Wow, one week of the SNAP Challenge is over and I can’t believe how many thoughts I’ve had so far. I could write a ten page paper on my feelings, experiences, and observations already… but I’ll try to keep it short (yeah, right). I also want to thank everyone for their insightful comments and support while I take on this challenge. You’ve helped me dive deeper and discover more.
Before I begin the summary, I want to discuss one aspect of the challenge. The SNAP challenge rules state that you shouldn’t use any food purchased prior to starting the challenge. I’m not following that rule because I don’t feel like it’s very realistic or a responsible way to eat on a budget. Sure, some SNAP recipients will start out with no kitchen supplies, but maybe some do. Each person’s SNAP experience will be unique and involve several variables. I can’t replicate anyone else’s experience, so I have to try to mimic what my own would be. I’m approaching this challenge as if I had to suddenly go on SNAP and will definitely utilize some of my pantry staples. Those staples will not be counted as free and as I replenish those pantry staples throughout the month, I will have to do so within my weekly budget of $30. A good portion of what I bought during week one will actually be spread out and used during the following weeks, so it only makes sense that I also would have had some things left over from previous weeks. And hey, this challenge isn’t perfect, but it’s still incredibly insightful. My goal isn’t to get every detail perfect, but to draw attention to and start the conversation about food insecurity, as well as recalibrate my own spending and food consumption habits to be less wasteful.
What Did I Buy?
Here is everything I bought during my shopping trip for week one. Not a whole lot, right? I bought some pantry staples from the bulk bins at Whole Foods (rice, oat bran, chickpeas, almonds), and picked up the rest of my fresh and canned goods at my neighborhood grocery store. I stocked up on some frozen greens because that’s a super easy and inexpensive way to add veggies to your meals. I splurged on feta because it ads a lot of flavor, but only used 1/4 of that block this week. The rest will be used in the following weeks.
Here are my receipts (with a couple notes on volumes that I made for the bulk items. I had to measure them when I got home for correct calculations).
What did I use that was already in my pantry? Admittedly, more than I planned to. I did not plan very well this first week, so I found myself scavenging through my fridge and pantry just looking for something to kill my hunger. I used soy milk, eggs (I’ll have to replenish both next week), a couple tortillas, butter, peanut butter, tea, brown sugar, cinnamon, hot sauce… well, a lot of things. Week one did not go well.
What Did I Make?
My main meal throughout the week was the Soy Dijon Chicken with Sweet Potatoes, plus 1/2 cup of Seasoned Rice, plus 1/2 cup of frozen broccoli florets. I pre-portioned them out so that I could grab them and go without thinking twice, or giving myself an opportunity to think about eating something else. Each one of these bowls cost $1.49.
I cooked one pound of chickpeas from dry in my slow cooker (1 lb. dry, unsoaked chick peas plus 6 cups water, on high for about 5 hours). I only used half of the batch this week and froze the second half for use next week.
My secondary meal throughout the week was Curried Chickpeas with Spinach. I used frozen spinach this time, less olive oil, and the chickpeas that I cooked from dry, so the total batch came to $4.25 and I got about 5 servings, for a cost per serving price of $0.85. Unfortunately, I got so busy and had so many unexpected things pop up this week that I wasn’t able to even cook this recipe until day 4.
Cabbage is super cheap and I wanted some more vegetables in my plan, so I made a half batch of this Vinaigrette Slaw with Feta. I used only red cabbage this time (half head) and halved the other ingredients as well. Luckily, I had the bottom of a bottle of Caesar dressing left over in my fridge that was waiting to be used up. This batch cost me $2.28 and I got 4 servings, for a cost per serving of $0.46.
After I got home from the grocery store I realized that I had NO FRUIT in my plan for the week. I had used up all but a few dollars of my weekly budget, so I turned to this melon that had been sitting in my fridge, uncut, for almost a week. I had let the melon go and it was already starting to have that over ripe sweet smell, like it was on the brink of rotten. I was determined to not let it go to waste, so I cut it up, divided it into 8 portions, and froze almost all of it. I eat the frozen portions while still frozen, like a frozen treat, because once they thaw they are not very good. Ick. But, you have to do what you have to do. The melon cost me $2.99 the week before, or $0.37 per portion.
