Foodie Gifts

My Christmas gifts this year are bought, and to be honest, I don't know that unless I had really planned ahead, that I would have been at all interested in doing homemade gifts. Actually, I don't really like giving people the same things because it seems to denote that I *thought* less about them. Except in the case of me giving all my friends tickets to booze cruises. In that case, I was thinking *a lot* about them. Lol.

I have realized, however, that premaking homemade foodie gifts for friends and family to give them for host gifts and birthdays might be pretty worthwhile. Here are a few ideas I'm throwing around:

1. Limoncello. Yes, this goes back to my boozy friends, but hey, they have good taste and I'm sure would love a little homemade limoncello.

2. Homemade marshmallows w/ hot cocoa. Use a special valrhona chocolate for the cocoa and some tahitian vanilla for the mashmallows and you've got a gourmet gift guranteed to impress some people!

3. Chocolat liquer. Also a delicious treat. I personally think it's better than the standard bottle of Patron we've all been passing around. Lol.

4. Herb gardens in beautiful containers. What foodie wouldn't want their very own herbies? Get a beautiful container, add rocks on the bottom for drainage, add soil and some herbs at varying heights and voila! You could even take some of the pretty herb plants multiplying in your garden!

There are a few critical things that you might think of doing to kick these gifts up a notch like personalized labels, decorative bottles (go vintage if you can) and jars, and a high quality ribbon.

$3ADDP: You Can Do It Too!

When talking to people about this project, and in my own experiences, it seems that the most difficult part really is the record keeping. The minutiae of tracking calories and cost is a bit much for most people so I think going forward for the project, I'll be posting recipes instead. You don't really care what I ate for the day, what you probably care about was how I made it and how you can do the same.

Though I do already have some recipes up, you might want to ease into this project yourself, especially if you're looking at doing this for the long term. Here are a handful of things I would suggest for you to start saving now and eating healthy!

1. Cook all your meals at home. Yes, eventually you might be able to swing a quick an easy meal out ala Ten Ten Chinese Food Restaurant, but cooking your meals at home prepares you for the time commitment of actually cooking! Once you make this part of your routine, it will make is significantly easier.

2. Plan out your meals, especially if you have a family. I would plan for 4 meals a day because as I started to eat the smaller portions I saw that I got hungry every 3-4 hours and that a snack was usually necessary. Use the local supermarket advertisements to see what's on sale for the week and plan your meals around it. This is particularly important because you'll need to start mentally tracking where you can buy what for cheapest.

3. Only buy enough food to eat for one week of perishables. I found during this project that I was buying more food than I needed and as a result as things got on the older side I was less inclined to eat it. Once you plan out your meals though, you'll know exactly what you really need and will be less likely to eat more of it because you know it's already planned for.

4. Buy pantry items in bulk when it's at it's lowest price. For instance, I went to Big Lots and saw Annie's Organic Salad Dressing on sale for $0.80. No, they weren't about to expire or anything, it just so happens that they overproduced a handful of their flavors like Pomegranate Vinaigrette and Garlic Asiago, which is good for me because I love both flavors! I picked up 4. Same goes for anything else that won't go bad before you get a chance to use your whole stock.

5. Make one day a week your serious prep day. If you are planning on making bread or pizza dough or crockpot meals, prep it all on one day. It'll make cooking every meal everyday less daunting.

$3ADDP: MIA days

I have to apologize, Dear Readers, for being MIA for almost a week! I recently picked up the Event Chair position for American Cancer Society's local Relay For Life and have been attending meetings between having an all out catastrophic work week. As a result of these factors beyond my control, though I have been spending less than $3 a Day on food, actually, I've been spending near nothing on food, because it has been free food almost all week.

The meals I have been making, however, have been all less than $1 per person which got me to thinking about how I've come to a point where I can normally just wing it. I realized that as long as you could follow along the guidelines below, you should be able to eat for the most inexpensive way possible.

1. Buy things as cheap as possible. I recommend starting at the 99 cent store, Big Lots, Farmer's Markets, 99 Ranch and then Food 4 Less.

2. Use only the cheapest, leanest meats. This is typically chicken breast, lean pork and low fat ground beef. Almost any dish, with the exception of seafood, can be altered to use one of these meat sources in lieu of a more expensive cut or type of meat.

3. Use only 4 oz of animal protein per day per person. Yes, portion control is so VERY important, not only to the budget aspect, but for the health aspect.

4. Use bean based dishes often and with variety. There are so many different legumes that can be used that are not only healthy, but very filling and extremely cheap.

5. Use a high fiber carbohydrate at every meal. By this I mean brown rice, whole wheat bread, wheat noodles, etc. Carbohydrates are not only very inexpensive, but when using high fiber options will guarantee you something that will keep you full longer and keep you healthy!

