Poor mamas: How well do you guys really eat?? - Page 5

[kijip]

Originally Posted by cjr

It's all about choices. Some of us are more limited in our choices, but in the end it's all about choices. You will always find an exuse to eat crap if you want to continue to eat crap.

I agree with this partially and disagree partially. As a person who works in social services I see a number of people who seriously don't have good choices to choose from to begin with. Lack of access to a stocked kitchen, lack of skill in cooking, no time due to working too many hours for too little money etc. Still, I wonder when people say they can't afford any vegetables whatsoever unless they have no money whatsoever and are eating from food pantries to survive. 10 pounds of potatoes is $2-4. Frozen green beans are often on sale for less than a $1 a pack. Same goes for snap peas and broccoli. My mother receives around $90 a month in food stamps. It is gone on the 5th day of the month on frozen processed junk and cereal. I just spent $50 at the co-op yesterday for many pounds of lentils (3 different kinds), split peas, potatoes, black eyed peas, carrots and zucchini that we will use in the next 6 weeks (would be longer but we are a family of 8 after Friday when my brother, SIL and kids arrive). All organic...conventional at another store would have been far less. Every other meal at my house involves soups, bean and veggie dishes. Slice a few carrots cooked onto rice and beans and you have added a nice veggie to the cheapest meal on the planet. A couple of conventional carrots cost pennies. My parents always insisted that veggies and fruits were more expensive than the meat heavy dishes they often served when feeling pinched $wise. I have not found that to be true in the 10 years I have been feeding myself at all. Honestly, you just have to know how to prepare them and be accustomed to buying them to make veggies affordable for most budgets.

[kijip]

Originally Posted by cjr

I have gone through this. It is a tough and long process but if you are persistant it will pay off. A child who is used to eathing salt, fat, sugar will not give it up easily. You just don't buy it and provide healthy meals that have lots of flavor. They will eat it. At first they won't, but in time when they realize they can't break you they will eat it. My girls were terrible and we had many a tear (mostly mine because they wouldn't eat my dinner). I would make a great helthy meal and it was there to eat. If they didn't want it that was fine, but that was dinner and nothing else. Now they eat just about everything and even thank me for being such a healthy cook. Seriously.

We had let our son slip into eating mainly starches and meats and dairy. Nothing particularly salty, fatty etc but not the most balanced by a long shot. We realized that we ate all the veggies between us, assuming that he would not like it. It took a few weeks of more vegetable laden foods but if carrot soup is what for lunch, he will eat it with gusto now. I have a niece and 2 nephews that never eat anything besides hot pockets and sugar and when we visited, it was not the second day on each visit they were scarfing down what we cooked. On their recent visit up here it became clear that the kids were not 10% as picky as my brother and SIL would have me believe. They were eating everything, short of greens, in large quantities.

[edamommy]

well, i'm a vegetarian. So being poor has nothing to do w/ the beef broth in oodles of noodles- I"m not eating beef broth. I'm a vegetarian. even if I am a POOR one.

also, we're poor. We go pay check to paycheck and still don't make ends meet and still have tons of debt.

BUT... food is life. without food we die. Without GOOD food our bodies will suffer later on and we'll pay (financially, emotionally, etc.). So, we buy mostly organic. We eat vegetarian too (which is cheaper...). we avoid processed crap. maybe we pay more "up front" and other things don't get paid because of it... but we'll be saving money down the road as we'll be in good health!

[newcastlemama]

Originally Posted by kijip

Is Winco worth a drive? We could combine trips with a stop at Ikea to return so we defective curtain hardware at the same time but the nearest one to me is pretty far away, close to the Ikea in Kent WA. As of Friday I have FIVE extra mouths to feed here for awhile (my brother and his family are moving up here and will be staying with us for a bit) so cheap bulk items sound good. Do they have any organics at all? I see it is employee owned which is cool.

It's about 40 minutes drive each way for us and totally worth it since I stock up. They carry Annie's salad dressings, Bob's Red Mill products and these natural soups that I cannot remeber the name of.

[hellyaellen]

We are on food stamps so we have a good bit to play with at the store (200-400/month for a family of 4) But we still run out if i get too gourmet/naturel/fancy.

