pot held.  We charged ourselves for $1.04 per bowl for 8 servings.  Lori ate bowl number 10, the last one, for lunch on Tuesday.    There are still apples left.  We have a large pot of potato soup in the refrigerator waiting to be eaten. 

We don’t mind leftovers as we have mentioned previously.  We actually enjoy them.  This week, we will reap the benefit of leftovers in that there will be no cooking all week, only heat & eat.  Here’s what we’ve had so far or are planning  this week for our evening meal (generally breakfast & lunch are already heat & eat or eat as is meals):

                Monday:  Hamburgers & potato patties from last week

                Tuesday:  Potato soup

                Wednesday:  Roast and trimmings remade in to what Lori’s family called “hash”

                Thursday:  Potato soup (probably the last of it)

                Friday:  Remaining “hash” from Wednesday

Even for us, though,  there comes a time when enough is enough.  When that happens we generally freeze the leftovers in single serving portions for use another time.  It is very handy for packing lunch.  John has taken leftover hamburger helper for lunch several times for a change of pace from sandwiches.  While at this time, we’ll continue to eat leftovers until they are gone we thought this was a good time to point out that this is an easy way to stretch the food budget and it is also an easy way to add variety given the freezer space. 

Then there is the issue of time.  A big pot of chili or soup can be put in the slow cooker before leaving for work in the morning.  It is hot and ready to eat when dinner time arrives.  Remainders can be refrigerated or frozen for those occasions when time is short.  The remainder of most meals can be frozen for future use.  In just a few weeks a wide variety of home prepared low cost meals are right at one’s fingertips.  Investing only one or two cooking occasions each week can yield results for weeks. 

Surprises So Far #1

The other night we were discussing what we had expected vs. what we were experiencing with regard to our SNAP challenge.  We each had several things spring to mind right away.  We decided that the best way to share them was for each of us to write about two on a blog post periodically throughout the rest of the challenge.

Lori's Turn:
As time goes on in this challenge more things arise that were unexpected.  In the interest of brevity, I'll discuss only two.
1.  I expected to miss my afternoon treat drink.
2.  I expected to miss trying new recipes.

My afternoon drink:  I am a water drinker.  Drinking 8 eight ounce glasses of water per day is just getting started for me.  It hasn't always been this way.  Drinking the required 64 ounces of water for optimal health was at one time a chore.  In order to give myself an incentive to drink water, I gave myself a treat drink once I'd downed the initial 64 ounces.  I had a diet cola, agave sweetened tea, or  lemonade, or some other calorie free or low calorie beverage with a lot of flavor.  I'm not sure why, but I haven't missed it.  I just keep on sipping my water.  I know I'll have tea with supper.  Maybe that is it.  I don't know.  I'm just enjoying it. (I have switched to sugar sweetened tea for the cost savings with no ill effects, so I might not switch back.)

Missing new recipes:  I like to cook.  I like to read cookbooks.  I'm often running across recipes that I think John and I will like.  I particularly run across dessert recipes that I think we'll like.  Often times, the new recipe will require an ingredient I don't keep on hand.  I knew that during this 30 days, we may not be able to afford and extra ingredients and I would have to forgo the experimentation in the kitchen.  I was wrong.  I am experimenting in the kitchen trying to keep costs down while making flavorful food has been much more fun than trying a new recipe.  And, we have done so well with our cost savings, that we will be able to afford an extra ingredient if I find something we want to try before the 30 days are over.

This has been a grand adventure, and part of that is having these little surprises arise.  There are several more that I will share in another post soon.  And I'm sure before I write that entry, I'll have added a few more to the list.

John's Turn:

I've been surprised that I've not really ever been hungry except for when I should be hungry--about the time that a meal time is approaching.  Cutting back on portions hasn't been a problem.  I noticed it a little bit at first, but I suppose my body and mind adjusted more quickly than I might have supposed.

