What-what? The September Challenge is over already? It’s so funny how quickly I went from completely dreading beginning the challenge to, “Hey! I’m going to keep doing this!” But I guess that’s why it’s important to challenge yourself once in a while. More often than not, you’ll be surprised at what you’re capable of.

So, week four was an interesting one. I started waking up at 4:30 AM (don’t ask) and I finally got back into the swing of my workouts. My appetite immediately doubled. Longer days + exercise = a LOT more calories burned. I went from averaging about $3.50/day to $6.50/day. This once again highlights just how much a person’s size, metabolism, and appetite can affect their food budget. Many of you have noticed how little I eat sometimes. Yes, I’ve trained myself to eat only when I’m actually hungry, but I’m also a relatively small person and unless exercising, I just don’t use up that many calories. So, if I had been able to maintain my workout schedule throughout the month, this whole challenge may very well have ended up veeeeerrrrrry differently!

I also fell off the wagon towards the end of the week. *sigh* I’m human. A pizza obsessed human. (read or scroll to the end to see my sins.)

Groceries

This week a chunk of my grocery budget went towards pantry staples, like brown sugar, Better Than Bouillon, peppercorns/grinder, and milk. I utilized the salad bar to get just a handful of mushrooms and olives for my pizza (but was accidentally charged the fancy olive bar price of $8.99/lb. ouch!), and picked up a few other produce items. I opted for bananas again because I was beginning to enjoy them more and I made the split second decision to get a papaya, which was $1.49 per pound.

When shopping for my weekly fruit I rely heavily on price per pound. A lot of produce at my local grocery store is in the $2-$4/lb. price range, so when I see something under $2 per pound I try to go with that. My other options were pears, which I am not really a fan of, or kiwi fruit, which wasn’t priced per pound but were 2/$1. I love kiwi, but couldn’t see myself eating one every day, and they weren’t very big. It would have been a struggle to make myself eat the pears, so I went with the papaya. It was extremely delicious, but unfortunately it was mostly seeds and didn’t hold up in the fridge as well as my melon the previous week. Sometimes you have to take chances! (For reference, frozen fruit was over $3 for a 12-16oz bag.)

I still had quite a few leftovers in my pantry and freezer that I was able to utilize this week. I found some frozen chicken thighs and I had some unused carrots and cilantro left over from last week. Those leftovers that carry from week to week really make a big difference in your weekly budget and the variety of things you’re able to make with it.

What I Made

Here’s what I cooked this week:

Yellow Rice Chicken Skillet: $6.04 recipe / $1.51 serving I’m OBSESSED with Yellow Jasmine Rice, so I cooked some chicken thighs and frozen peas right in the rice to make it a complete meal. It only made four servings, but that’s okay, because I was able to alternate between this and these pizzas…

Loaded French Bread Pizzas: $8.98 recipe / $1.50 each I thought I could make it through the challenge without pizza, but why should I when I can just make it affordable? Right?? These French Bread Pizzas were such a treat! Plus, I was able to freeze half to make sure they stayed edible through the final week and two days of the challenge.

And here is that beautiful papaya. I loved the flavor of the papaya, especially because it wasn’t overly sweet like a lot of fruit. Unfortunately, when I opened it up there were a lot more seeds and a lot less flesh than I expected, making the $1.49/lb. not as good of a deal as expected.

To prepare the papaya, I just scooped out the seeds with a spoon, then used a melon baller to get the flesh out of the skin. The papaya was fairly ripe to begin with, so it only lasted about four days, but I ate almost all of it. So, out of a $3.77 papaya, I only got about four (very delicious) servings at $0.94 each. *sigh*

To mix things up and add variety, I ate a couple servings of dishes from previous weeks that were stashed in the freezer. I ate the final portion of Chili Rubbed Pulled Pork (just slapped into a tortilla), another serving of Bowties and Broccoli, Mexican Lentil Stew, and one lonely serving of Garden Vegetable Lasagna Roll Ups from before the challenge started. Keeping your freezer stocked with leftovers saves the day! :D

What I Ate

9-22 Total $3.47

• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/4 cup milk $0.08
• 1 small tortilla $0.10
• 1 serving Chili Rubbed Pulled Pork $0.75
• 1 orange $0.88
• 1 Loaded French Bread Pizza $1.50
• 1 Tbsp peanut butter $0.12

(I finally ate that last orange from week two. …and had an evening snack of a small spoonful of PB.)

9-23 Total $4.01

• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/2 cup milk $0.16
• 1/2 cup oats $0.13
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.24
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar $0.04
• 1 serving Papaya $0.94

(Yep, I ate the peanut noodle salad TWICE because I enjoyed it so much. Ha!)

9-24 Total $6.07

• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/4 cup milk $0.08
• 1 Loaded French Bread Pizza $1.50
• 1 banana $0.26
• 1 serving Yellow Rice Chicken Skillet $1.51
• 1 serving papaya $0.94
• 1 Loaded French Bread Pizza $1.50
• 1 Tbsp chocolate chips $0.12

(Yeah, so can you tell this is the day that I started working out again? I ate pizza for breakfast and was burning food so fast that I started rummaging through my cabinets for a “treat”. I found chocolate chips. Heh.)

9-25 Total $5.55

• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/4 cup milk $0.08
• 2 small tortillas $0.20
• 2 large eggs $0.64
• dash of sriracha $0.02
• 1 banana $0.26
• 1 serving papaya $0.94
• 1 Loaded French Bread Pizza $1.50
• 1 serving Bowties and Broccoli $0.58

(Another workout day. #hongry)

9-26 Total $4.60

• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/2 cup milk $0.16
• 1/2 cup oats $0.13
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.24
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar $0.04
• 1 banana $0.26
• 1 serving papaya $0.94
• 1 Loaded French Bread Pizza $1.50
• 1 chai (gifted from a friend) $0.00

9-27 Total $3.55

• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/4 cup milk $0.08
• 1/2 cup oats $0.13
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.24
• 1 banana $0.26
• 1 serving Yellow Rice Chicken Skillet $1.51

(I tried my oatmeal without brown sugar today… Eh, not nearly as good. :P )

9-28 Total $6.40

• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/4 cup milk $0.08
• 2 small tortillas $0.20
• 2 large eggs $0.64
• dash of sriracha $0.02
• 1 serving Garden Lasagna Roll Ups $1.95
• 1 slice Costco pizza $2.18

Okay, so this is the day that I fell off the wagon. I went to Costco for the first time EVER. It was exciting. There were things. Many, many things. Between my workout that morning and walking miles and miles up and down the Costco aisles, I was pretty hungry by the end of the adventure. I had heard for ages about how awesome and cheap Costco’s pizza was, so I broke down and tried it. When would I get another chance to do so?? (Really lame excuse, I know) Well, I wasn’t that impressed, but I sure did sleep good that night. #cheeeeeese

9-29 Total $3.49

• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/4 cup milk $0.08
• 1/2 cup oats $0.13
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.24
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar $0.04
• 1 serving Yellow Rice Chicken Skillet $1.51
• 1 serving Mexican Lentil Stew $1.33

(Despite this being a workout day, that HUGE piece of pizza late the night before kept me pretty full throughout the day.)

9-30 Total $3.93

• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/4 cup milk $0.08
• 2 small tortillas $0.20
• 2 large eggs $0.64
• dash of sriracha $0.02
• 1 serving Mexican Lentil Stew $1.33
• 1 Loaded French Bread Pizza $1.50

Final day! Yay! I was REALLY craving fruit by this time, but I knew that the challenge was just a challenge and in the morning it would be over and I could go eat whatever I pleased (a fruit smoothie with frozen fruit that’s been in my freezer taunting me this whole time).

Weekly Intake Total (plus two days): $41.07 (average $4.56/day)

Weekly Grocery Total: $31.08

Leftovers

I had very little leftovers this week, thanks to the extra two days of the challenge. I did have one serving of the Yellow Rice Chicken Skillet that I had stashed that in the freezer mid week when it looked like I might not get to it on time. That’s what I usually do, wait a few days to see how fast I’m eating through stuff, then transfer some to the freezer based on how much I think I’ll eat in the next day or two.

Reflection

I’m glad it’s over, but I’m excited to keep going. Huh-what? Let me explain. I’m glad it’s over so that I can get back to my normal social activities without feeling like I need to decline or people trying to buy me food because they know I’m doing some weird challenge thing. I want to continue the challenge because I appreciate how organized it made me be and how much time and effort that organization saved me. I also realized that my diet was probably more balanced and had more variety during the challenge compared to when I just eat mindlessly. I was forced to plan when and where I’d get my fruit and vegetables and that resulted in me getting more of them.

So, I will continue planning out my weekly menus and trying to execute them on about $30 per week. I won’t be recording what I eat every single day because, well, that’s just a pain in the butt. Ha! But I will post weekly summaries showing my receipts and what I made with what I bought, how I used leftovers, etc. I think that information is helpful and I learned a lot too. :)

Overall this year’s challenge was fun and a lot less stressful than last year. I think the main difference was A) I wasn’t trying to pretend to live someone else’s life and B) I had time to calculate my consumption on a daily basis, which resulted on daily intake averages closer to $4. Last year I was too busy to calculate it daily, which resulted in daily intakes closer to $2.50/day. I was starving, but too afraid of going over $4.50 to eat more. It was just a bad situation and caused a lot of stress. It’s amazing what a difference $1.50/day can make.

Monthly Intake Total: 115.94

Monthly Grocery Total: $115.53

Can you believe how close they are?? This is an excellent demonstration of how pricing out exact quantities of ingredients is a fairly good representation of recipe costs, considering the fact that you usually use a mix of pantry items and purchased ingredients. If I had to purchase every single ingredient new, it would be quite different, but I’d also probably change my menus to require fewer new ingredients every week. It’s a slow build up to achieving a stocked pantry, but once you’re there it’s easy to maintain.

Conclusion

I am inspired and motivated by my experiences in September and I hope you were too. If you haven’t yet, set a challenge for yourself. It doesn’t have to be $4.50/day, but set a daily and monthly goal, and track your expenses. You’ll be surprised at what you discover and hopefully learn ways to reduce spending and waste in the process. Cheers!

The post September Challenge: Week 4 and Month Summary appeared first on Budget Bytes.

Okay, this whole September Challenge is going super quickly! I can’t believe I’m in my last week already. Week three went very smoothly, and I’m even contemplating continuing the challenge indefinitely. Week three’s menu felt very balanced to me with plenty of vegetables, enough fruit to keep me happy, and I was full (but not overly so) every day. It was a good week and it gave me confidence!

