day twenty

(Click here for an explanation of the project.)

Here’s what we ate for $3.87 yesterday, January 21, 2011.

BREAKFAST

steelcut oats (from 1/3 cup dry) $0.10
2 tablespoons raisins $0.08
1 tablespoon slivered almonds $0.06
2 teaspoons brown sugar $0.02

LUNCH

1 cup dal palak $0.93 (it just keeps going)
1 cup cooked quinoa $0.36

DINNER

grilled satay peanut sandwich $0.91
organic Cameo apple $0.52

SNACKS

1/3 cup soy milk (with coffee) $0.09
banana $0.25
tablespoon of organic peanut butter $0.09
8 ounces plain lowfat yogurt $0.40
1 tablespoon honey $0.06

total $3.87

Woohoo, two-thirds through! I spent so much time today plotting and planning and grocery shopping, it feels good to know it’s downhill from here on out. At the same time, I want to implement a lot of the stuff we’re doing into our everyday lives minus the tight restrictions and all the calculations. Do you have a dry erase board on your fridge with your meals for the week? Or a spreadsheet system? Do tell!

I am not really sure why we are eating so much peanut butter. A banana with a tablespoon of peanut butter is my new favorite snack and I may be a little obsessed, but I don’t know how it has made its way into so many meals. We are trying to eat more protein, but I normally try to keep it lower in fat. Tonight’s dinner had a decadent amount of peanut butter. It had so much peanut butter I was worried about cost and bought some cheaper stuff that was not organic, although we have found the best deal on organic seems to be Trader Joe’s at $2.50 for a 16 ounce jar. That even beats the bulk organic stuff at the co-op.

The first time we made these sandwiches we added seitan. That was pretty spectacular, but we can’t afford store-bought seitan and haven’t found the time to make homemade. We decided to get a little crazy and add a fried egg, and boy was that ever a good idea. And a little Sriracha doesn’t hurt either. Except Levi. He was happy without it.

I chuckled for a good minute when I saw this photo. Poor kid, his mom keeps taking his picture while he eats.

Here’s the cost on dinner:

6 day-old ciabatta rolls $2.66
1-1/2 cups peanut butter $0.96
2 tablespoons soy sauce $0.06
2 tablespoons brown sugar $0.04
2 tablespoons lime juice $0.09
1/4 sliced red onion $0.11
4 ounces bean sprouts $0.45
3 tablespoons fresh grated ginger root (leftover)
handful of cilantro for K only (too small to calculate)
2 tablespoons canola oil $0.06
6 eggs $1.02

Our big score was finding the exact kind of day-old bread we wanted. We would have gone with something else otherwise.

Oh, and I promise no oatmeal tomorrow!

day nineteen

(Click here for an explanation of the project.)

Here’s what we ate for $4.03 yesterday, January 20, 2011.

BREAKFAST

Jess ate some instant oatmeal, everyone else skipped. FAIL. $0.13

LUNCH

1 cup dal palak $0.93
1 cup cooked quinoa $0.36

DINNER

1/3 a breakfast pizza $2.10

DESSERT

leftover birthday party NEXT BEST THING TO TOM SELLECK cake (free – thanks Jordan & Melanie!)

SNACKS

1 tablespoon organic peanut butter $0.11
organic lowfat plain yogurt with lime curd $0.40

total $4.03

When I switch back over from night shift to being awake during the day on my weekends, I usually lose half a day. Today was that day. But that means hurray! It is my weekend – a glorious four day weekend. We need to make the planning and prepping happen again. A big part of what makes us successful in making 3 meals a day that are not packaged, prepared foods is taking that time every evening to make sure a breakfast is made and lunches are packed.

Speaking of not buying packaged food: Levi, Head of Garbage Services in our household, commented tonight about how much compost he keeps having to take out. Um, duh Levi! Did you not notice how little trash you have to take out? We are making so much compost, and so little trash. It is incredible.

When we started this project we envisioned eating a lot of the same ol’ boring stuff again and again, like beans and rice. Or we expected to cave and eat Ramen once a week when we didn’t have time to cook. Somehow we have managed to make all this amazing food and try tons of new recipes. Tonight we just needed something quick and research free, so we revisited a family favorite we have blogged about before, the breakfast pizza. We had a little room money-wise for dinner, but we made it happen for a total of $6.31:

Trader Joe’s whole wheat pizza dough $1.29
1/2 tablespoon olive oil $0.07 (to sauté the veggie sausage)
2 links (half a package)Trader Joe’s Italian meatless sausage $1.75
4 ounces fresh mozzarella $1
1 ounce gouda $0.62
2-3/4 ounces reduced-fat feta $0.69
4 eggs $0.68
4 green onions $0.21
1 tablespoon chopped Italian parsley

Cheese seems to be the big ingredient that we mostly buy on sale, from the markdown bin, or from the outlet grocery store. That is unless it happens to be a type of cheese that is super affordable at our co-op. And we are learning a little goes a long way.