So, that’s what I made the first week. I realized about mid way through day two that I did not plan well and this week was going to be really awful because of it. Add to that all the drama of the home buying process and trying to show my apartment to prospective new tenants, and I had a complete disaster of a week. I didn’t get a chance to make the curried chickpeas until day 4, so I ended up filling in my meal gaps with pita, peanut butter, and eggs. It was not good. I would consider week one a FAIL.
What Did I Eat?
As I just mentioned, week one was a disaster, but it showed me how much planning and how meticulous you have to be to actually make a budget like this work. Is that level of dedication realistic? Not very much so, especially if you have a family to take care of or are working two jobs (although some people DO make it work, and I applaud you!). Even with my well stocked kitchen and all of my background with cooking and portioning, I still needed to put in more effort to make this work. There were many nights of the week that I just fought off my hunger with a pita and peanut butter instead of a real meal. After only a few days I was so hungry that I was looking for calories everywhere and anywhere. It was bad. So, here is my daily breakdown with relfections:
Day 1
- 1 small flour tortilla $0.16
- 1 large egg $0.21
- dash of hot sauce $0.05
- pinch of salt and pepper $0.05
- 1 tea bag $0.13
- 1/4 cup soy milk $0.09
- 1 Soy Dijon Chicken meal bowl $1.49
- 1/2 pita $0.17
- 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.23
Daily Total: $2.53
Reflection: Having to keep a tally of the total cost of my groceries as I picked items from the shelves brought me back to the early days of the blog, when I had to eat on a budget like this. I felt more responsible doing so, but wondered if people saw what I was doing and felt bad for me because I had to be so careful about every penny. I still have a positive outlook and am feeling good about the challenge.
Day 2
- 1/4 cup oat bran $0.19 (1/4 cup oat bran + 3/4 water cooks up to be a 1 cup bowl)
- 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar $0.02
- 1/2 Tbsp butter $0.08
- 1 Tbsp sliced almonds $0.18
- 1 cup Cabbage Slaw with Feta $0.46
- 1 portion melon $0.37
- 1 Soy Dijon Chicken meal bowl $1.49
- 1 small flour tortilla $0.16
- 1 large egg $0.21
- dash of hot sauce $0.05
Daily Total: $3.22
Reflection: This is the day that crazy stuff started happening with the home buying process. I was stressed, busy, and didn’t have time to calculate my daily food costs to know where I was coming in, or to make the curried chickpeas. I ate an egg in a tortilla for dinner and was hungry most of the day (except the hour or two after lunch). If I had time to calculate my daily cost, I would have known to eat more, but what? I didn’t have much in my fridge and no time to cook.
Day 3
- 1 Spinach Rice Breakfast Bowl $0.64
- 1 tea bag $0.13
- 1/4 cup soy milk $0.09
- 1 portion melon $0.37
- 1 cup Cabbage Slaw with Feta $0.46
- 1 Soy Dijon Chicken meal bowl $1.49
- 1/2 pita $0.17
- 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.23
Daily Total: $4.11
Reflection: By today, my brain was screaming “FOOD!” at me all day long and seriously affecting my concentration. No, more accurately, it was screaming, “CHIPS, WENDY’S, PIZZA, CAKE!” My body wanted calories and in any form it could get them… and it’s only been 3 days. Imagine going a whole month, finally getting your SNAP benefits replenished, and finally going to the grocery store. Do you think you’d make healthy decisions? I can honestly say that I wouldn’t. My body was now in control and health was not even on the radar. I just wanted calories. I still didn’t have time to make the chickpeas today.
