Nourishing foods can be expensive, there is no doubt about that. But not all nourishing foods are, and some aren’t as expensive as you would think. Too many avoid eating “healthy” food because they are sure they can’t afford it.
When I watched the movie, Food Inc, one scene really stuck out to me. A family discussed their personal struggle with being able to afford decent food when they had a very limited budget. The camera followed them to the grocery store where pears were too expensive to buy, but McDonald’s one dollar hamburger was in their price range for dinner. I wondered what one dollar per food item could feed me and mine. As I mulled over it, I thought of all of the fast food joints with their dollar menu’s and I thought, “Hey! Why not create my own healthy dollar menu?”. After some thought and consideration, I have decided to make this idea into a new series on my blog.
General Goals:
1) Creating a main dish where each serving costs one dollar.
2) For the food to be nourishing
I may have to make adjustments to this series as I go on, but that’s the basic premise. I am also going to be asking some other bloggers to do guest posts for this series and I really look forward to seeing what they can create. (If you are interested in the challenge and are a blogger, email me at kimi DOT harris AT gmail DOT com for more information).
Nourishing and Frugal Gift Carnival
It seems like I am not the only one who loves making my own gifts! With the encouragement of you all, I am happy to announce that we will be having a gift carnival this month in preparation for Christmas. Please brainstorm your favorite gifts and share them with us then! I will be hosting it on November the 19th, in leiu of our normal carnival.
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Here is an excellent post on this matter.
http://donmatesz.blogspot.com/2009/08/nutritionally-complete-inexpensive-low.html
Thanks for the link! I will check it out. 😉
I pointed it out there, but feel a responsibility to point it out here. All that particular blogger proved is that he can do it in his area…not that *anyone* can. In urban areas one has to contend with “food deserts” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Food_desert). If there are supermarkets that do remain they’re likely overpriced and the selection of things like produce are abysmal. The problem can be just as keen in rural areas as another friend of mine has pointed out from her experience – limited selection combined with long travel times if you want to seek out alternatives.
All that to say the solution isn’t as simple as it’s made out to be. All of this is a great start, but it’s just that…a start.
i love the idea of a home preppared “dollar menu”. i see ads for burger king/mcdonnalds, ect. $ hamburgers and i feel sad that people really do get more foodfor their buck at a place like this then at the grocery storeor at home. the ingredients in a double cheeseburger from a fast food place are definitly not good, but the fact remains that children/people cannot live off of pears alone, they need protien and substance, even if said item is made with factory farmed,low quality mear and soy protien isolate and tbhq (which my understanding is actually lighter fluid to make food taste’smokey’).
And in that movie, the pears were too expensive anyways!
That’s a great point, Kimi! Sadly, groceries, including produce, tend to be more expensive in low income areas. I also love this idea of a healthy at-home “value” menu!
Love it! I am excited to read your ideas. I am always striving to keep our food around a dollar per person for dinner.
I would love to take this challenge!!
As far as gift giving – I have started a tradition in my family. Each year I made large (almost 6 inches tall) traditional gingerbread men and write each person’s name on them. I also make them boy or girl – then wrap them in cellophane bags and give them as gifts to all the family.
Great idea. I strive to keep our meals inexpensive and healthy as well. Its pretty easy with my garden, but I know that having to buy everything really ups the price.
What about adapting the idea of giving a recipe + ingredients as a gift. If it’s baking the (healthy) ingredients could be layered in a jar, or for meals you could give a gift basket with vegetables, a pretty jar of stock, some lentils, etc. I’m not sure about things that need to be kept chilled as fridge and freezer space is in short supply in the festive season.
I’m always trying to give people good nutritional information. Maybe I could make up a booklet with basic nutritional info and yummy recipes and print it on nice paper. This kind of gift would be better for people who are actually interested in food and health.
When we used to visit a place with a dollar menu, we’d allow $3 per person. It was still affordable that way and there were several “courses” when we all pooled food and shared. You can eat really well at home for $3 a person!
Here is a nutritious cheapie Southern meal — eggs and grits! We have 7 people in our family. We raise our own chickens, but you can easily find people selling their free-range natural eggs for less than $3 a dozen here. If our family cooks up a dozen eggs and enough grits for 7 people (estimate $1 total for this), that is $4 for everyone. Add in 2 apples at 99 cents a pound for a total of, say $2 maximum for really large apples, everyone gets 3 or 4 slices of apples. Total for a meal for 7 people is $6. Estimate an additional $1 for miscellany — coconut oil to cook eggs in, butter to top on them, salt. We’re up to $7. Exactly $1 per person and a filling and nutritious meal.
I love your “dollar menu” idea. My husband and I watched Food Inc. and that part stands out very clearly in my mind. I’m interested to see your ideas, and I’m going to see what I can come up with on my own.
