22 Jan Meal making on the poverty line
I was thinking about meals that can be made when you are on an extreme budget – $75 – $125 per week.
It is tricky. And over the past few weeks I have found that being so incredibly lacking in financial funds has led me to eat in a way that is not at all exemplary to my health.
It is partially organised. I have been eating a lot of yoghurt (when I have money for it), and cheese, and yes, bread – because it is cheap and easy to prepare. What else have I been eating while on the poverty line?
I made a pretty terrible tuna puttanesca of sorts. Which, while was not my best work, fed me for a good four nights a couple of weeks ago.
What actually HAVE I been eating?
A whole lot of disease causing c.r.a.p?
Plus:
Frozen berries and cacao and oat milk
Chia seeds steeped in oat milk for breakfast – sometimes with nuts and banana
On a rare occasion – dip or cheese and corn thins
I can’t remember anything else!
As the fog lifts
I made something special this week. It was a walnut taco salad. I was inspired by a hit on my page about summer walnut tacos, and didn’t have the Loving It Vegan recipe to hand, so started to make up the walnut / tofu meat recipe myself.
It needed some adjustments, but it was a good start. And I served it with a shredded carrot and cabbage salad, garnished with pumpkin seeds and dressed with a horseradish sauce. As well as a tomato, coriander and red onion salsa. . .
After eating part of this bowl of vegetable goofnoos, , , I realised that it needed a creamy sauce, so added a tahini, lemon juice and maple syrup drizzle over the bowl for good measure.
The challenges
One challenge with trying to feed yourself with not very much moeny, is the fact that going to the supermarket and doing a ‘weekly shop’ is not really a viable option. In my case I simply didn’t have the budget for it. So, I needed to buy every few days for the next day or so.
I find that shopping in that way and eating based on the idea that ‘you don’t know where you are going to be in the next couple of days’, naturally reduces the quality (which is to say vegetable content) of your diet. Because you are not planning for leftovers, you don’t (often) have the money for a full meal, and planning meals is not really something that is of importance right now.
The challenge that is most important for population health as a whole is a lack of vegetables. And not just for people on the poverty line – although I feel that they could use the nourishment the most if I am honest!
No Comments