Day 4
- 2 large eggs $0.42
- 1/2 pita $0.17
- dash of hot sauce $0.05
- 1 portion melon $0.37
- 1 cup Cabbage Slaw with Feta $0.46
- 1 Soy Dijon Chicken meal bowl $1.49
- 1 Tbsp peanut butter $0.13
- 1 portion Curried Chickpeas with Spinach $0.85
Daily Total: $3.94
Reflection: I still hadn’t had time to calculate my daily food costs, so I had no idea where I was coming in. I did, however, finally have time to make the curried chickpeas and I was so happy for a change of flavor, plus they were super filling. Finally a little relief. I had woken up so hungry that I ate two eggs for breakfast. That might have been the first day that I didn’t feel like I was going to die waiting for my lunch break.
Day 5
- 1/4 cup oat bran $0.19
- 1 Tbsp almonds $0.18
- 1/2 Tbsp butter $0.08
- 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar $0.02
- 1/4 cup soy milk $0.09
- 1 portion melon $0.37
- 1 Soy Dijon Chicken meal bowl $1.49
- 1/2 pita $0.17
- 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.23
- 1/2 pita $0.17
- 1 large egg $0.21
- dash of hot sauce $0.05
Daily Total: $3.25
Reflection: I really can’t believe how delicious every single commercial for food looks. Things I never would have been tempted by before, like Wendy’s or those nasty looking cappuccino flavored potato chips, I could seriously devour and love every second of it. It’s fascinating how hunger can change your tastes and perceptions. My body was still screaming at me for calories and blocking out most every other thought. I’m still relying on eggs/peanut butter in pita because it’s fast and kills my hunger.
Day 6
- 2 large eggs $0.42
- 1/2 pita $0.17
- pinch of salt & pepper $0.05
- 1 cup Cabbage Slaw with Feta $0.46
- 1/2 pita $0.17
- 1/2 Tbsp butter $0.08
- 1 serving Black Bean Soup $0.79
- 1/4 cup uncooked popcorn kernels $0.09
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil $0.04
- 1 Tbsp butter $0.15
- Cajun seasoning $0.05
Daily Total: $2.47
Reflection: Today I really started to lose it. I thought about sneaking a bag of chips from the store. No one would know, right? Ack. I can’t do that. I needed calories so bad that I ate butter in pita bread. I started scouring my cupboard and freezer for something different to eat because I was sick of the same ‘ol food. I found one last frozen serving of my Slow Cooker Black Bean Soup and ate that. It was SO. GOOD. That made me feel like I broke the rules, but OMG, I felt full and happy for a minute. I had my favorite snack for dinner: stove top popcorn with Cajun seasoning (and butter because apparently I want that on everything now).
Day 7
- 1 Spinach Rice Breakfast Bowl $0.71
- 1 tea bag $0.13
- 1/4 cup soy milk $0.09
- 1 portion melon $0.37
- 1 serving Curried Chickpeas with Spinach $0.85
- 1/2 pita $0.17
- 1/2 pita $0.17
- 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.23
- 1 oz feta $0.43
- 1 cup soy milk $0.36
Daily Total: $3.51
Reflection: I broke into my stash of feta today because I NEEDED CHEESE. I realized that dairy goes a really long way towards filling me up and making me feel satisfied because I’ve been craving cheese and yogurt for a couple days now. I’m definitely working that into next week’s menu. I CAN’T WAIT to go grocery shopping and try a new approach next week, because this sucked. Oh, and I finally got a chance to sit down and start calculating my daily costs and saw how low I was coming in. ARG. I could have been eating more all week. *sigh* Failure.
Final Reflection
Total Consumed: $23.30
Grocery Total (incl. tax): $28.13
This did not work at all. I’ll try again next week with a different approach. Even with all the advantages working in my favor (pantry staples, cooking equipment like a slow cooker, cooking skills, food knowledge, easy access to grocery store(S), etc.) this just did not work and was not sustainable. I wanted to eat fast food every day. I wanted to go splurge and spend 2-3 days worth of food budget on a pizza or burger. What would I do if I had children? I am full of a mix of emotions—gratitude, guilt, and sadness.
Read through my experience from beginning to end:
I just got off SNAP benefits awhile ago. I only used it as a supplement (got about 140 dollars for a family of 3) and I taught me a lot about my spending habits. Before I had to get on it I admit I was terrible, even while being a loyal Budget Bytes reader lol. If I was out an ingredient, I’d just go to the store and buy it instead of making due without it. Then buy a few extra things I didn’t need. If I wanted something different for dinner than what I had out, I’d go and buy it… that adds up.