By the way, that dal palak didn’t seem super exciting at first, but it is one of those things that tastes even better as leftovers. What a great lunch to take to work. Filling and flavorful. And having it for lunch almost saves our otherwise less than stellar nutrition for the day.

day eighteen

(Click here for an explanation of the project.)

Here’s what we ate for $5.69 yesterday, January 19, 2011.

Whoa, hold up, $5.69? WHOOPS! We accidentally went over budget today. What exactly is to blame? An amazing, delicious, mouth watering SALAD. Or I suppose I could blame the avocado banana smoothie. I guess I got a little too cocky about how much fresh produce we can squeeze into one day for five bucks. I’m not going to beat myself up since we’ve been under budget by this much on many other days. There’s always tomorrow.

BREAKFAST

steelcut oats (from 1/3 cup dry) $0.10
2 tablespoons raisins $0.08
1 tablespoon slivered almonds $0.06
2 teaspoons brown sugar $0.02

LUNCH

1 cup dal palak $0.93
1 cup cooked quinoa $0.36

DINNER

gigantic salad with 1/2 block baked tofu $2.48
2 tablespoons sriracha buttermilk dressing $0.10

avocado banana smoothie $1.03

SNACKS

1/2 cup frothed soy milk (for coffee) $0.13
8 ounces lowfat organic plain yogurt w/ strawberry preserves $0.40

total $5.69

Here’s the cost breakdown on the salad:

1-1/2 blocks extra firm tofu $2.99
1 head romaine lettuce $1.49
1/4 red onion $0.08
1 large organic carrot $0.08
1/2 bunch radishes $0.25
8 ounces broccoli $0.84
5 ounces organic grape tomatoes $1.00
3 tablespoons sunflower seeds $0.09
1 ounce Beemster Xtra Old gouda from clearance bin $0.62

total $7.44
per person $2.48

It was kind of worth it. That salad was amazing. More often than not we eat our dinners served on our smaller salad plates, but this was a full on dinner plate covered in a giant salad. With the rich avocado smoothie and an entire half block of tofu per person, we were stuffed. What can I say, I was trying to boost our protein intake. Usually it is our intention to eat a dinner like this or taco salad once a week, but it almost never happens.

Our tofu baking method isn’t exact, but if people are really curious I could come up with a recipe to post sometime. I didn’t calculate the cost of the various spices used along with a little flour and cornmeal to coat it for baking.

I did, however, post the smoothie recipe separately.

day seventeen

(Click here for an explanation of the project.)

Here’s what we ate for $4.58 yesterday, January 18, 2011.

BREAKFAST

steelcut oats (from 1/3 cup dry) $0.10
2 tablespoons raisins $0.08
1 tablespoon slivered almonds $0.06
2 teaspoons brown sugar $0.02

LUNCH

chickpea of the sea sandwich on whole grain bread $0.92
2 large organic carrots $0.16

DINNER

kimchi quesadillas $1.61
green salad with radish and carrot $0.55
1 tablespoon sriracha buttermilk dressing $0.05

SNACKS

1/2 cup frothed soy milk (for coffee) $0.13
Gala apple $0.50
8 ounces organic plain yogurt with strawberry jam $0.40

total $4.58

Important lesson: we have got to plan and shop for meals for every single day of my work week before it starts. Otherwise it means a 6pm grocery run and really late dinner.

It was inevitable that we’d try some other tricks with kimchi after we fell in love with the grilled kimcheeze sandwich. And then Serious Eats had an entire slide show of things to do with kimchi Why didn’t I think of the next logical step: kimchi quesadillas?

Of course, we cut back a little on ingredients in part for cost and fat cutting, but also because how in the heck did that fit that much inside a quesadilla? We also added tofu that had been pressed, pan-fried in sesame oil, and tossed with a splash of soy sauce and rice wine vinegar. Here is our adaptation with cost calculation:

KIMCHI QUESADILLAS

for each serving of one large quesadilla:

2 10-inch flour tortillas $0.34
1 cup (2 oz.) grated cheddar cheese $0.24
1/3 cup kimchi $0.58
1/6 block extra firm tofu $0.33
1 teaspoon sesame oil $0.10
1 teaspoon canola oil $0.02 (to brush the tortillas for frying)
splash of rice wine vinegar and soy sauce

total $1.62

The only huge bargain price there is the cheddar cheese. We’re still slowly working through 2 pounds of Tillamook cheddar we got before the project for $3.99.

