Adventures at the Fruit and Vegetable Stand

I honestly thought the easiest part about doing this SNAP challenge would be buying the fresh produce.  I knew in advance I'd need to cut back on my fruits.  I usually eat 3 to 4 a day and I cut my allowance to two for this challenge.  Let me start by showing and listing what I bought before I go into the dirty details of what I didn't buy and what I put back. 

1 Romaine hearts	3.99
1 lb Carrots	0.79
4 Zucchini	0.67
2 Tomato	0.94
3 lb Onions	1.29
4 Potatoes	1.50
1 Garlic	0.52
5 Bananas	1.57
3 Apples	2.07
2 Pears	1.03
1 Oranges	0.69
1 Cantaloupe	1.19
2 loaves Italian Bread	2.49
Total:	18.74

This looks like a lot, but it is less fresh produce than I would buy on a typical week.  I was trying to keep the budget to $18.  And that's without a few things I put back like broccoli, cucumber, a few kiwi and a couple of lemons to flavor plain water.  I also put back a small container of about 1/4 lb container of walnuts to put in yogurt, salad and oatmeal.  I had really hoped I could buy more oranges and apples to fill in for snacks and apple and peanut butter for lunch.  The orange was bought more for some token effort to include some vitamin C in my diet, but I only splurged on that one and it put me over budget.

I bought pears even though they're not a favorite fruit of mine, but they were on sale for .69cents/lb.  I bought a cantaloupe because it was on sale too and I know I could get four servings of fruit out of it. The bread is the only bread I will buy this week.  I could have bought a 5lb bag of potatoes for $1.99 but they were spongy and smelled slightly of mold.  I could have bought two whole heads of romaine that would last me the week, but I would have had to buy two and they were 2.69 a head.  It was cheaper to spend 3.99 on the romaine hearts.  

.74 cents doesn't sound like much over budget, but it's still over budget and must come out of my grocery store budget.  Even with sales, that's going to be really tough to keep that shopping at or below $24.26.

I had no illusions this would be an easy exercise.  I knew going into it that this would be tough even if I wasn't adhering to the original $29 challenge but using New York State's $45 allotment (minus $2 for the seeds I bought for my kitchen window herb garden.)   Already it isn't a balanced nutritious meal plan because I've had to cut back on what the FDA recommends for servings on fruits and vegetables.  

Tomorrow is grocery shopping.   I can't say I'll be looking forward to it.  

Thinking About Stuff: Beans and Legumes

Yesterday, I was thinking how exhausting the planning has been for this Food Stamps Challenge.  This morning, a thought occurred to me.  What if I was never taught to plan meals and cook?  I know that sounds funny, but bear with me.  Over the years I've learned a lot about nutrition and after learning a thing or two about beans and legumes, I began to try to find ways to incorporate them into my diet.  

With this challenge, planning meals meant I needed flexibility on what to cook in relation to the sales.  I'm used to doing that.  I think everybody is used to doing this since the last economic downturn.  Sales shopping is a no-brainer except what if you don't really know how to cook?  But that's another blog.

I realized very early in my planning that I was going to have to substitute a lot of my meat intake with beans.  There just isn't enough money in the budget to eat meat 7 days a week.  If you look at the American diet,  meat is in at least two meals a day.  There's no way I could afford that on SNAP!

Fortunately, I started incorporating bean based recipes in my diet years ago.  But, how many people can look at a package of beans and think to themselves "I can cook different meals six ways to Sunday with these?"  I know I can't.  I know how to make:

Black bean Soup
Lentil Soup
Cuban black beans
Mujadara (middle eastern lentils with rice and onions)
Curried lentils
Felafel (made with chick peas)

Well, on second thought, I can cook beans six ways to Sunday, but I only really know how to make 6 bean based recipes.   What if I didn't?