I am also surprised at the one thing I seem to miss most--gummi bears!  I like to keep them around for a quick snack or just when I might be wanting something to chew on that tastes good.  As low-cost as they are and as well as we're doing on our budget, I suppose I could work some degree of gummi bear consumption back into my diet, but for now I'm trying to resist.

Tonight's Supper

Lest anyone think we are not eating well, here is a picture of tonight's supper.

This is a chuck roast, potatoes, carrots and onions simmering for our evening meal.  The total cost of what is in the pot is $8.22.  Chuck roast* is on sale this week at Harris Teeter for $3.47 per pound.  This roast weighed 2 lbs and 2 oz bringing the cost to $7.39.  There is a pound of potatoes ($0.23), one onion ($0.30) and one pound of carrots ($0.30).  A typical serving of meat is 4 ounces, so this should yield 8 servings making the per serving cost of the meat $0.92.  The side items should also yield 8 servings. so the entire meal is valued at $1.03.  Add some green beans, which are $0.16 per serving and we have one of our favorite meals. We have been quite pleasantly surprised that we have been able to enjoy many of our favorites during this time.

*We purchased a side of beef about a year ago about $2 per pound, so the roast literally cost us just over $4.  We fully realize that families using SNAP could not afford to spend several hundred dollars for a year+ worth of beef.  In the interest of being as realistic as possible, we used the current grocery store price as we have for all of the beef used during this challenge.

A Tale of Two Puddings

A few days ago we found ourselves in the grocery store for fresh produce.  While we were there we decided to look around for low cost/high flavor options to add to our SNAP diet.  We ran across instant pudding on sale for $0.97.  We were excited about adding a low cost dessert item to the mix.  The total cost of the pudding was $1.29 after adding two cups of milk.  It made four servings so we could have a small treat for the low cost of $0.32.  It was a good thing.  Or so we thought.

Lori began to think about what it took to make pudding at home.  In addition to the milk, it would require flour, sugar and eggs.  None of which were very high cost items.  She got out her pudding recipe and priced each ingredient and learned that making pudding at home was $1.10.  Not only was it cheaper to make the pudding at home, the recipe would make 8 servings!  She then decided to calculate the cost of a vanilla cream pie.   An entire pie - crust, meringue and filling would cost only $2.13.  If the pie was sliced in to 8 servings the cost per slice would be $0.27.  That is still cheaper than the cost of ½ cup of instant pudding.

Lori felt a little suckered.  She had fallen for the idea that the purchased pudding mix would be a good value because it was on sale.  She hadn’t done her homework and vowed not to waste money like that again. 

John, on the other hand, didn’t feel as strongly about the extra cost of the pudding.  He still felt like it was a nice low cost treat.  He pointed out that not everyone had the ability to make pudding from scratch.  Although the ingredients are simple,  easily found and afforded, there is a certain knack to getting the mixture to the right temperature to get it to set properly.  Then there is the whole issue of meringue.  He just didn’t feel like just anyone, SNAP recipient or not could make pudding.  He felt like in the spirit of the challenge, that the purchased instant pudding was just fine.

Lori made a pie. 

John ate it.

Day 8

Today is the day that our SNAP challenge would be over if we had accepted the challenge we have read, seen, or heard so much about in the media lately.  If those reports were to be believed, today would be the day that we would rush out to our favorite coffee house first thing for that beloved and much missed cup of coffee.  Today would be the day that we would belly up to our favorite all you can eat buffet and recover from our famished state.  Today is the day that we would shout “Hooray!” and go back to our old way of eating with our badge of honor that we survived the 7 Day SNAP Challenge, which seems to be a wee bit insulting to those individuals truly in need of assistance.