$3ADDP: Day 10 and 11

Sorry for lagging a bit behind by these updates. Life has gotten in the way of writing but not of the project.

I do have to say that I ate out quite a bit the past few days so I'm unclear on calories BUT I can provide you with prices and where to go:

Day 10: Skipped breakfast and had a bean and cheese with lettuce burrito from a local Mexican food place. $2.00. Alternatively, I could have gone to Taco Nazo, now known as Senor Baja, and had 2 - $1.00 fish tacos filled to the brim with cabbage and fish. What's my point? Mexican food places can be your friends! For dinner I had about $0.50 worth of Brie Mashed potatoes leftover from thanksgiving. I'll post the recipe for that soon because it was a huge hit. Total for the day ($2.50) but a very unhealthy day. I vowed to do better tomorrow by getting in more veggies and prepping for the rest of the week.

Day 11: A local authentic Chinese restaurant, Ten Ten, has single dishes you can buy to eat with rice for less than $2.00 a togo container. I picked up a napa cabbage and mushroom dish that was enough to split and share with my mom. I had a bowl of rice to go along with it bringing my lunch to $1.25. When I came home I had the last of the mashed potatoes, which I'll estimate to be about $0.50 and a homemade croissant sandwich which came out to $0.93 making my day total $2.38.

All of this doesn't matter though because for the days I was off the diet my digestive system really made me pay for it. I'm actually feeling the effects of the overload of bad food immediately after I eat it.

In Japan, they recommend eating only until you're 80% full because your body is late to register when it's actually full, so when you stop eating at 80% your body is really 100% full. So when you eat until you're stuffed, you could be well into 150% full which is just a waste of food.

Speaking of Japan, I need to find some way to work some raw seafood into this project. I hear a local supermarket has 12 raw oysters for $6.00! I could swing a $1.00 for 2 oysters for my protien for the day. Woo hoo!

Keepin in Cheap in California,

Leah

$3ADDP: Day 9.5

Hello Dear Readers, I have been on hiatus since the 26th because of Thanksgiving and my trip to Las Vegas. I am hopping back on this wagon tomorrow.

I'm doing a Day 9.5 post today because since taking a break from the $3ADDP I found a few interesting things that carried over into good habits.

1. For the drive to Vegas I packed leftovers in the form of sandwiches and miscellaneous fruit for my brother, sister and mother to eat. I found that if I prepared the food ahead of time and said nothing about what a cost savings it would be to eat the leftovers, they all ate it. In fact, the first day in Vegas we didn't buy any food at all because they were all so happy eating healthy leftovers and fruit.

2. While I was gone Hubby ordered himself a pizza, a pizza he automatically packed for himself to take to lunch on Monday. It seems that if I get him used to the idea of expecting to eat home packed meals, he'll follow through with it on his own most of the time.

3. I ate less in general. Normally, at one of my sister's softball tournaments I would be raiding the snack bar under the pretense of supporting whatever league was hosting the tournament but during this trip I focused more on finding healthy and cheap food alternatives in smaller quantities. I didn't eat just to eat. And when we went to brunch buffets I just simply wasn't able to eat more than a plate of food. In fact, the full plates of food I did it didn't sit well with me because it was too much.

4. I get a buzz a lot faster. The complementary cocktails throughout the strip had me feeling tingling a little faster than normal and though the drinks weren't strong, my body gave me negative feedback on the effects quickly also. I didn't end up drinking very much at all.

So here I am, prepping for the next 20 days of eating on $3 a day and totally excited about it!

$3ADDP: Day 9

Today I went to volunteer setting up for Thanksgiving dinner at a Church in Long Beach. I was moved by the outpouring of support in the form of volunteers and donations. With the help of over 100 selfless individuals, the church will be able to serve over 200 people for Thanksgiving tomorrow.

I thought about how much money was actually spent by the people that donated and realized that if we all just spent a little less on food ourselves, we could easily provide so much to others. There are people who do it everyday.

Starting tomorrow I will be taking a break from the $3 a Day Diet Project until Monday. For Thanksgiving $3 a day will be impossible to track and on Friday I am leaving for Las Vegas to support my sister at her softball tournament. I will probably build up a Vegas Food blog series off the visit but I know it won't be for $3 a day.

Today Josh already started his Thanksgiving festivities at work so he started his hiatus today.

I had Ramen ($0.17 - 400 calories), Vietnamese meatballs ($0.50 - 100 calories), spinach ($0.25 - 10 calories) for lunch. I snacked on a free food at the church while helping out which I'm not going to count in value but probably amounted to 200 calories. for dinner I had a piece of chicken off Josh's takeout and a baked potato with sour cream. I estimate all that to come out to $2.00. $1.00 for the piece of chicken and a homemmade baked potato from my mom's thanksgiving supplies. It's probably and overestimation but who cares? The calories should come in around 275 calories for dinner.