I’m really loving the freedom that comes with planning a whole week at a time. I’ve always known that it helps, but you always forget how nice it is until you actually do it. I like knowing that I’m not going to be running to the store several times during the week for last minute items or refills of staples. I check everything before my weekly trip and then I’m set for the next seven days. Freedom!

Alright, so let’s get to it…

Groceries

I was feeling a little produce-deprived after week two, so I made sure to get plenty of vegetables this week (check ’em all out!). I unintentionally planned a vegetarian menu, but I didn’t miss the meat this time around and I didn’t go overboard on eggs like I did in week one. I DID splurge a little with a couple pints of cherry tomatoes and a fresh lemon that was probably a bit too expensive, but the flavor was worth it and I was willing to sacrifice a couple other items on my list to purchase them.

I also had to restock on a few staple items, like peanut butter, regular butter, and Parmesan cheese. They were out of generic butter that week, so I had to get a name brand, which was a good $0.40 more than generic. :( Ouch.

What items did I sacrifice to get those expensive tomatoes and lemon? Brown sugar, flour, and yogurt. I decided I had enough brown sugar to last another week and if I ran out I’d rely on the sweetness of the banana to make my oatmeal delicious. Not a bad sacrifice since bananas are healthier anyway. I had listed flour and yogurt on the “maybe” section of my grocery list because I figured if I had some extra cash after getting the essentials that I’d also make a batch of naan to go with my peanut stew. Then I remembered that a scoop of brown rice is excellent in the stew AND much cheaper than the flour and yogurt for the naan. So, again, I wasn’t sad to sacrifice those in the name of cherry tomatoes and a lemon.

These little compromises are decisions that have to be made quickly while your shopping and it can be difficult. Sometimes it’s even a gamble if you’re weighing options that aren’t clearly priced, like produce or bulk goods. Luckily, this week those snap decisions worked out fairly well.

I decided to try melon for my main fruit option again, hoping that this one would be a bit better than the melon in week one, which was a bit flavorless and past its prime. Luckily, this one was great! After cutting it up there was enough for me to eat a huge serving every day for SEVEN days. It was still tasty on day seven. Yay!

What I Made

Here’s what I made with this week’s groceries:

This African Peanut Stew is vegan, but still extremely filling, thanks to it’s creamy peanut butter and tomato based broth. Sounds strange, I know, but the flavor is SO GOOD. On top of that it’s full of delicious and healthy sweet potatoes and collard greens. The recipe calls for a half bunch of collard greens, but I just went ahead and tossed in the whole bunch this time. Sometimes I topped my bowl with a scoop of cooked brown rice for more texture and to help fill me up. And OMG did it ever. One bowl of this with rice mixed in filled me for half the day!

I also made this incredible Parsley Pesto Pasta with Blistered Cherry Tomatoes. Sometimes I ate it with a fried egg on top, sometimes I was too lazy to fry an egg and just reheated the pasta and tomatoes in the microwave. Either way, it was AWESOME.

One day I was craving a sweet treat, so I took one of my super ripe bananas and made a delicious Caramelized Banana and Peanut Butter Quesadilla. Super fast and sooooo good. The September Challenge is not a snack-free zone! :D

I continued to enjoy oatmeal for breakfast (with peanut butter and brown sugar mixed in, usually with a little milk on top) and a cup of coffee. I find that the peanut butter makes the oats even more filling and I kind of like its savory spin.

I also ate a meal or two left over from previous weeks, like Bowties and Broccoli, a Burrito Bowl, Focaccia Rolls, and Chili Rubbed Pulled Pork. I love having these left over options that I can interject into my weekly menu for variety.

What I Ate

Alright, here it is… The day by day breakdown!

9-15 Total $3.04

• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/2 cup milk $0.16
• 1/2 cup oats $0.13
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.24
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar $0.04
• 1 Focaccia Roll $0.10
• 1/2 Tbsp butter $0.07
• 1 bowl African Peanut Stew $1.06
• 1/2 cup brown rice $0.07
• 1 serving cantaloupe $0.43
• 1 serving Bowties & Broccoli $0.58

9-16 Total $5.06

• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/4 cup milk $0.08
• 1/2 cup oats $0.13
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.24
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar $0.04
• 1 banana $0.22
• 1 serving cantaloupe $0.43
• 1 serving Parsley Pesto Pasta with Blistered Tomatoes (with egg) $2.04
• 1 serving Parsley Pesto Pasta with Blistered Tomatoes (without egg) $1.72

(So, I couldn’t help myself while I was making the Parsley Pesto Pasta, and I pretty much ate a whole serving of the pasta and the blistered tomatoes while I was photographing the process, then ate the finished bowl with the egg after I photographed it. Oops. I was full for the rest of the day after that binge. #foodbloggerproblems)

9-17 Total $2.47

• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/4 cup milk $0.08
• 1 serving cantaloupe $0.43
• 1 small tortilla $0.10
• 1 large egg $0.32
• Dash of sriracha $0.02
• 1 banana $0.22
• 1 bowl African Peanut Stew $1.06
• 1/2 cup brown rice $0.07
• Oyster Bisque & French Bread (FREE – see note)

(A friend of mine is hosting a weekly “Soup and Scary Movie” event every week until Halloween, so I got free soup for dinner!)

9-18 Total $4.50

• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/4 cup milk $0.08
• 1 serving cantaloupe $0.43
• 1 serving Parsley Pesto Pasta with Blistered Tomatoes (with egg) $2.04
• 1 Caramelized Banana and Peanut Butter Quesadilla $0.49
• 1 bowl African Peanut Stew $1.06
• 1/2 cup brown rice $0.07
• 1 Focaccia Roll $0.10
• 1/2 Tbsp butter $0.07

(Yep, Parsley Pesto Pasta for breakfast! I couldn’t get enough of it.)

9-19 Total $3.22

• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/2 cup milk $0.16
• 1/2 cup oats $0.13
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.24
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar $0.04
• 1 banana $0.22
• 1 serving Parsley Pesto Pasta with Blistered Tomatoes (without egg) $1.72
• 1 serving cantaloupe $0.43
• 1 Tbsp peanut butter $0.12

(I woke up really late on Saturday, so my breakfast was kinda my lunch… you know how it goes.)

9-20 Total $3.94

• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/2 cup milk $0.16
• 1/2 cup oats $0.13
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.24
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar $0.04
• 1 serving Parsley Pesto Pasta with Blistered Tomatoes (without egg) $1.72
• 1 serving cantaloupe $0.43
• 1 bowl African Peanut Stew $1.06

9-21 Total $3.46

• 1 serving cantaloupe $0.43
• 1 small tortilla $0.10
• 1 egg $0.32
• Dash sriracha $0.02
• 1 Poor Man’s Burrito Bowl $0.99
• 1 serving Bowties & Broccoli $0.58
• 1 Focaccia Roll $0.10
• 1/2 Tbsp butter $0.07
• 1 small tortilla $0.10
• 1 serving Chili Rubbed Pulled Pork $0.75

Weekly Intake Total: $25.69

Weekly Grocery Total: $28.13

Leftovers

I saved three servings of the African Peanut Stew in the freezer (it was just so filling that some days I chose other things) and, hilariously, I bought cilantro to go on the stew but completely forgot about it. The cilantro is still good as of today, so I’ll be using that in my week four menu. I purchased a bag of carrots at the beginning of the week, thinking that I needed more vegetables in the menu. I planned on seasoning and roasting them, but never got around to it. Luckily carrots stay fresh in the fridge for quite a while, so I’m also going to use them in week four. Other than that, I ate up just about everything that I bought this week! Great job me! Ha.

Reflection

I felt really good about week three. It felt sustainable and that really made me consider moving to this system as my permanent method of shopping and eating. I’m loving raiding my pantry and trying to come up with new recipes to make with what I already have on hand. I thought I would run out of old stuff towards the end of the month, but it turns out I had a lot more stashed in my freezer and pantry than expected! Even into week four (which started today), I’m using up old stuff from before the challenge. That is definitely attributing to my weekly grocery expenses being low.

…And it really makes you think twice about food waste. It’s SO easy to get out of the habit of trying to use every last piece of food, so I’m thankful that I’m doing this challenge because it’s realigning my habits. Yay! I have barely been throwing away anything since the beginning of the challenge. This week all I threw away was a little leftover rice (and I could have frozen that if I had known it wasn’t going to be eaten). That feels GOOD.

On to week FOUR! :D

The post September Challenge 2015: Week 3 Summary appeared first on Budget Bytes.

Wow, week two is finished already! I have to admit, I’m really enjoying the challenge this year. Because the rules for my September Challenge are a little more lax than the SNAP challenge, I’m really having fun with it. Instead of pretending I’m in someone else’s shoes, I’m simply trying to live my life with a smaller grocery budget, and it feels like a game. A game that requires a lot of creativity and problem solving—two things that I LOVE.

Week two started off great. My fridge was full and I had so many options that I really felt rich (I almost took a photo of my fridge because it was so full of delicious things). It was exciting. My food was satisfying and really filled me up. Life was great. I thought I had done a superb job planning my menu for week two. Until…

Something in my menu started causing me extreme stomach pain, like to the point that I wanted to curl up in a ball on my couch and not move. It took until Saturday for me to pinpoint the source of the pain, which ended up being a cucumber (there was a Salmonella outbreak linked to cucumbers last week, although I don’t think that’s what I was experiencing because the symptoms and timing of the pain were different). Anyway, that extreme pain kinda put a huge kink in my menu/eating habits for the week. I also had a house guest, which drastically changed my daily routine, including my eating and exercising habits. But that’s life. You gotta roll with the punches!

Groceries

So what did I buy? Not a whole lot! I didn’t need a lot for the recipes that I chose last week, so I had a little extra wiggle room in my weekly grocery budget.

Romaine lettuce was on sale this week, so I decided to make a simple salad (romaine and cucumber) for my “vegetables”. Other vegetables last week included tomatoes in the marinara and salsa in the burrito bowls. There weren’t really any good deals on fruit this week, so I snagged these oranges for $1.49/lb. Not the best deal, but I didn’t want more bananas. Towards the end of the week I definitely felt like my fruit and vegetable intake was lacking. I don’t think this was really due to budget restrictions, but rather poor planning. Just with any diet, it’s hard to work those fresh items into your plan and get the recommended amount.

(Oops, forgot to put the garlic in the first photo.) I picked up some fresh Italian sausage for one of my recipes and a big pork roast as a “bonus” with my extra wiggle room cash. That’s way more meat than I could eat in a week, so about half of it was saved in the freezer for future weeks.

