$100 a month challenge!!!

[inneedofhelp]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

Don't understand why you'd want to cheapen out on the most important thing you spend your money on.

Being healthy is the biggest investment you can make - without your good health you have nothing. Good food is key.

Whole foods are better for you and generally more expensive that processed food. To even have a chance to get to that number, you have to include processed foods and starches - the things you didn't want to eat.

I am going to try and have whole foods with this budget...I did find that the majority of my food would be protein, beans, greens and celery, fruit whenever on sale, and some rice, and milk. I won't be eating much processed food, except for sausage if I buy that.

With my budget, I am not choosing to eat on $100, it is I have no other choice unless I opt to just not pay a bill or buy gas. At this point in time, that is not an option.

[Joan.of.the.Arch]

Originally Posted by wincrasher

Don't understand why you'd want to cheapen out on the most important thing you spend your money on.

Being healthy is the biggest investment you can make - without your good health you have nothing. Good food is key.

Whole foods are better for you and generally more expensive that processed food. To even have a chance to get to that number, you have to include processed foods and starches - the things you didn't want to eat.

I don't see inneedof help talking about eating any processed foods. I believe it is possible to meet nutritional needs on so little money in my part of the US, but one does have to be disciplined not to indulge in the variety of foods one might be accustomed to and one has to put personal energy into shopping and food preparation.

I think it is kind of exciting that inneedof help will be doing this-- and thoughtfully so. I wish she lived near me so that I could show her some things to do with that chicken and two gallons of milk she just bought. With spring coming, I'd also love to show her some of the nutritious wild plants that can be gathered in quantity and which will supply lots more folate than the average American ever gets, as well as Vitamin A, C, calcium, and even those elusive omega 3 essential oils that supposedly many Americans are deficient in.

I love these threads where we talk about eating well on little money. I always check them to see what else I can learn.

[Daylily]

Since I mentioned the sale of cabbage at St. Patrick's Day, I thought I'd also mention that sweet potatoes will be on sale near Easter. In my area they usually are on sale for 49-cents per pound. I know you mentioned earlier that you didn't want to include potatoes or at least that you wanted to limit potatoes.... but sweet potatoes are another story.

Sweet potatoes can be cubed very small and then combined with black beans and onions and cumin and then all heated up to be eaten in corn tortillas. This is wonderfully low-cost, good-for-you and great tasting.

There are plenty of other uses for sweet potatoes, but normally I like to bake them and then top with a pinch of sugar and cinnamon.

And of course, I am referring to real sweet potatoes, not those slimy mushy things that come in a can that will also happen to be on sale at Easter.

[Daylily]

Joan,
I'd love to know what wild greens you are referring to. I'm up for trying anything once.
I have purslane growing everywhere and finally decided to try it. Not for me. I believe it is popular in France ?? I've even seen it in seed catalogs.

[myrdale]

Boiled eggs and bananas. Well not at the same time though, that would well be yuck.

I do enjoy eatting a banana for breakfast. Fast, and healthy.

Hard boiled eggs work great for a quick lunch aswell. Two or three is a meal by itself. If your worried about colesteral, pitch the yoke. Otherwise they have plenty of protein to keep you going though the day.

Also check your supermarket to see if they have a good grain / seed selection. Bulk shelled sunflower seed are an easy snack. Walnuts are great also but are $$.

Lastly I love cornbread. Cheap and easy.

[David S.]

I just ran across this forum and think it is great! To the OP...I am a big fan of soups. I really think you should not limit yourself just because you have less cooking experience. Anyone can learn to make soup and there are tons of very healthy recipes out there. I just made a large pot of very healthy minestrone soup today which I divided up into ziplocks and put in the freezer. Good soup is not that difficult to make and soup has been proven to be a way feed lots of people very cheaply. Thats why there were soup lines in the great depression. It really can be as simple as chopping up a bunch of veggies and throwing them into a pot of water, add some herbs, salt and some other stuff and just keep tasting it and tweaking it until you like it....thats how my mom does it anyway. It would probably be good to learn the basics with some recipes.

[whitestripe]

this is a really interesting thread you've bought up, as i too try to avoid wheat as well - and most other dietary suggestions you have.
i would load up on veges and fruit. personally i wouldn't cut potato out completely. lentils, kidney/cannelini beans... tinned tomatoes...
i buy veges at the market and blanch some as soon as i get home, then put them in smaller containers and freeze them for later in the week. i use them for stirfries (with grated ginger, crushed garlic, soy sauce & brown rice). i don't eat meat.

[SavingNut]

Well I would never go a month without bread and rice because those are very inexpensive and filling. My husband has a very big appetite and a 100.00 wouldn't last very long.

[Radiance]

An idea

I found a local organic farmer buying club.
You get a box of fresh fruits and veggies (about 35 lb) for $49 for a family or, what I am doing, $35/month for 1/2 box (so about 17 pounds of fruits and veggies, picked up weekly)

I just subscribed, will let you all know how it goes.
I would say look up nice recipes, I hate steamed veggies, but will eat them in other delicious recipes, look up raw food and vegeteriean recipes, they know how to eat their veggies the savory way, in my opinion.

[myanthologie]

Frozen Chicken fills you up, and you can get a bag of 12 breats at WinCo for only $6. I eat about a bag a week. It is a good meal for either lunch or dinner.