Leah: $2.82 for 985 calories.

Signing off headed to turkey and vegas debauchery.

$3ADDP: Green Beans and Ground Chicken

I don't know if there are many vegetables as man friendly as green beans. I mean, Tony Roma's and TGI Fridays each have their own man friendly version of these delicious little green sticks. And have you ever have black bean green beans at any Chinese restaurant? Yum.

I had a bag of green beans I bought for $1 at the farmers market that were going to go bad if I didn't cook them very soon. So I took a few of my favorite flavor makers, namely garlic onions and jalepenos and made a little ditty that really made the hubby happy.

Ingredients

1/2	onion ($0.08)
1/4	teaspoon garlic ($0.06)
2	chili peppers ($0.08)
2	lb green beans ($1.00)
1/2	lb ground chicken ($0.50)
2	teaspoon soy sauce ($0.06)
1	teaspoon mirin ($0.08)
1/2	teaspoon sesame oil ($0.03)
1	salt and pepper ($0.02)

Directions

1. Parboil green beans.
   
   
2. Pour sesame oil into a skillet.
   
   
3. Dice onion and chili peppers, I used jalepenos, and mince garlic. Add to the oil and lightly brown.
   
   
4. Add ground chicken to the skillet along with soy sauce, mirin, salt and pepper. Cook until the chicken is done. It won't brown but it should crumble and turn from pink to a brownish color.
   
   
5. Add the drained green beans and coat the green beans with the mixture.

Makes 4 servings ($0.26).

$3ADDP: Day 8

Ok, it's official, most of my friends and family think I'm just being weird by subjecting myself to a project like this. What's the point they ask despite the fact that I explain it to them. Then they say that they couldn't do it.

But the reality is that it's not that hard. There are a few challenges here and there which include:

1. Having the foresight to make sure that we're packing the meals that we'll need to eat away from home. Lately, Josh has been working a lot of overtime so I've been having to remember to pack his lunch and dinner for work. Today, I forgot to pack his dinner. He's going to have to pick up a $1 burger or something.

2. Lots of cooking. Seriously, I'm cooking almost everyday which didn't seem like it would be a big deal to me because I cooked often before, but the challenge of having to cook in order to eat is kind of wearing me down. Most processed foods, even canned foods, are too high in cost and too low in nutritional value to be included.

3. Temptation. In my family, food is how you show love so this is really more about my mother. I see my family almost everyday and though my mom knows about this project, she insists on offering me food. I'll take a few bites here and there to appease her or to tell her the food is good but then it'll throw off my totals for the day.

But aside from the challenges there are huge benefits! I used to watch the Real Housewives of New York and Bethanny, of Bethannybakes.com, was one of the women. Her goal was to democratize health the way that Martha Stewart did democratize homemaking. I was really inspired by that, but how do you democratize something if it costs people more to do it than to not do it?

I feel the same way about going Green. Sure, going green is a good idea, but it'll only work if it's less expensive for the masses to do it. Someday, someone is going to have to explain to me how it's possible that things cost more when you're trying to conserve more and reuse more. Hello?! Other than antiques, I don't understand why something recycled should cost more than something new. Save Mother Earth and don't put a "luxury" price tag on things that are good for the environment.

I digress, one of the benefits, aside from losing a few lbs and eating healthier, happened today when I got a message from someone telling me how inspiring this blog is and I thought I'd take the time to thank her publicly because it's feedback like that message that makes me feel like I'm doing something that can really help others.

Speaking of helping others, tomorrow night I'm heading over to help prepare Thanksgiving Dinner for 200 or so people in need in Long Beach. This project has made me feel a little more altruistic.

I spent a ton of time today helping my mom prep for Thanksgiving so I ended up having dinner at her place and eating junk at Sam's club when we went shopping there. I had kind of a crummy food day and busted my budget because most of my food was eaten outside what I actually packed for myself. :(

It's raining here today, heavily, which is unusual in southern California and all I want is a peppermint hot cocoa from Starbucks to sip on while I watch the water fall. I'll figure out how to make one of those soon within my budget.

Breakfast: Oatmeal ($0.17 - 170 calories), Coffee ($0.33 - 10 calories) Josh Only.

Lunch: Black Beans ($0.33 - 170 calories), salsa ($0.25 - 30 calories), 4 tortillas ($0.12 - 220 calories), 1/10 serving of chicken with cajun rice ($0.12 - 52 calories) - Josh only. Spinach ($0.25 - 10 calories), Vietnamese ham ($0.20 - 50 calories), egg ($0.17 - 70 calories), unfried Ramen that I found at 99 ranch ($0.17 - 350 calories) - Leah Only.