Also purchased, but not pictured: a jar of salsa. Despite having a grocery list (below), I forgot to grab it, so I picked up a jar a couple days later when I was at Target, for $2.27 (after tax).

And here’s a little peek at what my grocery list and receipt looked like. Such a short grocery list and I STILL forgot the salsa. Ha! #brainfart

I had to stock up on a few staples last week, like tortillas (I ALWAYS have tortillas in my fridge), eggs, garlic, and milk. The price of eggs shot up since the last time I purchased them, but since I had so much meat in my menu this week, I barely ate any.

What I Made

So what did I make with those groceries? Lots of yummy stuff!

Skillet Meatballs and Marinara was my “anchor” meal, if you will. I ate all six servings of this and NEVER got tired of it. Looked forward to it each and every day! (I have a lot of random leftover pasta in my pantry, so I didn’t need to buy any for this recipe.)

Poor Man’s Burrito Bowls were my second meal option for the week. I actually ended up eating this for breakfast a couple of times.These bowls were huge and extremely filling, but you can top them with an egg for more protein, or add a little of this…

Chili Rubbed Pulled Pork is what I made out of that “bonus” pork roast. I ate two half cup servings last week and saved the rest in the freezer for the future. OMG I love this stuff so much. I could have eaten the entire thing.

I also made a VERY simple salad with just romaine lettuce and sliced cucumbers (until I realized that the cucumbers were waging war on my stomach). The lettuce was $1.50 and the cucumber was $0.89, so together, estimating about five salads, the salads were $0.49 a piece. Why five salads? Because I figured I could only keep the lettuce good for about five days. How did I keep it good that long?

After chopping, washing, and draining the lettuce, I popped it into a zip top bag with a layer of paper towels on the bottom. It worked pretty good. I prepared this lettuce on Tuesday, and on Saturday it looked like this:

It’s hard to see in this iPhone photo, but there was a little bit of browning on the edges. I ate one more salad on Sunday, and there was quite a bit more brown that day, so I tossed the rest.

What did I top my salad with? I made a very simple red wine vinaigrette…

To a small blender I added: 1/4 cup canola oil, 1/4 cup olive oil, 1/4 cup red wine vinegar, 1 clove of garlic (crushed), 1/2 Tbsp dried oregano, 1/2 tsp salt, 1 Tbsp Dijon mustard, and some freshly cracked pepper. After blending for a couple seconds I had a delicious homemade salad dressing. The whole batch was about 3/4 cup (12 Tbsp) and about $1.28. So, each 2 Tbsp serving was about $0.22. That’s probably more expensive than a store bought jar of dressing, but I already had everything on hand, so why not use what I have instead of buying something new?

After it’s blended the oil emulsifies and it looks like this. SO delish. If vinegar is a bit harsh for you, a pinch of sugar helps mellow the dressing out a bit.

Oh! I also made some Focaccia Rolls… which are totally addictive. I ate too many, probably.

After these were baked and cooled, I put them in a freezer bag and kept them in the freezer. Then I just took one out at a time and microwaved for 20-30 seconds to warm. That way I don’t have to worry about the whole batch going stale before I can eat them. I’ll be eating the leftovers over the next couple of weeks.

What I Ate

Okay, ready? Here’s the day by day breakdown.

9-8 Total $3.73

• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/2 cup milk $0.16
• 1/2 cup oats $0.13
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.22
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar $0.04
• 1 serving Skillet Meatballs & Marinara $1.33
• 1 Tbsp grated Parmesan $0.10
• 1 orange $0.88
• 1 salad (romaine + cucumber) $0.49
• 2 Tbsp homemade red wine vinaigrette $0.22

(Nothing was eaten after that salad because OUCH, stomach pain.)

9-9 Total $2.94

• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/2 cup milk $0.16
• 1/2 cup oats $0.13
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.22
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar $0.04
• 1 salad (romaine + cucumber) $0.49
• 1 Tbsp homemade red wine vinaigrette $0.11
• 1 serving Skillet Meatballs & Marinara $1.33
• 2 Focaccia Rolls $0.20
• 1 Tbsp butter $0.10

(This was the second day of stomach ache and therefore I didn’t eat much after lunch when the pain kicked in.)

9-10 Total $2.92

• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/2 cup milk $0.16
• 1/2 cup oats $0.13
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.22
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar $0.04
• 1 Poor Man’s Burrito Bowl $0.99
• 1 salad (romaine + cucumber) $0.49
• 2 Tbsp homemade red wine vinaigrette $0.22
• 2 small tortillas $0.20
• 1 oz. cheddar cheese $0.31
• 1 ginger ale (left in my fridge by a friend over the weekend) $0.00

(Thank goodness that ginger ale was in my fridge because I was in PAIN and desperate. The only thing I could stomach was a couple tortillas and a little melted cheese.)

9-11 Total $4.34

• 1 Poor Man’s Burrito Bowl $0.99
• 1/2 cup Chili Rubbed Pulled Pork $0.75
• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/4 cup milk $0.08
• 1 serving Skillet Meatballs & Marinara $1.33
• 1 Focaccia Roll $0.10
• 1/2 Tbsp butter $0.05
• 1 orange $0.88

(I was super hungry in the morning because I hadn’t eaten much the night before, so I had a huge burrito bowl with pulled pork for breakfast – late breakfast. Between that and the meatballs for dinner, I was full for the day!)

9-12 Total $3.99

• 2 eggs $0.64
• salt and pepper $0.05
• 2 Focaccia Rolls $0.20
• 1 Tbsp butter $0.10
• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/4 cup milk $0.08
• 1 salad (romaine, NO cucumber) $0.25
• 2 Tbsp homemade red wine vinaigrette $0.22
• 1 serving Skillet Meatballs & Marinara $1.33
• 1 orange $0.88

(YAY! No pain! Later in the day I was kidnapped, taken on a date, and fed tapas. Challenge or no challenge, when a man buys you tapas, you EAT TAPAS. Lots of tapas.)

9-13 Total $3.91

• 1 Poor Man’s Burrito Bowl $0.99
• 1/2 cup Chili Rubbed Pulled Pork $0.75
• 1 salad (romaine, NO cucumber) $0.25
• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/4 cup milk $0.08
• 2 Tbsp homemade red wine vinaigrette $0.22
• 1 Focaccia Roll $0.10
• 1/2 Tbsp butter $0.05
• 1 serving Skillet Meatballs & Marinara $1.33

(Again, the combo of the large burrito bowl + pork, then the meatball pasta was extremely filling and pretty much did me in for the day. I may have had leftover fullness from the tapas the night before, too.)

9-14 Total $3.44

• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/2 cup milk $0.16
• 1/2 cup oats $0.13
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.22
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar $0.04
• 1 Poor Man’s Burrito Bowl $0.99
• 1 serving Skillet Meatballs & Marinara $1.33
• 1 small tortilla $0.10
• 1 oz. cheddar cheese $0.31

Weekly Intake Total: $25.27

Weekly Receipt Total: $31.31 (Wow! A hair below the $31.50 goal!)

Leftovers

I ate pretty much everything I made this week, except one burrito bowl, which I froze for later consumption. I have a little salad dressing leftover and I might drizzle that over some pasta at some point. I only ate three of the four oranges (boo on me!), so that will carry over to next week. There are a few rolls left in my freezer, so I can use those as future snacks. I also have a couple leftover servings of both the Mexican Lentil Stew and Bowties and Broccoli from week one. The more leftovers I have in my freezer, the more my future menus will have variation! :D

Reflection

While I was very full and happy this week, I definitely didn’t get enough fruits or vegetables. I started to feel a bit weighed down by the end of the week after all those meatballs and pasta. I’ll definitely reconsider my fruit options next week, as well. While the price per pound was on the low side for the oranges (compared to the other fruit that week), each orange weighed a lot, so the money didn’t go far. Better planning ahead! Always learn from your errors. :)

I enjoyed a couple more “freebies” this week, just like last week, and it’s amazing how one free meal or one free ginger ale can change how you feel for a whole day or even a couple days after! That one ginger ale was 190 calories, which truly can be the difference between hungry and not hungry. That one free meal I had on Saturday night gave me enough variety and extra calories to keep me from feeling like I was “wanting” for the rest of the week. So, if you’re just taking the first steps towards refining your grocery budget, cutting back to one meal out per week can still go a long way to keeping yourself satisfied mentally and physically. OR, if you want to do something nice for someone, treating them to lunch or dinner can sometimes do much more than you realize. :)

The post September Challenge 2015: Week 2 Summary appeared first on Budget Bytes.

I can’t believe a whole week of this year’s challenge is already finished! I kind of dreaded doing the challenge, but I’ve already learned a lot from just one week’s worth of mistakes and victories. In the summary below I’ll show you what I bought last week, the recipes I made, a daily breakdown of what I ate, and what hurdles, mistakes, or “wins” I encountered along the way. If you’re just joining me, you can read all about my September Challenge here.

My Plan

Because I only have to feed myself, I planned on making two main recipes for the week that I could alternate for lunch and dinner, plus a side or two to help bulk out my meals and add variety. I don’t really plan breakfast, because I usually stick to oatmeal or eggs, depending on my mood.

The two main recipes I chose this week were Mexican Lentil Stew and Bowties and Broccoli. Both provided a decent amount of vegetables, which was one of my goals for the challenge. I was trying to keep my protein intake a little on the higher side because of the strength training I’ve been doing, but I don’t think I hit that mark this week. I could feel my body wanting meat, or more eggs at least. I ate way too many eggs this week.

I also baked a batch of Everyday Cornbread, which just about saved my life. That simple, no-frills cornbread really helped fill me up and I liked that I could eat it with my Mexican Lentil Stew or with eggs for breakfast in the morning. It was really versatile and really satisfying. I might another batch in week 2.

And then there was oatmeal. Not only did I eat it for breakfast for quite a few of the days, but I also found myself eating it in the evening when I didn’t have much left in my daily budget, but was still hungry. Something about warm, thick oatmeal really fills me up and thankfully it’s super cheap! #win

One of my other goals for this month is to make sure that I get a decent amount of produce. I felt like I had a decent amount of vegetables this week, but wanted to add some fruit to my menu. I bought a personal sized watermelon because they were on sale and a few bananas. There wasn’t much plan to these choices, I just picked what was inexpensive and hoped that I would make myself eat them. *fingers crossed*

Groceries

As I mentioned in the intro to this year’s September Challenge, I’m going to try really hard to use what I have on hand first. Learning to use up your leftovers is a skill that needs to be exercised, and this challenge is the perfect opportunity for me to hone that skill. As I progress through the four weeks of this challenge, I’ll be running out of those leftovers and pantry staples, so most likely get more difficult as I go. Week one was pretty easy, thanks to those leftovers, and I stayed below budget at only $25.

