Food Stamp Challenge Wrap-up

Last night my sister asked me if I learned a lot about food stamps from the challenge. My response was not really.

The point of the challenge was to raise awareness of food stamps and to provide information to persons on food stamps, but what could I say that I learned?

I think probably the hardest part was wanting something to eat - that I knew we had on hand - but denying myself the pleasure because I hadn't purchased it for the challenge/put it into our weekly meal plan. It was my first experience with "rationing" food. This was particularly difficult the first week. It was also difficult telling Mr. X that he needed to eat something he didn't like for the sake of the challenge. Fortunately for him, we ended up having extra leftovers, and he ate those instead.

The second week of the challenge, I wasn't as careful about using items from our stockpile and accounting for them in our food stamp budget. But it also helped that I purchased a number of snack items, like chips, baby carrots, and Halloween candy.

Food Stamp menu plan

While the challenge was supposed to end on Saturday, as promised here is my weekly menu:

Oct. 31 - Nov 6

Breakfasts
Cereal and milk
Oatmeal
Breakfast muffins

Lunches
Leftovers from dinner

Dinners
Homemade Chicken and rice soup
Homemade Cheese pizza
Teriyaki Chicken and rice
chicken chili & muffins
Bean & cheese burritos
Breakfast for dinner (pancakes, eggs)
Leftovers

Lots of chicken this week - that's because while I pretended to buy 12lbs of beef last week...I didn't actually have 12 lb of beef in the freezer.

Shopping trip

Had to make a shopping trip for our Halloween Festivities...okay so the only essential was fresh milk to feed our Seminary class.

Fred Meyer

Gallon Milk $2.99
Cups $1.69
Whole Chicken $5.00 ($.79/lb)
(5) Kidney beans canned $.99 ea. - 3 for $2 store coupon = $.67 ea*
(4) Black beans canned $.99 ea. - 3 for $2 store coupon = $.67 ea*
Kashi Cereal (reg $5.79) sale 4.99 - 40% store coupon - $2 sample coupon = $.99
All Bran Cereal sale $3.50 - $1 store coupon - $2 sample coupon = $.50
Always Infinity sale 4.39 - free coupon = free

Total 18.45

I decided to use the cereal coupons, since I knew that the kids at Seminary wouldn't drink the whole gallon of milk during class. It'll be a real treat to have cold cereal.

I'll have to see what kind of a menu I can come up with based off this shopping...

*This is the best deal they've had this fall on canned beans. Anyone else notice this?

The cashiers have started saying, "good job" to me. That's sort of gratifying.

Hot Food Stamp News: Costco to accept Food Stamps

I spotted this headline in the Seattle Times here which I thought was appropriate for the final days of the food stamp challenge.

Apparently Costco will begin accepting food stamps in at least half their stores by Thanksgiving.

Previously Costco said they didn't think their customers were using food stamps and didn't want to invest in the equipment to process food stamps.

The change in policy resulted from 1) opening a Costco store in East Harlem, 2) pressure from politicians representing Queens and Brooklyn AND 3) the general state of the economny (a 30% jump in food stamp usage in WA state alone).

Weekly Menu Oct 24 - Oct 30

Breakfasts:
Banana Muffins
Eggs on toast
Oatmeal, banana
Pancakes or waffles
Breakfast burritos

Lunches:
Leftovers from dinner
PB and Jelly sandwich

Dinners:
Taco Salad
Spaghetti, green salad, toast
Beef enchiladas, rice, beans
Chicken and Rice, frozen vegetables
Beef Stroganoff, frozen vegetables
Leftovers
Dinner at Friends’ house

Shopping list
Apples
Pears
Sour cream
Herbal tea
(2) bagged salad
Bananas
Grape Tomatoes
Tortilla Chips
5 dozen eggs
Salsa
Halloween Candy

Total (with tax) $41.57

Additional Pretend Shopping
Bread
Baby carrots
Canned black beans
Black olives
Pasta
Pasta sauce
Tortillas
Enchiladas sauce pouch
Peanut butter
Jam
Parmesan cheese
Brownie mix
12 lb ground beef (stock up)

Total (with tax): $48.76
Total groceries: $90.33

This was a better shopping week. I was able to find sales on apples, pears and Halloween candy (and pretended for bread, carrots, peanut butter, jam, and ground beef). The herbal tea was on sale for $3.00 + it had a $1.00 peel coupon. The bagged salad and tomatoes were reduced for quick sale.

