What I Ate on Food Stamps: Week 3

If you missed this week's grocery haul, be sure to click here and see what we were working with.

Before we get into what I ate, I'd like to take a moment to rant about bread. 

I love bread as much as the next guy -- probably more, if we're being honest -- but seeing as how I am only one person, when I buy a loaf of bread, I have to plan my entire week around that loaf of bread. One person eating 20 units of the exact same thing in seven days is no easy feat. Think about it. Eggs are sold in increments of six because a reasonable human being could eat one thing six times in seven days (especially if two or three of them were hidden in, say, brownies). Plenty of perishables are sold in sixes (beer), eights (burger buns), tens (sliced cheese), even dozens (doughnuts). But only sliced bread is like "Oh, you'd like some toast? How about nineteen more?" It's ridiculous. In fact, I'd like to propose a friend-finder or dating app that syncs with your grocery list to minimize food waste. Imagine it! You could get a phone notification that's like "Sam is also buying paprika. Would you like to meet?" It's the future, people! You saw it here first.

Anywho.

Here's what my bread-having butt ate this week.

Shopping with Food Stamps: Week 3

Virginia is finally ready for spring! Don't say it too loud -- you might scare it away. But I am happy to report that we have emerged from the frigid temperatures and knock-you-on-your-ass winds and are starting to see the first signs of spring.

I even slept with my windows open. 

Something about the fresh air put me in the mood for bright flavors and aromatic herbs. I didn't realize until I got home that half the stuff I bought was green.

Here's my haul:

What I Ate on Food Stamps: Week 2

I'm not going to lie, this week was HARD. Not specifically food-wise, but life-wise. Between me, my roommate, and the dog, we had eight doctor's appointments. EIGHT! Six of those were mine. We're not going to talk about it.

Given the chaos and general sense of overwhelm, this week's meals were simple, repetitive, and heavy on mock-meats. You'll remember I recently found a sale on Morning Star Farms frozen proteins, plus I grabbed a bag of vegan meatballs at Aldi this week. 

 

Breakfasts

I had one bagel left from last week, so I ate that with peanut butter on Sunday. Then I switched to chocolate protein granola with soy milk. Some mornings I had coffee, some mornings I didn't bother. I definitely didn't bother to take pictures. Sorry about that.

 

Lunches

My lunches this week consisted of leftovers and "burgers" made with Morning Star chicken patties, Daiya cheese slices, and various condiments. You can't beat a meal that's ready to eat in two minutes or less.

  

Sunday

 

My friend treated me to Chinese food on Sunday since we had to reschedule our plans from the week before. I ordered broccoli in hot garlic sauce from one of the few restaurants in town that doesn't cook its rice in chicken broth. They also updated their menu, so I'm excited to see if they have more vegan options next time I go.

 

Monday

 

On Monday, I made spaghetti and meatballs and traded my roommate some of my pasta sauce for cabbage and kale salad. Super photogenic meal, right? I promise it tasted better than it looks.

 

Tuesday

 

I got caught in traffic on my way back from the doctor on Tuesday, so I zapped a chicken patty in the microwave and ate it with some leftover salad and tater tots.

 

Wednesday

 

Wednesday was my one "day off" this week, so I made homemade bread and zucchini garlic pasta. I also had a pack of Lightlife bacon in the fridge that was about to go bad, so I added the whole thing. In hindsight, half the package would have been plenty, but more bacon never hurt nobody. 

Thursday & Friday

 

Thursday was taco night and I ate the leftovers on Friday. Sometimes I splurge on the hard-and-soft taco kits because it lets me have variety without having to eat an entire 12-pack on my own. In the past, I've also set aside the bag of soft shells and used them for quesadillas another week. Single person life hacks!

 

Saturday 

At the culmination of this crazy week, I kept things easy and made more spaghetti and burger bun garlic bread -- slightly prettier this time.

 

I hope you're enjoy this vegan adventure through food stamps. Stick around to see what I eat next week! (Spoilers: It involves fresh herbs.)

Shopping With Food Stamps: Week 2

I knew this week was going to be hectic as hell, so before the chaos kicked in, I went to three different stores to procure provisions.

Aldi

I'll be honest, the primary reason I went to Aldi was to get vegan granola. It's a challenge to find granola without honey, but Aldi's Millville brand protein granola has two vegan flavors: Oat & Dark Chocolate and Cranberry Almond. I went for chocolate this week ($2.65).

While I was at Aldi, I also grabbed burger buns ($1.45), marinara sauce ($1.65), and frozen vegan meatballs ($5.15). 

I usually buy coffee at Aldi as well, because they have the most affordable fair trade beans I can find locally, but I knew there was a Trader Joes trip in my future, so I held off.

My total at Aldi was $13.55.

