More or Less Food

I still don’t understand what the hell a poor person is going to do with seven limes, but I did my own little shopping experiment.

The thing is, Gwyneth’s shopping list isn’t all that different from what I regularly buy, and sadly, my food budget doesn’t stretch much beyond $30/week. In fact, that’s my food budget for the next two weeks. This is what I know.

1. Spinach is more versatile than romaine. You can rough chop it and toss it into a scrambled egg. It can be added to beans or lentils. It can be used as greens on a sandwich.
2. Limes.  I just don’t even.  They are $1 each where I live, so if you are on a tight budget, they are a luxury item.  I bought one.  If I need citrus for anything else, I can get a bottle of lemon juice at the dollar store.
3. Black beans.  If you’re stay-at-home poor, dried beans are a great option.  They’re cheap, filling, and nutrient dense.  They take time to prepare, though, and if you don’t know how to cook them, they are likely to turn out inedible.  Lentils are a better option, I think.  They cook relatively fast (30 minutes or so, which means that you can cook them with or along side a pot of brown rice), and they don’t require soaking.  You can make them on the stove top or in a crock pot.  They can be flavored in any way that beans can.  Lentil chili is on high rotation in my house.
4. Peas.  I do not eat frozen peas.  I bought frozen, store brand brussels and broccoli sprouts instead.
5. Corn on the cob is not food.  I can’t bring myself to buy it.  It was 10 ears for $3, so I saved a whopping 30 cents.
6. I don’t eat jalapenos.  I know that’s unthinkable, but it’s true.  I substituted a bell pepper.  I’ll probably use it, half the lime, one of the tomatoes, and half the cilantro in a canned black bean salad.
7. Tomatoes.  This time of year, in the midwest, tomatoes are a crime.  They’re expensive and mealy.  Compared to that, canned are actually better for most things.  I did manage to find two romas that weren’t too awful.  Romas are usually cheaper per pound than regular tomatoes, too.
8. Which brings me to my final point.  I don’t think anyone could live long term on the foods Gwyneth bought.  If she were doing this for more than one week, she’d start making less healthy but more calorically dense choices.  I have food squirreled away in my pantry and freezer.  Not a lot, but enough to fill in some gaps.  I stock up on stuff like canned black beans, dry lentils, and canned tomatoes when they’re on sale, and I usually have peanut butter and some sort of basic jam. If I were urban poor and living in a food desert, I wouldn’t be able to do that.  A) I wouldn’t have a car, so lugging heavy canned goods home would be problematic.  B) The neighborhood bodega isn’t going to be running sales on Libby’s lima beans.
9. Finally, I did buy a few extra items:  a pound of butter, because I require snacks and buttered popcorn is my happy place, some Greek yogurt that was on sale, and a loaf of bread for emergency PB&J.

My total, minus the last few items that were not on Gwyneth’s list, was $25.75.  Less than what she spent, but I also did not buy seven damn limes.  Also, I have lived this for too much of my life to find anything enlightening or interesting or entertaining about actually doing the food stamp challenge.  Nothankyou.