Our experience has been different.  We are embracing this challenge for 30 days for reasons we explained in our first post.  John hasn’t missed coffee since he’s made it at home every time he’s wanted a cup.  Lori isn’t a coffee drinker.  We’ve actually eaten a more healthy diet.  We’ve had more fresh fruit and vegetables, which is a very good thing.  We never have been ones to rely on convenience foods, so continuing with home prepared meals wasn’t be an issue for us.  We have had complete meals at each dining occasion and have come away satisfied.  We’ve learned a valuable lesson about portion sizes and have been happy to note a few pounds gone for each of us.  We are discussing continuing this life style after the 30 days are over.

The meals we ate during the first week of the challenge totaled $42.31.  That works out to be $3.02 per person per day.  Again, we were not deprived.  We ate well.  If we had been in a difficult circumstance, we certainly would not be discussing continuing this lifestyle.

We do understand that we are making a choice to live like this and it is very different to be required to live on such a limited food budget.  We want to be sensitive to those in need.  We don’t want to appear as though we are superior in some way.  We are growing and learning as we continue this challenge.  We are looking forward to the next 3+ weeks because we believe we will be better people because of it.

Fielding a Question

Lori got the following question on Facebook earlier today:
How is this effecting energy, attitude, weight, sleep habits, social activity, relationships, etc?

Her response was:
we've noticed no adverse effects on energy, attitude, sleep,etc. We've both lost some weight which we attribute to no second helpings. For us, that is a good thing. As far as social activity & relationships, it is all good. Our friends have been very supportive.

We thought it would be a good idea to flesh out the answer here a bit since others might be wondering much the same thing.

We are eating healthier than we typically do.  We are getting more fruit and vegetables and are eating 100% home prepared meals.  We have had no decrease in energy, no adverse impact on attitude that we can tell (LOL), and are sleeping quite well.  We are both noticing that those minor aches and pains are diminishing.

With regard to weight, we have both happily lost weight.  We are hoping that trend will continue.  We are pointing to healthy food choices and no second helpings for this glad circumstance.  We are enforcing portion control to keep our costs down.  We are NOT feeling hungry at all.  We have agreed that we were overeating when various foods tasted good to us rather than letting our hunger dictate.  This has been a very good thing and one we hope to continue long after this experiment is complete.

Socially, we are largely homebodies.  We don't go out with other couples during the week for dinner or drinks.  We're happy with a good Netflix DVD.  So, there has been nothing adverse with our social life or relationships.  We do meet with a small group each Sunday night.  Our first meeting with them will be this coming Sunday, November 3.  Our meeting last week was preempted by Fall Fest at church.

We have told our friends that we will continue to meet with them during this challenge but will not eat.  They greeted our announcement with enthusiasm.  They are quite eager to watch our progress and see how this all works out for us.  We aren't anticipating any issues there.

Who knows what unforeseen situations will arise?  We have prepared ourselves as best we can.  Those around us know what we are doing and are supportive. For now. we are happily walking down the path we've chosen.

The Cheese Sauce

Tonight we had beef tips, mashed potatoes and broccoli with cheese sauce for our evening meal.  We had this exact same meal on Saturday.  This is a typical situation in our house.  Lori will cook a large meal and we will eat the same meal two or three times until it is gone.  It is done both for convenience and cost savings.

It is quicker to fix the meal once and reheat it the next time rather than cook the whole meal again.  Cooking in large quantity allows us to take advantage of cost savings on bulk packaging.  For us, it simply makes sense.  It has for a long time.  It is nothing new.

Tonight, however there was a bit of a twist.  We had both eaten and were satisfied.  Everything was consumed except a couple of tablespoons of cheese sauce.  Even though, we don't perceive ourselves to be wasteful individuals, we would have disposed of the extra cheese sauce before embarking on this challenge.  Tonight, Lori ate it.

Lori has done the heavy lifting with regard to costing each meal by serving to ensure that our daily intake stays within the $9.00* goal for which we are aiming.  She now sees each meal in terms of dollars and cents.  With each meal being valued down to the penny and knowing that a few tablespoons of cheese had value.  She couldn't see those pennies going in the trash can.

