Counting My Food Dollars

Week 2, Day 7

2007-04-28T22:36:00.000-07:00

Breakfast: Scrambled eggs

Lunch: Leftovers

Dinner: Sushi

Total Cook Time: 15 minutes

Week 2, Day 6

2007-04-28T22:27:00.000-07:00

Brunch: Nine Grain Cereal

Dinner: Cheeseboard Pizza

Dessert: La Note Fondue Cake

Total Cook Time: 10 minutes

Week 2, Day 5

2007-04-28T22:22:00.001-07:00

Day 5, originally uploaded by a journalism student.

Breakfast: Nine grain cereal

Lunch: Roasted asparagus and potatoes, kumquats, bread, cheese and avocado

Dinner: Leftovers

Total Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Week 2, Day 4

2007-04-28T22:19:00.001-07:00

Day 4, originally uploaded by a journalism student.

Breakfast: Carrot Bran Muffins

Snack: Banana, strawberry, yogurt, honey shakes

Lunch: Bread with hummus, mint chutney, cheese, onion, tomatoes, lettuce and an orange

Dinner: Cauliflower and peas (Indian style) with mint chutney and pita bread

Total Cook Time: 1 hour, 15 minutes

Week 2, Day 3

2007-04-28T22:12:00.001-07:00

Day 3, originally uploaded by a journalism student.

Breakfast: Carrot Bran Muffins

Lunch: Salad w/ romaine lettuce, tomatoes, onions, sunflower seeds, vinager dressing

Snack: Milkshake w/ strawberries, banana and honey

Dinner: Leftover salad, leftover palak panner, wheat pita bread

Dessert: Ghiradelli Chocolate

Week 2, Day 2

2007-04-28T22:07:00.001-07:00

Sandwich - Lunch Tuesday, originally uploaded by a journalism student.

I made nine grain cereal in the morning (a mixture of a bunch of things, including flax seeds, oats, barley). We added in chopped dates, prunes and a little milk and sugar.

Lunch was a sandwich and an orange. And for dinner we used some of last week's leftovers (palak paneer) and wheat bread. We also made some celery-carrot juice.

Again, it seems that when you have money you spend it. I snacked on a baklava and my husband bought himself some brie and bread while hanging out with a friend during the day.

week 2 - day one

2007-04-28T21:50:00.001-07:00

Dinner - Monday, originally uploaded by a journalism student.

I made oatmeal in the morning, though it was admittedly lumpy. I learnt, afterwards, that the trick is to boil the water first and then through in the oatmeal and let it cook.

The extra money put us into a splurging sort of mood, so we spent $12.00 on sandwiches for lunch...on whole wheat bread, of course.

Dinner was waldorf salad and fresh pasta tossed in oil, basil and garlic. Extra money buys you dessert too - we savored some Scharfeen Berger milk chocolate.

Total Cooking Time: 30 Minutes

Recipes:

Ingredients:
Fresh pasta (from Berkeley Bowl)
Oil
Garlic
Fresh Basil

Cook pasta in water and then lighlty sautee in pan
with oil, garlic and basil.

Waldorf Salad
Mix:
Lettuce
Walnutes
Gorgonzola Cheese
Granny Smith Apples

Week 2

2007-04-28T21:42:00.001-07:00

IMG_1073.JPG, originally uploaded by a journalism student.

For our second week of eating, I increased our budget to $128, nearly double the previous week. This figure represents approximately what two people in America spend on food every week.

My goal this week, with all the extra money was to eat more organically and locally, but also to splurge a little.

I whipped up a pan of carrot-oat-bran muffins so that we could start our mornings with some nourishing goodness.

Week One Summary

2007-04-16T22:25:00.000-07:00

By the end of the week, we had gone over budget by about $2.79 and we had plenty of leftovers (lettuce, wheat bran, ginger, flour, oats and trail mix for instance). I didn't factor in the cost of what already existed in my pantry that I used but if I did, it would have amounted to very little. From the pantry I essentially used rice, salt and spices.

We really did almost make it through the experiment without fail! The fall from grace was dinner on Friday, though we did get to hang out with some people we hadn't seen in a few years.

More Leftovers

2007-04-15T23:37:00.000-07:00

Brunch Sunday, originally uploaded by a journalism student.

We had (leftover) eggs, bread and oranges in the morning. For lunch we finished off the beetroot salad and palak paneer with some bread. Dinner was hummus (homemade) with carrots and reheated lentil soup.

Total Cooking Time: 30 minutes

Recipe:
Hummus

Palak Paneer

2007-04-14T23:24:00.000-07:00

Dinner Saturday, originally uploaded by a journalism student.

Week One, Day Six

We went to the gym in the morning and then came home and had a filling brunch - scrambled eggs with mushrooms and green onions with toasted bread and butter. We had some trail mix and oranges as a snack. Dinner was palak paneer (Indian spinach with cheese), roti (Indian flatbread) and more beetroot salad. The "juice" in the glass is the water leftover from boiling the beets...it was pretty sweet.