Snack: Junk from Sam's club - 4 bites pepperoni pizza ($0.25 - 80 calories), 1/5 a hot dog ($0.26 - 62 calories), 5 bites of a flatbread wrap ($0.75 - 100 calories) - Leah Only.

Dinner: White rice ($0.25 - 200 calories), 1/2 portion of a $2.00 side dish from Ten Ten ($1.00 -200 calories). Josh also had a Turkey Sandwich at work for free but I assume this busts his $3.00 a day budget.

Josh: $2.57 plus the turkey so the calories are a ???. Would have been 1052.

Leah: $3.30 - 1122 calories

Wishing for some pepperminty chocolately goodness,

Leah

$3ADDP: Napa Cabbage Salad

I was trying to find a salad that would go well with the soba noodles I made for my husband's lunch. I had some leftover napa cabbage and thought about how delicious a tangy dressing would be with some tomatoes, onions and spicy jalepenos. Turns out that it tasted like Korean banchan and he loved it!

I used some of the leftover salad and soba sauce to put on a tofu dish eaten for dinner. I'll post that quick recipe another day.


Ingredients

4	oz Napa Cabbage ($0.25)
2	Tomatoes ($0.33)
1/2	Onion ($0.08)
2	chili peppers ($0.08)
2	oz rice wine vinegar ($0.25)

Directions

Slice the napa cabage, tomatoes, onions and chili peppers into thin skilvers. Toss in 2 oz. of rice wine vinegar or sushi seasoning sauce.

$3ADDP: Day 7

My mom used to tell me stories about her time as a college student in Vietnam. She came from a well-to-do family and college students were sent to different parts of the country by the government to study agriculture at the different farms. These farms, more often than not, were owned by poor families who had no choice but to host these students who were sent to them. Many of these families could barely afford to feed their own children let alone some uninvited guests.

In true Asian hospitality, they did it with a smile. My mom, being a well raised young lady, took her own food from home with her for the first few days so she wouldn't impose on the family she was staying with. When she ran out of food, she accepted their hospitality, politely horrified to find that they would spoil rice until maggots would form to eat with their newly cooked rice to give it some flavor. One day when she came back to the house she found there was no food to eat and all the children were starving. She gave one of the kids money to buy go to the store to buy "chau" a form of fermented tofu that is slightly spicy and very salty. When she opened the jar, which would normally last at least 4-5 meals because of it's pungent nature, the children devoured it with rice and it was all gone. They were so thankful, it was a luxury to them. The store they bought it from rarely even sold one jar because it was so expensive in comparison to what the villagers were able to afford.

But in my mom's own village, "chau" was something that was considered poor food. Typically monks would eat it because it was vegetarian and it was inexpensive. Oddly, when she was pregnant with me it was the one thing she kept having cravings for and now when I want something quick, easy and comforting, I eat a cube or two of the fermented tofu on rice and feel a little bit brighter.

It's interesting to think of the many dishes that are considered poverty cuisine in some countries are some of the best dishes to come out of any culture. Gnocchi, polenta, rice and beans, etc. I think I'm going to have to look into some of these dishes to prepare for the rest of the month.

As I was looking for something quick and easy to prepare for dinner I started tearing through my cupboards for some of this "Chau." I cursed myself for not having a jar and instead had to pull out a package of extra firm tofu, cube it up, and toss the leftover soba sauce and napa cabbage salad on top and microwaved it for 2 minutes. Husband loved it but it didn't hit the spot for me. I'm going to have to go out and buy a jar and remember my times in the womb. Lol.


Breakfast: Oatmeal ($0.15 - 150 calories), egg ($0.17 - 90 calories), cheese ($0.10 - 20 calories) - Leah. Oatmeal ($0.17 - 170 calories), Coffee ($0.33 - 10 calories) Josh.

Lunch: Soba ($0.33 - 220 calories), memmi ($0.08 - 20 calories), napa cabbage salad ($0.50 - 62 calories)

Snack: Sample Pasta at Mom's ($0.50 - 200 calories) - Leah Only

Dinner: 1 cup rice ($0.25 - 231 calories), 1 cup broth made from bouillon ($0.02 - 40 calories), 1 egg ($0.08 - 35 calories), Tofu ($0.25 - 45 calories), memmi soup base ($0.15 - 40 calories)

Josh: $2.16 - 873 calories.

Leah: $2.58 - 1153 calories.

P.S. Josh just told me, after I asked him if he was still hungry because he took in so little calories, that he cheated and had 1 slice of garlic bread, a small amount of pasta and a side salad from Buca Di Beppo. Uh... wow.

$3ADDP: Thanksgiving Stuffing

As I previously mentioned, Hubby and I were headed to an early Thanksgiving at his dad's place. I cooked up a dish to contribute to the meal, in the usual holiday tradition and tried to keep the price low and the flavors great so that my Dear Readers can make the same dish if they are so inclined, without breaking the budget.