Food Stamp Review: Mr. X

One of my reservations with joining the Food Stamp Challenge was getting Mr. X to agree to it. He's not a fan of online projects, or creative shopping so I wasn't expecting his support. Imagine my pleasure when he called me yesterday:

"I just called to ask if we could have chicken pot pie every day. Thanks for lunch, it was really good."

Or how about on Wednesday. We got home from work and he asked, "What's for dinner?" Then raised his hands and shouted, "Halleluah!" when I said, "Grilled Cheese."

We're eating well, though I'm looking forward to "buying" some ground beef on Saturday. One of the challenges I've had is snacks. I didn't buy much of anything for snacking. Last night I mixed up some oatmeal cookies for a treat. Mr. X asked for chocolate chips and didn't argue when I said I didn't have any even though he knew there were two full Costco bags in the cupboard!

Weekly Menu Oct 17 - Oct 24

Breakfasts:
Banana Muffins
Eggs on toast
Oatmeal, banana

Lunches:
Leftovers from dinner
Egg Salad Sandwich

Dinners:
Homemade Cheese Pizza, green salad
Homemade Chili, muffins, sliced apples
Grilled Cheese Sandwich, tomato soup, sliced apple
Chicken pot pie (biscuit top)
Rice & Millet, green salad
Cheese & Spinach Quiche
Leftover Buffet

I assumed was working with a nearly empty pantry. I (pretended to) stock up on these items:
Flour
Sugar
Baking powder
Powdered milk (we use powdered unless we are hosting guests)
Oatmeal
Whole chicken (use 1/3 to make pot pie)
Rice

I was disappointed with the shopping on Saturday; total bust. Unfortunately, the sales were lousy and the items that happened to be on sale weren’t what we keep stocked at home. The only items I actually bought were cheese and bananas (plus some nonfood items).

You may notice that our menu is heavy on cheese this week, which was NOT cheap at Fred Meyer. Dh (hereafter referred to as Mr. X) requested that I buy cheese as we haven’t had it in the house for the last month. We bought the cheese are Costco because it’s about half the price of Fred Meyer.

(Pretend) Shopping List:
Bananas Canned tomatoes
Flour Chili mix
Sugar 1 yellow onion
Baking Powder 4 apples
18 eggs Old Fashioned Oatmeal
Powdered Milk Tomato soup
Cheese Whole chicken
Yeast Frozen mixed veggies
Tomato paste Rice
Bagged salad Millet
Bread Frozen spinach
1lb beef Kidney beans

Grocery shopping: $54.62
MFP voucher: $22.83
Total Groceries: $77.45

Alaska Food Stamp Challenge

The Food Bank of Alaska held a week long Food Stamp Challenge last month. These challenges have picked up steam over the last few years as they moved around the country, encouraging law makers to attempt to live on food stamps for one week.

Inspired by Jessica's Food Stamp Challenge at www. alaskasbestgrocerydeals.blogspot.com, I've decided to join in for the two week experience. I will not, however, be following all the rules.

After consulting with my husband, we determined that we would use our stockpile for staples such as flour and rice, but provide prices as if we had purchased the items during that week. This will likely mean that we will not be getting the best "bang for our buck", but hopefully, I can create a menu plan that is consistent with sales. Additionally, I menu plan and shop for the week on Saturdays, so I will begin the challenge Oct 17th, rather than on the October 19th start date. I will provide three weeks worth of menus and deals to compensate for this difference.

Like Jessica, "my goal is to try to inspire Alaskans to learn new ways to save on groceries and thus become more self-reliant". The point of this exercise is not to judge or shame my neighbors who currently find themselves needing public assistance, and I will not support a forum which debates public assistance policies. Also, I'd like to show that a little bit of effort can help. One doesn't have to become a coupon queen or gourmet chef to provide quality, tasty meals to their family while on a budget.

I hope by entering the challenge to offer the perspective of a WOHW in Juneau, since many of the other participants likely will be 1) families with children and 2) from South Central, Alaska.

Because we are a two person household with some income our budget will be:

• Food Stamp Benefit - $68.94 per week
• MFP Voucher - $30 per week fresh fruit, veggies, milk, yogurt, and other perishable items, as if we received a Mobile Food Pantry distribution (Juneau does not have a MFP, but we do have several wonderful food pantries).

This budget seems pretty generous to me so I hope to be able to "stock up" during the food stamp weeks.

I will be focusing on one particular store - Fred Meyer. This will simplify the challenge for me as I gather prices to use for my stockpiled items. Also, I hope to simplify the deal finding as I represent a food stamp-er with limited transportation and computer access.