Even though, we haven't struggled with hunger and have plenty of food on hand, she could not bring herself to throw away those few spoons of cheese.  If this is a good thing or a bad thing remains to be seen.

For the record, our meals eaten through today total $36.19.

*We based our 30 day budget based on $4.50 per day per person, which was the national average when we started, in spite of the fact that our research indicated that for our area the benefit was larger ($6.17 per person per day).  Beginning November 1, the average benefit will drop to $4.20, in our area the benefit will drop to $5.78.  Since we are below even the new national average, we will strive for that for the November portion of the challenge.

Responses

Since word has gotten out about our little experiment, we have gotten a lot of positive feedback.  Everyone has expressed an interest in watching the story play out.

Several folks have asked why we are doing this, which we hope we answered with our first blog post.  In short, the answer is to see if we can.

A couple of friends have offered to take us out to eat or give us food from their kitchens if we run out of 'money' before the 30 days are complete.  We have declined those kind offers since they are not in keeping with the spirit of what we are trying to do.

One response, from a friend who volunteers at a local food bank, was particularly enthusiastic.  She cheered us for starting and is encouraging us to finish strong.  She is giving us a list of what is included in the food boxes routinely given to SNAP recipeints in our area. We will keep the list as a resource if we do run out of 'money' before November 22.

Obviously, we will not get the food from the food bank, but we will allow ourselves to purchase those items at the grocery store but not charge ourselves for them as part of the SNAP money.

We are looking forward to getting the list and seeing what we might have to look forward to in a few weeks.

Portion Control

We mentioned in our initial blog post that we are keeping two spreadsheets to account for our spending.  The first spreadsheet is relatively simple.  It is simply what we've bought to eat during this 30 days whether it be from the store or from what is already on hand.  The second spreadsheet attempts to quantify the value of each meal so that we stay within the $4.50 per person per day.  We know that SNAP recipients don't do this, but our goal is to see if we can actually eat reasonably for that figure, since we aren't eating all of what we purchase each week.

For instance, we purchased a 5 pound bag of potatoes on week one.  We won't eat the entire bag at a meal.  So, we determine the cost of the potatoes eaten when they are served.  The hardest part of this task is determining the number of servings a recipe prepares.  We have been using the number of servings on the recipe if we have it.  We learned that this isn't always accurate with the chili recipe, as we mentioned yesterday.

Tonight, we had mashed potatoes for supper and we don't really have a recipe for that.  We weighed the potatoes to get an accurate value of those and then measured the butter and milk to get that cost.  Typically, we don't actually measure the milk but just pour some in a bit at a time until it gets to the right consistency.  We overestimated the amount of milk used and wound up with potatoes that were a little runnier than typical.  They were fine but not worthy of sculpting.

The more important issue is that when we were trying to decide if we had funds to have the mashed potatoes we used a figure of 4 servings per recipe.  It was clear after both of us having eaten normal servings of potatoes that we will get 8 servings rather than 4.  It was OK, we just halved the cost we charged ourselves for this meal.

Going forward, we don't want to chase ourselves in circles re-costing due to getting more servings than anticipated.  We will charge ourselves the higher cost per meal until we reach the number of servings used to calculate the cost.  Any servings beyond that will be 'free' and we will not add the cost to that day's menus.

For example, we have charged ourselves $1.04 per bowl of chili based on 8 servings.  If we eat 10 bowls of chili from this batch, bowls 9 and 10 will cost us zero since we've already accounted for the entire cost of the pot of chili for the previous 8 bowls.

If we don't get as many servings as anticipated, we will add the cost to the last serving so that we will have 'paid' for all of the food eaten.