I took a look at the three recipes that I wanted to make and made a list of the things I needed to buy (below left). Luckily, I had a lot of stuff in my fridge, like some half limp celery and old cilantro. The celery and cilantro were about a half day away from being bad, but I used them anyway and scratched them off my list.

Here are some challenges I ran into at the grocery store:

• Missing price tags on the shelf. A few items didn’t have their price listed anywhere, so I had to guess based on past experience. Luckily, I was pretty close.
• I had to estimate the cost of my bulk goods and produce. I don’t really trust the scales that they have in the store, so I had to hope they were accurate and estimate the cost of the goods to keep track of my running total.
• I kept track of my grocery total on my phone’s calculator as I picked up the items from my list. When I was almost at the end, I accidentally cleared out the total and completely lost track. I couldn’t add it back up without back tracking through the entire store to find the prices again, so I had to just estimate instead.
• I WANTED TO EAT EVERYTHING. It was only day one of the challenge, but just knowing that I was restricted made me want everything. Even things that I’d never eat normally. Petit fours? Yes. Cheetos? YES. Potato salad? YES PLEASE NOW. It was crazy.

Here is what the week’s groceries looks like…

It’s not a lot of food, for sure.

What I Ate

So, luckily I had some stuff in my fridge leftover from the week before, like Creamy Spinach Artichoke Pizza, eggs, cream cheese, mozzarella, pitas, and a few tortillas. That stuff helped me fill in the gaps between meals and made up for some of my poor planning. All that stuff is gone now, so I have to make sure to plan better for week two! I also made use of some pantry staples, like sriracha, brown sugar, and peanut butter. So here is all seven days of week one:

9-1 Total $2.57

• 1 large egg $0.27
• 1 small tortilla $0.14
• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella $0.25
• 1 slice Creamy Spinach Artichoke Pizza $0.86
• 1 slice Everyday Cornbread $0.19
• 1 slice Creamy Spinach Artichoke Pizza $0.86

(That pizza is really filling and the “hunger” from the challenge had not yet set in.)

9-2  Total $4.16

• 2 small tortillas $ 0.28
• 2 large eggs $0.54
• 1 oz. cream cheese $0.25
• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/4 cup milk $0.08
• 1 bowl Mexican Lentil Stew $1.33
• 1 slice Everyday Cornbread $0.19
• Watermelon (1/6th of melon) $0.47
• 1 slice Creamy Spinach Artichoke Pizza $0.86

(My appetite increased dramatically from 9-1 to 9-2 because I had worked out really hard. Funny how much exercise impacts hunger.)

9-3  Total: $3.20

• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/4 cup milk $0.08
• 1/2 cup (dry) oats $0.13
• 1 Tbsp peanut butter $0.11
• 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar $0.02
• Watermelon (1/6th of melon) $0.47
• 1 pita $0.33
• 2oz. cream cheese $0.50
• 1 serving Bowties and Broccoli $0.58
• 1/2 cup (dry) oats $0.13
• 1 Tbsp butter $0.10
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar $0.04
• 1/2 banana $0.11

(Yes, I did wrap up that other half of the banana and save it for the next day! LOL)

9-4  Total $3.31

• 2 large eggs $0.54
• 1 slice Everyday Cornbread $0.19
• Sriracha $0.10
• Salt and pepper $0.05
• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/4 cup milk $0.08
• 1 bowl Mexican Lentil Stew $1.33
• 1 slice Everyday Cornbread $0.19
• 1/2 cup (dry) oats $0.13
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.22
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar $0.04
• 1/2 banana $0.11

9-5  Total $4.08

• 2 large eggs $0.54
• 1 slice Everyday Cornbread $0.19
• Sriracha $0.10
• Salt and pepper $0.05
• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/4 cup milk $0.08
• Watermelon (1/6th of melon) $0.47
• 1 serving Bowties and Broccoli $0.58
• 1 bowl Mexican Lentil Stew $1.33
• 1 slice Everyday Cornbread $0.19
• 1/2 cup (dry) oats $0.13
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar $0.02
• 1/2 Tbsp butter $0.05
• 1/2 banana $0.11
• 1/4 cup milk $0.08

9-6  Total: $3.39

• 1/2 cup (dry) oats $0.13
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.22
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar $0.04
• 1/2 banana $0.11
• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/4 cup milk $0.08
• Watermelon (1/6th of melon) $0.47
• 1 slice Everyday Cornbread $0.19
• 1/2 Tbsp butter $0.05
• 1/2 Batch (24 cookies)  Snickerdoodle Cookies (to bring to BBQ) $1.94

(Because I had a big Labor Day BBQ to attend on this day, I ate breakfast at home and then used the remainder of my daily budget to make cookies to bring to the BBQ. I filled up on the potluck style food at the BBQ to last the rest of the day.)

9-7  Total: $3.20

• 1/2 cup (dry) oats $0.13
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.22
• 1 Tbsp brown sugar $0.04
• 1 cup coffee $0.16
• 1/4 cup milk $0.08
• Watermelon (1/6th of melon) $0.47
• 1 bowl Mexican Lentil Stew $1.33
• 1 slice Everyday Cornbread $0.19
• 1 serving Bowties and Broccoli $0.58

(I was still pretty full from the BBQ the night before!)

Weekly Total: $23.91

Receipt Total $25.01

I came in below goal for both totals, so I know I have a little wiggle room to work with next week!

Leftovers

Eating on a strict budget is all about the leftovers. I didn’t eat all of my Mexican Lentil Stew, so a few portions went into the freezer. Those will be nice to fall back on over the next few weeks when I need a change of pace. I also have enough for a few more portions of Bowties and Broccoli that I’ll work into my rotation. The coffee and oats both came with about 30 servings per package, so those two purchases should last me throughout the duration of the challenge.

I divided the Mexican Lentil Stew into seven portions of 1.5 cups each right when I was finished cooking. This helped me keep my portions in check and made sure it would last throughout the week. Once cooled in the fridge, I transferred a few to the freezer.

Lessons

• Having even one splurge meal (like the Labor Day BBQ) can go a LONG way towards killing hunger over the following days.
• Next week I need more protein.
• Having small snacky things, like pita and cheese, are important for those times that I’m hungry, but not hungry enough to eat a whole meal.
• I did not “make myself” eat the watermelon, as intended. A lot of it ended up in the garbage.
• Cheap coffee is better than no coffee. I love my morning routine.
• Carbs make me feel good (the cornbread and bowtie pasta made me happy and satisfied every time).
• Social situations are still tough when working on a super tight budget, but everyone likes cookies and luckily, they’re cheap to make! (there was a great discussion with a lot of fantastic suggestions from readers about what to bring to a potluck in the comments on the September Challenge post. Check it out!)
• Having the time to tally my total each day is very helpful (last year I was too busy to do this daily). That way I knew when I could afford an extra snack and I ended up less hungry in general.
• I still wanted to put butter on everything. When I’m hungry (physically, not mentally or emotionally), I want more calorie dense foods, not more food in general. …and that means butter.
• I definitely need to plan better!

Okay, so week one was hard and I think I only survived thanks to the “cheat day” with the potluck BBQ. Despite that, I’m optimistic about week two and have already done my shopping and begun cooking. It’s going to get more difficult from here on out, but hopefully with the extra practice I’ll also get better. :)

The post September Challenge 2015: Week 1 Summary appeared first on Budget Bytes.

How did September get here so quickly?? For the past month I’ve been trying to decide if I was going to attempt last year’s SNAP Challenge again this year. It was a tough decision because the challenge itself was extremely difficult, but also extremely insightful. In the end, I decided to compromise. It’s not the SNAP challenge, but it’s similar. I’m calling it my “September Challenge”.

Why I’m Not Doing the SNAP Challenge

Last year’s SNAP challenge was hosted by Feeding America, but I noticed that this year they had removed all references to the challenge from their website. I’m not sure why they’re not promoting it this year, but not having them backing the challenge makes it difficult for me to explain the concept of the challenge to those who are unfamiliar (and it also stinks because now all the links in last year’s challenge go nowhere).

I also feel like my life is SO different than it was last year and that I don’t think it’s fair to say that I’m attempting to replicate the experience of someone on food stamps. Not only do I have all the “advantages” that I had last year (walking distance to grocery stores, ample kitchen equipment and pantry staples, a lot of cooking experience, no family to care for, etc.), but I also work from home now. So, yeah. I have all day to plan and cook my budget meals. I think it’s borderline insulting to say that I’m going to try to live like I’m on food stamps, because honestly it’s just not even close.

Last year’s SNAP challenge was incredibly insightful into how hunger affected my mental state (stress, concentration, emotional stability) and the social effects of food restriction. I’m not sure doing the challenge again would produce different effects, so I think for the most part, that aspect would just be a rehash. If you haven’t read through last year’s posts, I highly suggest it because I experienced many unexpected mental and social effects that were quite eye opening.

Why I Still Want To Do a Challenge

Doing the SNAP Challenge last year reconnected me to my roots. This blog was born out of my own personal challenge to eat on $6 or less per day, so going back to a regimented grocery budget helped me refocus the efforts of this blog. Some of my favorite recipes came out of that month of restriction because I was forced to really tap into my creativity.

It also forced me to do more menu planning, which is one of my least favorite tasks. I think that was also beneficial to many of you. Seeing how someone else pairs recipes to form complete meals or even a day’s worth of meals can be very helpful.

I like having the opportunity to show you the full picture – the entire grocery receipt, a photo of all the goods purchased, what was eaten each day, and how much it costs ingredient by ingredient versus the actual grocery receipt. The big picture is very important.

What is the September Challenge?

So here is what I decided to do. I’m going to stick to the $4.50/day, $31/week budget because it truly is a challenge. I’m going to do it for the entire month of September. I’m going to flex my creative muscles and use a mix of old and new Budget Bytes recipes to create weekly menus for myself. I’ll share the new recipes, update the old recipes with new prices and photos, and give you a weekly breakdown of what I ate and what it cost me, as well as any insights or struggles I experienced.