On SNAP benefits, one would need to know how to make bean based recipes.  I'd like to say I'm expert at it, because according to my nutritionist, as an American I incorporate more beans and legumes into my diet than most, but I'm not.  Yet, she made the point that I incorporate more beans into my diet than her other patients.  Far more than the average American who puts a scoop of kidney beans into their salad or eats a bean burrito a couple of times a week and feels good about going vegan.  It's not enough.

This got me to thinking.  Take the average middle American family that suddenly finds itself in a downturn.  Dad lost his job and can't find another one.  Mom works, but doesn't make enough to pay the bills and buy food.  The family finds itself on SNAP benefits that are half-that of their regular food bills.  They can not continue to eat as they had when their financial picture was better.  They can not continue eating meat seven days a week one, two or even three times a day.

I commented to a friend yesterday that my biggest problem with this challenge was variety.  But that variety centered around meats.  It's a mindset that anyone finding themselves on SNAP needs to get over.  A very difficult thing for an American used to lots of meat in their diet.  Now I understand why the "go to" for families on SNAP is starch like rice and pasta.  It's cheap, filling but doesn't meet nutritional needs without beans.  And if you don't know how to cook beans... you're metaphorically cooked nutrition-wise.

Every Little Bit Helps

I'm finding it monumentally difficult to devise a relatively healthy meal plan for 7 days on $43.  In some ways impossible!  It would be far easier to budget out $194 over the month and give myself a more varied diet if I shopped the way I do normally:  Shop the sales for the best price over the month and portion out the packages of different meats (eating some and freezing the rest for another week).   Adhering to the challenge means $45 and that's that.  So, my diet will be less varied.  It seems fundamentally flawed to me, because it isn't how I normally shop.

What will likely save my taste buds is that the Associated Supermarket near me will have quartered chicken legs on sale for 59 cents a pound.   I can make chicken in a variety of ways.  So as I was planning on making a sauce, I will use chicken legs and thighs (I'll do my own butchering to separate leg from thigh) and put them in the sauce instead of Italian sausages.  Ground turkey also went on sale for $2.69 per pound.  Far healthier and I can do lots of different things with these two meats, but I am mindful that a sale like this doesn't happen often.  But, it might very well have saved my blood pressure!

Before this last circular came out, I was concerned about dairy/calcium.  I generally drink milk in my coffee, a glass with one meal and eat a yoghurt every day.  This provides the USDA recommended amount of calcium for women my age.  With a half gallon of milk at 2.79 and my habit is to go through about two half gallons a week, I will need to cut out that glass of milk out of my diet and limit myself to one half-gallon.   Limiting to one half gallon, also cuts out the possibility of cereal.  I'd never be able to keep to 1/2 gallon if I had cereal in the morning.   The good news is I thought I might have to cut out yoghurt out of my diet next week as well.  I won't because yoghurt goes on sale 6/$3 starting tomorrow.

A package of Bustillio coffee will be $1.99 on sale instead of $3.99.  I've never tried this brand before, but my Hispanic friend tells me it's the only brand she'll drink.  It's only six ounces, so I'll need to limit my coffee.  I will likely go from three cups a day down to two.

No sale on cake mixes (boo hoo!)  Sometimes you can get a box of cake mix for as little as .79 cents.  I wouldn't have had frosting but I would still have a sweet to fall back on.  My only hope is that MetFoods will put them on sale with Sunday's circular.

I also priced out a small bottle of oil for cooking.  An off-brand 16oz bottle of corn oil will be $1.99.  Again, here is where I find a flaw.  I don't buy oil every week.  One 48 oz bottle will last me a month and I can generally wait to buy it on sale for $1.99.  So, I'm paying a lot more for the smaller bottle, but saving my budget.  I'm finding this a big issue with other things as well.

Butter:  I go through about a 1lb package a month.  I wouldn't buy butter every month but wait for it to go on sale (generally 2.99 per lb).  I noticed today that a 1/2 lb package of butter was $3.49.  Yikes!  That works out to $1.75 a stick!  Double-Yikes!

Oatmeal:  I generally go through a carton of oatmeal in about three weeks.  Buying a package of store brand will take out $1.29 and I will only go through, at best, half of it.

