IntroductionThroughout the course of this semester, I worked on a school project that was designed to give me insight into the struggles that are present when trying to eat healthy on a tight budget. This project gave me a glimpse of how difficult and overwhelming it can be for a person to get essential nutrients in their diet when living under the poverty line. Its a reality that many people are faced with everyday and as dietitians, its an area we must be ready to address at some point in our prospective careers. According to the United States Census Bureau, 14% of people in the United States are living in poverty. This means that in the year 2014, over 46 million were faced with the challenges that come from these grim statistics.
For my project, I focused on my family size of three which consisted of my husband, my son, and myself. A family of three living under the poverty line is typically allotted 70-80 dollars a week for food. For my project I used exact numbers and allowed my self $78 dollars to spend on groceries for the entire week. This included three meals with occasional snacks. This process alone was a lot harder than I assumed. I visited my grocery store many times trying to find the best deals that would give me and my family adequate nutrition without going over our budget. It took a lot of tweaking, but I managed to pull out some pretty awesome dishes that even my three year old was delighted to eat. Below are my weekly meals that include daily monetary units as well as my thoughts and reflections! Meals |
MondayTotal Cost: $8.56
SundayTotal Cost: $6.71
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TuesdayTotal Cost: $6.09
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WednesdayTotal Cost: $6.02
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ThursdayTotal Cost: $5.98
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FridayTotal Cost: $7.92
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SaturdayTotal Cost: $7.97
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Reflections
Monday
I decided to start my first day of the meal plan on a Monday. For breakfast I had overnight oats which consisted of rolled oats, milk, strawberries, maple syrup, and pumpkin seeds with a glass of orange juice. I have loved the idea of overnight oats since the moment I first read about them on one of my favorite blogs. Not only did I prove that it can be affordable, but Ive also learned how easy it is as well. Just throw the ingredients in a mason jar, shake, and then refrigerate. The oats will bathe in the milk overnight which will release phytase, an enzyme that breaks down the phytic acid present in the grains, lending a delicious and healthy breakfast! Later that morning I consumed one whole banana and wheat crackers as a snack. Not the most interesting, but still satisfying and easy to pack for on the go! By the time lunch came around I noticed that I just wasn't that hungry. I packed some crackers with a can of sardines (yum!) and a sweet potato I had baked the night before. I only ended up eating the sardines and crackers. As an afternoon snack, I had avocado toast and an apple. "Avotoast" is seriously one of my favorite things to eat so having this work in my budget was quite the treat! Lastly, came dinner! I wanted to do a whole chicken in the slow cooker on my first night so I could utilize different parts of the chicken through out the week. This helps quite a lot in cutting down costs! Its also convenient to be able to cook the whole chicken in the slow cooker So that it is ready by the time you get home! I served the whole chicken with a bed of cooked rice and steamed broccoli. Because I didn't eat my sweet potato at lunch, i actually added it to the rice to give some more flavor. It was amazing!! My husband request I make our rice like that every time. After dinner was over, I cleaned the rest of the chicken and prepped the carcass to make some delicious chicken broth. With one carcass and other leftover vegetables, I was able to fill 2 mason jars with broth! This alone saved me easily 4-6 dollars.
Tuesday
Tuesday is my long day in school so I planned a meal that would work around my crazy schedule. For this day, I actually took pictures of my food when I made it and then packed it to carry with me. I really have no time to eat snacks on this day as Im lucky if I can get in a square three meals. But I made it work. For breakfast, I had overnight oats; same as monday. Lunch consisted of leftover chicken meat, whole wheat pasta, diced tomatoes, a little fresh spinach, olive oil, and a little black pepper. I was worried about this dish being bland, but it was surprisingly delicious! The diced tomatoes gave it a kick in flavor and paired nicely with the olive oil. I actually have recreated this recipe multiple times since its so EASY! For Dinner, I had butternut squash soup and a bowl of cooked whole wheat noodles. Rob (my son) and I both agreed it was delicious and quite feeling. I had originally planned to have a graham cracker sheet with a banana and glass of milk as an evening snack, but I was stuffed.
Wednesday
Wednesday was lovely. I started the morning off with a new recipe that I had been dying to try; Sweet potato oats. While delicious, I have to say I wasn't quite impressed with it as I had hoped I would be. It was more of an issue with texture for me than flavor. Sweet potatoes mix so much better with rice! For snack, I had banana toast with a cup of orange juice. This basically consists of 1 tbsp peanut butter (no sugar added) smears onto a slice of whole wheat toast. I then add my banana and voila! For lunch I had leftover butternut squash soup with an apple. For my next snack, I originally planned on having cooked lentils with an avocado, however I never got around to it. One of the recurring themes i started to notice at this point was that I was eating a lot of food! I decided to skip the snack and instead prepare for a hearty supper. It too, like my snack, changed. My husband came home with some fresh dear meat that he really wanted to cook. So Instead of chicken and mushrooms, we opted for meatloaf. I figured since I skipped on my snack that the little extra fat and other macro nutrients would equal out.