I’m going to take full advantage of things I already have on hand because I believe in reducing waste and I want this to be an exercise in clearing out my pantry. This means that the first week or two may have unusually low grocery bills as I use up my own stockpile, but the grocery bills will go up towards the end of the month as I begin to replenish my staples.

I’m going to use this time to recalibrate my grocery and cooking habits and hopefully come up with some new, very budget minded recipes for all of you.

My September Challenge Goals

• Use plenty of dry beans and whole grains
• Don’t forget about protein (I don’t usually concentrate on protein, but I’m doing a lot of strength training lately and I can feel my body craving it).
• Make sure I get both fruit and vegetables every day
• Make room for coffee in the budget this year! Last year I skipped it because I was afraid it would cost too much.
• NOT BE HUNGRY! (that was the biggest challenge last year and I failed miserably)

I hope this exercise is mutually beneficial to both you and me! Remember to follow me on social media (Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, Instagram) so that you don’t miss links to old recipes that I’ll be updating throughout the month (the first of which will probably be finished tomorrow!).

And as always, feel free to share your thoughts, opinions, and constructive criticism in the comments below. I love hearing what you think!

The post September Challenge 2015 appeared first on Budget Bytes.

I want to do a final wrap up of my experience with the SNAP Challenge to record my overall thoughts and impressions. I learned so much, not only from doing the challenge myself, but from reading the comments, thoughts, and experiences that all of you have shared along the way.

I want to thank all of you for your kindness and support during the challenge. I was really reluctant to do the SNAP challenge because I didn’t like the idea of sharing something so detailed and personal as my daily diet, but the overall response was very positive. You helped me dive deeper into the experience and get so much more than if I had kept it to myself. Thank you!

When I started Budget Bytes in 2009 I was living on less than $4 per day for food (without SNAP benefits), but I have slowly gotten out of that habit over the years. It’s amazing how quickly you forget the techniques and tips to help you stay afloat with so little. I felt as if I was starting over from scratch and had to learn from my mistakes all over again. I’ll start with what I found most challenging:

Biggest Challenges:

• Making myself plan and cook, despite a busy schedule. This step is absolutely crucial to living on a restricted budget, but it’s really tough when you’re busy (and who isn’t?). Sometimes you’re so tired that you don’t want to do anything, even if the consequence means not having anything to eat later. And guess what? I have it easy. I do work a gazillion hours, but I don’t have kids or an extended family to take care. Plus, I have the benefit of reliable transportation, which saves a lot of time and makes daily tasks easier.
• Not knowing if what I cooked will be filling enough or delicious enough. This part is a gamble. You can plan all you want, but you never really know if it’s going to be enough until you’re in the moment. The weeks when I didn’t plan for enough food, I just had to wait it out until the next week when I could plan and cook something new. Cooking can be scary when you only have one shot!
• Not splurging. It’s unbelievable how much power food has over our brains. I always knew it, but never experienced it to the extent that I did during this challenge. One little morsel of food can make or break a day. Food is one of the easiest and most accessible stress relievers, and it’s really challenging when that simple release is not available.
• Dietary variety. Variety means buying more food items, which is really difficult with a restricted budget. Unfortunately, variety is also key to good nutrition. I think variety would increase over time as I built my stockpile of freezer goods, but in the beginning, you’re going to be really restricted. Luckily, I’m used to eating the same thing for multiple days in a row, so mentally it wasn’t that hard. I just knew that nutritionally I was not getting quite what I needed.
• Social restrictions. Food is so embedded in our culture (in all cultures, really), so when you restrict food it restricts your social experiences. Not being able to buy or give food freely can be awkward and I learned to be more sensitive towards others in that regard. By the end of the challenge, I was longing for the freedom to go out to eat with friends and not have to worry about every penny. What a luxury! I’m so much more grateful.

Every time the challenge got difficult, I couldn’t help stopping to think about how easy I actually had it. Here are a few of the luxuries that made my experience so much easier than it probably is for most.

My Advantages:

• A well stocked pantry. I have all the basics, like flour, spices, butter, baking soda, vegetable oil, and the lot. I did have to replenish a few during the challenge, but being able to start out with them made a huge difference. If I was starting from scratch, I would have had to eat super simple things like spaghetti and jarred sauce for a week or two until I was able to build up some of the basics.
• Kitchen equipment. I have pots, pans, a food processor, a knife, cutting boards, baking dishes, etc. If I didn’t, what would I do? PB&J sandwiches? Even buying second hand equipment, it would take a while to acquire these essentials.
• Easy access to grocery stores. I lived four blocks from TWO huge grocery stores and about a mile from a third (Whole Foods). I have reliable transportation and could quickly walk to either, if needed. That is a HUGE luxury. I read comments from readers who would literally have to shop once a month because of poor access to groceries. That is something I definitely took for granted before the challenge.
• Knowlege. I’ve been doing this budget cooking thing for a while. I know basic cooking skills. I know what tastes good and what doesn’t. Even with all this knowledge, I still felt a little anxious not knowing if my recipes would turn out and be edible for a whole week. Imagine if I was very new to cooking. Eek.
• Access to information. You can never underestimate the benefit of internet access. Just last week I learned how to repair my crumbling shower grout, with no prior knowledge. You can go from zero knowledge to well informed in just a few minutes. With videos and picture tutorials, it’s like having an expert teacher at your beck and call.
• Refrigerator and freezer. Not just in my home, but at work. I think a lot of people take this for granted, but there are still a lot of people out there who really don’t have this available. I know several people who only had mini-fridges in their apartment, let alone places to keep a home packed lunch cool at work. Honestly, if I didn’t have that at home, I don’t think I would have survived.
• I’m a small person. My normal calorie needs are somewhere in the range of 1500-1700 per day, so I have the advantage of just not needing a lot of food in general. For people with a higher metabolism (kids, teens, men, people with very physical jobs, or people who are just larger than me in general) would have a much more difficult time.
• Knowing that this was TEMPORARY. Just the knowledge that there was an end in sight made it easier to endure. I had a goal that I could lock eyes on and I knew that if I just made it there, I could let go and be free. If there was no end in sight, the experience would have been a lot more dismal.

Whether the experiment was a success or failure, there were a few things that I hoped to communicate through my experience. Here are a few of those points.

What I Want You to Know

• Hunger can happen to anyone. Your life can change in an instant. You may feel accomplished, stable, responsible, like you’ve got it together, but you don’t know what will happen tomorrow. You may find yourself between a rock and a hard place and in need of assistance to get back on your feet. You don’t know where people have come from or where they are going, or why they might need assistance.
• My experience is not everyone’s experience. I didn’t participate in this challenge to show people how to eat on less than $4 per day. My experience is unique and yours will be, too. I took the SNAP challenge to open a dialog about hunger and refresh my passion for learning how to eat well on a low budget. My technique won’t work for everyone.
• Just because you can make it work, doesn’t mean everyone can. Our lives are all different. We all have different challenges and advantages. Making a restricted budget work takes a lot of dedication no matter who you are, but some factors may be out of your control. If you are able to feed your family on $4 per day, I applaud and admire you! It’s not easy and it takes a lot of work, but please don’t assume that if you can do it, anyone can.
• Working with a restricted budget takes practice. I wasn’t able to perfect it in four weeks and you probably won’t be able to either. Keep at it! As you learn it will get easier and you’ll figure out what works for you.
• Food choices are complex. Making healthy food choices isn’t just a yes or no experience. It’s psychological, physical, social, cultural, and personal. We don’t have the right to judge the food choices of others.
• There’s always more going on behind the scenes than you know. I have to remind myself of this every day and this challenge helped me practice that. It definitely increased my compassion level.

Speaking of compassion, a lot of the feedback I received was full of compassion and I hope that this series has inspired a lot of you to give back and help those in need. Here are some ways you can help.

How You Can Help:

• Volunteer. Give some of your time to a local food bank or soup kitchen. I had to do this as part of my college degree and it was an absolutely invaluable experience. Help is always needed and a little effort goes a long way. I’ve pledged to volunteer with my local food bank after this experience and I hope you will, too!
• Spread the word. Take the SNAP challenge yourself or use social media to bring attention to the issue. It’s easy to sweep unpleasant things under the rug and keeping it at the forefront of our attention can make a big difference.
• Be an advocate. Write your congressman and vote on the issues that count. Visit feedingamerica.org for more ways to be an advocate for the hungry.
• Corporate Opportunities. If you have klout with your corporation, get them involved! It’s a great way to connect with your community and use those excellent corporate resources.

The challenge is finally over, and I have to say I’m a bit relieved. Here is how I feel after the fact.

Now That It’s Over:

• I have to say that I’m really glad that I’m not tethered to my notepad anymore. Recording everything you eat is really tough. Petty, but true.
• The first week after the challenge, I splurged on salads and pizza for a few days straight. It was like I wanted both ends of the spectrum. I was so happy to have tons of fresh, crunchy vegetables, and so glad to have the freedom to eat anything I wanted (pizza). I hit that Whole Foods salad bar like a boss!
• I feel like my Budget Bytes mission is renewed. When I stared Budget Bytes, I shopped once per week and spent about $20-$25 per week. I have slowly gotten out of that habit over the years as my income has increased. Even though I make more money now, I still love the idea of not over spending on food. I don’t like waste, so I’m going to continue to try to plan out my meals and spend less than $30 per week on food. I loved the freedom of only shopping once per week and I look forward to keeping that up.
• I want to find other ways to reduce stress than having a food “treat” or a glass of wine. That’s a tough habit to break, but probably worth it. I have to say that I kind of felt better physically without all of the mindless and stress eating.

I’m sure I missed many points that I wanted to make or bring attention to, but it’s hard to summarize a whole month of experience on one page. Once again, I want to thank all of you for your feedback and support during the process. I might just do this every year!

Thank you!

Read through my experience from beginning to end:

SNAP Challenge Intro

SNAP Challenge Week 1 Summary

SNAP Challenge Week 2 Summary

SNAP Challenge Week 3 Summary

SNAP Challenge Week 4 Summary

The post SNAP Challenge: Final Thoughts appeared first on Budget Bytes.

Last week was one of the most chaotic/stressful/exciting/exhausting weeks of my life and it was also the final week of my SNAP challenge. Going into the week I really wasn’t sure I’d be able to manage grocery shopping and cooking while trying to execute my move into the new house. I wanted so badly to say, “Screw it!” and eat take out all week so that I didn’t have to deal with shopping, cooking, and dirty dishes.