Rice:  Well I've already gone over that in a previous blog so I won't go there and make your eyes glass over.

Lentils:  I plan to make lentil soup next week.  I'll pay for the whole package (1.49 cents) but only use half to make the soup.

This is the biggest problem in adhering to this challenge.  Planning meals with a small budget but needing/wanting to buy items that are prohibitively expensive in smaller packages or being forced to make a choice because although butter might be on sale for 2.99 a lb, I can't buy the one stick I use each week.

So next week will be a no butter week.  Instead I'll use peanut butter on my toast which is on sale for 2.50 a jar.

I'm going to really miss butter...

SNAP (Food Stamps) Challenge

The other day I saw a meme on Facebook of how Gwyneth Paltrow was going to take the Food Stamps Challenge and challenged someone else to do it with her.  The idea behind the challenge is to illustrate how hard it is for singles and families to subsist on Food Stamps (SNAP Benefits) by living on the average SNAP benefit of a $29 budget to buy food for the week for one person without using anything already in one's kitchen, like rice, oatmeal, salt, sugar etc.

I'm not a big fan of Paltrow's but it got me to thinking, especially after I saw the photo of the food she bought with the $29 challenge (and btw, clearly she's not a 'shopper' - I could have planned out and shopped for what she bought for far less.)   I'm a bit squirrely on the amount.  $29 seems extreme considering I have a neighbor who receives SNAP benefits and his works out to be $45 and change a week.  He receives top benefits as he is disabled, but I learned that if you have no income coming in, one does get the top benefit here in New York State.

The second thing that made me a bit squirrley was that SNAP is an acronym for Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program which is a Federal and State funded program for people living under the poverty level.  It's not meant to comprise the entire food budget for a person or a family.  SNAP is meant to supplement and assist buying good nutritious food.   Yet, we find so many singles and families trying to live on these benefits because they have to.  Sadly, they have no other alternative but to make the budget work.

While doing some research on SNAP, I learned that other States give far less.  And that's sad because it forces people to subsist on less than healthy but cheap processed food.  Additionally, I know I have resources here in my fair corner of Brooklyn that most people don't have.  I know that some people have no access to fresh produce except for the pricey stuff at the supermarket where I have multiple markets in which to buy the best produce for the best price.  I am also the proud farmer of a kitchen window herb garden I was able to create.  Snaps (no pun intended) to my brother Richard for making the trip from Rhode Island and installing shelves in my window so I could grow and enjoy fresh herbs.

That being said, I decided I'm going to self-style my own SNAP challenge based on what benefits I would receive:  $45 a week.  I'm also going to go on the premise that I've lost my job and have no income coming in.  That last bit was after a long discussion with buddies on my Facebook page about whether or not spices and sugar should be included in this.

1.  I don't use sugar unless I'm baking or make a sauce or chili.  I've been using the same 5lb bag of sugar since last October.   So, I will not be budgeting for sugar in this challenge.

2.  Salt and Pepper:  I buy peppercorns yearly but that's more for freshness than actual usage and I'm using the same one pound box of salt I bought a year and a half ago.  So, I will not be budgeting for salt or pepper I use while cooking.

3.  I will limit myself to herbs I grow on my kitchen window garden.  I did concede that I'd deduct $2 for seeds that I used to make it, because evidently one can buy seeds to grow food with SNAP benefits.  If I make curry or chili, I will use part of my budget to buy the spice.  But I will buy the cheap stuff. You know the $1 a bottle kind that I would buy if I were under the constraint of living on SNAP.

4.  Because I know I have the advantage of fresh produce at great prices, I will be limiting myself to two fresh fruits a day.  My usual intake is 3-4 fruits a day.  Also, if I run out of any fruit or veg... that's it.  No purchasing more unless I have the extra money.

5.  I will only include items I plan to eat that week.  So for example, instead of eating off the last half of a box of oatmeal which takes me 2 to 3 weeks to finish, I will buy a new box.     I will buy a small bottle of oil instead of using what I already have in the house.  Same with lentils, kidney beans, butter and yogurt.