For supper (the only meal we really all sit down and eat together that is a homecooked meal) We usually do one or two fancy meals a month (like last nights angus steak w/ gorgonzola cheese sauce, shrimp and mushrooms on the side, fresh garlic spinach, and homemade fries)

several sort of normal homecooked meals (spaghetti, fried chicken, etc)

a few crappy meals (mac n cheese from a box, frozen pizza, white castle etc)

Lunch is sandwiches and soup or leftovers.

Breakfast is cereal for the kids and a jimmy dean sausage biscuit for me plus fruit for all (usually bananas)

dh is a fancy man so we get more fancy than we would if it was up to me alone. and it costs us

i think we do ok. but we do a lot of processed junk food compared to most mdc'ers i think. we don't do as much organic as i wish but if its on sale we do. or if the difference is only a few cents. i'm really pleased to see organic canned tomatoes at a good price lately!

[Peppamint]

My SIL has a Viking range, and dude... she knows how to use that puppy! I'm in awe of her cooking/baking abilities.

[muttix2]

We only buy some things organic, if they are on sale. I'm trying to improve our eating habits and cook more for us to eat healthier. It is definitely more expensive to eat healthier. You can buy a five pack of mac and "cheese" for $2 at Walmart, you can't get a pack of cheese for less than $4 (small pack) around here. Luckily, we've started making a bit more money and I'm able to branch out from ramen and such but really, it is hard to eat healthy. I'm trying to find some good cookbooks for beginners (meaning, I don't even know the cooking words I don't know so I'm surely not going to be able to actually do whatever it is) for simple, homemade foods. Right now we've been eating stew, spaghetti, and the like. Easy things to make that don't cost too much.

[2tadpoles]

Originally Posted by reducereuserecycle

The way I did this was use $3.00 off coupons on cat and dog food that were less than $3.00 (these coupons are in the FREE mambo sprouts coupon books in the front of the store)

The Whole Foods near me never seems to have coupons in the store. I've asked a few times. They're always "out."

[wonderwahine]

Originally Posted by 2tadpoles

The Whole Foods near me never seems to have coupons in the store. I've asked a few times. They're always "out."

if you go to mambosprouts.com they will mail it to you.

[Ruthiegirl]

Originally Posted by muttix2

We only buy some things organic, if they are on sale. I'm trying to improve our eating habits and cook more for us to eat healthier. It is definitely more expensive to eat healthier. You can buy a five pack of mac and "cheese" for $2 at Walmart, you can't get a pack of cheese for less than $4 (small pack) around here. Luckily, we've started making a bit more money and I'm able to branch out from ramen and such but really, it is hard to eat healthy. I'm trying to find some good cookbooks for beginners (meaning, I don't even know the cooking words I don't know so I'm surely not going to be able to actually do whatever it is) for simple, homemade foods. Right now we've been eating stew, spaghetti, and the like. Easy things to make that don't cost too much.

We do a lot of bean soups. A real cheap one is split pea soup.

Saute an onion, add a carrot, a stalk of celery (all chopped up). Add a quart of water, some thyme, oregano (any herbs you like) and a pound of split peas. If you eat ham, this is a great time to add a ham hock. I can buy 4 hocks for about $3 and use one in each batch of soup. It really adds a lot of flavor and a bit of meat. I freeze any left over ham hocks for future soup pots.


Bring to a boil, then lower the temperature to a simmmer (you should see very small bubbles). Cook one hour. Take out the hock and let it cool. Simmer the soup for another half hour. Shred the meat from the bone and add it back to the pot. Taste for salt, the hocks are quite salty so I don't usually need to add any.

We eat this a lot. Split peas are $1 a pound. The hock is less than a $1. One stalk of celery and one carrot are a few pennies. I grow oregano and thyme in the garden, but you can get these cheap if you have access to a bulk foods store.

We also make a lot of lentil soup and black bean soup. Toast, muffins, corn bread, cheese sandwiches all make fine additions.

I find that I can feed us very cheaply buying a 5 pound bag of onions, a bag of carrots, celery, and a few pounds of dried beans. Add some different spices and herbs and you can have countless variations of nutritious and satisfying soups without having to eat too much mac and cheese. And a lot of things freeze well, so I tend to cook a few big pots of things on Sunday, freeze them in dinner sized portions and then just pull stuff from the feeezer during the week. Cheap and mostly easy.

[kay4]

this is a great thread!!!

