WIC and TF... - Page 2

[Karamom]

That's awesome that you can buy oats and Bulgar. My wic in oregon does not allow those. Only individual size instant oats for the cereal but not whole oats

The Food for life are not allowed at least in oregon because they are organic.

I think it would be really nice if they went to debit card like system. I always have several vouchers at once and it takes forever to complete my purchase. I always get dirty looks for the person behind me in line. It's kinda embarrassing.

[forestrymom]

Originally Posted by Ruthla

The products need to be within the $ allowed for that item. You don't get the difference if the food costs less, and you can't pay the difference if you select items that cost more (although you can use coupons to get the items to come in under the $ limit.) If you want the $5 brick of cheese, and they only allow $4 for cheese, you can't pay the $1 and get the cheese- you can either get your WIC cheese or not, and you can pay $5for the "fancy" cheese separately if you want to.

This is always what got me about WIC. You can't even make the choice--its just not allowed at all. And I aked why I couldn't buy cereal like Kashi or something (dh loves cereal, even though I don't allow the kids to have it and I hate it) they said you have to buy the stuff without sugar in it. I took in a box of the "sugarfree" cereal with high fructose corn syrup in it and she said that was "different". What a pain.

I too always got dirty looks. Of course, I always have my 2 kids with me, and they are usually tired, because we travel an hour both ways to get groceries, and they've had something else to do, and groceries are our last stop so they don't freeze or sour, and its a CHORE.

I am going in on Wednesday to see about getting it again, though--the beans, tuna, and now fresh fruits and veggies. I will probably get the eggs for baking. We are going to get chickens this spring and already have goats for milk, but its a big savings just those items.

[funkymamajoy]

Originally Posted by forestrymom

This is always what got me about WIC. You can't even make the choice--its just not allowed at all. And I aked why I couldn't buy cereal like Kashi or something (dh loves cereal, even though I don't allow the kids to have it and I hate it) they said you have to buy the stuff without sugar in it. I took in a box of the "sugarfree" cereal with high fructose corn syrup in it and she said that was "different". What a pain.

The thing is WIC doesn't get a choice either. Its up to the manufacturer to participate and they get to decide what products to offer. We can't get Kashi on WIC because Kashi (or whoever owns them now) doesn't participate. I don't know why WIC doesn't tell people that.

(This is also why WIC only pays for certain brands of formula)

[StrongBeliever]

I didn't read through everything to make sure someone didn't already suggest this... BUT: If you don't want to be consuming the less than fabulous milk and cereal that are allotted through WIC, you might just find that you don't feel so bad about feeding it all to your chickens. Through some in a bucket and let it ferment to redeem some of the goodness and they should love it. Maybe the extra boost in protein and calories will get them laying again. You could use your birdies as a biological filter of sorts to get the return on the stuff you aren't eating from WIC.

[ihugtrees]

Originally Posted by StrongBeliever

I didn't read through everything to make sure someone didn't already suggest this... BUT: If you don't want to be consuming the less than fabulous milk and cereal that are allotted through WIC, you might just find that you don't feel so bad about feeding it all to your chickens. Through some in a bucket and let it ferment to redeem some of the goodness and they should love it. Maybe the extra boost in protein and calories will get them laying again. You could use your birdies as a biological filter of sorts to get the return on the stuff you aren't eating from WIC.

How long do you let them ferment? I am new to all of this and am still trying to figure out what all 'fermenting' entails!

[nerdymom]

The OP kept mentioning how she would like to make bread but her baked goods are touch and go. What about a bread machine? Ask around on freecycle (a couple of my friends have gotten them that way) or check a used store. I went into the Goodwill the other day and they had bread machines out the wazoo!

[Rikki Jean]

Originally Posted by forestrymom

I too always got dirty looks. Of course, I always have my 2 kids with me, and they are usually tired, because we travel an hour both ways to get groceries, and they've had something else to do, and groceries are our last stop so they don't freeze or sour, and its a CHORE.

When I went in on the trip that I posted about, I was sooooo glad that I decided to do it at 10pm, without my children (they were home with DH). The cashier wasn't really familiar with WIC (he had to ask a manager if it was okay for me not to get everything on the voucher ), so it took for.ever.er. I think I was standing there for a good twenty minutes. My boys would have been going out of their minds if they were with me, and if there were customers in line behind me, I doubt that they would have been thrilled to wait forever.

Originally Posted by StrongBeliever

I didn't read through everything to make sure someone didn't already suggest this... BUT: If you don't want to be consuming the less than fabulous milk and cereal that are allotted through WIC, you might just find that you don't feel so bad about feeding it all to your chickens. Through some in a bucket and let it ferment to redeem some of the goodness and they should love it. Maybe the extra boost in protein and calories will get them laying again. You could use your birdies as a biological filter of sorts to get the return on the stuff you aren't eating from WIC.

As a PP mentioned, can you tell me more about fermenting my cereal?

Originally Posted by nerdymom

The OP kept mentioning how she would like to make bread but her baked goods are touch and go. What about a bread machine? Ask around on freecycle (a couple of my friends have gotten them that way) or check a used store. I went into the Goodwill the other day and they had bread machines out the wazoo!

A bread machine just makes my baking troubles worse. I have much better outcomes when I put it in the oven.

I do have a recipe that I like and that generally works for me, I just have to get into a groove of getting it done, kwim? Also, I need to figure out something that really, really, really works for me for breads other than sandwich bread. I just need to get on the stick and get it done, before I have a baby in seven weeks and I'm just stuck with store bread for another six months!

[nerdymom]

Oh wow! seven weeks, congrats!! I use the machine to make the dough, then I bake it myself. I don't know, maybe you could make a double batch every time for the next few weeks and freeze the spare?

[Rikki Jean]

Originally Posted by nerdymom

Oh wow! seven weeks, congrats!! I use the machine to make the dough, then I bake it myself. I don't know, maybe you could make a double batch every time for the next few weeks and freeze the spare?

Thanks!

Double batching, at least, is my plan. I just have to get on it and get it done!

[forestrymom]

Your thread spurred me into action to get my butt back to the WIC office and get signed up again. We are well under the limit, but the summer/fall are good times for us financially, and then its back to bare bones. They've changed it a lot since we were last on it. We were able to get organic dairy, and we will get whole milk based on dd's size issue. I'm not sure how we got the organic, but they did it without much prodding. And its nice to have the bonus of the fresh fruit/veggies, but $22 doesn't go far, does it?

I also find it so odd you can't buy brown eggs at all. Weird. But I'm glad to be saving some money on food again. And hoping my goats will have lots of milk and we can get chickens this spring.