We also finally scored on organic yogurt – three giant tubs on clearance for $1.59 each! Hurray, generous serving of organic yogurt for 40 cents!

Oh, and if you decide to try the sriracha buttermilk dressing, we were too wussy for that level of heat. We started out making a half recipe and had to make a whole recipe using only half the sriracha. Levi decided he doesn’t like sriracha. He complains so little, I think it had a big impact!

I’d really like to read the Sriracha Cookbook, but our library doesn’t have it yet.

day sixteen

(Click here for an explanation of the project.)

Here’s what we ate for $4.73 yesterday, January 17, 2011.

BREAKFAST

grapefruit $0.25
whole grain toast with 1/3 an avocado $0.44

LUNCH

2 large organic carrots $0.16
4 butternut stuffed shells with tomato porcini sauce $1.28

DINNER

1 cup dal palak $0.93
1 cup cooked quinoa $0.36
1/2 cup green beans with olive oil, ginger, and garlic $0.17

DESSERT

Theo Marshmallow Big Daddy (free trivia prize)

SNACKS

6 ounces stovetop espresso $0.57
1/3 cup “coconut milk beverage” $0.07
Gala apple $0.50

total $4.73

“Avocado toast: simply the best breakfast ever?” asks the kitchn. The answer is yes. The only way this could be better is some freshly baked bread.

I won’t bore you with the cost analysis of the dal palak recipe. It’s a bunch of affordable ingredients combined to make a large quantity of food. We actually ended up with more than 9 one-cup servings. And it was pretty darned delicious.

COFFEE. So, we bought an assortment of coffee beans at various prices. And then I calculated the weight of our most common method of making coffee lately, the stovetop espresso maker. We usually make a generous serving in the 4-cup capacity Bialetti for one person, which is actually a tiny serving of really strong coffee. I get teased at work about my tiny coffee cup on a regular basis. This can only get worse with Starbucks’ introduction of the trenta. Anyway, I calculated the weight of the beans going into the Bialetti, and it was seven-eighths of an ounce.

The cheapest coffee we buy at the grocery store is $6.99/lb. The organic coffee beans we buy at the co-op are $10.39 and $11.20 a pound. So for what we drink as one serving of stovetop espresso that works out to:

61 cents at $11.20/lb
57 cents at $10.39/lb
39 cents at $6.99/lb

Wow, we were both a little surprised it was that much. Okay, that is super cheap in real life. We are skipping out on $5 soy lattes. But in terms of our $5 a day budget, 61 cents is 12% of our budget. Even at it’s cheapest, it is 8 % of the food budget! I think we were expecting more like 30 cents.

I’m a little torn. On the one hand, we are usually that much under budget and could probably still calculate coffee into the budget without changing much. On the other hand, I want us to try to spend more of our budget on food and some days eat more. Even though I’ve been saying I would calculate coffee into the budget, I’m not sure it’s the best idea.

So for today it is added into the budget, but I’m leaning toward coffee not being part of our $5 per day in food. We have already given up take-out and the coffee shop entirely. We have cut back significantly on sugar. And I’m currently working the 11pm to 9am shift, so I’m not about to go cold turkey on that one homemade coffee I have per day. I do want to continue to calculate the cost of some specific homemade coffee drinks, and especially the per serving cost on toddy, or cold brewed coffee.

Oh, and chocolate. You will know what tremendous will power we’ve been demonstrating when I tell you we have quite the stockpile of Theo chocolates each of us won in trivia contests on the Theo Facebook page. Levi asked sweetly if we could finally have some chocolate, and it was 100% free so I gave in. Even though those amazing little confections are each worth more than half our entire food budget for the day, they were free to us. So if you’re not doing it already, follow your favorite food companies and restaurants on Facebook. Find out about discounts, get coupons, or just win free stuff!

day nine

(Click here for an explanation of the project.)

Here’s what we ate for $4.49 yesterday, January 10, 2011.

BREAKFAST

8 ounces lowfat plain yogurt with homemade preserves $0.50
banana $0.25

LUNCH

leftover honey baked lentils and baked yam $1.16

DINNER

2 mini grilled blue cheese and pear sandwiches on raisin bread $1.44
salad mix with jicama and balsamic vinegar and olive oil $0.39

SNACKS

6 ounces stove top espresso with 1/3 cup frothed soy milk $0.07 (still using free coffee beans)
half a pear $0.24
2 clementines $0.44

total $4.49

You might have noticed we are a little bit obsessed with trying new and unusual grilled cheese sandwiches. There was the grilled kimcheese. And then there was my new favorite, the blackberry grilled cheese. I would link you to that recipe, but the site is down. It’s pretty simple: bread with blackberry jam spread on each slice with cheese, scallions, and walnuts in between. PURE MAGIC.