6.  Rice is an issue.  After much discussion, on my Facebook page with buddies, I decided that I will pro-rate the cost in advance of what I'll use.  Let's face it... I'm a single person.  If I buy a 5lb bag of rice, I'm not going to use it in one week.  It would take me more like two months to use up a bag of rice.

7.  Coffee too is an issue.  Its a necessity.  I generally buy 3 bags for $20 at Dunkin Donuts which lasts me about six weeks.  It pro-rates out to about $3.50 a week.  Cheaper than buying it at the market.  BUT two issues with that:  1. coffee might be on sale for cheaper at the market.  2.  The Dunkin near me doesn't take SNAP benefits.  So it looks like I'll be budgeting for a can of coffee at the market.    Not having my Dunkin Coffee is going to be a hardship.  But that's what this challenge is about, isn't it?  Finding out the hardships of trying to live on SNAP benefits.

8.  I will base my menu plan on sales and purchases from the one produce stand (Three Guys From Brooklyn) and two small markets that are within walking distance of my house. (On that point I am at a big disadvantage because there are no big supermarkets in my neighborhood.)

Yes I know I'm making my own rules, but they're rules based on how I buy and my actual usage of food stuffs.  A more realistic scenario to see how hard it is to actually live on SNAP benefits instead of the average I suspect constitutes the original challenge of $29.  Still.. I'm under no illusion of how hard this will be based on $43 a week (deducting seeds from the budget in consideration of my existing herb garden.)  I'm going to need to make changes in my diet and that's going to be difficult.  Less meat, dairy and fresh produce.  Where I do eat beans and legumes, it's only twice a week or so.  I'll need to increase that consumption in order to make my budget.  I also know in advance I'm going to have to curb my sweet tooth ... and I have a BIG sweet tooth!  Unless it's in the budget, no sweet goodies for me!

I'd be very happy to see your comments and thoughts on this challenge I will undertake starting on Saturday.

I'll start daily blogging after my shopping to let everyone know what I could buy with what SNAP benefits would afford me.

Stay tuned!

*Edited to add*  In further discussions on my FB page the idea came up to snarf salt, sugar and pepper packets from local fast food restaurants.  Which is something a person or family might do in order to not have to buy salt and pepper (and maybe sugar).  So this is what I'll be doing.

The Lightening Tree

Across from my bedroom window facing the Verrazano Bridge there is a small park.  The park really nothing more than a tiny city green space with some benches, trees and flowers, but it is lovely.  This park has been and remains a great place to sit in the warm weather, enjoy the fresh air and one’s neighbors.  Often in the summer, some young person will have their guitar, flute or other instrument and practice.  Last summer a horn player visiting from New Orleans graced us with some really great soulful music.

In this park, on the eastern edge is an old growth Linden tree.  It is as majestic as they come, but for some reason it attracts lightening; so much so, that some in the neighborhood, including myself, refer to it as the Lightening Tree.  Its trunk is scarred and twisted and has to have many branches removed because of damage done during severe lightening storms.  I have witnessed lightening strike this tree during a summer storm and saw that afterward it had shed all its leaves.  I was sure that the tree would not recover.  Yet, this tree still stood and thrived the next season shooting out new branches and leaves.

  

Some weeks before Superstorm Sandy, I noted with sadness that the tree was marked with an orange “X”.  This “X” means that this tree was slated for removal by the Park’s Department. 

The night Sandy hit, I lay in bed feeling the winds buffeting my old brick building that has stood for more than 100 years.  I listened as the wind howled, the rain pelted and branches snapped.  I also heard what must have been trees falling and I thought: I wonder if that is the old Lightening tree falling?  I thought to myself there was no way this damaged and scarred old tree could survive such an intense storm.

The next morning, I walked outside to see the damage around the neighborhood.  I looked to the south and to my amazement the tree still stood.  It was only one of three trees in this small park to survive the storm.  This tree has yet to be removed by our parks service even after eight or so months after being marked as too weak and scarred to stand. 