Today's Cooking Time: 3 hours

Recipes:

Palak Paneer

Falling From Grace

2007-04-13T22:55:00.000-07:00

Week One, Day Five

We had (less) lumpy oatmeal for breakfast. I went on a class field trip today and had an amazing lunch at Bob Cannard's farm in Sonoma County. Cannard supplies produce to Berkeley's finest restaurant, Chez Panisse. The lunch - prepared by Charlene Cannard - was nothing short of amazing.

Here's the menu as I remember it (with ingredients plucked from Bob's farm):

freshly crushed macademia nuts
assorted fresh breads
fava bean dip
chickpea dip
asparagus with fennel
meatballs with tomato, sardines wrapped in grape leaves with roasted peppers
a leek pizza
two types of salad (one with radish and avocado)
orange/anise/almond biscotti
homemade meyer ice cream
tea

All week we stayed within our budget constraints, and the fridge indicated that we'd make it through the weekend without problems. But we had made plans with a friend from college that we had not seen for a very long time - and dinner reservations were made at a (wholesome) sushi spot in San Francisco. Our friends grabbed the bill before we could, but I imagine that had we paid, this meal would have cost us about $30.

Lumpy Oatmeal

2007-04-12T22:47:00.000-07:00

Day 4 - Lunch, originally uploaded by a journalism student.

Week One, Day Four

We were out of bran muffins, so breakfast was oatmeal that overcooked and turned into one big lump. Lunch was delicious - sandwiches with leftover garlic butter, basil, yogurt, swiss cheese, lettuce, tomato and scrambled eggs. Dinner was leftovers - we polished off some lentil soup, potato/chard with wheat pita bread and the lemongrass rice.

Today's Total Cook Time: 20 minutes

Cumin in the Beetroot

2007-04-11T22:13:00.000-07:00

Day Three Lunch, originally uploaded by sindya.

Week One, Day Three

We polished off the last of the muffins today with strawberry-banana-honey milkshakes (ie fruits and honey blended with milk). I was at home for lunch, so we reheated leftovers (daal, rice, potato and chard) and made a beetroot salad that was quite good. I typically hate beetroot, but the roasted cumin gave this salad some great flavor. For dinner, we made lemongrass rice with onions and stir-fried bok choy with mushrooms.

Today's Total Cook Time: 1 hour

Recipes:

Beetroot Salad

2 beetroots, boiled

1/4 cup yogurt

1 teaspoon cumin seeds

salt to taste

Chop the boiled beetroot into cubes and mix with yogurt and salt. Add cumin seeds to hot oil until they sputter and mix with the salad.

Rice with Lemongrass and Green Onion
(courtesy Epicurious)

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2/3 cup finely chopped onion

1/4 teaspoon turmeric

1 cup long-grain white rice
1 3/4 cups water
2 12-inch-long lemongrass stalks, cut into 2-inch-long pieces
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 large green onion, chopped

Heat 1 1/2 tablespoons oil in heavy medium saucepan over medium heat. Add 2/3 cup onion and turmeric and sauté 5 minutes. Mix in rice. Add water, lemongrass and 1/2 teaspoon salt and bring to simmer. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until rice is tender and liquid is absorbed, about 18 minutes. Remove from heat; let stand covered 10 minutes. Discard lemongrass. Heat remaining 1/2 tablespoon oil in heavy large skillet over medium heat. Add green onion and sauté 1 minute. Add rice and stir until heated through. Season to taste with salt.

Bon Appétit, June 1992

Stirfried Bok Choy and Mushrooms

1 bunch baby bok choy, washed and cut

1 packet chopped mushrooms

2 pearls garlic, chopped

salt to tasted

Lightly stir-fry garlic and mushrooms, then add bok choy and add salt to taste. Do not overcook the bok choy (like I did!).

Two Cooks Are a Good Thing

2007-04-10T21:36:00.000-07:00

Dinner - Day Two, originally uploaded by sindya.

Week One, Day Two

I had bran muffins (on the run) for breakfast today with banana milkshakes. For lunch we packed sandwiches with hummus, guacamole, cheese and tomato and an orange. In the evening, we made fresh garlic bread, roasted asparagus and lentil soup with carrots, onions and tomatoes. Having someone else to help with the cooking. This being Tuesday, I came home from a long day of class exhausted. Typically I would have grabbed a meal on Telegraph Avenue or heated up a frozen Mexican meal. We snacked on a bit of trail mix before dinner...

Today's total cook time: 1 hour

Recipes:

Fresh Garlic Bread

sliced bread
salted, softened butter
chopped garlic

Mix butter with garlic and spread onto each slice of bread. Wrap in aluminum foil and bake well - for about 20 minutes.

Lentil Soup

1 cup lentils

1/2 chopped onion

1 chopped carrot

1 chopped tomato

salt to taste

Boil lentils with other ingredients until cooked.

Roasted Asparagus Tips

chopped asparagus

chopped garlic

salt to taste

Sautee aspargus with garlic in oil for a few minutes. Cook the asparagus but leave it crispy. Add salt to taste.

Ready, Set, Go!

2007-04-09T15:44:00.000-07:00

IMG_1073.JPG, originally uploaded by sindya.

