My total for the week: $39.17

And I didn't do it by eating ramen noodles cooked on a hot pot.

I started the week by spending about half of my food budget on fruits and vegetables and I bought them first since I don't count calories or track nutritional values so (for me) a good rule of thumb is to have half your plate be fruits and vegetables (and the other half lean protein and whole grains). Then I bought proteins since they're more expensive and because I'm vegetarian, I have a tendency to not eat enough protein if I don't make a conscious effort at each meal. After I bought all the food I thought I would need to not be hungry and not pass out when exercising, I bought fancy items (like cheese, expensive fruit, premium ice cream) and I always made sure I was a bit under budget each day, just in case I wanted something other than the food I already had.


I spent under $40 and my food for the week included the following items:

Fruits & Vegetables (almost all were fresh): asparagus, carrots, 100% cranberry juice, pineapple, green beans, baby corn, dates, orange, mango, avocado, onion, edamame, spinach, strawberries, mushrooms, broccoli, raspberries.

Grains (all whole-grain, except one): pasta, crostini, rice cakes, white rice.

Proteins: Garbanzo beans, Greek yogurt, Morningstar Chik'n Strips, Trader Joe's vegetarian meatballs, eggs.

Non-essential items: Truffle oil, heavy cream, Jacques Torres graham crackers, Oaxaca cheese, blue cheese, chocolate, chocolate croissant, capers, Haagen Dazs ice cream, Teuscher champagne truffle, organic Grade B maple syrup.


The biggest challenge this week was social since it's expensive to eat out but I did go out three times (rather than going to a restaurant and not ordering which can be awkward for some, I found other activities to do when I was meeting people around food - trivia night, playing pool and a picnic at the park).

I could have finished the FSC on half the budget and still been healthy if I had not accepted the food my friends offered me and didn't buy any of the "extras" but I don't think it would have been realistic or sustainable. This past week (aside from going out to restaurants) was pretty close to my normal routine. My diet was actually much more varied than usual since one of the goals was to show that I could, on a small budget, incorporate many fresh fruits and vegetables (something food stamp advocates say is nearly impossible yet I purchased 16 different items). I also didn't purchase produce at farmer's markets or fruit stands because many people don't have access to them. I also cooked every day since I wanted to show that meals don't have to be repetitive or boring but normally, I don't mind repetitive meals and eat a lot of raw/fresh foods, so I only cook once or twice a week.

While others who did the FSC complained of being hungry and weak, I wasn't either of those things. I did work out less than usual but I still had the energy to do 15 miles this week. It did take a lot of mental energy to always be concerned about cost but that's not a unique experience.

And in case you missed it, I GAINED weight this week, probably because I was eating more, and more often, than I normally do and often when I wasn't even hungry. But then again, I'm not a six-foot tall marathoner, so I have to give the disclaimer: Your results may vary.

Day 7: $7.73

photo credit Teuscher Chocolates

Pomegranate Greek Yogurt (0.44)
Avocado and Capers on Whole Wheat Crostini (0.90)
Haagen-Dazs Passion Fruit Ice Cream (1.20)
Maple Rice Ice Cream (0.64)
Cranberry Juice (0.25)
Orange Slices (0.25)
Whole Grain Rice Cakes (0.20)
Morningstar Chik'n Strips in Caper Sauce over Broccoli (1.40)
Teuscher Champagne Truffle (1.65)
Spinach Blue Cheese Bisque (0.80)

I made rice ice cream this morning with the leftover rice I had with Organic Grade B Maple Syrup and nutmeg. (I just made rice pudding then added extra cream, pureed the mixture and froze it. It tastes surprisingly good but has a strange texture a bit like granita that took some getting to used to).

I didn't have time to cook dinner so I ate half an orange and some whole grain rice cakes before rushing out to meet Jon and Zeke to play pool (which was not actually pool, I was told, but "American billiards"). Zeke wanted to take me out for my birthday but I said I couldn't accept any food so instead he bought me the chocolates I wanted! As soon as I got them, I started calculating in my head how much money I had left over to see if I could have one tonight. I figured I had roughly $4-$5 left so when I got home, I wasn't hungry but I thought I should eat so I made a half-portion of veggie chicken and broccoli. (It was 11:30 and at my age, I shouldn't be eating anything at that hour but I got a lecture from Jon today about eating too little and exercising too much). And it's true that I don't eat enough protein - that's why I only eat Greek yogurt but they both told me, "That's not a meal". "But I eat it with fruit". "That's still not a meal".

