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

 

Half Assed Apple Crisp

I'm trying to be a more responsible person and use up my produce before it turns to slime in the bottom of my fridge.

 

It's harder than it sounds.

 

Vegan Orzo Verde Recipe

One of my favorite dishes is Damn Delicious' Slow Cooker Enchilada Orzo. I've made it many, many times over the years. Originally, I made it exactly as written, Crock Pot and all. 

As time went by, my roommate's biological feud with tomatoes threatened to remove this beloved meal from my repertoire. I wasn't willing to let it go without a fight. Thus, the recipe morphed into a tomato-free, all vegan, stovetop version that let me keep my roommate and my menu.

If you're looking for a pasta dish without tomatoes, I hope you give this one a try. It's crowd-pleasing. It's easy to throw together. And yes, it is damn delicious.

 

Vegan Orzo Verde (adapted from Damn Delicious)

Ingredients:

• 1 jar salsa verde (about 16oz)
• 1 can green enchilada sauce
• 1 can chopped green chiles (can be omitted if your salsa is on the spicy side)
• 1 cup veggie broth (I use Better than Bouillon concentrate) 
• 1 can black beans
• 2 cups orzo pasta (I'm sure you could use another small pasta shape, such as stars or ditalini, but I'm hooked on the texture of orzo "grains")
• 4oz vegan cream cheese (Tofutti and Violife both work great)
• 1 cup frozen corn
• Cilantro to taste

Instructions:

• In a soup pot, combine the salsa, enchilada sauce, chiles (if using), veggie broth, and black beans. Cover and bring to a boil.
• To the boiling pot, add orzo and cook just shy of desired tenderness.
• Stir in cream cheese and frozen corn until the cream cheese is fully melted and the corn is warm.
• Add cilantro to your heart's content and serve as big ol' bowls of cozy.

 Bonus points if you have Lauren Toyota's Nacho Cheese and some chips on the side.