I don’t follow the rules totally now that my money situation is improved, but I do try to be a lot better about my how much money I spend on food now and I plan a lot more. Really excited for your week two!
Loved your blog before, and even more so now that you’re doing this challenge. You’re inspiring me to be less wasteful and to better manage my budget.
This is terrific – I love the way you chronicled how the entire first week went for you. I used to live on about $25 a week for groceries when in grad school and now feel like I live pretty posh at about $35. Cooking one thing for dinners each week (as you did with your chicken dish) and consuming throughout really helps to stretch things. Pasta is also a life-saver, as is microwave popcorn (place the dry cheapo kernels in a paper bag folded over and microwave). Anyway, thanks for the post and I look forward to seeing how you do!
I personally am not on snaps but my budget for food is only 200 every 2 weeks that’s for 4 adults and a 20 month old. Great things for when you want something whole wheat candied bread. I like no knead homemade it’s easy and tasty. For savory I bought for 12 dollars a microwave potato chip maker I use sweet potatoes, carrots, zucchini or butter nut squash it’s cheap and a healthy snack. Your crockpot chicken recipe with cubed sweet potatoes over fresh spinach is also a dollar stretcher. And cheese and dairy in general is a biggy for us I use kraft extra sharp cheddar with a roux with chicken stock instead of milk (I make chicken stock with the bones from the chicken) and 2 oz of block cream cheese it’s rich and fairly inexpensive and I serve it with broccoli stuffed chicken thighs. I butterfly chicken thighs and stuff with a frozen broccoli bratwurst mixture 2 bratwurst finely crumbled and cooked with a cup of onions and 24 oz of frozen broccoli adds a lot of flavor and depth to 8 thighs 1 is enough and I freeze the left overs or slice them thinly and layer on for sandwiches.
Beth, have you ever read the first month of the blog “One Dollar Diet Project”?
http://onedollardietproject.wordpress.com/2008/09/
A couple ate for one month in 2008 on a dollar a day each. It’s really interesting to hear them talk about just what you talk about here, being constantly hungry, unable to focus, feeling sick, how terribly difficult it would be to have to live that way long-term. Highly recommended read.
Fascinating! I can’t wait to check it out. Thanks for sharing!
I live in Canada, so we don’t have SNAP but every province and territory has something similar. I live in the subarctic and have been getting some form of assistance for 6.5 years. The nearest large grocery store is an 8 hour round-trip drive in the summer and up to 12 hours in the winter so I have to get a hotel room for myself and the kids (I am a single parent) when I do a big grocery shop. I have gone through the check-out 3 times some trips. I have some serious health problems that cause vertigo and almost daily nausea and that makes it difficult although the nearest fast food outside of the local hotel diner is as far away as the large grocery stores. I have to cook almost everything from scratch. Your blog has helped me with it’s recipes and a few of my facebook friends have been following you and trying to come up with ways to reduce our food costs using your recipes (although I substitute moose and caribou because I can get that for free). For me, I have to use the money I save on food for heat in a place that can get down to -50. The kids love your vegetable pot pie recipe which I was able to make with ingredients I bought at the tiny local general store last week (with just a few minor substitutions like canned mushrooms). I am so happy to find so many recipes using beans and legumes which store so well to make meals for my almost vegetarian daughter up here in the sticks. Thank you for all that you do and you are not a failure.
I am all at once impressed with your ability to stick with this and saddened that for so many people, this isn’t a choice, this is simply their reality. I applaud you for sticking out the week even though it was so miserable and hope you’re able to adjust your menu next week so you’re not so hungry. Love the detailed update!
I was in your hood just a few weeks ago and was shocked at how expensive your Rouse was! The cheapest healthy groceries we found were at Target!