After my very healthy dinner, I had a champagne truffle for dessert. Actually, it was one of the really small truffles they don't sell individually so the price I assigned is an estimate based on the marked weight on the package (10 grams each) and Teuscher's current price ($75 per pound).

Before going to bed, I made a spinach bisque with half of the bag of fresh spinach that was left that had started to wilt and go bad and the the milk and cream that would expire before I return from California. I tried a bowl and froze the rest. It was probably the best thing I made all week even though I used regular blue cheese from Trader Joe's and not Roquefort or Gorgonzola. I also cut up my fresh pineapple so I could freeze it until I got back and the way to do it without wasting a lot of fruit (because of the eye spots) is to cut diagonal grooves, which took a long time for someone who has never done it before. So, I didn't really adjust my eating habits all that much but I did spend a lot of time cooking and preparing food. I'll post my final thoughts on this experience tomorrow.

Day 6: $4.62

Cranberry Juice (0.25)
Avocado and Capers on Whole Wheat Crostini (0.90)
Peach and Passion Fruit Greek Yogurt (0.50)
Whole Grain Rice Cakes (0.20)
Haagen-Dazs Passion Fruit Ice Cream (2.40)
Spinach Salad with Soft-Boiled Egg Whites (0.37)

My tummy hurt last night after eating ice cream. But it didn't stop me from eating more today. I did however, eat all sorts of healthy stuff to compensate and still had fewer than 30 grams of fat today (that's only 20% of the average American daily fat intake). And this study found that people who are on food stamps have a higher BMI than non-food stamp recipients, which implies people on food stamps eat more than the average person (3,790 calories/153 fat grams per day)! Those figures are hard to believe.

(5 minutes later)


photo credit Outback Steakhouse

I would have to run 42 miles to burn off the calories of one
Outback Steakhouse Blooming Onion.

Day 5: $3.32

photo credit Haagen-Dazs

Spicy Sesame Noodles (1.40)
Hummus with Baked Pita Chips*
Collard Greens*
Manchego Cheese*
Dried Cranberries*
Strawberries with Nutella*
Blueberry Pie*
Watermelon*
Grapes*
Hummus on Whole Grain Rice Cake (0.32)
Large Spinach Salad, no dressing (0.40)
Haagen-Dazs Passion Fruit Ice Cream (1.20)

So, I just want to clarify that $1.40 was the cost for the entire bowl of Spicy Sesame Noodles, which is 8 servings. (Made with love using boxed linguine on sale, instead of Asian egg noodles, and sesame oil, roasted peanuts, cayenne pepper, red pepper flakes, and dried lemongrass). I shared my noodles with six people who brought things to share with me*. Two people at the picnic did know I was on the FSC but they brought meat lasagna and fried chicken, so I definitely didn't get free food from my friends, which I've said I'm not accepting. This wasn't the purpose of the picnic, since it was planned before Jon and I decided to do the FSC, but it's a great way to get a variety of foods in your diet on a limited budget. And having rotating dinners with neighbors or friends saves a lot of time if you're only cooking dinner once or twice a week. When I was living in Brazil in a commune (or co-op? but not to be confused with this kind of co-op), we all shared household costs and responsbilities, and everyone cooked for the entire house every eighth day, which has other benefits beside conservation of labor. No, not sex. It wasn't that kind of commune). Get your mind out of the gutter.

Adrian and Chris said they were coming by with birthday cake this weekend and I was hoping they wouldn't bring anything too expensive since I wouldn't be able to eat it without including it into my food budget and I already overspent on Friday. Luckily, they came over with wine instead, which I don't count as food and neither does the government (I don't really understand why some politicians restricted themselves from alcohol since you can't use food stamps to buy alcohol anyway).

Something I would never have noticed if I weren't doing the FSC because I don't pay a lot of attention to prices, particularly food prices, is the fact that Haagen-Dazs "pints" are actually 14 ounces! (Although, to be honest, I didn't look at the price when I bought it and would have paid the adjusted $5.49 per 16-ounce pint).

I weigh myself every Sunday and I've gained 4 pounds since I started this thing. WTF? Who gains weight on food stamps?