We weren’t sure we could make something as fancy as a grilled blue cheese sandwich happen on $5 a day, but I’d already found pears for cheap so I consulted google and found this recipe. We set out to find a good deal on blue cheese, and no surprise here, it was at the co-op. Then I set out to see how I could make the recipe a little cheaper.

I found that half the cheese the recipe called for looked like plenty. And since I still haven’t priced out butter or vegan margarine I opted for olive oil. I ended up only needing a third of the amount called for when I lightly brushed the bread with olive oil. I love that we are finding ways to make recipes simultaneously cheaper and healthier when my perception of really cheap food has always been Top Ramen and Kraft macaroni and cheese.

Those sandwiches were absolutely decadent, even with the adjustments. And Levi, who is getting increasingly more helpful in the kitchen, took salad duty despite the fact that his initial reaction to the bagged salad was, “I’m scared.”

It didn’t appear to be browning at all so how could I pass on 49 cents and no chopping? Levi dressed it up with some jicama, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper. I am usually anti pre-packaged salad mixes, but it was worth it at that price. Another slam dunk dinner for cheap. We are adding stuff to our repertoire left and right here.

day eight

(Click here for an explanation of the project.)

Here’s what we ate for $4.57 yesterday, January 9, 2011.

BREAKFAST

whole grapefruit $0.50
multi-grain bagel $0.47
3 tablespoons green onion cream cheese $0.24
6 ounces stove top espresso with 1/3 cup frothed soy milk $0.07 (still using free coffee beans)

LUNCH

chocolate blueberry smoothie with hemp protein $0.83

DINNER

baked yam $0.53
honey baked lentils $0.32
honey roasted organic carrots $0.19
1-1/2 tablespoons sour cream $0.09

SNACKS

bottle of beer $1.33 (Levi is at his dad’s today, so sadly he didn’t get one)

total $4.57

Perhaps we’re getting a little cocky, having a beer on $5 a day. We were running around shopping for four days worth of food as we head into the work week and didn’t have time for any snacks. We did have a brief field trip to our friend’s house for some free eggs and a visit to the ladies who laid them.

See the ladies in action, complete with a soundtrack thanks to Jess.

We got 3 dozen eggs since our friend is fostering some homeless hens and has an abundance. Hooray! We’ll probably still count the co-op price for eggs since they’re so cheap and to keep our totals relevant to people who don’t have the hook-up. It’s sure nice to have some local food in the mix.

And if you’re wondering whether we are really hemp protein kind of gals, we’re not. We don’t really buy powdered food, and it’s not really a bargain food. We have a stock pile of free samples from festivals and things we go to, and decided to throw it into our smoothie. We couldn’t taste it at all, so I guess it was pretty good.

Man, have I missed smoothies with all this cold weather. Here’s the recipe, which benefits in price from the local, organic blueberries we painstakingly picked at a you-pick farm this summer for $2.25 a pound:

CHOCOLATE BLUEBERRY SMOOTHIE

1 banana $0.25
1/2 cup frozen organic blueberries $0.28
1 tablespoon cocoa $0.08
1 cup plain soy milk $0.22
1/2 a free hemp protein packet (optional)

Instructions: blend thoroughly. You can increase the cocoa a bit for a little more chocolate. The banana and blueberries provide plenty of sweet.

And the lentil recipe was recommended by our friend Lisa. We decided to serve it over a baked yam, which didn’t make for the prettiest dinner, but it sure was good. Here’s the cost breakdown:

HONEY BAKED LENTILS

1 cup lentils $1.23
2 cups water
2 cloves minced garlic $0.02
2 teaspoons ground or fresh ginger (we used leftover fresh, unknown cost)
2 tablespoons olive oil $0.26
2 tablespoons tamari or soy sauce $0.06
2 tablespoons honey $0.12
1 small onion, chopped $0.20
salt and pepper to taste

$1.89 total
6 servings = $0.32 per serving

You just combine the ingredients and bake at 350 degrees for an hour. Lentils definitely win in terms of easy and cheap food. They were really cheap despite the fact that we were somehow charged more than the bulk bin was marked. I’m not too concerned, though, because as we finished up our shopping we turned to each other wide-eyed at how much less we are spending on four days worth of food.