Well, I got my butt to the store and bought groceries, cooked three recipes, and forged ahead. Even after all that effort, I still made several mistakes and missteps throughout the week. I’m bummed that I broke down and ate food outside of my SNAP budget, but even these failures were insightful. They pointed my brain towards more “what if” scenarios that I wouldn’t have thought of otherwise. So, even though I didn’t totally stick to plan in this final week, hopefully you’ll still get something out of the experience like I did.

What Did I Buy?

I based this week’s meal plan off of a single rotisserie chicken, which I later found out isn’t exactly allowed on SNAP benefits (mistake #1). In most cases, hot rotisserie chickens are considered a “prepared food” item and therefore not eligible for purchase using SNAP benefits. In some stores, unsold rotisserie chickens are chilled and sold cold at a discounted price the next day. At that point they’re considered a regular grocery item and then are allowed on SNAP. Confusing, right?

Anyway, I bought some items to make enchiladas with the chicken (tortillas, diced tomatoes, cream cheese, beans), and I was lucky enough to get a BOGO deal on the tortillas (two for the price of one). Extra tortillas were used to make quick cheese quesadillas for snacks or light meals (sometimes with egg). I also picked up some cilantro and a lime to make cilantro lime rice to serve with the enchiladas. I used the other half of the chicken to make chicken noodle soup, so I picked up onion, celery, parsley, and noodles. The soup also allowed me to use up leftover carrots from last week. I bought a single onion rather than the 3lb. bag I usually get because I thought it would be easier with moving, but it made the onion twice as expensive. Ouch.

(Despite having a list with me, I still forgot the celery and lime, so I had to go back to the store a second time. Grrr.)

Although I wasn’t that crazy about the apples as my fruit choice last week, I walked into the store this week there were some amazing fresh fall apples. You know, the kind that have that incredible autumn aroma and are all juicy and crisp? So, I had to get some of those. They were WAY better than last week and only $1.69/lb., so that was good. Shredded cheese was still on sale, so I picked up a bag of that, too, because having a little cheese in my life goes a long way towards happiness (sad, but true).

What did I Make?

I made these amazing Creamy Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas as my main meal. They enchiladas ended up being pretty large, so I was happily filled up with one enchilada plus a side of rice. Each enchilada came to about $1.08.

I made a quick cilantro lime rice to go with the enchiladas. To make this rice I just cooked two cups of white rice with two cloves minced garlic, 3/4 tsp salt, and 3.5 cups water. Then in a small blender I puréed a half bunch of cilantro with 2 Tbsp vegetable oil, fresh lime juice, and some of the lime zest (I didn’t really measure, just winged it). Once the rice was cooked and fluffed, I folded in the cilantro lime purée. It made about 7 cups (fluffed, not packed) and came to about $0.27 per cup.

Lastly, I used the second half of the rotisserie chicken to make a batch of homemade chicken noodle soup. I made my own slow cooker chicken broth, then used my basic Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup recipe (minus the garlic) to make the final soup. The total cost of the soup this time around (including items used to make the broth) was $6.90 and it made about 12 cups, coming to $0.58 per cup. I usually ate about 1.5 cups per sitting.

What Did I Eat?

With such a hectic week, my diet was kind of all over the place. Eating was sporadic and when I did eat, I wanted junk. I can’t say it enough—stress and willpower are not friends.

Day 22

• 1/2 pita $0.17
• 2 large eggs $0.40
• dash of Cajun seasoning $0.02
• 1/4 cup shredded cheese $0.25
• 1 Chicken Enchilada $1.08
• 1 cup Cilantro Lime Rice $0.27

Daily Total: $2.19

Reflection: I barely ate anything today because I was filled with stress and anxiety. I nibbled on a little enchilada filling while cooking the enchiladas, so that probably helped fill me up, too, but I have no idea how to calculate the cost of those miscellaneous spoonfuls or the few pieces of crispy skin that I sneaked off the chicken while pulling the meat.

Day 23

• 2 large eggs $0.40
• 1 tortilla $0.14
• 1/4 cup shredded cheese $0.25
• 1 Chicken Enchilada $1.08
• 1 cup Cilantro Lime Rice $0.27
• Small coffee from the cafe $1.80
• 1/5 cups chicken noodle soup $0.87

Daily Total: $4.81

Reflection: I only had about two hours of sleep the night before (thx, no thx, stress!), so I broke down and bought a coffee at work. I was really bummed to find that it was about 50 cents more than the last time and broke down and bought coffee, but apparently it was a “weekend special” price before. I was surprised at how upset I was over 50 cents, but that’s a lot when you have so little. I managed to make my chicken noodle soup after work, despite the fact that I had to finish packing my apartment before morning. I was SO tired.

Day 24

• 1 tortilla $0.14
• 1/3 cup shredded cheese $0.33
• 1/2 apple $0.40
• 1.5 cups chicken noodle soup $0.87
• 1 Chicken Enchilada $1.08
• 1 cup Cilantro Lime Rice $0.27
• 32 oz. Powerade and small bag of chips $1.95

Daily Total: 5.04

Reflection: MOVING DAY! In my sleepy stupor last night I forgot to leave a dish and a fork/spoon unpacked to eat my breakfast with. I really wanted to go pick up breakfast somewhere, but I just melted some cheese in a tortilla and ate half an apple instead (no dishes or utensils required!). Crisis averted. Later in the day, when I was making one of my 200 trips between my apartment and house, I realized I was deathly dehydrated and needed a beverage, like NOW. I broke down, stopped at the store, and picked up a Powerade (interesting: the 32 oz. was half the price of the 20 oz. bottle). At the register, I caved AGAIN and grabbed a bag of chips. *sigh* Can you buy chips and a drink on SNAP? Probably not. What would I have done if I didn’t have $1.95 to splurge on that? Drive all the way back to get some water so I didn’t faint?

Day 25

• 1 tortilla $0.14
• 1/3 cup shredded cheese $0.33
• 1/2 cup yogurt $0.41
• 1/2 Tbsp honey $0.06
• Coffee & Donut from hospital cafeteria $1.88
• 1 Chicken Enchilada $1.08
• 1 cup Cilantro Lime Rice $0.27
• 1.5 cups Chicken Noodle Soup $0.87
• 1/3 cup shredded cheese $0.33
• 1/2 apple $0.40

Daily Total: $5.91

Reflection: Pain. My whole body was in pain from moving and having next to no sleep. I broke out of the challenge again today with a coffee and donut from the cafeteria at work. Obviously I wouldn’t have been able to buy this with SNAP benefits, but I swear I felt like I wasn’t going to make it through the day without it. That one little coffee and jelly donut totally changed everything. It made me realize just how much food impacts our mood and ability to function. I can only imagine that working 2 (or more?) jobs and consistently not getting enough food would probably lead to a very poor disposition very quickly. Yet there are still some people that manage to stay positive and optimistic. I don’t know how they do it.

Day 26

• 1/3 cup oat bran $0.25
• 1/2 Tbsp butter $0.08
• 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar $0.02
• breakfast from the hospital cafeteria (eggs, sausage, biscuit, coffee) $3.34
• 1 Chicken Enchilada $1.08
• 1 cup Cilantro Lime Rice $0.27
• 1/2 apple $0.40

Daily Total: 5.44

Reflection: I woke up optimistic. The first few days of this week were rough, but I wanted to get back on track. I ate a good breakfast, packed my lunch, then accidentally LEFT MY LUNCH AT HOME. ARG! A little panic set in when I realized I left it sitting on the kitchen counter, so I had to improvise. Honestly, if I only had SNAP benefits, I probably would have just gone hungry until I got home from work. I didn’t have the strength to do that, so I paid “out of pocket” for a meal at work. Lunch from the cafeteria is easily $5-$7, so I decided to minimize the damage by getting breakfast instead. Eggs, sausage, biscuit, AND coffee only cost me $3.34 and that kept me full till I got home later in the afternoon. But, where would that money actually come from if this was real? Would that be half of my laundry money for the week? Would that mean putting off filling up my gas tank for a day or two and having to ask a friend for a ride to work? It would, without a doubt, mean sacrificing somewhere else, so maybe I would rather just go hungry until I got home. Even small missteps can have big consequences when you don’t have a lot to work with.

Also, I was sad that I had to throw away a whole serving of enchilada and rice because it sat on my kitchen counter all day. (Oh, and funny story… I accidentally sprinkled sugar all over my eggs instead of salt. You bet I ate them anyway!)

Day 27

• 1 tortilla $0.14
• 1 large egg $0.20
• 1/2 cup shredded cheese $0.33
• 1.5 cups Chicken Noodle Soup $0.87
• 1 Chicken Enchilada $1.08
• 1 cup Cilantro Lime Rice $0.27
• 1/2 apple $0.40

Daily Total: 3.29

Reflection: The week is almost over and the stress is finally starting to float away. Now that my mind is clearing, the hunger is coming back. I’m dying to go out to eat and really indulge. I want vegetables. Tons of fresh vegetables. I don’t think this week’s plan had enough vegetables. Looking forward to the end of the challenge makes me realize that this might be a LOT easier just because I know it’s not forever. If there was no end in sight, I’m sure my outlook would be much more grim.

Day 28

• 1 tortilla $0.14
• 1 oz. cream cheese $0.19
• 1 large egg $0.20
• 1 apple $0.80
• 1 Chicken Enchilada $1.08
• 1 cup Cilantro Lime Rice $0.27
• 1.5 cups Chicken Noodle Soup $0.87

Daily Total: 3.55

Reflection: Day seven of the week is always hardest because the monotony of the meals is at its peak. In the end, though, if you’re hungry, you’re just happy to have food. So, I ate my last enchilada and rice happily.

Final Reflection

Total Consumed: $30.23

Grocery Total: $28.50

Total Cost of Non-Grocery Foods: $7.17

My big take away lesson this week was how much those little impulse food buys can change your mood or the course of a day. On the days that I went outside of the rules of the challenge, those little perks completely changed my mood and energy level. I think we take those things for granted. Even if you don’t try the whole SNAP Challenge, I think it’s an interesting experience to not allow yourself any type of snack or impulse food buy for a day or week (three straight meals and nothing between). You really get a sense of how food impacts your daily life on subconscious levels.

Read through my experience from beginning to end:

SNAP Challenge Intro

SNAP Challenge Week 1 Summary

SNAP Challenge Week 2 Summary

SNAP Challenge Week 3 Summary

SNAP Challenge Week 4 Summary

SNAP Challenge Final Thoughts

The post SNAP Challenge: Week 4 Summary appeared first on Budget Bytes.

For the entire month of September, I’ll be participating in the SNAP Challenge and attempting to eat on $4.50 per day. Read more here.