I originally wrote the recipe to include 4 cups of water, or if you prefer, 4 cups of broth, and it created a relatively wet stuffing which my Husband likes. If you like your stuffing on the drier side you'll want to pull 2 cups of the liquid out of the pot and slowly add it back in after you put the bread cubes in until the stuffing reaches your preferred texture.

Ingredients

12	oz sourdough bread ($0.99)
4	small carrots ($0.66)
1	onion ($0.17)
3	green onions ($0.30)
5	stalks of celery ($0.25)
1	oz olive oil ($0.11)
1	teaspoon parsley ($0.08)
1	teaspoon thyme ($0.08)
1	teaspoon savory ($0.08)
1/2	teaspoon caraway seeds ($0.04)
1	teaspoon sage ($0.08)
1/2	lb ground chicken ($0.50)
1	oz mushrooms ($0.24)
1	oz raisins ($0.20)
4	oz bouillon ($0.06)
4	cups water ($0.00)

Directions

1. Dice sourdough bread and place onto a cookie sheet. Bake on 350 until bread is dried and brown.
2. Dice carrots, onions, mushrooms and celery. Finely chop raisins.
3. Heat a large pot and pour oil into the pot. Add carrots, onions, celery, mushrooms, raisins, and all herbs. Brown the ingredients.
4. Add 1/2 lb ground chicken. Cook through.
5. Add water and bouillon and bring to a boil. Turn off heat.
6. Add toasted diced sourdough bread to the pot. Stir and place in a baking dish. Place in the oven at 350 degrees until the top is browned.

Total $3.84 for 10 servings. or $0.38 a serving.

$3ADDP: Day 7

As of today, I am down 3.5 lbs which means over the course of the past 6 days I have lost over .5 lbs a day. That's interesting because I am not really hungry at all. The occasional cravings I have are those "I know I can't have this so I want it" type cravings but I'm slowly overcoming them.

Beware of upcoming TMI. Husband and I went to his Dad's house for early Thanksgiving dinner and I made a stuffing that cost $3.84 to make 10 servings. It was a pretty big hit so I don't feel like I was a big Thanksgiving mooch. Now, there are three major things of note.

1. We ate a much smaller meal than we normally would for a holiday meal. We had about 6 oz of roast beef (Hubby's stepmom made roast beef instead of turkey), 3/4 cup of mashed potatoes and gravy, 3/4 cup of stuffing, 1/2 cup of shrimp scampi, 1/2 cup of corn, 1 biscuit, 1 slice of pie and 2 beers. Now that is a massive amount of food but it was the only meal we had all day and 5 hours later I'm still full.

2. The amount of food and the amount of processed carbs and fats gave us serious digestive issues. I don't know if it was that we're not used to eating that much food since we started this project OR if our bodies aren't used to eating that amount of unhealthy foods. Josh and I both are very gaseous to say the least.

3. Josh has pretty much cheated half the time on this project. He's basically thrown the rules out the window today because he figures that it's a cheat day based on the dinner at his Dad's. Lol. Which brings me to my next point.

Of course, Josh's mom and my family, as well as our friends, know about the project. As time has past, Josh has gotten more frustrated with this because he feels really restricted. I realized that he feels that way because I'm making all the food and he's not having much of a choice on what I make. The fact that I'm in control makes the project feel less difficult for me because I can find a way to satisfy certain cravings in low cost ways. Both of our moms think I'm an oddball.

I am prone to taking on challenges like this, mainly because I like to test my will power but also to see if doing something different and slightly difficult can yield good results. It seems that since Josh is now married to me and subject to my zany whims he is getting quite a bit of sympathy from the Moms.

I've decided, however, two things. First that I'm going to try to take some of Josh's favorite dishes and start trying to make low cost delicious versions of them and second that I'm going to make my mom a day's worth of Project food so she sees how not depleting the diet is once I figure out some outstanding recipes.

Still full and signing off.

Leah

$3ADDP: Day 6

I should report that Josh and I have both lost 3 lbs each during the course of this project.

We're going to early Thanksgiving dinner with Josh's dad and I struggled to figure out how to do this project on Thanksgiving. I reasoned that most people don't actually cook the bulk of the thanksgiving meal themselves, they bring a dish to someone else's house and join in the group's festivities. So, for the 3 Thanksgivings we will be attending I will be making a dish for the group that totals less than $6.00 (what Josh and I have to to spend for the day) assuming that that meal is the only meal Josh and I have for the day. More than likely I'll make a dish that costs $3.00 for the whole group.

For Josh's dad's dinner I will be making stuffing. Stay tuned for the recipe.

