Food Stamp Challenge: Day 3

I'm feeling a bit better today. Part of that may be because I actually woke up early enough this morning to make myself a reasonable breakfast and to-go lunch. Though still stressed and feeling rushed.

I am quickly learning that eating healthy on a food stamp budget is certainly not impossible. But it is damn inconvenient. So I think about how hard it is for me, a graduate student with a full-time job and volunteer responsibilities trying to cook healthy meals in a hurry with limited stock. And I think about when things happen that are beyond my control, like the weather-cancelled farmers market, causing me to settle for less nutritious options, like frozen spinach and old broccoli. I think about how much these things stress me out.

And then I think about if I didn't have a car and didn't have time or energy to take a bus all the way to the supermarket and back so instead I walk to the closest neighborhood market (in my case, Omid's on Rains Ave) where there is little to no fresh produce and canned and packaged food is actually more expensive.

Or how about someone living at the Nashville Rescue Mission on 8th Ave S, where they do get fed meals, but if someone misses dinner because of work and the closest market to get healthy food is...what? The Turnip Truck? Good luck making your food stamps last there. And even if they could buy ingredients, they'd have no kitchen to cook in. I'll settle for a bag of Cheetos and a soda from that gas station next to work, thanks.

Once again, I digress (for now). Here's what I ate today:

Breakfast: Fried egg on toast with a salsa I threw together with leftover corn, black beans & bell pepper (from the taco soup), a bit of tomato and a squeeze of lime juice. Cost: $0.21 (I used so little of each veggie to make the salsa that I didn't calculate the cost for it, and I have quite a bit left)

Lunch: Not near as exciting as breakfast. Brown rice (that I cooked last night) with cheese and steamed broccoli and cauliflower. Cost: $0.73

After work today I run over to Coleman Park to pick up our CSA share. That I can't eat. Sweet irony.

CSA truck is late, of course. I run home, throw meat in the freezer and make the worlds fastest microwave potato. I top it with some of this morning's breakfast salsa and take it with me to class with 2 minutes to spare (I love you, South Nashville). Cost for snack: $0.28

Tonight for dinner I am working on an Indian dish called Dal Palak. This is basically a lentil soup with potatoes, tomatoes, and lots of spices. Garlic is a big part of the dish and is the only thing I don't have, but I still feel like I'm finally getting a chance to cook something interesting. Also a big part of the dish is a lot of the spices, that I already had and am allowed to use as part of my assignment. Cost (minus spices): $1.58

In Progress.

I still feel pretty satisfied from my potato snack, so I may have a bite tonight but this will likely be lunch tomorrow. For the record, it is currently 8:30pm and this has about 30 more minutes to simmer. This is my first time making this dish. I'll let you know how it goes.