The Thirty Dollars Project
Recently, the mayor, Corey Booker, mayor of Newark NJ, challenged himself to live on $30.24 worth of food for one week to see if it was possible. The reason for this is because the SNAP program in New Jersey gives to qualifying persons $30.24 each week as a supplement to their food budget. The mayor has inspired one of my longtime flickr friends, John, to do the same. If you want to see how he is doing, he is up to day five. Here is his link: www.flickr.com/photos/johnfrisch/
I have been following John and as a nutritionist, I have been commenting on the nutritive value of his daily intake. The discussions with John inspired me to do the same. I started by grabbing the advertisement ads that came out this past Wednesday. I had twelve grocery stores send me their papers in the mail. I carefully reviewed each one and chose two grocery stores to do all of my shopping. Both stores are discount grocery stores and the photo above shows what I purchased. My total bill was $29.77 and I still have 47 cents left to spend.
Unlike the mayor and John, I cannot cook for one but for 3- 4 folks in my home. I am trying to stick to $30.24 and still feed everyone but it is a little tough. I will most likely have to add a few more items to accommodate the others in my household.
When I created this photo, I originally had all the labels turned facing the camera but when I moved things, I forgot to show the front of the label. There may be a few items that are not recognizable. My carton of milk is soy milk. I have two lactose intolerant members in my household and I can't drink too much of it either... the milk sugar doesn't settle well with my blood sugar level. The reddish looking plastic in the back is one pound of skinless, boneless chicken breast. To the left of the two cans, is a seasoning - Garlic Pepper. It has only 70 mg. sodium, which is low for a seasoning and it didn't have a lot of dyes.
I am on a low sodium diet due to high blood pressure. I keep my blood pressure within normal range by keeping my sodium intake less than 1,500 mg sodium a day. Like John, I don't eat too much bread because of the sodium content but I do eat corn tortillas, which have only 10 mg sodium per tortilla.
I don't eat too much dessert but if my blood sugar levels drop and make me tired, I will eat 3-4 peanut M&Ms... my vice. I sometimes call them the perfect junk food. Because I don't tolerate sugar and processed starches very well, I have three whole grain starches: oatmeal, brown rice and barley. I eat these in small amounts and depend on the vegetables & other foods to give me the energy and strength I need.
For proteins - I have a variety: Pinto beans, Peruvian beans, tofu, chicken breast, eggs, and lentils. The milk and cheese also contain protein so I will definitely get enough protein.
In order to prepare soups, eggs, etc., instead of using oil, I have canola cooking spray. This will keep my fat intake to a minimum.
When I brought my veggies home, I chopped most of them and put them in zip lock bags because I won't have time during the week to cut up vegetables. I also cooked the beans and lentils ahead of time so that my preparation will be minimum during the week.
That's it!!! I am ready to take on the challenge. I'll post my meals tomorrow.
The Thirty Dollars Project
Recently, the mayor, Corey Booker, mayor of Newark NJ, challenged himself to live on $30.24 worth of food for one week to see if it was possible. The reason for this is because the SNAP program in New Jersey gives to qualifying persons $30.24 each week as a supplement to their food budget. The mayor has inspired one of my longtime flickr friends, John, to do the same. If you want to see how he is doing, he is up to day five. Here is his link: www.flickr.com/photos/johnfrisch/
I have been following John and as a nutritionist, I have been commenting on the nutritive value of his daily intake. The discussions with John inspired me to do the same. I started by grabbing the advertisement ads that came out this past Wednesday. I had twelve grocery stores send me their papers in the mail. I carefully reviewed each one and chose two grocery stores to do all of my shopping. Both stores are discount grocery stores and the photo above shows what I purchased. My total bill was $29.77 and I still have 47 cents left to spend.
Unlike the mayor and John, I cannot cook for one but for 3- 4 folks in my home. I am trying to stick to $30.24 and still feed everyone but it is a little tough. I will most likely have to add a few more items to accommodate the others in my household.
When I created this photo, I originally had all the labels turned facing the camera but when I moved things, I forgot to show the front of the label. There may be a few items that are not recognizable. My carton of milk is soy milk. I have two lactose intolerant members in my household and I can't drink too much of it either... the milk sugar doesn't settle well with my blood sugar level. The reddish looking plastic in the back is one pound of skinless, boneless chicken breast. To the left of the two cans, is a seasoning - Garlic Pepper. It has only 70 mg. sodium, which is low for a seasoning and it didn't have a lot of dyes.
I am on a low sodium diet due to high blood pressure. I keep my blood pressure within normal range by keeping my sodium intake less than 1,500 mg sodium a day. Like John, I don't eat too much bread because of the sodium content but I do eat corn tortillas, which have only 10 mg sodium per tortilla.
I don't eat too much dessert but if my blood sugar levels drop and make me tired, I will eat 3-4 peanut M&Ms... my vice. I sometimes call them the perfect junk food. Because I don't tolerate sugar and processed starches very well, I have three whole grain starches: oatmeal, brown rice and barley. I eat these in small amounts and depend on the vegetables & other foods to give me the energy and strength I need.
For proteins - I have a variety: Pinto beans, Peruvian beans, tofu, chicken breast, eggs, and lentils. The milk and cheese also contain protein so I will definitely get enough protein.
In order to prepare soups, eggs, etc., instead of using oil, I have canola cooking spray. This will keep my fat intake to a minimum.
When I brought my veggies home, I chopped most of them and put them in zip lock bags because I won't have time during the week to cut up vegetables. I also cooked the beans and lentils ahead of time so that my preparation will be minimum during the week.
That's it!!! I am ready to take on the challenge. I'll post my meals tomorrow.