So, Eat Well on the Cheap was a great post what wasn’t well thought out.
I decided to go back to the drawing board.
7 days. 21 meals. 5 bucks a day.
Grand plans of menu planning danced in my head- but here in reality I ended up at Trader Joe’s. In actuality, this is a better plan because I want to see how reasonable it is to eat well with a few bucks.
My cash went further than I thought it would at Trader Joe’s.
I spent $25 there. I need some tortillas (1.89), beans (1.49 for two bags) and Thai basil (1.50 for 1 giant bunch) from my favorite Asian grocery store.
That leaves me with $3. I’m going to save that to see if some veggies jump out at me at the farmer’s market this week.
Here’s what I scored:
- bag of Gala apples
- 4 bananas – biggest steal at .19 ea
- bag of Brussels sprouts
- frozen green beans
- 2 large onions
- bag of greens for salad
- Carrot Ginger Soup (4 servings) This was $2.79 and I figure an easy lunch.
- Groundless Beef
- 2 large sweet potatoes
I did already have quinoa, brown rice and a bag of chick peas.
Here’s the menu for tomorrow.
Day 1
Breakfast
- Banana
- Apple
Lunch
- Hummus sandwich
(Hummus, handful of greens, onions, oil, lemon juice and spices)
- Apple
Dinner
- Stir Fry- brown rice, kale, onions and chick peas
This recipe is super easy.
- Sauté onions and minced garlic for 5 minutes
- Add the brown rice and kale and chick peas
- Sauté for five minutes add a few splashes of water. I probably would have added some lemon juice, but they weren’t in the purchased items list.
- I did add salt and pepper. Hot pepper flakes would be nice too if you have them in your pantry.
- The leftovers will be great in a wrap!
Almost 9 months ago, I watched Vegucated and decided to give a vegan lifestyle a go. Since then I’ve adopted completely vegetarian, and mostly vegan way of life. I do confess to eating artisan cheese once in awhile. I also indulge in honey.
Overall, it’s been a game changer- I feel great. My skin looks great and I’ve reduced my carbon footprint- which in turn is good for you.
Alas, I still have people saying, “But I can’t eat healthy without spending lots of money…” and “Eating healthy and cheap doesn’t taste good.”
Right. I’m calling bullshit. So for the next two weeks I’m going to eat for less than $5 a day. I’m doing two weeks because anyone can suck up a week. I’m not doing a month because that too will get boring (not for me, for you my friends).
I’ll include recipes that aren’t complicated, but they will all be tasty (at least I hope, when they aren’t, I’ll share that too).
And here we go.
Namaste y’all.
