21-Dollars-A-Week-Challenge: Are We Surviving?

As you may remember from Sunday's Blog Post (or not, I don't expect people to remember everything I post, seriously!) I am taking part in fellow vegan blogger "Vegan Hope"'s 21-Dollars-A-Week Vegan Blogger Challenge.

Since I didn't post a full menu on Sunday, and because I'd shopped but not actually 'started' the week, I thought I'd check back here, mid-week, to let you know how it's going.

First of all, as I mentioned on Sunday, living on 21-dollars-per-person-a-week is already slightly more than my actual 'real-life' budget allows. So as expected, this week is going about the same as any other week. I got home early, so I have the batter made for tonight's zucchini-garbanzo fritters, and the peach cobbler in the oven. I even made a vegan-cashew ranch for dipping (made from garden dill, and a few leftovers from last week which I realize skews the total weekly numbers a bit).

The only thing we've changed about the menu so far is that we opted for Biscuits and Gravy yesterday instead of Thursday. That's pretty typical, my "menu" is just a guideline for HOW to use the food we have on hand, not specifically "when".

Here's the plan for Saturday, which, when added to the previous list I made on Sunday, completes the week.

SATURDAY:
Breakfast:
Carrot-Potato Latkes (Nava Atlas's recipe with shredded carrot/potato/onion - I use cornmeal instead of matzoh meal),
applesauce, fresh blackberries!
Lunch:
Peanut-butter and Jam* sandwiches, leftover cashew ranch dip with zucchini sticks and cherry tomatoes
Supper:
Curried lentils (lentils, curry powder, ginger, onions, garlic, salt), rice, homemade roti (Indian bread) and spicy (Indian spices/curry) tomato-zucchini-and-carrots.

*jam = from the dollar store = 1.00

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I haven't added it up exactly, but I'm pretty confident we came in well under 21-Dollars-Per-Person, because I still have a few dollars in my pocket.

(Another budget-helper. Take your grocery money out, in CASH at the first of the week. That is all you have to spend. Cash only. It works wonders!)

I've appreciated all the great comments and questions this subject has generated. Feel free to add or ask anything else!!

A couple things:

1.) Yes, as many have commented, my prices may be really low, but I don't think this is because I live in a "cheaper" part of the country, we're actually rated as "upper-middle" according to the Census, cost-of-living-wise and however they measure that thing
But keep in mind WHERE I shop. I bought all of the week's produce at the Asian and Latino markets at substantial savings, and was able to pick out exactly the amount I needed, nothing was pre-packaged or wrapped in per-selected bundles. I bought tiny portions of spices from the bulk aisle at Winco, some of them only pennies per tablespoon.

2.) Yes, my kids do snack some... We don't buy any "snack" foods but there is almost always bread, hummus, PB, Jam, carrots and apples. Also, there are usually leftovers, this week I've had leftover hummus, veggies, tortillas and refried beans. Not a LOT of any of those items, but a snack is just that, a snack. I'm not a fan anyway. I haven't yet found any compelling, truly scientific evidence that convinces me we need to snack all day anyway. Maybe after school, but that's usually it.

3.) Beverages. Water! We don't drink soymilk or other plant milk as a beverage, or any type of juice. Both of these items are expensive and just don't fit into the budget. And juice isn't necessary for anyone anyway! We don't do a lot of "smoothie" type drinks unless I have a lot of odds and ends to use up. When my children were toddlers we did more high-protein drinks and smoothies so I could pack in the nutrients. I DO have iced herb tea in the fridge almost all the time and when we want something other than water it fills the craving.

4.) Nutrition. Are my kids getting adequate nutrition? Yes. Even though my current budget can't be modified at the moment, I won't sacrifice my children's health. If I needed to change something - vegan or not, I would do it, their nutrition and health come first.
We do take B12 and D suppliments, just because I want to be extra careful. When my kids were toddlers we did do a lot more smoothies and even eggs once in a while (because I still think free-range chickens are the best pest controllers a garden can have, but this isn't the forum for that whole "egg" discussion, please). There are certainly plenty of vegan options for raising healthy toddlers if you don't have chickens laying eggs on your front steps.

Nowdays my kids are older, they eat more variety and are getting more than adequate nutrition with the meals we have. I realize we scrape the bare minimum number of fruit-and-vegetable servings some days, I wish I could afford to add more to our meals but overall, it seems to even out. Their health history, weight, blood tests and yearly physicals indicate they're healthier than the "typical" teen out there for sure. Every few weeks, just to be sure, I track their meals (using teenage-female statistics) on nutritiondata.com or similar sites just because I'm a paranoid Mom that way.

5.) Time. I work, two jobs during the school-year. My kids are in school and work as well. We have as busy a life as the next person. All told, most meals don't take more than 1/2 hour to put on the table. Lunch usually significantly less, and it's packed the night before during the school-year. If you can't give your family an hour to an hour-and-a-half every day towards their health and nutrition, you probably need to re-evaluate something in your schedule. Sorry, not trying to be harsh, just my 2 cents. I make copious use of time-saving utensils: the crock-pot, time-bake on the oven, timed rice-cooker, pressure-cooker and meals in the freezer. (And microwave, if that's your thing, I don't use it) And I try to sit down at the table most evenings for supper. Yes, even with teenagers.

6.) Cooking ahead. I don't do a lot of meals-made-ahead but I DO spend a lot of time in the summer, as I said before, preserving for winter. Making use of EVERY bit of produce I can get my hands on, from my garden, my friends extras, my Mom's over-abundant corn patch, etc. I'll use ANYTHING! I make tomato sauces, salsa, apple sauce, apple butter, jams, frozen beans, greens, squash and cooked, mashed pumpkin. I also make seitan (vegetarian wheat-gluten-meat-type product) in BIG batches and different products (sausages, cutlets, crumbles) and freeze for future use. Again, very cheap to make your own... I have a huge freezer and a pantry full of canning jars I got off Craig's-List and they've paid for themselves many, many times over.