 

"Regular" Grocery Store

 

You've heard me lament about the prices at the grocery store near my house. Last week, they actually had some good sales. This week, not so much. Their ad was bragging about cabbage for $0.12/pound... but only if you spent $25. So I skipped the cabbage. Instead, I bought Daiya cheese slices (on sale for $3.99) and stocked up on Barilla Protein Pasta, which is usually $2.99 at this store or $2.52 at Walmart, but with the sale and a coupon, I snagged four boxes for $1.88 each.

My total at the grocery store was $11.49.

 

Walmart

Once again, I did the bulk of my shopping at Walmart. Your girl likes to eat, and your girl is living on a dime, so Walmart is our bread and butter.

At Walmart, I got:

Butter Sticks - $3.98

Tater Tots - $2.97

Hard & Soft Taco Kit - $2.98 after coupon

Tortilla Boat Taco Kit - $3.18 after coupon

Black Beans - $0.86

Canned Potatoes - $0.96

Canned Carrots - $0.67

Ketchup - $1.92

Zucchini - $1.37

My total at Walmart was $18.89 

Before my Trader Joes adventure, my weekly total was $43.93.

 

Trader Joe's

I had to go out of town for a doctor's appointment this week, so I rewarded myself with a stop at Trader Joe's. 

It's incredibly easy for me to get carried away at "fun" grocery stores like Trader Joe's and Wegmans, but given my budgetary constraints, I made my best effort to be practical this go-round. At Trader Joes, I snagged a big tin of coffee ($17), two bags of nutritional yeast ($3.50 each), some shallots, and two bags of rice cracker mix. 

I lost my receipt, but my total was $36.10. 

 

My weekly EBT spend came to $80.03.

Stay tuned to see what I ate with these groceries!

What I Ate on Food Stamps: Week 1

If you've been keeping up with my posts lately, you'll know that I recently began receiving food stamps. I am documenting my grocery hauls and meal plans here, partly to keep notes for myself and partly to inspire anyone else who might be eating vegan on a budget.

Friendly reminder: If you need a helping hand, please reach out to the resources in your community. Social services offices and food pantries welcome everyone -- including you. Nobody should have to struggle alone.

Let's get into my meals!

Day One

• Coffee and a bagel with cream cheese
• Pasta and wilty cabbage left over from last week, and some grapes
• Vegan Orzo Verde

 

 

Shopping with Food Stamps: Week 1

Welcome to my first full week shopping with food stamps!

This week, I really splashed out and went to the "regular" (read: expensive) grocery store to take advantage of some sales and coupons. I bought:

• Tofutti cream cheese - $4.59
• Two pints of non-dairy Ben & Jerry's - $4.00 each
• Morning Star chicken strips - $4.00
• Morning Star hot dogs - $4.00
• Morning Star crumbles for tacos - $4.00
• Red grapes - $1.19
• 3-pack of razors  - $3.99
• Four 12-packs of seltzer water (not pictured) - $3.40 each

My pre-promo total was $72.18, which is absolutely ridiculous. Had I purchased the exact same stuff from Walmart (with the exception of the cream cheese being Violife brand instead of Tofutti), my total would have been $53. That's a 26% markup! 

Worry not -- I'm too savvy (and too broke) to pay full price at the fancy-pants grocery store. After all the promos, my total was $30.65. All but $0.30 of that was covered by my EBT account -- I just had to pay tax on the razors. 

After that, I went to Walmart to buy the rest of the items on my list:

•  Everything bagels - $3.88
• Taco Shells - $1.54
• Rigatoni - $0.98
• Pasta sauce - $1.67
• Two cans of chickpeas - $0.86 each
• Two cans of black beans - $0.86 each
• One jar of salsa - $2.64
• Green enchilada sauce - $1.00
  
• Plain coconut yogurt - $5.30
• Frozen spinach - $1.26
• Cilantro  - $0.83

My total at Walmart was $22.54, making my final grocery cost for the week $53.19, which is about $8 below the current national average for a frugal gal my age.

(I'm not making this up, it's on the USDA website: https://www.fns.usda.gov/research/cnpp/usda-food-plans/cost-food-monthly-reports)

 Stay tuned to see what I eat this week!

To see my first attempt at shopping with food stamps, click here.

Eating Vegan on Food Stamps: Week 0

 Do you ever feel like life has run you over like a dump truck? Me too. But right now, I feel like life dumped me out the back of a dump truck, covered me in manure, and left me there to climb my way out.

Thankfully, I've had wonderful support from my friends and family, and my care team is working together to find the best way to keep me healthy and happy in the long run.

I am also incredibly grateful for the resources available at my local Social Services office and the kind people there.

I was recently approved for food stamps, or "EBT" as the cool kids are calling it. Given that this program is new to me and my kitchen, I thought I would share my experience with you.

I'm calling this week "Week Zero" because I relied heavily on pantry staples, leftovers, and prior purchases for my meals this week, only supplementing with a handful of fresh groceries.

 

What I Bought