Discussion Board

I live in California close to Sacramento and I am only spending about $15 to $20 a week on groceries for myself. My main starch is potatoes which I get for about $0.35 to $0.50 a pound depending on the type of potato. So I spend $6 a week on potatoes. Stores around here sell Eden Organic beans for $2 a can, which I can't afford so I buy less sodium beans for $0.86 a can or dried beans for $1-2 per 1 pound bag. I buy vegetables at Trader Joe's (fresh and frozen) and Walmart (frozen). Then I get a big bottle of salsa for $5 that lasts a while, some cheap spices, and a 5 pound bag of oil-free corn tortillas for $3 something and I am set.

So my $27 produce bin had:
3 peaches
5 bananas
6 oz blueberries
1 onion
8 red potatoes
Big bunch of kale
Arugula
Bunch of asparagus
Zucchini
2 oranges
Bunch of green beans
Bunch of beets

Now this will easily feed me, but doesn't include other beans, rice, oats, or sauces I will also need.

I loved reading this thread, knowing that it finally came to fruition in Jeff's great videos. I love those videos and have had a great time making and modifying the recipes. I've cooked with basic bulk beans, rice, wheat, fruits, veggies, and oats for years and years. I raised a large family of big eaters with a tiny food budget. I've seen oats go from 25 cents a pound to well over $1 a pound in #50 bags. Rice, beans, and wheat have been about the same. Now I buy organic and the cost is double that. However, it is still cheaper than open-heart surgery AND a lot more fun. Bulk buying and gardening are the secrets to affordable healthy eating, especially when you go organic.

We do this one pot cooking, when we travel, too. Either we use more cans and dehydrated veggies or we stop at grocery stores each evening for fresh and frozen. We carry a little butane stove, soup pot, bowls, spoons, cloth napkins, and blender all in their own little suitcase. In the motel, nobody is the wiser. At the rest stop, we are the stars of the hour. In winter we also bring along a thermal cooker, cooking all the food in the hotel, because we don't want to get out and cook in the snow and ice. It is so fun and tasty, too.

Hey Jeff,

Thanks for your great recipes. I made a variation of SNAP pasta primavera, which turned out wonderfully. I'm in an area way out in the country, where brown rice pasta isn't available; I can't eat wheat. But the market had some beautiful yellow potatoes.

Primavera Soup makes 6 big, beautiful, delicious bowls of soup.

28 oz. diced tomatoes
2 c. water
1 can garbanzos
2 large yellow potatoes, cooked and diced
1 lb. frozen stir fry veggies with asparagus
1/2 lb. frozen mixed sliced peppers
1/4 lb. frozen chopped spinach
2 T. powdered dehydrated veggies
red pepper flakes, black pepper, smoked paprika, garlic, onion, Italian herbs to taste ( I use lots.)

For dessert I made the oat bars. They turned out the oat cake I used to make for breakfast in the old eggs and dairy days. Starting with 2 c. extra thick cut gluten safe oats, I mixed in 2 c. almond milk, a pint of fresh raspberries, a diced apple, a smashed banana, 1 t. cinnamon, and the zest of one orange. We ate it while warm. Delicious!

That looks great!

Will have to try it.

Thanks!

In Health
Jeff

I use the SNAP plan all the time when I'm home. However, I'm going to be camping in NM for the next 3 months (as I do every summer) - no refrigerator, but I do have a stove - will be going into a town only once a week or so (so no ice chest either).

In the past I've just eaten a lot of no salt cans of vegetables and beans and used potato flakes. However, that doesn't seem very healthy to me.

Any ideas?