Breakfast: Oatmeal ($0.15 - 150 calories), egg ($0.17 - 70 calories), parmesean ($0.10 - 20 calories), Leah only. Pizza ($0.25 - 140 calories) Josh only.

Lunch: Ramen ($0.17 - 440 - calories), spinach ($0.25 - 10 calories), snacks at the fam's ($0.50 - 100 calories) - Leah. Sandwich ($0.08 bread, $0.17 egg, $0.10 turkey bacon, mustard/mayo $0.05 - 510 calories) - Josh

Dinner: White/Brown rice ($0.24 - 231 calories), green beans and chicken ($0.46 - 193 calories).

Cocktail: Energy drink and Vodka ($0.78 - 184 calories)

Josh: $2.13 - 1258 calories

Leah: $2.82 - 1398 calories

$3ADDP: Day 5

Have you ever been to the Farmer's Market and bought a ton of stuff that looked so absolutely interesting to you? Squash blossoms (delicious filled with goat cheese then tempura battered and fried), purple potatoes (beautiful in scalloped potato dishes), long beans (stir fried with a black bean sauce), the list goes on. The possibilities run through my head and I'm dizzy with excitement. I buy it all!

Then you know what happens? I make one thing and figure I'll get to the rest later and then instead of cooking the rest we end up at restaurants. Though I'm not the absolute worst at wasting food in the sense that I often try to make up recipes based off what I have in the fridge to get rid of, I'm not always successful at avoiding food going bad until now.

This project has made me conscious of a few things. First, how much I can actually stuff in my 5'2 frame versus how much I actually need to eat. Second, how easy it is to stay full when you're eating whole and healthy products versus highly processed and fat filled foods. But mostly it's made me conscious of using every little bit of what we have.

For instance, we currently have 2 slices of pizza, 2 servings of black beans, 2 servings of chicken and navy bean soup, and half a head of lettuce that needs to be eaten. Guess what we're having for dinner tonight? Yes, leftovers despite the fact that I dislike leftovers.

The other night I made a batch of oatmeal cookies because I had some browning bananas that I couldn't bear to throw away. They turned out awfully because I tried to skimp and leave out the oil but we'll end up eating those cookies too. Because we should. I have some leftover tomatoes that have been sitting around in the fridge that I'm going to turn into a tomato soup so that they don't go to waste also.

Breakfast: 1 slice of pizza ($0.25 - 140 calories) Leah Only, Oatmeal ($0.17 - 160 calories) and Coffee ($0.33 - 10 calories) Josh only.

Lunch: 4 slices of pizza ($1.00 - 560) Josh, 3 slices of pizza ($0.75 - 420 calories) Leah.

Snack: Grapes ($0.25 - 100 calories) - Josh only. Nibbles from family ($0.25 - 75 calories)

Dinner: 1/2 serving of black beans ($0.15 - 85 calories), 2 tortillas ($0.06 - 110 calories), 1/4 head of lettuce ($0.25 - 10 calories) each person, 1/10 serving of chicken with cajun rice ($0.12 - 52 calories) . 1 slice of pizza ($0.25 -140 calories) - Josh. 2 tortillas ($0.06 - 110 calories), Spam Musubi ($1.00 - 265 calories) - Leah

Josh $2.58 - 1227 calories

Leah: $2.89 - 1267 calories

$3ADDP: Chicken and Cajun Rice

I have quite a bit of chicken left in my freezer from two weeks ago so I figured I would focus my recipes around that. I've been craving jambalaya but I realize I just want something spicy, tomatoey and ricey. Yeah, I'm making up food words. Using mainly things that I bought at the 99 cent store, I whipped up some Chicken and Cajun Rice.

Husband seemed to like the rice so I give this recipe an A for ease of preparation, man friendly, a high nutritional value and an effective way to get rid of one of my least favorite forms of animal protein.



Ingredients:

1 cup white rice ($0.22)
1 cup brown rice ($0.30)
1/2 onion ($0.08)
5 jalepenos ($0.20)
1 can tomatoes ($0.99)
3.5 cups water ($0.00)
3 teaspoons cajun seasoning ($0.65)
9.6 oz chicken ($2.00)
5 sprigs saffron ($0.20)
3 teaspoons chicken bouillon ($0.02)
1 oz olive oil ($0.11)

Directions

1. Pour 1/2 oz of olive oil in a skillet, saute the white rice and brown rice until it smells nutty. Transfer to rice cooker pot.
   
   
2. Dice chili peppers and onion. Pour 1/2 oz of olive oil in the skillet and brown the chili peppers and onions.
   
   
3. Open the can of stewed tomatoes and pour into the skillet along with the water, cajun seasoning, saffron and chicken bouillon. When saffron dissolves, pour the mixture and the chicken into the rice cooker pot. Cover the pot.
   