What a wonderful idea!
I can’t wait to read what you’re cooking up! (pun, intended ;-)) I live in a small midwest town so I’ve been learning about nourishing foods online. And how appropriate for the economy.
Fantastic idea. I didn’t see the movie, but did a family of 4 eat at McDonalds for $4 or did they spend money for French Fries and drinks. If so, that gives you a little more leeway. Maybe you can establish a $1, $2 and a $3 category. Or, more appropriately a $4, $8 and $12 dollar budget for four.
My girls and I are very interested in this challenge. We have a couple of meals we make with ‘store’ ingredients that would maybe qualify (been meaning to do pennywise platter posts….), but truly, one of the reasons we moved to the country was to grow our own food–meat and eggs included… hopefully, dairy will follow soon–so we could afford to eat GOOD food!
HI!
I have been enjoying your blog for a while. My husband and I just started a recipe exchange blog for food sensitivities. If you would like to expose your blog to a new audience, feel free to email us a recipe you’d like to share. We’re starting out small, and when we have some money saved we’ll get a fancier layout. Thanks for all you share.
Jenny Herman
We rarely pay more than $1 per person for a meal. We don’t have much organic, and our meat sources are shoddy, but we treat our grains right and I grow and sprout what I can in our apartment. I know it is infinitely better than the dollar menu. And anyone can afford pears if they shop right.
Hi Kimi! I loved your “dollar menu” idea. Here’s my idea:
Beans and rice! I’m not sure about the exact dollar amount per serving for my recipe contribution, but I know it’s under a dollar. My husband and I have two boys, one 5 and one 2. How much they actually eat varies, which is so common for little ones. But here’s what they gobble down eagerly:
For every 2 cans of organic black beans (I looked them up, and I believe they have the highest iron content), I add a can of organic diced tomatoes. You could obviously soak and cook your own beans and save even more. Add a few dashes of Franks Red-hot sauce (I know, it’s not organic, but it’s just vinegar and peppers!). Serve over brown rice. (2 cups dried, 4 cups prepared)
That’s it! Four ingredients. Black beans and tomatoes: $1-1.30 per can… dashes of Franks (amount hard to nail down, a big bottle goes a long way) and whatever 2 cups worth of brown rice is… haha, this sounds rediculously unorganized! I did the math, though, once upon a time, and I believe it was about…55cents per serving. Serves 4 nicely. The greatest part is, it’s high in iron, and black or kidney beans combined with brown rice makes a complete protein. I keep these ingredients on hand for nights when the fridge is … spacious. =)
Thanks, Kimi, you’re such an inspiration. Sorry this submission was so halfhazard!
Oooh, this sounds fun and much needed. Can’t wait to see what develops! 🙂
I made a super-cheap meal tonight. It was basically Indian dahl, but I cooked it in (homemade) chicken bone broth and threw in leftover cabbage (about 1/4 head) and three chicken thighs (admittedly factory farmed…my husband doesn’t want to butcher chickens for me). Anyhow, the whole thing cost just under $5, every member of our family of six ate until he was full, and there is enough left to feed five of us for lunch tomorrow.
I love lentils…they are where I turn when I’m seeking out cheap food 😉
I’m looking forward to the Carnival. I usually make foods to give as gifts, but these tend to be cookies, jams and jellies. This year, I went through my Nourishing Traditions and Garden of Eating books to find gluten-free, nourishing recipes. I can’t wait to see other people’s ideas as I figure out what to do for the in-laws, teachers, and my husband’s co-workers.
Great idea about the dollar menu! I look forward to seeing what the frugalistas come up with.
That’s a great idea! I haven’t had to pinch pennies lately like I did in the earlier years of marriage and kids, so you’ve really got my wheels spinning. I might be interested in joining your challenge…..but I’m terrible at math!!! Especially long division!!!
I just found your blog this morning… very interesting.
One thing I like to do is order bulk beans, either from the health food store in town or from Azure Standard. For 25lbs of beans it can range from 15.00 to 30.00 for different kinds….. then I can cook them and add what I want. We eat lot of salad and fresh fruit, I usually spend about 300.00 with Azure every month and then I go to the grocery for the salad and fruit. I think I spend about an average of 350.00 a month on food ( just a guess, I have not yet figured it out). I spend 50.00 a week at the grocery. If you shop sales then you can buy alot more. Every thing I order from Azure is for more than a month. We don’t use 25lbs of lentils or rice in a month, actually we got 4 months out of 25lbs of both of those. Plus I use black beans, white beans, chick peas, barley etc.
I make my own whole wheat tortillas, corn tortillas, and bread…. going to try crackers as soon as I have everything for them. My husband also grinds all of our flour, and I do alot of preserving, most years. Salsa, tomato juice, and stewed tomatoes, this year. I like to do more… but have not been able to this year.