Week One, Day One

On Sunday evening, I made Bran Muffins - which would serve as our breakfast today and for most of the week. Lunch was a sandwich on bread from Semifreddi's, a local bakery, with hummus, tomatoes and cheese. Dinner was reheated food from the night before and consisted of daal (black lentils), potatoes stir-fried in chard, plain Strauss yogurt and wheat pita bread.

Total Cooking Time - 1.5 hours on Sunday

Recipes:

Bran Muffins (recipe courtesy a friend in Seattle)
Ingredients
1 1/2 cups wheat bran
1 cup buttermilk (I used yogurt and lemon instead)
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1 egg
2/3 cup brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup raisins (I used dried figs instead)

Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Grease muffin cups or line
with paper muffin liners.
Mix together wheat bran and buttermilk; let stand for 10 minutes.
Beat together oil, egg, sugar and vanilla and add to buttermilk/bran
mixture. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir
flour mixture into buttermilk mixture, until just blended. Fold in raisins
and spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.
Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of
a muffin comes out clean. Cool and enjoy!

Variations
1/2 cup whole wheat flour, 1/2 cup oatmeal (with other things), large dried
cherries chopped in half

Black Daal
Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups black lentils
1 chopped onion
1 chopped tomato
1 chopped chili
1/4 inch chopped ginger
2 chopped garlic pearls
1/4 teaspoon turmeric
salt to taste
three tablespoons milk
handful of chopped cilantro

If you have time, soak the lentils in water for at least a few hours. Cook the lentils on medium heat on the stove with onion, tomato, chili, ginger, garlic and turmeric. As the lentils are cooking, add in the milk and leave on stove on low heat until the lentils are well-cooked. Add salt and garnish with cilantro.

Potatoes and Chard
1 tablespoon mustard seed
1 teaspoon turmeric powder
3 potatoes
1 bunch chard (or spinach)
salt to taste

Chop potatoes and chard. Add oil to hot pan and roast the mustard seeds until they start to sputter. Add potatoes and turmeric and fry until cooked. Add chopped chard at the end for a few minutes. Mix well and add salt to taste.

Preparing for the Experiment

2007-04-08T15:23:00.000-07:00

I decided to go to the Farmer's Market on Saturday and then Berkeley Bowl on Sunday in preparation for a week of whole foods on a $60 budget. Sixty dollars, in fact, can buy quite a bit. I did have to sacrifice on buying too much organic produce, but I was able to get plenty of fresh fruits and veggies, good bread and some gourmet cheese.

Here's a link to what I bought for the week and how much it cost me. I made two trips to Berkeley Bowl and one trip to the Downtown Berkeley Farmer's Market during the week - a total of about 2-3 hour spent on shopping. I walked to and from both the farmer's market and the grocery store - if I had a car and if I'd planned better, I might have only made one trip to the grocery store and saved some time.

Here's a summary on how week one went. And how week two went.

My Mother's Wisdom

2007-04-07T21:14:00.000-07:00

My Indian mother has always expressed a degree of horror over what some Americans eat. "They spend so much money on food," she said, "and they don't even eat well." She like to bring up the example of a young co-worker of hers a few years ago. "She used to spend about $2.00 a day on chips from the vending machine," my mother often says. "If you're going to eat chips, the least you can do is put them in a bag and bring them from home."

A firm believer in making her food fresh and from scratch, my mother buys very little in terms of processed foods. And when she does, she combines every sale and coupon imaginable to get those Bagel Bites for almost free. I know that she's a super shopper, but I was more than surprised when she recently told me she spends only $200 a month on groceries for my father, herself and my brother, who at 17 is the only one still living at home.

Either my mother had her numbers a little off or she needed to start sharing her shopping and cooking tips with the world. Possibly on national TV. "You don't really need that much money to eat healthy," my mom said again. My Mom doesn't really focus on buying local or organic, but in the great big view of our country's health, organic and local versus industrial is a far less important battle than whole and natural foods versus processed food. America's biggest problem isn't that we're eating fruit and vegetables grown the wrong way - it's that we're not eating them at all.

"Please check your bills," I told my Mom, "and let me know how much you really spend this month." She promised to ask my brother to scan in her receipts and e-mail them to me.

Meanwhile, I decided to test my mother's theory in a two week experiment. Was it really possible to eat well on a tight budget? It would be a two-part experiment.

Week One: I set budget of $60 for the week for my husband and myself, I decided to try and eat the healthiest meals that I could. First and foremost, this meant no processed foods.

Week Two: Approximately double the budget, but increase the constraints. Along with eating whole foods, I would eat as locally and organically as time and money permitted.

A few ground rules:

1) I wouldn't let either myself or my husband go hungry.
2) We would end up eating mostly at home, but if a social commitment came up we would try to work it in - particularly for my husband's sake, since he was a willing but nervous participant in the experiment.
3) I wouldn't, for the sake of the experiment, "eat beans and rice" all week or "scavenge for mushrooms," as a few of my classmates predicated I might have to do. My goal is to see if one could eat well on a tight budget, in a reasonable fashion.

And so, equipped with a few of my mother's recipes, my own creativty and the depth and breadth of the Internet, I am off.