I agree! Target has great prices for dry and canned goods. I try to stock up whenever I’m out that direction. :) Rouse’s used to be okay with prices, but they’ve definitely sky rocketed lately. :(
Great post. I like that you were honest about how the week went. This is such a difficult challenge. It really helps to put things in perspective. Thank you for your insight!
Sarah
thesloppyperfectionist.blogspot.com
I absolutely enjoyed your update this week. I made the soy Dijon chicken thighs for dinner tonight with your seasoned rice recipe -really good. We are working with a really tight food budget – $100 per month for 2 people but we have already paid for our csa and a quarter of beef so I get a big head start each month :) your blog is inspiring and I admire your willingness to stick with your experiment, especially for a whole month.
When they took home-ec class out of high school, young adults lost a tool to learn how to cook from scratch and have knowledge about nutrition. We have an overweight population who are still hungry due to lack of “nutrition” in what they eat from the center of the store which is heat and eat or worse. We can’t condemn if we don’t teach. Parents both work out of necessity, no one home to teach cooking and budgeting skills. Your site is passed on to others on college campuses. The learning never stops there.
I was approached by a homeless (smelly) 19 yr old at a grocery store. I asked questions for half an hour so I could make smart food purchases for him. I went back in and found canned items with meat/protein, tortillas etc. He was allowed to heat up food at a 7-11 if he made any purchase. He lived out of his backpack so I included toiletries. Once a week a church has a mobile shower. There is more to his story, but one thing he did not want was any canned fish. Can’t eat it no matter how hungry he was, it just made him feel like vomiting. He kept apologizing. So I agree with donating spices and hot sauces to help food high in nutrition be more palatable. Many eating from food banks have no refrigerators, or storage, so I add freezer bags to my donations as well. Some food items are used as barter to share a hotel cheap hotel room for a nights sleep indoors on the floor and a shower. Thanks Beth for your efforts to gain a better perspective.
Just love your views on this subject! How to budget and eat quality foods without waste is a lost art. Thanks for bringing it back into focus
Having lived on $25/week in college for food, I do know how hard it is to get filling nutritious food, although I never was on SNAP. I found that the best thing to do is to splurge the first time on all of the basics. At the beginning of the school year, I spent around $75 on rice, beans, flour, sugar, oil, condiments, frozen veggies, etc. and much of that lasted me through the year in addition to buying other groceries each week. Most of these I bought in the large bulk sizes. In college I worked at a small grocery store, so that helped me to keep track of the best sales as well as discounted near-expiration foods. If a food was a rock bottom price, I bought enough for 2-3 months, which is usually when the next sale will happen. Alternating which things I stocked up on each week allowed me to never have to purchase too many different items each week. Also another thing to consider is free food events. If food was brought in a work for a special event, I would save my lunch for the next day. Also eating very vegetarian also helps when eating on so much less. I lived on eggs, cottage cheese, and beans to get my protein in college. Sometimes I would get chicken or fish if it was on sale.
I made a rough estimate on calories (hard to get exact without knowing exact amounts, but it’s a decent estimate nonetheless), and you were taking in roughly 1000-1500 calories a day. All I can say is, no wonder you were so hungry and craving calorie dense foods! Assuming we’re going with the high end estimate, that’s still 1000 calories less than what you need to function (assuming you’re over 25), which is a very significant amount! While I admire the challenge/experiment, your health is not worth risking.
I know you’re trying to focus on “healthy choices” meaning fruit/veg, but it’s really not a healthy choice if it’s leading to undereating. I think if you want to try to incorporate fruit/veg, look for calorie dense options, like avocado or coconut, or plain russet potatoes instead of sweet potatoes. Peanut butter is definitely sounding like your friend, too. Maybe look into a trail mix or trail mix bar to make, as dried fruits and nuts are a good calorie dense option, and you may be able to find cheaper options in bulk sections. Another option would be whole milk over soy milk, or coconut cream if you need to stick to a dairy free option (not sure on the price of that, though). Canned tuna in oil may be another main-meal option, too.
I’m sorry the first week didn’t go as planned. You are helping so many people just by blogging about your experience. Your honesty and authenticity shines through in your blog. I hope week 2 goes better! I know you can do it!