$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.

$3AADP: Day 2

So after I pre-made all this oatmeal it turns out that Husband doesn't like oatmeal the way I prepare it and he'd rather have instant oatmeal than the steel cut (harumph) so I bought him 2 boxes of Mom's Best Oatmeal at the 99 cent store so he can make it himself. It's staggering that it's only 99 cents there because I see the exact same box at Sprouts for $3.99.

Then onto the topic of the fact that Husband forgot that he spends $10 a month on a coffee club at work, which blows my mind because you would think a huge corporation like Boeing would GIVE their employees coffee. Anyway, that takes $0.33 away from Josh's daily total. I contemplated calling this negligible but he is paying for it regardless of whether or not he drinks it. He does drink it, if you are wondering, about 2 cups a day, and personally I don't want to see him off caffeine. I'm sure you don't want me to either, Dear Readers.

I'm actually quite satiated eating on $3 a day which is really surprising. Of course, it is only the second day so I should probably wait to make my real opinion. The difficult part right now is all the planning and tedious money and calorie counting. I take that back, it's also the self control. The urge to just buy something to snack on or to snack at all becomes slightly overwhelming between meals. I keep eyeing various junk food realizing that a candy bar would account for almost a 1/3 of my daily food budget without any real benefit.

Lucky for me I have prepared enough food to last us the rest of the week. Sure, it'll get horrendously repetitive after a while but I have 6 servings of soup left, about 6 servings of black beans (which will turn out some Huevos Rancheros and tostadas), 2 servings of chicken and cajun rice, 5 servings of oatmeal that are apparently all for me from here on out, and makings for a week's worth of salads.

I have a confession to make. I'm one of those people who likes their oatmeal savory. It reminds me of rice porridge that mom would make when anyone of us was sick. So this morning I had oatmeal with and egg on top. It was delicious even though it doesn't really look delicious.

Breakfast: Oatmeal ($0.15), 1 egg ($0.17), a sprig of basil ($0.01) for Leah totaling 220 calories. Oatmeal ($0.17 - 160 calorie) and 2 cups coffee ($0.33 and 10 calories) for Josh.

Lunch: 2 slices of pizza for Leah ($0.56 - 276 calories), 3 slices of pizza for Josh ($0.84 - 414 calories).

Snack: Apple ($0.25 - 80 calories) for Josh. Pear ($0.33 - 81 calories) and one macadamia nut for Leah.

Dinner: Salad w/ dressing ($0.24 - 130 calories), Chicken and Cajun Rice ($1.20 a serving - 529 calories)

Josh: $3.03 (1323 Calories) total.

Leah: $2.66 (1236 calories) total.

$3ADDP: The Repeaters

So as part of my research phase, I was thinking about the easy peasy repeats. I know I'll probably get a little creative with lunch and dinner but breakfast and certain sides will be pretty commonly repeated.

My husband has agreed to do this $3 a Day Diet Project with me, that loving man. I hope at the end he doesn't think that our cat is eating better than him. He's reading this blog for insights into what he will be eating over the next 30 days so I thought this would be a good teaser for him to keep his eyes on the prize.

Breakfast:
Oatmeal - about half a cup dry, comes in at 150 calories and costs a mere $0.15 a serving.
Hard Boiled Egg - 1 hard boiled egg is about 70 calories and is about $0.17 an egg.
Milk - an 8 ounce glass of 1% is about 100 calories and $0.31 a glass.
Whole Wheat English Muffins - homemade? It think it has to be.
Toast - Right now, I think it's about $0.20 a slice give or take depending on whether it's homemade or store bought.
Pancakes - This will make hubby happy once we get past the maple syrup argument. He's a douser, not a dipper.

Meals:
Pizza - I hear this is REALLY cheap. Like, under $o.40 a slice. Take that Pizza Hut!
Fried Rice - Hubbs will love this idea. He's a bit of a rice whore.
Grilled Chicken - Easy, relatively cheap, goes well in sandwiches and stir fries. I don't even like Chicken.

Sides:
Mashed Potatoes- About $0.50 cents per serving depending on what the final recipe is.
Brown Rice - about $0.12 a serving.
Baked Potatoes - About $0.45 when including a pat of butter.
Polenta- I assume this is a lot like oatmeal which will work out well.
Beans - At $0.99 a lb for how filling beans are will be a must repeat.
Salad - About $0.24 a serving if you use half a romaine head and a serving of dressing.
Soup - I can only assume this is by far the biggest bang for the buck and the easiest way to get in vegetables.

So there we are, things I will have to calculate the actual recipes for so that I can see how much it'll cost us.

$3ADDP: Day 1

I stayed up a little later than usual last night to prep some food for the coming week, also known as the first week of the project. Hubby goes between being really excited about it because he wants to scale back our portions and being really wary of the project. We'll see how long he lasts. He'll have the ability to post on this blog as a contributor during this project if the feeling of hunger starts to pervade his life. Lol.

Yesterday, I threw together a soup from navy beans, some veggies, and 1/5 of a roasted chicken I had left over. I considered whether or not this would be considered "cheating" by my dear readers because I was starting with leftovers already in my fridge and then I remembered, this series is supposed to to show that anyone, regardless of whether they're living of food stamps or living high on the hog, can happily live on $3. And let's be honest, haven't most of us had a leftover chicken in their fridge?

I also prepared in the slow cooker 8 servings of steel cut oatmeal so that we'll have premade oatmeal for breakfast and black beans for whenever in the week. I'll post those recipes after I actually consume them in case there's a need to adjust seasonings.

I had a pop a few midol today but it didn't really help so I felt kind of queasy all day so I didn't eat as much as I should have. I skipped my salad, which would have definitely fit in my budget, and had under 1K calories. Hopefully I'll feel better tomorrow.

Here's what we ate today:

Breakfast: Oatmeal 1 serving each ($0.15 - 150 calories). Banana ($0.09 - 53 cals), Maple Syrup ($0.04 - 52 cals), cinnamon ($0.02 - 0 cals), Honey ($0.05 - 15 cals) Josh Only.

Lunch: Chicken and Navy Bean Soup ($0.48 - 308 calories). Salad w/ dressing ($0.24 - 130 calories) Josh Only.

Dinner: Pizza w/ Meat Sauce and cheese ($1.12 - 552 calories) for 4 slices Josh. 2 slices for Leah ($0.56 - 276 cals)

Drink: Vodka (2 oz.) and energy drink (4 oz.) ($0.78 - 184 calories)

Josh Total: $2.97 - 1444 calories

Leah Total: $1.97 - 918 calories.