Raspberries in my garden.
Today is day six of the July Food Stamp Challenge, and so far, we’re doing okay. Not great, but not terrible either. We’ve spent $93.77 so far. My mother sent me home with tons of leftover food from her 4th of July barbecue, which she would have done whether or not I was doing the Food Stamp Challenge. Logically, we should only be at $71.19, (which is the $404, divided by 31, multiplied by four and then multiplied by 6.) This amount may sound high, our cupboards and fridge are very full and I do not see us needing to do any big grocery shopping for at least a week.
The only time so far we’ve veered from our normal routine has been when my 13-year-old son wanted to make a cheesecake and I vetoed the idea, as that much cream cheese would tip the scales.
7/01/11 — $48.57 (Big grocery shopping at Safeway)
7/03/11 — $36.70 (This was when we ate out with a coupon)
7/04/11 — $5.91 (Buying food to bring to a 4th of July barbecue at my mother’s house)
7/04/11 $2.59 (A gallon of milk at New Season’s Market)
Tonight for dinner I plan on serving sushi, made with shrimp and random bits of leftover vegetables. I already have all the ingredients, and plan on assembling enough to provide ample leftovers. Our raspberries are producing, and my lettuce is finally big enough to harvest.
I look forward to being able to make a large financial donation to The Oregon Food Bank when the month is over.
Katy Wolk-Stanley
“Use it up, wear it out, make it do or do without”
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
I’m doing much better then I thought, we have so far spent $49.41. Of that $26 was for chicken we bought for our cookout. YIKES!! I was able to pick the chicken off of the 3 breasts we had leftover and freeze it for 2 meals later in the month. Plus there are some wings left that my hubby will eat for a meal.
We pay a dollar more for a gallon of milk in my neck of the woods. Thats one item I never see on sale.
That is a real bummer you were not able to facilitate your son’s wish to make a cheesecake. Encouraging young people (especially young boys!) to cook is really important nowadays when all they want to do is eat processed food.
Not this kid. He really wanted to make “Dagwood” sandwiches, so we made hoagie rolls from scratch using The Frugal Girl’s recipe.
They were delicious and cost the price of flour, salt, sugar, yeast and water.
Katy
The point of the challenge is to raise awareness. Its not too young to be aware that there are others in the world that are not as financially stable. At that age my parents we’re doing the same thing to teach me that lesson (as well as having me volunteer) and that experience enriched me in ways that I cannot even begin to describe.
I’m crazy for your berry bush! Are they raspberries? We plan to add some to our yard and some blueberry bushes!!
I am a fan of this thread. Thanks for bringing it back.
Maybe your son would like to try the recipe for cottage cheese cake. It might be cheaper than regular cheese cake.
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Omas-Cottage-Cheesecake/Detail.aspx