**UPDATE: Well, I overlooked the fact that you can’t buy rotisserie chicken with SNAP benefits! You can, however, buy a fresh chicken and roast a home if you have time. There are links throughout the post on how to roast your own chicken, if needed.**

I’m back! I’ve completed the move to my new house, my internet is hooked up, and I can finally update week four of the SNAP Challenge. I was worried about not having time to cook before packing up my apartment, but I made it work. I was able to whip up these enchiladas in just a short amount of time and they helped keep me fed all week through the tough move.

For these enchiladas I utilized the convenience of a grocery store rotisserie chicken. Roasting a chicken at home is actually quite easy, but you have to have a little time on your hands. If you’re short on time or too intimidated to do it yourself just yet (promise me you’ll try it eventually), grocery store rotisserie chickens can be a good option. Sometimes they’re the same price or even slightly less expensive than fresh chickens and all the work is done for you. Just make sure to price compare. My chicken was $6.99 and I used half of the meat (about two cup, loosely packed) to make the enchiladas. I’ll explain how I used the rest of the chicken, including the carcass, in the week summary. ;)

I made a quick and easy creamy red sauce similar to the sauce used for this Creamy Tomato and Spinach Pasta, except I used canned tomatoes with green chiles for a southwest flavor. I then added my usual can of black beans and a cup of frozen corn (I just love that combo) to fill out the enchiladas and stretch the meat a bit further. I quickly made a batch of my favorite red enchilada sauce to pour over top (seriously, only takes about ten minutes) and then they were ready to go in the oven. Pretty easy!

Creamy Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas

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SNAP Challenge: Creamy Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas

These enchiladas are filled with a creamy southwest sauce, shredded chicken, black beans, and sweet corn. A homemade enchilada sauce brings it all together.

Total Cost $8.62 recipe / $1.08 serving

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 15 minutes

Servings 8 enchiladas

Author Beth - Budget Bytes

Ingredients

• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil $0.02
• 2 cloves garlic $0.16
• 15 oz can diced tomatoes with green chiles $0.73
• 4 oz cream cheese $0.75
• 2 cups shredded chicken (about 1/2 of a rotisserie chicken) $3.50
• 15 oz can black beans $0.89
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels $0.60
• 1/2 tsp cumin $0.05
• 8 soft taco sized 8 inch tortillas $1.12
• 1 batch homemade red enchilada sauce (about 2 cups) $0.80

Instructions

• Mince the garlic and sauté it in a large skillet with vegetable oil over medium heat for one to two minutes, or until slightly softened. Add the can of diced tomatoes with green chiles and let simmer for about 5 minutes, or until the tomato liquid has reduced by about half and become slightly thick.
• Cut the cream cheese into chunks and stir it into the tomato mixture. The sauce will become smooth and creamy as the cheese melts in.
• Rinse and drain the can of black beans, then add them to the skillet along with the frozen corn kernels, shredded chicken, and cumin. Stir to combine. Taste the filling and add salt if needed.
• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Scoop about 1/3 to 1/2 cup of the creamy chicken mixture into each tortilla and roll it up like a cigar. Place the filled and rolled tortillas into a 9x13 inch casserole dish, seam side down.
• While the oven is preheating, make a batch of homemade red enchilada sauce (or use canned), then pour it over the enchiladas in the casserole dish (you may or may not use all the sauce, it's up to you). Bake the dish in the preheated oven for 40 minutes or until the sauce is bubbly and the edges of the tortillas are slightly brown and crispy.

Notes

Flour or corn tortillas may be used. Corn tortillas are usually smaller, so this recipe would yield about twice as many small enchiladas using corn tortillas.

Step by Step Photos

I used about half of the meat from one grocery store rotisserie chicken for this recipe. I was able to pull about four loosely packed cups of meat from one chicken. I find the meat easier to pick when it’s chilled, so I just popped it into the refrigerator when I got home from the grocery store. If you want to roast your own chicken instead, you can find great instructions at thekitchn.com.

I divided the chicken in two, about two loosely packed cups each. I froze half for use in a second recipe later.

To begin the enchiladas, mince two cloves of garlic then sauté them in one tablespoon of vegetable oil over medium heat for one to two minutes, or until the garlic is softened and slightly fragrant.

Next, add one can of diced tomatoes with green chiles. This is the generic version of Rotel. If you can’t find Rotel or a generic version at your local grocery store, you can sub one 15-oz. can of regular diced tomatoes and one 4-oz. can of diced green chiles (usually found in the ethnic food aisle). Add the can of tomatoes to the skillet and let it simmer for about five minutes, or until some of the liquid has evaporated and it’s a little thicker.

Next you’ll need 4 ounces (half a block) of cream cheese. Cut the cream cheese into pieces so that it melts into the sauce easier.

Stir the cream cheese into the tomatoes until it melts in. It will look a little chunky to begin with, but as it melts it will become smooth…

Like this!

Rinse and drain one 15-oz. can of black beans, then add them to the skillet with two cups of shredded chicken. one cup of frozen corn kernels.and 1/2 tsp of cumin.

Mix it all up and now you’ve got a creamy and delicious chicken enchilada filling. (taste the sauce and add salt if needed. I didn’t add any to mine, but that’s personal preference.)

Fill your tortillas with the chicken mixture, then roll them up like cigars. The amount of filling and number of enchiladas you get will depend on what size tortillas you buy. I prefer smaller tortillas for enchiladas, but these particular tortillas were buy one get one free this week, so I hopped on that. There is a lot of filling, so I was able to make eight large enchiladas.

Place the filled and rolled enchiladas into a large (9×13 inch) casserole dish, seam side down. 

Start preheating the oven to 350 and whip up a batch of red enchilada sauce while you wait (or use canned, but this homemade sauce is FAR superior). That recipe makes about two cups of sauce and you may or may not use all of it on the enchiladas, just depending on how saucy you like them.

Pour the sauce over the enchiladas and pop them in the oven for about 40 minutes, or until the sauce is bubbly and the edges of the tortillas are a little brown and crispy.

I poured the remainder of my sauce over top when they came out of the oven and I happened to have some cilantro in the fridge, so I threw that on there for the photo’s sake. As I mentioned, these were fairly large so I ate one per sitting along with a big helping of some cilantro lime rice. 

I never get sick of enchiladas!

The post SNAP Challenge: Creamy Chicken and Black Bean Enchiladas appeared first on Budget Bytes.

It’s funny how three days into this challenge I couldn’t wait for it to be over, but now that I’ve completed three weeks I feel totally in the groove and like I could possibly do this long term… well… I could do this long term with a couple of liberties. Week three felt like I was just going through the motions of the challenge, without many new revelations. That might be because my mind was so preoccupied with house and mortgage stuff that food just wasn’t even on my radar, but there were a few times during the week that the challenge was a challenge. More on that later. First, let’s take a look at what I planned for the week.

What Did I Buy?

I planned another pasta dish for this week, so I got the ingredients for that (sausage, pasta, tomato products) and I knew I wanted to make a stir fry with my left over cabbage, so I got some extra items for that as well (ramen, cilantro, carrots, green onions, bell pepper). Pita has been serving me well, so I happily bought that again. There weren’t any good prices on fruit this week, so I had to settle for three apples and planned to eat a half apple per day. That’s not much, but at least it’s something. I also had to make room in my budget for a few staple items this week: eggs, pepper, and crushed red pepper.

Just a few days into the week I knew my recipes weren’t quite filling me up the way that I wanted (the way that week 2’s chili pasta did), so I scrambled and bought a couple extra items to make a quick pizza. I had everything I needed at home except some sauce and a few veggies for the topping, which I grabbed off the salad bar. I have to say, going to the grocery store only once per week is one of the major good points of this challenge. Somewhere along the way over the past couple of years I let my hectic schedule get in the way and gotout of the habit of shopping only once per week. I didn’t realize how stressful it really is to have to stop two or three times per week just to pick up a few items. The little bit of planning it takes to make sure I only have to go once per week is a total time and stress saver.

What Did I Make

My main dish this week was Penne Pasta with Sausage and Greens. It was totally delicious and I never got sick of it, even after eating it for six days in a row. That’s a winner. BUT, it wasn’t quite as thick and filling as the One Pot Chili Pasta from last week.

I portioned out six containers, then put the leftovers in a larger container (I only have six smaller containers). A friend came over and I offered the leftovers to him, which unfortunately left me with only six days worth of pasta. I wasn’t worried about it at the time because I love to share, but when day seven rolled around, I was hungry and there was no pasta to be eaten.

My secondary meal was this Vegetable Stir Fry with Noodles. SO good and full of vegetables. I was really surprised at how much I liked the leftovers. I expected them to be not so good, limp vegetables and the whole lot. Well, the softened vegetables were actually pretty good and a little easier on my stomach, so I win!

A few days into the challenge, I wasn’t feeling quite as full as week 2, so I used what I had and made a pizza. I used the same technique as the No Knead Pan Pizza, except I did it on a flat pizza pan and made it larger instead of making it smaller and thicker like a pan pizza. I bought more toppings this time around, too, so my total pizza cost came to $4.09 and with eight pieces, $0.51 per piece.

As usual, I ate oat bran or eggs for breakfast and filled in the gaps with things like pita and peanut butter or stove top pop corn.

What Did I Eat?

Day 15

• 1/2 cup yogurt $0.41
• 1 serving pineapple (from week 2) $0.50
• 2 Tbsp oat bran $0.12
• 1 serving Penne Pasta with Sausage and Greens $1.32
• 1 serving Vegetable Stir Fry with Noodles $0.74
• 1/2 apple $0.40
• 1/2 red bell pepper (from week 2) $0.13
• 1 oz. feta $0.43

Daily Total: $4.55

Reflection: Wow, this was the first time I went over the $4.50 daily goal! It doesn’t even look like a lot of food. It’s a good reminder of how some foods are so much more cost effective than others. Some of my other days I fill my whole notebook page with things that I ate and still come in under $4, while this list only took up half the page.

Day 16

• 1/3 cup oat bran $0.25
• 1/2 Tbsp butter $0.08
• 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar $0.02
• dash of cinnamon $0.03
• 1 Tbsp sliced almonds $0.18
• 1 serving Penne Pasta with Sausage and Greens $1.32
• 1 serving pineapple $0.50
• 1 serving Vegetable Stir Fry with Noodles $0.74
• 1/2 apple $0.40

Daily Total: $3.52

Reflection: The cabbage in the stir fry really upset my stomach today and I panicked a little thinking that I wouldn’t be able to eat it for the rest of the week. That’s a lot of groceries to waste and I didn’t have funds to replace the recipe with something new. What was I supposed to do? What do people do when they’ve spent all of their money on a recipe and then it turns out inedible? You’re just screwed? I guess you’re just always one step away from starving.

