Thoughts on SNAP Challenge for Monday

My child is going to eat me out of house and home. I gave him two strawberries as I was cutting up two more to put on my oatmeal. After he’d had a cup of milk, he housed the strawberries along with a piece of cheese, a handful of (generic) Cheerios, and two-thirds of a banana. 

Gevalia coffee (spent $5.84 on a bag at Walmart) is surprisingly good. It’s no Rise Up, but it is getting me up in the morning and fueling the first part of my day. I’ve become a pour-over addict and make my first cup of coffee this way every morning. I blame you, Laura. I also bought those refillable coffee pods after using them at Colleen’s house while we were on vacation. These have already saved me money, as I used to go through about a box a week (at ~$8-$9 a box). Very happy that I got these before the challenge, or else I’d be taking my pour-over apparatus to work with me.

My fridge oatmeal was a winner! I also sprinkled some brown sugar on top and it was delicious with the strawberries. Maybe the expensive MapleHill creamery yogurt was worth it. Although I could also buy delicious yogurt from grass-fed cows at Nice Farms Creamery. If I recall correctly, I can get a quart of yogurt for $3.50 there. I know that they sell their products at several farmers markets that accept SNAP, so this would be on the approved list.

By 11 a.m., I am thinking about lunch. I’m not sure if it’s because I am focused on this challenge or if I’m just hungry. Probably both.

I heated up my Progresso Italian Wedding Soup for lunch and notice the sodium content. Nearly 1300 mg for the entire can (which I am definitely eating – one can is one serving to me). YIKES. So I start thinking about making my own soup with leftovers as well as making my own stock later in the week. Also, the soup was quite good but incredibly salty. I also realize that I have neglected to bring anything to snack on.

3 p.m. I am really wishing I had brought cheese to snack on. 

After work, I ran to the grocery store to pick up some lettuce and sour cream for the tacos. While there, I noticed that cheese was on sale for $1.50 less a pound than I paid for at Walmart. Grrr!

Dinner was awesome and filling. I always love this dinner when we make it at home… although when we have more time, we usually make fresh pico de gallo with tomatoes, lime juice, red onion and cilantro. Today I used a can of diced tomatoes with green chilies.

I made 2 cups of rice (lots left over, ~.75), ~2 cups black beans (~.45), 1 lb ground turkey (~2.96), shredded cheddar (~.83), shredded lettuce (~.33), can of tomatoes (.69), sour cream (.56).

This kid loves these flavors... he could eat rice & beans every day

Total cost of dinner for 3 people ~$6.57. There was enough left over for 2 lunches, plus enough rice for at least one or two more meals after that. I will probably have rice and beans for lunch on Wednesday. That’s about $1.31 per meal, so YAY me.

Other thoughts at the end of the day: 

I think that I will put peanut butter on my English Muffin tomorrow morning instead of regular butter. It should be more filling.

I'm going to count how much coffee I go through this week. I'm also thinking of making my own coffee sweetener/creamer. I usually use french vanilla creamer in my coffee, but I'm thinking that I should be able to make a healthier (and cheaper) version using simple syrup, milk, and vanilla (<-- I have some awesome Mexican vanilla).

Today's coffee count: 

1 pour over, 2 refillable K-cups

Weekly count:

 2 pour overs, 2 refillable K-cups