Thursday
Thursday is another school day, therefore meals have to be short and sweet. I actually ended up making a new recipe oatmeal lentils. The original recipe called for cream of wheat, but it was out of my budget, so I just stuck with oatmeal. The lentils were already made up so It really was just a matter of cooking the oatmeal and mixing everything together. For lunch, I had spinach salad with chopped bell peppers, olive oil, and a litle bit of lemon. I also had a baked sweet potato and an apple as a snack. For dinner, I had more lentils with an eggplant marinara sauce!
Friday
For breakfast on Friday, I had overnight oats. At this point, I could tell I was starting to get burnt out on oatmeal. For lunch I had a spinach salad that consisted of sliced bell peppers, a poached egg, and an avocado.For dressing I just squeezed a lemon and added black pepper. The richness of the egg yolk provided the rest of the flavor. I had an afternoon snack of banana toast that was delicious and filling. For dinner I made one of my favorites; stuffed acorn squash. Its a recipe I have been playing with for a long time now and I'm so delighted to say it fits within our budget. For this recipe, I slice an acorn squash down the middle, then roast in the oven on 350. While thats cooking, I start the soup part using my home-made chicken broth, 1 can coconut soup, and frozen vegetable medley! Once everything is done then you basically serve the soup inside the acorn. Its a winner with everyone in my family!
Saturday
Finally the weekend! This means I get to ditch the quick oats for something a little more hearty. I ended up making a potato hash with eggs and spinach. As an afternoon snack I went with banana toast and then Beans and rice for lunch. I like to cut up an avocado to add texture and flavor. I also put red pepper flakes to give it even more of a kick in flavor! As a snack, I had lentils with a little spinach on top and some more red pepper flakes. Last but not least came dinner. I was so tired of cooking at this point but lucky the majority of things were already prepped. My sweet potatos I baked the morning of while cooking breakfast so I just pulled it out of the oven after letting it re heat for about 5. I boiled my egg noodles and made some delicious butter pasta with garlic, lemon, and black pepper. I served it with a side of steamed broccoli and milk. Saturday was definitely on the heartiest days as far as meals. It felt like thanksgiving came early!
Sunday
Sunday started off with oatmeal lentils since I knew I would have some leftover lentils that I would want to use up before the new week. I then had my usual of banana toast as well as an apple with baby carrots for my snacks. For Lunch, I cooked some vegetarian spaghetti. Instead of meat, I use kidney beans. I also cut back on jarred marinara sauce to avoid too much sodium and add about 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar instead to amp up the flavors. My husband and son love it! Now for dinner. For our last meal on this plan, I decided to go out with a bang. We had pasta w/ sardines. I know it may not sound appetizing, but I promise it is! That is if you like sardines which I encourage most people to try. Sardines are cheap, Sustainable, and healthy! For this dish I salute onions and mushrooms in a pan. (shiitake preferred) with a little olive oil or butter. I didn't have any butter for this so I just used the olive oil which I already had. I added whatever spices I could find and a little lemon juice. I then boiled my egg noodles, drained them, then added the noodles to my skillet. Just throw in sardines, Capers (if you have them), parsley, and more lemon juice and voila! A healthy and affordable sunday dinner. This one wasn't my husbands favorite, but for a man who detests sardines he atleast said it wasn't as bad as he thought. I consider that a win in my book!
I decided to start my first day of the meal plan on a Monday. For breakfast I had overnight oats which consisted of rolled oats, milk, strawberries, maple syrup, and pumpkin seeds with a glass of orange juice. I have loved the idea of overnight oats since the moment I first read about them on one of my favorite blogs. Not only did I prove that it can be affordable, but Ive also learned how easy it is as well. Just throw the ingredients in a mason jar, shake, and then refrigerate. The oats will bathe in the milk overnight which will release phytase, an enzyme that breaks down the phytic acid present in the grains, lending a delicious and healthy breakfast! Later that morning I consumed one whole banana and wheat crackers as a snack. Not the most interesting, but still satisfying and easy to pack for on the go! By the time lunch came around I noticed that I just wasn't that hungry. I packed some crackers with a can of sardines (yum!) and a sweet potato I had baked the night before. I only ended up eating the sardines and crackers. As an afternoon snack, I had avocado toast and an apple. "Avotoast" is seriously one of my favorite things to eat so having this work in my budget was quite the treat! Lastly, came dinner! I wanted to do a whole chicken in the slow cooker on my first night so I could utilize different parts of the chicken through out the week. This helps quite a lot in cutting down costs! Its also convenient to be able to cook the whole chicken in the slow cooker So that it is ready by the time you get home! I served the whole chicken with a bed of cooked rice and steamed broccoli. Because I didn't eat my sweet potato at lunch, i actually added it to the rice to give some more flavor. It was amazing!! My husband request I make our rice like that every time. After dinner was over, I cleaned the rest of the chicken and prepped the carcass to make some delicious chicken broth. With one carcass and other leftover vegetables, I was able to fill 2 mason jars with broth! This alone saved me easily 4-6 dollars.