Day 17

• 2 large eggs $0.40
• 1 whole pita $0.34
• 1 serving Penne Pasta with Sausage and Greens $1.32
• 1/2 apple $0.40
• 1/2 pita $0.17
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.26
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil $0.04
• 1/4 cup popcorn kernels $0.04
• 1 Tbsp butter $0.15
• dash Cajun seasoning $0.05
• 1/2 cup yogurt $0.41
• 1 Tbsp sliced almonds $0.18
• 1 tsp honey $0.06

Daily Total: $3.87

Reflection: I skipped the vegetable stir fry because all that cabbage gave me a stomach ache the day before, and it left me absolutely starving today. I ate a lot of snacky type things to try to squash my hunger. The pita/peanut butter/apple sandwich was pretty awesome, but I knew I needed to make something to tide me over for the rest of the week. I remembered that I had a bag of shredded cheese in the freezer from last week’s grocery haul, so I decided to make a pizza the next day.

Day 18

• 2 large eggs $0.40
• 1/2 pita $0.17
• 1 Tbsp mayonnaise $0.10
• 1 serving Penne Pasta with Sausage and Greens $1.32
• 1 serving Vegetable Stir Fry with Noodles $0.74
• 3 pieces pizza $1.53

Daily Total: $4.26

Reflection: I decided to give the stir fry another chance and I’m glad I did! The vegetables had softened in the fridge and they were much more kind on my stomach. Now I LOVED the stuff and couldn’t get enough. I had started the dough for the pizza the night before, so I went ahead and made it anyway. It was pizza and pizza is good, so I ate three big pieces. YUM. It’s hard not to go overboard with pizza, but I knew I needed to ration it out for the remaining days of the week.

Day 19

• 1/3 cup oat bran $0.25
• 1/2 Tbsp butter $0.08
• 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar $0.02
• dash of cinnamon $0.03
• 1 serving Penne Pasta with Sausage and Greens $1.32
• 3 slices pizza $1.53
• 1/2 apple $0.40

Daily Total: 3.63

Reflection: Awwww yeaaaahhhhh. PIZZA! Pizza makes me feel good. I had planned to limit myself to two pieces per day and stretch it out over four days, but that totally didn’t happened. In other news, I closed on my house today and I really, really wanted to go out, celebrate, and have drinks with friends. I’m pretty sad that I couldn’t properly celebrate such a huge life event, but that’s reality, isn’t it? Also, my neighbors had a BBQ and not having funds to bring something to gathering makes you feel awkward. You don’t want to show up empty handed and you don’t want to decline the invitation, so you’re just kind of stuck. I think I’ll be more sensitive to hidden reasons why people might decline social invitations in the future.

Day 20

• 1/2 cup yogurt $0.41
• 1 tsp honey $0.06
• 1 Tbsp oat bran $0.25
• 1 serving Penne Pasta with Sausage and Greens $1.32
• 2 slices pizza $1.02
• 1/2 pita $0.17
• 2 Tbsp peanut butter $0.26
• 1 small coffee (from a coffee shop) $1.38

Daily Total: $4.87

Reflection: When I woke up today I felt like I had been run over by a truck. I think the stress and chaos of yesterdays events (closing on the house early and unexpectedly) finally hit. I was working the weekend shift and desperately needed a coffee to get me going. It’s been surprisingly easy to give up coffee for this challenge, but today I needed it like my life depended on it. Let me just tell you, I usually dislike the coffee from the hospital coffee shop, but that day it was the best coffee ever! It was worth eating up a large portion of my daily budget. It helped me make it through my work day instead of crawling under my desk and falling asleep. It’s just not a liberty that can be taken every day.

Day 21

• 1/2 pita $0.17
• 2 large eggs $0.40
• 1/4 cup shredded cheese $0.25
• 1 serving Curried Chickpeas with Spinach (frozen from week 1) $0.85
• 1/2 pita $0.17
• 1/2 apple $0.40
• 1 serving Vegetable Stir Fry with Noodles $0.74
• 1/4 cup popcorn kernels $0.09
• 1 Tbsp vegetable oil $0.04
• Dash Cajun seasoning $0.05

Daily Total: $3.16

Reflection: It was the last day of week 3 and I didn’t have any pasta OR pizza left. Thankfully, I had one little serving of curried chickpeas (from week 1) in the freezer. If I hadn’t had that, then what? I guess I’d be eating plain pasta with butter and salt or whatever else I could find in the back of my pantry. Living on such a restricted budget is definitely all about the planning and if you get it wrong, you pay.

Final Reflection

Total Consumed: $27.86

Grocery Total (tax incl.): 26.96

My mind wasn’t really in the challenge this week because of all the things going on in my personal life, but the restriction still had an impact on my lifestyle. Most notably, how it impacts celebrations and social gatherings. Food is such an integral part of our culture and it’s hard to take that out of the equation. I know now that I want to be as generous as possible with people around me because I don’t know what might be going on behind the scenes and when times are tough, even small gestures are extremely appreciated.

Read through my experience from beginning to end:

SNAP Challenge Intro

SNAP Challenge Week 1 Summary

SNAP Challenge Week 2 Summary

SNAP Challenge Week 3 Summary

SNAP Challenge Week 4 Summary

SNAP Challenge Final Thoughts

The post SNAP Challenge: Week 3 Summary appeared first on Budget Bytes.

Remember that head of purple cabbage from week one of the SNAP Challenge? Well, to my surprise, it still hadn’t gone rotten. Sure, it was a little discolored on the open/cut surface, but I just sliced a thin 1/4 inch off the front, peeled off a couple outer leaves, and it was as good as new! Not wanting to let my precious vegetable to go to waste, I made that purple cabbage into a colorful, delicious, and super easy Vegetable Stir Fry with Noodles.

I bought a couple extra vegetables to add to the stir fry (carrots, green bell peppers, green onion, and cilantro) and used an onion that I already had on hand. In interest of making this stir fry as simple as possible, I made the most basic of basic sauces (just like the sauce on the famous Dragon Noodles) with just soy sauce, brown sugar, sriracha, and some corn starch for thickness. Cook everything up in a super hot skillet and you have an amazingly fast veggie-full meal.

If you’re not into ramen noodles (I know someone is about to leave me a comment about how ramen is the devil), you can spoon the sauced up stir fry vegetables over a bowl of warm rice. That would be just as awesome and just as cheap (maybe even more so)!

I wasn’t expecting this stir fry to hold well in the refrigerator all week, but I have to admit, I kind of like the refrigerated leftovers. The colors definitely aren’t as vibrant after a day or so and everything turns kind of violet from the purple cabbage, but the sauce gets all thick, the vegetables soften a bit more, and it almost tastes kind of rich. If you’re really put off by soft noodles, you may not like the leftovers as much, but I’ve totally been digging them!

For the entire month of September, I’ll be participating in the SNAP Challenge and attempting to eat on $4.50 per day. Read more here.

Vegetable Stir Fry with Noodles

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SNAP Challenge: Vegetable Stir Fry with Noodles

This colorful vegetable stir fry with noodles is packed with vegetables and drenched in a salty sweet sauce. Fast, easy, and customizable.

Total Cost $4.46 recipe / $0.74 serving

Prep Time 15 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 25 minutes

Servings 6 about 1.25 cups each

Author Beth - Budget Bytes

Ingredients

• 2 Tbsp vegetable oil $0.04
• 1/2 head purple cabbage $0.91
• 2 green bell peppers $1.00
• 2 carrots $0.27
• 1 yellow onion $0.42
• 2 -3 oz bricks ramen noodles $0.54
• 1/4 cup soy sauce $0.40
• 3 Tbsp brown sugar $0.05
• 2 Tbsp Sriracha or less $0.18
• 1 Tbsp cornstarch $0.04
• 3 green onions, sliced $0.33
• handful cilantro (optional) $0.28

Instructions

• Remove the core and any wilted outer leaves from the cabbage, then cut it into very fine strips. Cut the onion and green bell pepper into thin strips as well. Use a large holed cheese grater to shred the carrots.
• In a small bowl prepare the sauce by stirring together the soy sauce, brown sugar, sriracha, and corn starch.
• Begin to cook the noodles according to the package directions (boil for 3 minutes, or until tender). Drain the cooked noodles in a colander.
• Heat the vegetable oil over medium high heat in a large skillet until it is hot and shimmering. Add the vegetables and sauté for only a few minutes, or until the vegetables just begin to soften. Pour the prepared sauce into the skillet and continue to sauté for one to two minutes more, or until the sauce has thickened and coated all of the vegetables. Turn off the heat.
• Add the cooked and drained noodles to the stir fried vegetables and toss to combine. Top with sliced green onions and a handful of fresh cilantro, if desired.

Step by Step Photos

Begin by preparing your vegetables. The cooking process is fast, so you need to have it all prepped ahead of time and ready to go. I used 1/2 head of purple cabbage, 2 green bell peppers, 2 carrots, and one  yellow onion.

Cut the cabbage, onion, and bell pepper all into thin strips and use a large holed cheese grater to shred the carrot.

Prepare the sauce ahead of time, too, so it’s ready to pour in when you need it. In a small bowl stir together 1/4 cup soy sauce, 3 Tbsp brown sugar, 1 Tbsp cornstarch, and about 2 Tbsp sriracha (less if you’re not that into hot stuff, but you want at least some because it provides the acidic vinegar element to balance the sauce).

Cook two 3-oz. bricks of ramen noodles according to the package directions (boil for three minutes), then drain in a colander. I broke the bricks in half so that the noodle strings wouldn’t be quite so long. Long noodles are really hard to stir in and combine with chunky ingredients, like the vegetables. Shorter strands combine easier.

Heat two tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil and skillet are very hot (the oil should look shimmery or wavy on the surface, but not smoking), add the vegetables and sauté for a few minutes, or JUST until they begin to soften. They’ll continue to cook a little more in the next couple of steps, so you don’t want to over cook at this point.

Pour the sauce over the vegetables and sauté for one to two minutes more, or just until the sauce has thickened and coated all of the vegetables.

Finally, stir in the cooked ramen until it is well combined with the vegetables and coated in the sauce.

Top the stir fry with sliced green onions and a handful of cilantro (if desired). Enjoy!

Colorful, delicious, easy, and INEXPENSIVE. :D

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