I can’t wait to cook some of the new recipes we’re going to try this week!

vegan chipotle corn chowder

This is one of the standby dinners we make once or twice a month. Apparently I haven’t made it in awhile because Levi announced that he couldn’t wait to eat it as he pestered me to get cracking on dinner.

Makes 8 servings

one recipe creamy vegan base, below
1 tablespoon olive oil
large onion, chopped
large red or orange bell pepper, chopped
4 cups water
2 pounds potatoes, peeled and diced
32 ounces frozen corn
1 – 2 tablespoons pureed chipotles in adobo, to taste*

Prepare the creamy vegan base.

Heat a stockpot over medium-high heat. Add the olive oil, and once hot saute the onions until they are golden and soft, 7-10 minutes. Add the bell pepper and saute another minute. Next, add the water and potatoes and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered, until the potatoes are soft, about 15 minutes.

Add the corn, chipotle, and creamy vegan base to the stockpot. Return to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer until thickened, about 10-15 minutes.

Use a potato masher to break up the potatoes some. Transfer about half the chowder into a blender. Remove the center of the lid to vent, covering with a folded towel. Puree until smooth, and return to the stockpot. (An immersion blender doesn’t work as well for this step.) Stir to combine and serve.

creamy vegan base

2 cups water
1/4 cup raw almonds
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 tablespoon sea salt
1/2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1 tablespoon tomato paste
2 tablespoons corn starch

Place all ingredients in a blender and allow to soak while you prepare the rest of your recipe. Just before adding the base, blend until smooth. No chunks of almond should remain. This may take up to two minutes.

* You can puree cans of chipotles in adobo in a food processor and store in a jar for an extended period of time. If you don’t want to puree them for other uses, just blend 1 – 3 peppers from a can of chipotles in adobo along with the creamy base.

Full nutrition information here, calculated via the sparkpeople.com recipe calculator.

This cost us 72 cents per serving based on our purchase of a 20 cent onion, a $1.50 orange bell pepper, 38 cents for the potatoes (an ultra cheap 10 pound bag), $1.89 for corn, $1.56 for bulk almonds, and 25 cents for fresh lime juice. The tomato paste was leftover from our chili, and everything else we keep on hand.

As I’m analyzing this, I discovered our checker must have messed up when weighing our bulk almonds. This quarter of a cup said it was .39 pounds and $1.56. The ones we bought for a previous recipe were 50 cents for twice as much.

day three

(Click here for an explanation of the project.)

Here’s what we ate for $4.86 yesterday, January 4, 2011.

BREAKFAST

pumpkin & caramelized banana baked oatmeal again, that’s the last of it! $0.37

LUNCH

seitan mole chili $1.30
2 large organic carrots, $0.19

DINNER

faux Philly cheesesteaks on poppyseed kaiser rolls $2.19

giant serving of coleslaw $0.33

SNACKS

banana $0.25
hard boiled egg $0.17
leftover coffee with ¼ cup almond milk $0.06

Can we just say that night 3 was rough? This was one of those nights when we definitely would have gotten take-out if we could have. We were both running on sleep deficits and I’m pretty sure we’re all going through a little sugar withdrawal from switching over from holiday eating to very little extra sugar in our diets. We may just have to find room for dessert in the budget before the week is out.

I asked Levi his thoughts after eating on the cheap for 3 days. Did he feel deprived? He laughed at the idea. We have been eating pretty damn good for $5/person/day. So far.

And here is a visual of his reaction to our faux cheesesteak dinner:

Let’s see if this is any good.

Ohhhh yeah, that’s good.

Stuff:

- We are all sad to see that amazing pumpkin oatmeal run out, but we came up with our own baked oatmeal recipe to share with you tomorrow.
- I realized we are generally pretty good about making enough food for 6 people for dinner and saving it for lunch.
- The faux Philly cheesesteaks were inspired by one of our other scores from our trip to Grocery Outlet:

Yves brand fake deli slices are probably the only fake meat product we buy on a regular basis because they make really easy sandwiches to send in school lunches. We’d never tried this fake beef, and while they weren’t all that great on their own the dinner was a huge hit. The cost breaks down to 80 cents for four slices of that, kaiser rolls from the Fred Meyer bakery at 3 for a dollar, 2 ounces of discounted smoked cheese for 62 cents, and 18 cents worth of onion and 26 worth of green bell pepper on each sandwich. We planned on using red bell pepper but couldn’t afford it. We did not miss the red bell pepper.

Look at us, really pushing the limit of our budget. I hope to hit exactly $5 before the month is out.