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?