I focus more on whole foods than freaking about getting all organic. I did buy all organic/free range meat this last shopping trip and everyone hated it and I could have used that money to buy more fruits and veggies :

I shop at several stores in order to keep the budget down. The HFS for flour, succanat, oats etc. I don't buy anything prepackaged from there unless it is on sale for a great price (not often)

I find organic/natural stuff at Big Lots. Just stocked up on tons of Zoe and Cascadian Farm cereal, and Annies mac and cheese

Aldis is great for produce, butter, etc

I check the labels and try and get stuff with no HFCS, and other 'junk' and make as much as I can from scratch.

[mum4boys]

Originally Posted by Krystal323

certainly not only what's organic. i mean, distilled purified water costs like $1.12 a gallon, while i can get an off-brand 2Liter of soda for 50 cents. sadly, we opt for the soda.

Not sure if your realized this or not buta 2 liter is only a half gallon do it would take 2 2 liters of soda at $1.00 to equal 1 gallon of water at $1.12. Not sure if the extra 12 cents you can afford but just something to think about.

[mum4boys]

Here is the top ten foods with pesticide issues (I have also read there is no difference in bananas that are organic or not because the pesticides cannot penetrate the skin:

High-Pesticide Food: Strawberries
Main Nutrient: Vitamin C
Healthy Alternatives: Blueberries, raspberries, oranges, grapefruit, kiwifruit, watermelon

High-Pesticide Food: Bell peppers
Main Nutrient: Vitamin C
Healthy Alternatives: Green peas, broccoli, romaine, lettuce

High-Pesticide Food: Spinach
Main Nutrient: Vitamins A and C
Healthy Alternatives: Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, asparagus

High-Pesticide Food: Cherries
Main Nutrient: Vitamin C
Healthy Alternatives: Oranges, blueberries, raspberries, kiwifruit, blackberries, grapefruit

High-Pesticide Food: Peaches
Main Nutrient: Vitamins A and C
Healthy Alternatives: Nectarines, watermelon, tangerines, oranges, grapefruit

High-Pesticide Food: Mexican cantaloupe
Main Nutrient: Vitamins A and C
and potassium Healthy Alternatives: U.S. cantaloupe grown from May to December, watermelon

High-Pesticide Food: Celery
Main Nutrient: Carotenoids
Healthy Alternatives: Carrots, broccoli, radishes, romaine lettuce

High-Pesticide Food: Apples
Main Nutrient: Vitamin C
Healthy Alternatives: Watermelon, nectarines, bananas, tangerines

High-Pesticide Food: Apricots
Main Nutrient: Vitamins A an C and potassium
Healthy Alternatives: Nectarines, watermelon, oranges, tangerines

High-Pesticide Food: Green beans
Main Nutrient: Potassium
Healthy Alternatives: Green peas, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, potatoes, asparagus

[wonderwahine]

did anyone see the news story recently where aquafina released a statement and soon it will be printed on their bottles that they are just filtered tap water?

[etoilech]

An off topic question... I'm not in the USA so forgive me if this is a strange question. Can't you drink the water that come out of the tap? Is the water dirty? Can you buy a filter for your kitchen tap or a water filter (brita?)

It just seems odd that it's not good to drink the water... or am I missing something?

Here in Switzerland everyone buys water, and tap water is the same mountain water that you pay for with bubbles. Silly, huh?

I think a lot of people don't have cooking skills. I know I didn't. I would be a really poor cook without access the good cookbook and a lot of motivation. Many communities here offer free nutrition and cooking classes, maybe they do in the US too?

[mum4boys]

Originally Posted by kijip

Is Winco worth a drive? We could combine trips with a stop at Ikea to return so we defective curtain hardware at the same time but the nearest one to me is pretty far away, close to the Ikea in Kent WA. As of Friday I have FIVE extra mouths to feed here for awhile (my brother and his family are moving up here and will be staying with us for a bit) so cheap bulk items sound good. Do they have any organics at all? I see it is employee owned which is cool.

I live in SW Snohomish County and we would drive every 6 weeks or so to the one in Kent and stock up. We saved on average about $86.00 per trip. Now we have one 30 minutes closer. By the way, Beoing suplus is right by Ikea and Winco and you can get some awesome deals on computers, office supplies, kitchen ware and tools.

[wonderwahine]

There are some areas where the water is bad, but the majority of it is gret, It would be much smarter to buy a $20 tap filter than buy soda or bottled water (which both cause plastic waste)

[mum4boys]

Originally Posted by etoilech

An off topic question... I'm not in the USA so forgive me if this is a strange question. Can't you drink the water that come out of the tap? Is the water dirty? Can you buy a filter for your kitchen tap or a water filter (brita?)

