My Top 20 Must Have Foods on a Tight Budget

Grocery stores are scary. There's so much to choose from, and so little that's healthy. Hey, I'm not overly obsessive about what I eat...okay, well maybe a little. That has to do with a food sensitivity list that makes shopping difficult and decades of less than stellar health. Another story...

This time I went with a different focus. How would I shop if my budget was as limited as Sean Calleb's for the month?

And the 31 million others on food stamps.

And the millions of others not on food stamps who still struggle to feed themselves and their families.

My mission? Find the most nutritional bang for my buck...my $176.

Here's my top 20 list, not in any particular order.

1. carrots. Eat them raw with peanut butter dip or in salads; sneak them into meatloaf, spaghetti sauce, or soups. Vitamins A, C, E; protein; selenium; calcium...
2. chicken. So many ways to prepare this protein-packed food. Whole legs, big package. Protein, vitamin B6, niacin; selenium, phosphorus...
   
3. brown rice. Good source of fiber, magnesium, selenium, vitamin B6, manganese...and helps fill bellies.
4. celery. Again, eat raw with peanut butter, add to salads, meatloaf, sauces, and soups. Vitamins C, A, Bs; fiber, folate...
5. onions. Adds flavor to soups, sauces, sandwiches, quiches. Vitamin A, C; calcium, potassium...
6. dried beans. So many kinds, so cheap, so filling, so many uses. Protein, vitamins, fiber.
7. eggs. Omelets, frittatas, quiches; deviled (with celery, carrots, onions); hard-boiled. Protein, vitamin Bs, especially B12, choline, A, D; selenium, lutein, riboflavin...
8. cabbage. Shred for salads, stir-fry, sandwiches; use leaves as a bowl for salads. Vitamins A, C, B6; potassium, calcium; fiber...
9. sweet potato. Baked or mashed with butter and cinnamon (but no sugar!), soup, fries. Vitamins A, C; potassium, calcium, and, with the skins, lots of fiber...
10. ground beef. Meat loaf, meat balls (sneak in lots of finely chopped veggies); add to soups, frittatas, casseroles. Protein, iron...
11. bananas. As is; with peanut butter; quick breads, cookies (use honey, whole wheat flour); salads. Potassium, fiber, vitamin c...
12. apples. Use like bananas; bake, stuffed with raisins, cinnamon; sauteed; sauced. Vitamins A, C; potassium, fiber...
13. fish. baked, sauteed; leftovers in salads. Protein, omega 3 fatty acids...
14. tomatoes, canned. Chopped tomatoes can be added to soups, frittatas, casseroles; made into sauce; baked stuffed with leftover chicken, beef, beans. Vitamin A, calcium, potassium...
15. oatmeal. The big box of regular oats. Add banana or apple slices and you have a filling, nutritious breakfast. Protein, iron, fiber...
16. cheese. It takes just a little to add flavor to eggs, sandwiches, salads; grate onto oatmeal. Calcium, protein.
17. broccoli. Sauteed, raw in salads, steamed a baked sweet potato; add to soups, casseroles, salad. Protein, calcium, iron, vitamin C...
18. peanut butter. This is where I splurge on natural. I don't want sugar or hydrogenated oils added to an otherwise healthy protein and fat. Niacin, magnesium, maganese...
19. olive oil. All around cooking, baking, and salad oil. Heart healthy fat. Many other uses outside of the kitchen.
20. butter. Another healthy fat. Adds flavor to so many foods. Vitamins D, E, K; calcium, lecithin, lauric acid (fights candida), CLA...

Most of these foods are on the outside aisles of the store. That's where to shop...

I also have a list of things that I would avoid, that have little or no nutritional value and cost too much. I'll get to that next.

And, I have a list of herbs, spices, and teas that are pantry mainstays. On a strict budget, just starting out, these might be tough to add all at once. I'll get to that later.

Grocery stores still are scary. I've developed blinders to keep me away from the cheese doodles and brownie mix. I ignore the cereals, processed-almost-anything, sodas...I don't even know how those are foods, but that's also for another post.

Hope these are helpful. Anyone have any other foods they'd add?

Blessings,

Judy

Sean Callebs Suffers Diet Coke Withdrawal...That's a Good Thing

Sean Callebs is on Day 4 of his journey. So far, the biggest challenge he's had is withdrawal from Diet Coke.

Been there. It took a good part of a year for my husband and I to wean ourselves from soft drinks. But the benefits are worth the temporary symptoms. Consider the evidence:

• diet soft drinks to not promote weight loss...just look at the people who buy them
  
• most diet drinks are sweetened with aspartame, which breaks down into two toxins regulated by the EPA...formic acid, and, wait for it, formaldehyde
  
• soft drinks robs calcium from your bones...the result? osteoporosis or other bone disorders
  
• soft drinks are acidic and most experts think that acidity is the major cause of illness

Hey, there's more, but that should be scary enough. I haven't even mentioned the caffeine and aluminum can or plastic bottle the stuff comes in.

If your food budget is getting tighter by the week, giving up Diet Coke and all other sodas should be your top priority. There's simply no room for these over-hyped, addicting drinks in your budget. Do your family's health a favor.

Instead...

• For about $.10 a day, $3.00 or so of your monthly budget, you can buy a big box of tea...regular, green, or herbal(If you're using a bag per cup of tea, it's okay to re-use...no one's looking)
• For another $.10 a day, you can buy a bag of lemons (lemon juice is less expensive, but it doesn't have the alkaline effect of a fresh lemon) and add a thin slice to your tea for the extra vitamin C, flavor, and pH balancing so important to your health
  
• If you do buy a bottle of juice (100% juice), cut it with water to reduce the amount of sugar per serving

So, Callebs, rejoice. Your new awareness will affect your health in a good way.

Blessings,
Judy

How you can live nutritiously on a food budget of $6.25 a day...

Sean Callebs, CNN reporter, is on an adventure of sorts.

For the next 30 days, he'll live on a food budget of $176.

This is the amount provided a single person by the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) in Louisiana. It's not meant, officials said, to be the sole source of food funding, but for the 1 out of 6 people in this state on food stamps, I wonder how many have additional food resources.

Callebs worked with a woman who has been on and off the program and feeds herself and two small children. She said that most low income families have little nutritional knowledge and someone once asked her if potato chips were a vegetable. She shopped with the reporter and gave him some hints about how to spend his money for the best bang.

But I was surprised by some of her choices...

• canned tuna
  
• packaged macaroni and cheese
• instant mashed potatoes
• individual packets of oatmeal
• canned vegetables
  

and some of the comments he made at the end of his video story and on his blog...

• I was told to eat carbs at every meal for energy
• I have only a little bit of chicken, ground beef, and canned tuna for protein
• I'm concerned about a lack of fresh fruit and vegetables
• Will I have the stamina to run every day, as I do now, on this restricted diet?
• I had a bowl of cereal, a banana, and a cup of tea for breakfast, and I'm hungry just a few hours later...

Okay. I was on a food assistance program myself after a divorce left me in the middle of a college semester with two toddlers. One thing I know is that the amount of aid varies from state to state, and I lived in one of the more generous. It still was a challenge to create meals that were both nutritious and flavorful.

That was years ago. So I thought I'd go to the grocery store myself, with this renewed awareness, to see what foods I might put in my cart to stretch that $6.25 daily budget.

Check back...

Blessings,

Judy