Every Little Thing's Thoughts on Challenge Prep

9 days! Nine days until my Hunger Challenge week begins. I’m Stacy again, from Every Little Thing, and I’ve started the meal-planning process with some apprehension. Am I ready for this? Thankfully, I have the choice to participate in this challenge, but many do not. $30 per person isn’t much so I’m hoping to spend our $60 budget wisely while keeping our bellies full and bodies fed with nutritious, local food.

> Thoughts on protein: Though I’ve recently been trying to eat less meat (strictly for health reasons), I do enjoy the occasional burger and chicken breast. While meal-planning for the Challenge though, I’ve certainly found the cost of meat to be quite a hurdle in getting the most out of my $60. I’m also picky about my meat, so I’ve decided not to use this meager food budget as a reason to buy a 30-pack of hot dogs or canned chicken. Not to say I don’t understand why people do – a hot dog is better than a hungry belly.  That said, my goal is to use this $60 budget to create nutritionally-minded meals, as all natural and fresh as I can, and I think I can do it without processed meat.

The proteins I’ll look for include: beans, quinoa, lentils, eggs, tuna, and any cheap, quality meat I can find. “Cheap, quality meat” is a tall order,  but I’m sticking with my goal and not compromising my money if I don’t have to. I’m considering a pound of ground beef from the market for about $5. You can do a lot with a pound of ground beef and I think I can stretch it between several servings of chili and a couple burgers or addition to stuffed peppers.

> Thoughts on snacks: I’m a snacker. I love to eat my lunch in parts – yogurt at 10 a.m; sandwich at 11:30; chips at 1:oo; and so on. $30 per person doesn’t save room for a lot of snack food, so I’ll need to be more mindful of my meals, eating one large portion instead of many small ones. I will also have to eat leftovers, which I’ve had a hard time with in the past. Three words for that: get.over.it.

> Thoughts on the farmer’s market: Many, many people have told me that their farmer’s markets are much more expensive than their regular grocery store. My market can go both ways but I firmly believe that the extra money spent goes towards a greater good and better quality food. I would like to buy much of my food at the market for the Hunger Challenge – this won’t be entirely possible but I’ll do what I can. I already know I’ll purchase peppers, squash, onion, potatoes, and eggs from the market. I’m going to search for cheaper bread options (Companion Early Bird Outlet?) and will carefully price out meat.

> Thoughts on convenience: One thing I can’t deny – convenience goes out the window when you have a limited budget. No canned beans – you can make twice as many with a bag of dry. No individual packages of anything – bulk is cheaper (and less waste!). I’ll be putting more work into all our meals, but lunches specifically. Any individually-sized foods I buy are almost solely for our lunchboxes, so I’ll have to make better use of my glass Pyrex bowls!

My next post will have my budget and hopefully, meal plans. As you’re preparing for your hunger challenge, here's a question to think about:

Do you consider spices, olive oil, and salt and pepper pantry staples, and therefore don’t need to be included in the challenge?

(There’s no way to generalize for all people on food stamps but I feel as though nothing can truly be considered a pantry staple. I have had clients that literally have nothing left in their pantry at the end of each week, and spices are of little concern when you just need food. Salt and pepper may be the one exception.)