Tuesday
Tuesday is my long day in school so I planned a meal that would work around my crazy schedule. For this day, I actually took pictures of my food when I made it and then packed it to carry with me. I really have no time to eat snacks on this day as Im lucky if I can get in a square three meals. But I made it work. For breakfast, I had overnight oats; same as monday. Lunch consisted of leftover chicken meat, whole wheat pasta, diced tomatoes, a little fresh spinach, olive oil, and a little black pepper. I was worried about this dish being bland, but it was surprisingly delicious! The diced tomatoes gave it a kick in flavor and paired nicely with the olive oil. I actually have recreated this recipe multiple times since its so EASY! For Dinner, I had butternut squash soup and a bowl of cooked whole wheat noodles. Rob (my son) and I both agreed it was delicious and quite feeling. I had originally planned to have a graham cracker sheet with a banana and glass of milk as an evening snack, but I was stuffed.
Wednesday
Wednesday was lovely. I started the morning off with a new recipe that I had been dying to try; Sweet potato oats. While delicious, I have to say I wasn't quite impressed with it as I had hoped I would be. It was more of an issue with texture for me than flavor. Sweet potatoes mix so much better with rice! For snack, I had banana toast with a cup of orange juice. This basically consists of 1 tbsp peanut butter (no sugar added) smears onto a slice of whole wheat toast. I then add my banana and voila! For lunch I had leftover butternut squash soup with an apple. For my next snack, I originally planned on having cooked lentils with an avocado, however I never got around to it. One of the recurring themes i started to notice at this point was that I was eating a lot of food! I decided to skip the snack and instead prepare for a hearty supper. It too, like my snack, changed. My husband came home with some fresh dear meat that he really wanted to cook. So Instead of chicken and mushrooms, we opted for meatloaf. I figured since I skipped on my snack that the little extra fat and other macro nutrients would equal out.
Thursday
Thursday is another school day, therefore meals have to be short and sweet. I actually ended up making a new recipe oatmeal lentils. The original recipe called for cream of wheat, but it was out of my budget, so I just stuck with oatmeal. The lentils were already made up so It really was just a matter of cooking the oatmeal and mixing everything together. For lunch, I had spinach salad with chopped bell peppers, olive oil, and a litle bit of lemon. I also had a baked sweet potato and an apple as a snack. For dinner, I had more lentils with an eggplant marinara sauce!
Friday
For breakfast on Friday, I had overnight oats. At this point, I could tell I was starting to get burnt out on oatmeal. For lunch I had a spinach salad that consisted of sliced bell peppers, a poached egg, and an avocado.For dressing I just squeezed a lemon and added black pepper. The richness of the egg yolk provided the rest of the flavor. I had an afternoon snack of banana toast that was delicious and filling. For dinner I made one of my favorites; stuffed acorn squash. Its a recipe I have been playing with for a long time now and I'm so delighted to say it fits within our budget. For this recipe, I slice an acorn squash down the middle, then roast in the oven on 350. While thats cooking, I start the soup part using my home-made chicken broth, 1 can coconut soup, and frozen vegetable medley! Once everything is done then you basically serve the soup inside the acorn. Its a winner with everyone in my family!
Saturday
Finally the weekend! This means I get to ditch the quick oats for something a little more hearty. I ended up making a potato hash with eggs and spinach. As an afternoon snack I went with banana toast and then Beans and rice for lunch. I like to cut up an avocado to add texture and flavor. I also put red pepper flakes to give it even more of a kick in flavor! As a snack, I had lentils with a little spinach on top and some more red pepper flakes. Last but not least came dinner. I was so tired of cooking at this point but lucky the majority of things were already prepped. My sweet potatos I baked the morning of while cooking breakfast so I just pulled it out of the oven after letting it re heat for about 5. I boiled my egg noodles and made some delicious butter pasta with garlic, lemon, and black pepper. I served it with a side of steamed broccoli and milk. Saturday was definitely on the heartiest days as far as meals. It felt like thanksgiving came early!
Sunday
Sunday started off with oatmeal lentils since I knew I would have some leftover lentils that I would want to use up before the new week. I then had my usual of banana toast as well as an apple with baby carrots for my snacks. For Lunch, I cooked some vegetarian spaghetti. Instead of meat, I use kidney beans. I also cut back on jarred marinara sauce to avoid too much sodium and add about 1/4 cup of red wine vinegar instead to amp up the flavors. My husband and son love it! Now for dinner. For our last meal on this plan, I decided to go out with a bang. We had pasta w/ sardines. I know it may not sound appetizing, but I promise it is! That is if you like sardines which I encourage most people to try. Sardines are cheap, Sustainable, and healthy! For this dish I salute onions and mushrooms in a pan. (shiitake preferred) with a little olive oil or butter. I didn't have any butter for this so I just used the olive oil which I already had. I added whatever spices I could find and a little lemon juice. I then boiled my egg noodles, drained them, then added the noodles to my skillet. Just throw in sardines, Capers (if you have them), parsley, and more lemon juice and voila! A healthy and affordable sunday dinner. This one wasn't my husbands favorite, but for a man who detests sardines he atleast said it wasn't as bad as he thought. I consider that a win in my book!