Day 4: $5.80

Turkish Delights (0.60)
Morningstar Chik'n Strips in Caper Sauce over Spinach (1.10)
Cranberry Juice (0.25)
Strawberries with Cream (1.68)
Dried Spicy Mango (0.25)
Peach and Passion Fruit Greek Yogurt (0.50)
Sautéed Mushrooms with Onions with Pasta (1.42)

I went grocery shopping with Jon yesterday and he bought over 17,000 calories for less than $40 (he calculated the total calories because he eats a lot and wanted to make sure had enough food to last the entire week). I was impressed because he purchased healthy, more expensive items like fresh fruit and only whole-grain products and managed to buy enough food to last me two weeks. Somehow Jon miscalculated and had to put a few things back at the cash register but the cashier was nice about it and people behind us didn't seem to mind when they were directed to another register.

Tonight, I made Spicy Sesame Noodles to bring to a picnic at Central Park tomorrow. (I really wanted to bring something more creative with better ingredients but my budget didn't allow it. At least this is more interesting than potato salad). I was hoping to have time to make Cinnamon Rice Pudding with the leftover rice still in my rice cooker but I have to go to bed early tonight so I can do a long run before the picnic.

Day 3: $10.82

Mango (0.25)
Trader Joe's Vegetarian Meatballs (0.30)
Mexican Beans and Rice (0.20)
Avocado and Hummus on Whole Grain Rice Cake (0.57)
Chocolate Croissant (0.75)
Cranberry Juice (0.25)
Edamame (0.50)
Egg and Shrimp, Watercress and Fried Rice (8.00)

I had a few drinks to celebrate my birthday and after we left Marquee, Lawrence wanted to get food in Chinatown. In my tipsy state, I forgot I was doing the FSC and ate some food. Lawrence treated everyone but I included what (I think) would have been my share, including tax and tip. $8 seems low but it was cheap Chinatown prices, there were four of us and we had three containers of leftovers!

Day 2: $4.83

photo credit Jacques Torres

Yogurt (0.44)
Nutmeg-Date Spice Cake with Orange Frosting (0.26)
Wheat-Free Black Bean Brownies (.11)
Chocolate Covered Graham Cracker (1.25)
Mexican Beans and Rice with Oaxaca cheese (0.64)
Cranberry Juice (0.25)
Tom Yum Green Beans and Baby Corn (0.55)
Morningstar Chik'n Strips with Vidalia Onions (1.02)
Mango with Heavy Cream (0.31)

I baked with Rebecca today so I had two small bites of the things we made (for the brownies, instead of black beans, I used the red beans that I already had). She also offered me a Jacques Torres dark chocolate covered graham cracker but I was not-so-secretly lusting after the huge box of Teuscher champagne truffles she was saving for her family's visit this weekend. (For all my wonderful friends reading this blog, my birthday is next week. Hint, hint). She didn't remember how much the graham crackers were but their website says $4.50 for a pack of four. It was the most expensive thing I ate today.

For a late lunch, I had a small portion of Mexican Rice and Beans with a bit of Oaxaca Cheese. You can make this dish healthier and less expensive by using a non-stick cooking spray instead of sautéing the onions in butter and by omitting the cheese (which is $12 per pound at Fairway - I'm sure it's cheaper at the little Mexican stores in East Harlem so I'll shop for it there in the future). If you have high caloric needs, two servings of the low-fat version of rice and beans and a bowl of vegetables (such as steamed broccoli) is a well-balanced meal with lean protein and high in fiber and complex carbohydrates for just slightly over $1.

Day 1: $3.70

Pomegranate Greek Style Yogurt (0.44)
Pomegranate Greek Style Yogurt (0.44)
Fresh Asparagus Bisque (0.68)
Newman's Own Organic Chocolate Alphabet Cookies (0.25)
Hummus with Baby Carrots (0.36)
Spinach Salad with Morningstar Chick'n Strips (1.03)
Organic Cranberry Juice (0.25)
Pineapple (0.25)

This is a really good list of nutritious foods for under $2 but I would suggest dry beans instead of canned (for one-third of the cost) and making your own marinara sauce from tomato paste (for one-half to one-third of the cost).

Steve wanted to play bar trivia tonight so I went out with some friends and for the first time that I can remember, I didn't order anything or tip the bartender for the two waters I got (although once I got home I thought maybe I should have). But he wasn't concerned with providing good service so I don't feel so bad that I forgot.