I am a scratch cook, the only cans and bottles you find at my house are olives, ketchup, coconut milk.
I found this blog very interesting, and it made me stop and think what I am doing to save money…. until you write it down you don’t know for sure. I am sure there is more I could be doing…. just what I don’t know right now.
I only go to town once a week, make most of our clothes, my daughters and mine, etc.
I am going to see what we truly eat in a month and figure it all out.
My suggestion would be meat loaf. We can get a pound of ground beef for $3.85 from a local farmer who feeds only on grass. I use a recipe from the La Leche League cookbook, Whole Foods for the Whole Family, “Egg-free, Wheat-free, Milk-free Meat Loaf” which calls for a little grated potato, chopped onion, grated carrot, salt, pepper and 1/2 c. tomato juice. We do add in an egg b/c we have plenty from our hens, and no allergies. I’d say the total for all that might be $5, esp. without the egg, and you can feed five, 3 oz. servings of beef. If we can stretch it a bit and add some veggies, either from the garden or farmer’s market, you’re not much over a dollar per serving. Maybe a potato or some mashed squash, and some greens and you’re set.
We also rarely spend more then $1 per person for a meal but we have freezer space for a 1/4 cow and 1/2 pig, pantry space to store foods we’ve put up, our own chickens and large veggie garden where we grow our own produce year round.
Despite that it is definitely possible but gets increasingly challenging if you have dietary restrictions.
Here is a post I did late summer for a meal that cost us about $.70 per person and was quick and easy: http://www.sustainableeats.com/?p=356. Blackbean burgers. If you were following a GAPS diet though it wouldn’t work.
Grains are ridiculously cheap when you buy them in bulk so anything with a grain base like pizza would work well. To stretch cheese you can use more tomato sauce or make a white sauce with smaller amounts of cheese.
Japanese pizza is a more healthful alternative but still so inexpensive to make: http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/japanese-pizza-recipe.html and would work on the GAPS diet.
I’d love to submit some entries for you Kimi, I have a ton of ideas!
Something to consider, too. Those dollar menu items are $1.00 each. Which means that the meal is not $1.00. It is $2.00-4.00, if they get some combination of a burger, fries, drink and dessert. Buying mostly locally grown/raised/produced food, lots of organics, including our pet food and supplies, our paper and cleaning supplies, we spend on average $2.57 per day per person. For the whole day. Even going to a subway and using their $5.00 subs (and splitting two between our four youngest) costs us more for one meal than it would for a whole day of food, cleaning supplies, diapers, pet supplies, etc. and that’s with drinking water at home instead of buying their sodas and having our own snacks rather than buying theirs.
Ranee,
I believe Food Inc, the family really did just buy one dollar menu item for each person (if I am remembering right). So it really is just one dollar per person. For this challenge, I won’t be quite so strict in that it only has to be one dollar per serving, but you could have more than one serving or have a side dish to go with it. 🙂
I haven’t really done the math since I stink at math, but I would think I probably already have some of these dollar meals [if you divide the total cost by # of servings it should be well under $1 each]
homemade sausage/egg/cheese burritos [keep these in freezer]
homemade bean/brown rice/cheese burritos [also in freezer]
homemade lentil burgers [haven’t tried freezing these yet–they were eaten too fast!]
Those are the things that come to mind. I do not buy any “conveience” food unless you count canned or frozen fruit/veggies.
Great thoughts and ideas everyone! Keep them coming!
People’s Food Co-op in Portland has a monthly (or maybe more) free cooking class showing how to cook on a budget from things at Peoples. FYI. The last two have been for $2/person.
I love this idea, but agree with an earlier commenter that the $1 a burger thing, well, that’s just part of your meal. You also need fries or a side or something to get full. So, $2 or $3/meal sounds reasonable to me. Very cheap.
I can’t wait to see what everyone comes up with!
Here is a link to the dollar menu clip:
http://www.hulu.com/watch/75991/movie-trailers-food-inc—dollar-menu-clip
Fun idea, Kimi! I’m interested to see what everyone comes up with. Might have to do some experimenting of my own… hmmmm. 🙂
i am so excited about this! i have a family of 9 and a very small budget- less than $100 a week for everything- and tho i have learned much thru out the years about healthy eating (no junk food in my home!) i could certainly use a refresher course and some new ideas. thank you!
Carrot Soup! A 2# bag of organic carrots costs $2 where I live. Sautee an onion or 2, spice to suit your taste (like curry, or just a little ginger) and puree. Use chicken stock for a truly nourishing rendition. That’s a main dish for at least 4 people, for $3. Goes great with brown rice, toast, or crackers. You can do the same thing with winter squash, which is seasonal and super cheap right now. Oh, how I love the Fall!