   
4. Turn the rice cooker to cook. If you have a multi-setting on your rice cooker set it to cook brown rice. Otherwise, if cooking in a regular pot, cook covered for approximately 45 minutes to an hour on medium low.

4 servings for $1.20 and 529 calories a serving.

$3ADDP: Day 4

Today husband asked me if he was going to be part of this "sucky poor project" if he could just save up all his food money and spend it on booze instead, you know, live it up right. I think the project is getting to him. Later, in his comical insensitivity asked if he could partake in domestic violence during the project to get a real feel for living under the poverty line.

It seems dear hubby has not only misunderstood the nature of people who live below the poverty line but also misunderstood this project. As his hunger grows, his comprehension of anything related to this project is lost. He ended up having to have a business lunch today with his manager so his totals really go out the window. I'll show you what he was supposed to eat, but I have no idea how much his food today really cost.

You're going to see a quail item in the details of the food I ate today. My mom, who used to own restaurant that she cooked the food for, makes some amazing food. Knowing that I was doing this project, she insisted that I have one quail to split with Josh which she promised was only $0.50 per person. She's too cute.

I also took a bite of my sister's PBJ because she insisted I see whether or not it was still good. It wasn't. The bread was awful. But I am a good food taster.

Lastly, Josh and I went to the Bevmo! $0.05 wine sale to buy wine gifts for people and partook of one of the $0.05 bottles for ourselves. Yes, you might think this is cheating or just pure genius. I mean, we were going to spend the money on the gifts anyway, why not get the extra bottle for $0.05?

Breakfast: Oatmeal ($0.17), Coffee ($0.33) Josh only. Ramen ($0.17 - 440 calories) Leah only

Lunch: Pizza ($0.05 dough, $0.02 sauce, $0.05 meatballs, $0.13 cheese) $0.25 a slice. ($1.00) for Josh, ($0.75 - 420 calories) for Leah.

Snack: ($0.25) apple Josh Only. 1/5 PBJ ($0.06 - 76 calories) Leah only.

Dinner: 1/2 Quail ($0.50 - 105 calories), Green Beans and Chicken ($0.46 - 193 calories), White/Brown rice mix ($0.13 - 231 calories)

Cocktail: 1 bottle of wine split ($0.03 per person - 219) - $0.05 wine sale.

Josh: Is totally lame and ate a lunch combo at a BBQ place.

Leah: $2.10 and totally full with 1608 calories. Not the healthiest, but I'm feeling pretty happy.

$3ADDP: The Yale Project

Well I've apparently been living under a rock. When googling $3 a Day Diet Project to see where my google page rank is the Yale $3 a Day Diet Project came up first. It seems that $3 is what the food stamp allowance is for the population of people who are being fed by the United States Government. In the article I read from the Yale Daily News, one of the students part of the project who considered himself a very serious activist had to give up cage free eggs for regular eggs because he just couldn't afford to care about animal rights in light of how expensive they are and how little he had to spend a day. What I'm going to say next is going to make me VERY unpopular.

I think that it's easy for people who have the money to worry about the activist side of things. That's why most politicians are already fairly well off before they get into the game. The average person living in a lower middle class to lower class situation can't afford to care about things like whether or not the food they're eating is organic or whether or not it's right or wrong to cage animals that are set for slaughter anyway. They're worried about what they're going to eat and what their families are going to eat.

It's the responsibility of those us that do have the money to care about these things in the larger picture because we can AFFORD to. That being said, here comes the unpopular part; shouldn't we care more about activism for human needs before animal needs? See, I get that animals are adorable and cuddly. I have my cat, George Kitteh, sitting on my TV right now trying at the moving pictures on screen as though he can stop the lights from moving. I love him dearly. Would I save him above the average human? No.

That makes me sound really unloving or disloyal. I know. But at the end of the day, aside from the circle of happiness intertwining George's life, my life and my husband's life, there is little that George can contribute to society. The average human, however, if given the opportunity could do great things for mankind.

I'm not trying to tell you, my dear reader, what you should and should not care about. I'm simply musing on what we humans have compassion for and how our priorities work. It's rather remarkable how far apart everyone believes. It's what makes the social activism landscape of the US both effective and ineffective.

Have you ever thought that as a nation, without government involvement because we don't want fiscal waste and everyone knows private sector can do it more efficiently than public sector, if we made a list of all the causes that had foundations or organizations related to them and put it to a vote to see which one was MOST important to the nation and everyone just focused on that for a while, the problems we could resolve? Obesity? A problem of the past. Cancer? Totally cured. HIV/AIDS? That's gone too. Illiteracy? Not on our watch. One by one, the collective resolve of an educated and relatively wealthy nation, would knock down each problem.