I had to stay up for an hour and a half past my bedtime to cook my Mexican beans since I wanted to have them for lunch tomorrow but I wouldn't have had to do that if I hadn't gone out tonight. Or, I could have yogurt again for lunch tomorrow if I didn't want to cook.

White Truffle Hummus

photo credit Amazon

It's more tedious but I decided to calculate the cost of each meal rather than buy $40 worth of food and only eat what I bought. I have food that would go to waste if I just stopped eating what is already in my fridge, especially since I'm going out of town the day after the challenge ends and throwing out food to complete an exercise on thriftiness seems contrary to the point of the challenge. Also, there will be things I won't finish by the end of the week that I can store (rice, dry beans) or freeze (soup) so I'll only include what I actually consume.

My local grocery store had the store-brand yogurt on sale but I decided to pay almost five times as much for Trader Joe's Greek Style Pomegranate because it tastes five times better (and has a lot more protein). So from that perspective, you'd have to eat three times as much cheap generic yogurt for each container of Greek Yogurt. And it's hormone-free, if you care about your milk not having pus in it.

Today, I made White Truffle Hummus for only $2.87 for 12 ounces! I bought truffle oil at Dean & Deluca but the same one is also sold on Amazon.

Week 0

I'm doing the Food Stamp Challenge with Jon for the second year in a row and I created this blog to share ideas with him (and anyone else doing the challenge or just looking for ideas on how to save money on food). The short version is that we will spend no more than $40 this week on food. For details on specifics and how it started, click here. Last year, we spent $21 per week but Jon decided on $40 this year because 1) He ran out of food on day 5 and 2) After doing some research, he said the maximum assistance is $5.86 per person per day so we're limited to $41.02 for the week. I've allowed [anonymous, unregistered] comments but this isn't a forum for a political debate on why poor people are overweight (because unhealthy food is cheaper or taking the other argument, because they're too lazy to learn to cook healthy meals) or how it's impossible to live on food stamps (they're supposed to be a temporary solution for economic crises not a permanent solution to poverty). Let's focus instead on how it is possible (and easy and sometimes delicious). I've found some recipe ideas here and here and will post my grocery list and meals.

Aside from the obvious tips (buy food on sale, use coupons), the first thing I would advise is to organize your space to have food storage and buy food in bulk. Actually, I take that back. The most obvious way to save money is to eat less. I think we can safely assume a linear relationship. But I have a feeling people are going to think that telling them to eat less is unhelpful, mainly because they don't want to do it, so let's go back to buying food in bulk. Part of that is also sharing resources (with family, friends, neighbors) and saving money by buying things like 50 pound bags of rice or steel-cut oats, even if one person in the group couldn't afford the entire cost individually. Done this way, rice costs 3.5 cents per serving and is a much less expensive starch than pasta or bread. As an aside, I don't want to hear any excuses about how this is unrealistic unless you live on some farm in the middle of the country. If Sue, who lives in a 8x10 room in Manhattan (and shares a kitchen with 40 people who sometimes steal her food) can figure out how to store 20 pounds of rice, you can do it.

Today, two days before the challenge, I have some time so I'm going to prepare chickpeas (soak, drain, and cook dry beans), cut up the whole pineapple I bought on sale for $2 and plan my meals for the week. For various reasons, which I won't elaborate on here, I don't spend much more than $40 per week on food anyway, but the challenge for me is to eat healthy balanced meals since most of the criticisms from people doing the challenge is how difficult it is to incorporate fruits and vegetables into their diet. (The second criticism is that meals are repetitive but not surprisingly, these come from people "playing poor" who are tired of eating lentils all week because they bought a 2 pound bag for $1.50 and can't wait until the week is over so they can go out for sushi).

Oh, and in telling my friends I won't be able to go out to restaurants with them next week, I've been asked if I can go if they treat. Last year, I was able to find a free meal here and there and Jon considered that cheating (I didn't since I think being resourceful at finding free food replicates the experience of having a limited food budget, which is the point of the Food Stamp Challenge). However, if your friends pay for you this time, you'll pay for them next time, so that's more like a loan and should count against your food budget. I do think it's okay to trade food (taking turns cooking for each other or attending potlucks) if you count the cost of the food you make for other people. And, I'll allow people to buy me drinks since that's not a food cost but an entertainment one and drinks don't make me full in any significant way.

I was so excited about my first blog that I left the burner on high and burned my chickpeas! (My smoke detector is turned off because it's annoyingly sensitive). Not a good start.