To me, the survival of this tree is inspirational.  This tree a visual reminder that although we may be buffeted by the strong winds, lightening and rain that life sends our way, we can still stand strong against the storm and still thrive.  We just need to hang on, trust our roots to hold us upright and wait for the storms to pass.

Stereotyping and Fear

While watching the news and the press conference of Ruslan Tsarni, the uncle of the Boston Marathon bombers, I am reminded of a conversation I had with a lady at the local laundromat yesterday.  As many of you might already know, I live in an area where we are an interesting mix of people – Greek, Korean, Russian, Polish, Ukrainian, Spanish, African American, along with just about every Middle Eastern country is represented here as well as Americans.  This lady and I find ourselves meeting up at this laundromat fairly regularly and have become warm acquaintances.  She is clearly American with no accent hinting at any other birthplace.  She was wearing a traditional hijab so is also clearly Muslim.  Her blonde, curly mop haired, hazel-eyed freckled daughter laughed, played and ran around while we did our chores and chatted amiably. 

As we watched the latest news on the Marathon bombing, she mused out loud how she took small comfort in that no terrorist ties to Islam seemed to be being made.  She feared that if a connection was made then ALL Muslims would be blamed and made suspect yet again.  She looked at me a bit fearfully to see my reaction.  I assured her that as someone who survived and witnessed two terrorist attacks in NYC I wasn’t ‘one of those’ that thought all Muslims were radical jihadists.  Her relieved smile underscored to me how terribly many Americans must treat her and others in her community.

She opened up a bit and said that although she wasn’t born here, her family came to America from Syria when she was two and all her brothers and sisters were born here.  Her father worked hard as did her mother and embraced America as their new home.  They are as fearful, ashamed and angry at those in her community who embrace radicalism as any of us.

As I watch the news this morning and hear the conjecture that these young men who perpetrated this horrific crime were Muslims from Chechnya, I wonder if this fear anger and persecution of Muslims will spread and include the Russian community.  Ruslan Tsarni’s anger at his nephews was clear.  His fear that he, his family and friends would be subjected to such persecution and suspicion was also clear.  He defended his estranged brother (the suspects’ father) by saying that if the boys were radicalized, they were radicalized here and not something that was observed before 2005 when the uncle last saw them.

Now the conjecture has begun that there are Islamic terrorist ties to this horrific event.  Conjecture that somewhere along the line these boys were ‘radicalized’ in recent years.  This may be true and might even be likely, but it doesn’t mean that every Muslim is out to blow up Americans.  I can tell you in no uncertain terms, that is not my experience.  After the 1993 Bombing, 9/11 and the Boston Marathon I have watched the members of the Muslim community here look around them in fear.  I have watched its leaders speak until they were blue in the face about how Islam reviles such actions and that it is not what the Islamic Community stands for. 

I understand that our communities may always stand apart because of cultural and religious differences; it does not mean that we stand against one another.  I beg you… do not stand against the Islamic community because of this.  If anything you’ll miss out on the most beatific smiles I have ever encountered when showing kindness and acceptance. 

Musings on Hate

Hatred is so easily manipulated and be led. Hatred is based in fear It is destructive and breeds insecurity and paranoia creating a viscious cycle of more hate more insecurity and more fear.

When coming from such a fear base, it allows others to control you, your thoughts and your actions. Hate invariably leads you to a place where your energies are tied up and knotted. Every day we're seeing those who wish to manipulate and control others take the fear of others and lead them to hate. Sadly the most recent events involved the deaths of children.

I'm not going to go on to comment about gun control or anything like that. I just want to put it out there that the more you hate, the more you can be controlled by others. The more you fear the more hate it breeds within you.

Let the pain go. Fail to let the insecurity rule you so that you that others can lead you down a destructive path.

Just breathe deep and change your mind away from fear and hate. Empower yourself so that others have no power over you.