$3ADDP: Day 3

I never realized how much crap I used to eat until having to regulate it down to the minutiae. Turns out, I used to drink a lot more sugary drinks and prepackaged sweets. How do I know? Because every time I went into a store today I starting eying the soda cooler and candy section. Who knew I was a Snickers fan?

I had a pre-arranged Magic Show and dinner planned for Thursday but because Husband is working on a deadline, had to cancel. I guess it's for the best, the magic show was $20 per person and if the magician was no good I'd have a hard time claiming that the entertainment was worth $17. Lol.

Honestly though, the idea behind this project is not to be impossibly restrictive, it's to prove that if anyone chose to live off $3 a day, healthily, they would be able to do so. I hope that at the end of this project I will continue to make many of the recipes I develop and properly portion them to avoid weight gain after the project. I hope too, Dear Reader, that you'll enjoy these recipes and find them not just budgetary edible, but easy to make and eat.

Breakfast: Oatmeal ($0.17 - 160 calories), Coffee ($0.33 - 10 calories) Josh only, Egg ($0.17 - 70 calories) Leah only.

Lunch: 4 tortillas ($0.12 - 220 calories), 1 serving of black beans ($0.30 - 169 calories), 1 oz cheese ($0.50 - 100 calories)

Snack: Grapes ($0.25 - 100 calories)

Dinner: Cajun Rice 4/5 of a serving ($0.96 - 423 calories) and Salad with Dressing ($0.24 - 130 calories), Full serving of Cajun Rice ($1.20 - 529 calories) for Leah.

Josh: $2.87 for 1312 calories total.

Leah: $2.99 for 1478 calories total.

$3ADDP: Pizza Dough

So you've all seen it, pizza for $5 carry out. That's about $0.63 a slice. Cheap, but not really cheap enough. I'm trying to get the main courses we eat under $1, not including sides. Husband will not eat only 1 slice of pizza, it's physically impossible for him. I think it's the pie shape.

So here's a pizza dough recipe adapted from Cooks.com that I will use as a basis for many a dinner during the project:

2 cups bread or all purpose flour ($0.36)
2 cups whole wheat flour ($0.45)
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water ($0.00)
1 packet active dry yeast, or 2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast ($0.33)
2 tablespoons olive oil (any good brand), but extra virgin is best ($0.11)
1 1/4 teaspoon salt ($0.02)
1 teaspoon sugar, or 1 teaspoon honey ($0.01)
1/4 cup milk or 1/4 cup water ($0.00)

Preheat oven 450°F.

I prefer using water for the liquid in this recipe because it's practically free. But the original recipe states that water adds flavor to the dough.

Using a large ceramic mixing bowl, or any suitable food safe bowl, add the flour, make a "well" in middle, and put in 1 teaspoon salt, stir to combine well. Set aside.

Prepare the starter: In a liquid measuring cup pour in 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water, 1 teaspoon sugar or honey, and one package of active dry yeast. Stir and set aside for 5 minutes. Allow to foam up (or proof).

Next, mix the starter (yeast water) and the water in the bowl containing the flour with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Stir together using a wooden spoon or clean hands.

I adapted this recipe to include whole wheat flour which tends to need more water than bread flour. Add water until the mixture is still slightly dry but has enough give for you to knead it. For me the cups of water ended at about 1.5-1.75 cups instead of the 1.25.

Note: You will need additional flour to knead on the surface that you're working on. Knead for about 8 minutes or until you get a smooth elastic rubbery dough ball.

Set aside in bowl, drizzle with a little olive oil to keep the dough from drying out. Let dough sit covered lightly with plastic wrap or use a plate or damp clean towel to cover it.

Allow the dough to rise for 30 minutes to an hour. Flatten dough and press out into a circle to fit the pan it will be baked in. Spread it out evenly, don't be afraid to lift underneath to stretch the dough. Sprinkle baking pan with yellow cornmeal or Farina. If you don't have these on hand you can use flour or simply grease the pan with olive oil using a paper towel. The dough makes 2 - 12 slice pizzas at $0.05 a slice. Slice the dough in half and keep the second half for another time.

Add meat sauce and some cheese on one. These are the ingredients in a quick and easy meat sauce and the amount of cheese I used:

1/2 onion ($0.08)
1/4 head of garlic ($0.06)
1/4 a jar of tomato sauce ($0.25)
3 oz ground beef ($0.84)
3 oz cheese - I suggest you use very finely grated mozzarella cheese because it seems like more when grated this way. ($1.50)

Bake for about 12-14 mins, but watch it! I don't have a picture of the final pizza because I kind of burned it.

At 12 slices, that's $0.23 a slice plus $0.05 a slice for the dough totaling $0.28 a slice and approximately 138 calories each.

This is the recipe I used for the pizza from Day 1.