It just seems odd that it's not good to drink the water... or am I missing something?

It really depends on where you live at the quality of the water. Tap water is suppose to be safe but we are always having health advisories against it. My older two boys when we moved here got horrible rashes and diarrhea from the tap water (ya how do you not bath a 2 and 4 year old?).

Buying a filter is a great option, but I know from Krystal's other post (person who started this thread) money is extremely tight. I saw where she had to budget light bulbs and some other things because there is no money.

[mum4boys]

We also focus a lot more on whole foods versus organic etc. because of price issues. We have really had to cut back in the last 4 months as we lost 60% of our income but its been hard to cook from scratch as I had c-section complications, had a uterus infection (out of commission for a week), a baby who was hospitalized twice, youngest son's JA got worst, and the death of my mom (July 5th. : ). Things are looking up for us though emotionally etc not financially like dh is going to days starting August 13, so I have some to hold our high needs baby while I cook dinner. Anyway, one of my favorite recipes is following which is so cheap to make.

Meatless Lentil Chili
2 1/3 (1 pound) lentils rinsed
5 cups of water
16 ounces of Tomatoes or tomato sauce
1 packet (1 ounce) dry onion soup mix
1 ½ teaspoon chili powder
½ teaspoon cumin
In a large sauce pan bring lentils and water to a boil, then simmer with dry onion soup mix for 30 minutes add the rest of the ingredients and simmer 30 minutes more or after simmering lentils and dry onion mix add rest of the ingredients place in a oven proof casserole bowl and bake on 350 degrees for 45 minutes. I prefer to bake mine.

You can serve over pasta, rice or corn chips. It makes a great dip. I serve as a burrito with warm tortillas, cheese and sour cream.

[forthebest]

I have 3 dc and am a single mom, we don't eat meat. I cook all our meals from scratch, lentils, beans,pasta, wholegrain rice, quinoa, I bake bread, but they also like the crap white stuff so I must get unbleached flour,cakes, biccies etc. No-sugar muslee, supermarket muslee, bran flakes, I never buy soda or coke type drinks, ever. They get that from other people very rarely, I don't see how 13 or so tablespoons of sugar in one glass can be a treat.Trying to lower intake of dairy. I'm not that good a cook but I try and my dc say they like what I cook! I need to vary what I cook, I get tired of thinking of stuff to do, my shopping list never varies cos I can't afford to buy more expensive stuff, it's all offers mostly. I used to get bulk stuff from our wholefood warehouse and must start again but it's storing it and we got mice but our cat does what he can. Our Wee Health Shop is very pricey.I need to get more dried stuff in bulk like rice and flour cos we often run out depending on bills. I've got a polytunnel and will be putting it up soon for next year, very little sun this year in Scotland, then we should get some variety on the veg front and have fresh organic food but oh, I'm so tired. I very rarely buy junk food, I'm sure some of it is actually plastic,but will get them chips and pizza if we are going to a film , I try and not feed them sweets too much, it's mostly fairtrade chocolate, and I know too much fruit juice is not good for teeth. I find sometimes the best meals we have is when we are really low on food and they can't be fussy about what I cook and I can put things together I don't normally cos someone doesn't like, courgettes, lentils, pepper's etc. My dc love food, they all love veg and will eat raw carrots,celery(this I buy organic cos ds loves it)as snacks, eldest dd is tomato mad and loves quinoa, youngest dd discovered she likes brown lentils but still they eat too much rubbishy sugary stuff. I don't have any money after food and bills,I mean zero, my ds has 2 pairs of trousers both ripped to shreds at present so I have to clothe them for school soon.I run a motor cos I always have and we've moved a lot in the past, we had to live in one car for a while,we live 19 miles from supermarket out in the sticks,but we are much closer to town than we we used to be, we are 4 miles from village shop which I could not afford for weeks shopping, it costs a lot keeping a car but I did a college course for a year in mechanics so have more of a clue now, it gets me and my dd to work, shops, camping,see friends etc. I hope my dc have developed some good food habits that they will take into later life. We used to live on the road and have always had untreated water as we have now thankfully, we live 1000ft above loch ness, sorry to be so gross but we had to into homeless accomodation once and it was tap water for 6 weeks, one of my dc ended up with a tapeworm!!! via that treated water and we were all pretty sick and rundown.