For the record:
John ate
*Breakfast 2 eggs, two slices of toast and 1/2 serving of ham  & coffee for $0.82
*Lunch banana sandwich & tea for $0.35
*Snack 1 package of crackers & peanut butter with tea $0.30
*Supper beef tips with gravy, mashed potatoes, broccoli with cheese sauce and lemonade $2.62

Lori ate
*Breakfast two slices of toast with butter & apples $0.31
*Lunch two slices of toast with butter & apples $0.31 (she really likes this new taste combination!)
*Snack lemonade $0.05
*Supper beef tips with gravy, mashed potatoes, broccoli with cheese sauce and tea $2.63

Total eaten for 3 days $19.46.  SNAP allows $27.00, so we are doing very well.

Day Two is almost Through

We are finishing up day two and are pleased so far that we haven't been hungry or felt deprived in any way.  We are still eating three full meals each day.  John had the same breakfast and lunch as yesterday.  Lori had leftover cooked apples on her toast for breakfast and found that quite enjoyable.  She had a favorite peanut butter & apple for lunch.  For supper they had taco salads made with leftover chili from yesterday.  The total value of the meals eaten today is $6.16 bringing our two day total to $11.81.

The chili was valued as 8 servings per the recipe.  Having eaten it twice, it is clear that there will be more than 8 servings.  There is more than half of the chili left.  We could get 10 or even 12 generous bowls of chili before we finish it.  But to keep us from going insane recalculating the cost per serving, we will value the chili as if we got 8 servings.  If we can stay under budget with chili that is over valued slightly we'll be extra glad.

Tomorrow, John will have his first test.  He is having to entertain out of town guests.  He plans to go to brunch with them but not eat!   They know of the experiment and will not be concerned or upset that he is not eating.

This weekend is also our Fall Fest at church.  We plan to eat our evening meal there.  It is free to everyone, church members and non members alike.  We agree that eating and valuing the cost as $0.00 is within the parameters of our plan since it is not unusual for people to have occasions where food is being served at some activity or function they are attending.

The greatest adjustment so far is to not do those things that have become such a normal  part of daily life--eating a bite here or something there just because it's there or could be obtained or because you just crave it.  It's a matter of learning to eat to live rather than living to eat.

Day One is Done

We are off to a fine start with our SNAP spending.  The estimated cost of what we ate today is $5.65.  It breaks down like this:
John
Breakfast:  Muffin & Coffee $0.98
Lunch:  Ham & Cheese Sandwich & Apple with Tea,  $1.06
Supper:  Chili, Cornbread & Cooked Apples with Tea, $1.45
Lori
Breakfast:  Toast & Butter with water, $0.14
Lunch:  Apple & Peanut Butter with water $0.57
Supper:  Chili, Cornbread  & Cooked Apples, with Tea, $1.45

All of the food was home prepared, muffins, coffee, tea, everything.

We did not feel deprived during the day, although Lori got hungry mid-afternoon.  She had eaten lunch early since she was going to be out at her typical lunch time.  She drank some water while considering her snack options.  Then she decided she could wait for supper.

John felt full enough after eating his sandwich that he saved his apple for an hour or so and had it as an early afternoon snack.  He took a thermos of tea with him to work and sipped on it all day.

We ate our evening meal together.  We didn't think to take pictures of our food until after we had eaten.  Here is the chili:

The entire pot of chili cost us $8.31.  The recipe said 8 servings, so the cost per bowl is only $1.04.  We're  thinking we might get even more servings, but we'll go with the more conservative figure.

Here are the apples and cornbread, again after we'd eaten:

 We had a very filling well balanced meal for our evening meal, which should easily carry us through until breakfast.

We are considering the possibility that we can add a few indulgences as time progresses.  We are going to stick to our plan for now and if we continue to stay this far under budget we will give ourselves a treat or two.  It is still early yet.  We will make that decision after we have a few more facts.

All in all, we've had a very good SNAP day.

30 Days of SNAP

There has been a lot of discussion in the news media in our area and on the web lately about the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), or food stamps.  Various public figures, such as politicians, CEO's and and others, have tried to live on a stated SNAP amount of $4.50 per day per person for a week.  The general conclusion by these people is that the experience was awful and that they found themselves constantly thinking about food and worrying that they would run out of money and go hungry. They call for more assistance for individuals and families receiving government aid.  It is often stated that families on SNAP either run out of food before the end of the month or that one or more people in the family must go hungry to make the funds stretch out so that children don't go hungry.  Additionally, it is sometimes stated that the diet one is forced to be on as a SNAP family is not one that provides for proper nutrition and is adding to the obesity epidemic in our country.

Each time we have read one of these articles we look at ourselves and our shopping habits and think it can be done--that with very careful spending and meal planning it would be possible to get through the month without going hungry while, at the same time, enjoying some variety of food items and have a reasonably healthy diet.  A time or two we've put the pencil to our grocery receipts and confirmed our suspicion that we typically spend about the SNAP average.  Even with that knowledge we still wanted to actually keep track of our spending and eating to see if it truly was possible to eat well on SNAP values.

We have decided to being a month-long SNAP Challenge.  For this period of time we've laid out the following ground rules:
*We will purchase only those consumables covered by SNAP for 30 days beginning October 24 going through November 22.
*We will account financially for every thing we eat.  The food purchased at the store is easy to quantify.  We also will 'purchase' from our on pantry.  Since this is an experiment in frugality and we do not want to be wasteful, we have "bought" the food we already had on hand at the current grocery store price, or with the receipt if it was still on hand.
*We will continue to shop at our current grocery store, the one closest to our home, rather than shop from store-to-store to find the best bargains across a group of stores.
*We will continue to use coupons and take advantage of store savings as we typically do.
*We will keep a spreadsheet detailing weekly purchases.
*We will keep a spreadsheet detailing daily menus for each of us along with the estimated cost of each meal.
*We will weigh at the beginning and the end of the 30 days to see if our weight was impacted by the diet. As is true of many Americans, we typically take in more calories than we need each day and, thus, some weight loss is very possible (we won't be upset if we lose weight!).
*When circumstances due to work or other commitments require us to actually eat in a restaurant or some other setting away from home, we will plug in meals and amounts comparable to those meals and costs that we will be eating at home during the challenge.
*When opportunities arise for free food, such as lunch meetings at work or church picnics, we will take advantage of that and the cost recorded will be zero.

The hardest part has been determining what amount of "SNAP" money to use for the 30 days.  If we go with the figure continually floated by the news media, we will have $270 to spend.  Using the government website and entering information to indicate two people with minimum wage earnings and average rent and utilities produces a figure between $319 and $329 for one month.  Another source cited a figure of $347 per month. We decided that the ultimate challenge would be to live only on the $270 a couple would have if they received $4.50 per person per day.  A food budget of $270, we believe, is based on no money from household income being added to the expenditures for food for a month.  In actuality, the SNAP program assumes that 30% of household income will be added to the SNAP funds a family receives.

Our first visit to the grocery store and pantry items on hand that we "bought" from ourselves to obtain the items we expect to use some or all of during the 1st week of the challenge required a total expenditure of $37.84.  It is certainly possible that we'll discover we need to make some additional purchases and increase the total of the 1st week.

It is anticipated that we will eat home-prepared, made-from-scratch meals, such as the chili and cornbread that will be our first evening meal rather than heat and serve meals from the frozen foods section of the grocery store.  Fresh vegetables and fruit will be included at meal times to provide variety and to help balance the nutritional elements of meals.  Milk, eggs, baked items (such as muffins), and cereal will be major parts of the breakfast menu.  Food extenders, such as bran and items such as Hamburger Helper, will be used to maximize the quantity of food available for meals made from major food stocks.

Now it's time to see if we can make this work.  Feel free to join us in this SNAP Challenge!  Together we'll learn something we all need to know and maybe have a better appreciation for what the SNAP program does for the less fortunate who strive to maximize the utility of the funds they receive.