How I Eat On Just $29 Per Week

Wow, this week is flying by. How's it going for you?

I've got some exciting news - I'm headed to @steemfest in Portugal! I'll probably be the least known person there - woohoo! :D

Last year I was unable to go as I was doing a work contract in Qatar. Not going to miss this year, even if I was hesitant to spend so much just to get there.

If you are going, let me know in a comment. :D

On to the food challenge!

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WEEK 2 DAY 3 BREAKFAST - $0.49

I woke up and made some kickass breakfast burritos! Beans, rice, cheese, egg, and chorizo - YUM! All this needed was some sour cream to really set it off. Unfortunately, I had none.

I made two thinking I would eat both for breakfast, but after one I was sated. So I ate the second for lunch.

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LUNCH - $0.49

This is just another shot of those same two breakfast burritos. Again, I ate just one of these and was full. The lunch I planned to eat today I took home and decided it would be breakfast tomorrow.

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DINNER - $1.02

This is one of my more favorite meals to have when I am not on this food challenge. Noodles in a cream of mushroom sauce with asparagus.

I noticed some of the asparagus I purchased in the first week was getting soft, time to use it up! No waste when every penny counts.

I used half a can of condensed cream of mushroom soup - bulked up with milk and a little flour, 1/4 bundle of asparagus, 4/5ths of my fake spam (I got plans for the rest), and two cups of noodles. This made two meals, and I had enough sauce leftover for another meal in the future.

So that, plus a strawberry and two cookies.

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WEEK 2 DAY 4 BREAKFAST - $0.48

These two peanut butter sandwiches were what I was going to eat for lunch yesterday, but they became breakfast today.

Throw in some cold soaked oatmeal and half a banana and you got a full breakfast. Yes, that is the other half of the banana from day 1. Yes, it was still good. All I did was wrap up the peel around it and it was still a good banana.

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LUNCH - $1.05

The other portion of last night's dinner - the mushroom sauce noodles with fake spam cubes and asparagus. Plus the perfect combo to cheer me up, a strawberry and three cookies.

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DINNER - $1.08

I had some half cans of things sitting in the fridge that I needed to use up. So I made a pasta sauce. It included an onion, a slice of bacon, 1/4 tube of chorizo, and half a squash. It cost $2.04 but made three portions.

To which I added 1/4 pound of pasta, plus toast with margarine. For dessert, I had a strawberry and a cookie.

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CONCLUSION

Day 3 total: $2.00

Day 4 total: $2.61

Weekly cumulative total: $10.65

So I am eating quite a bit more expensively than I was last week, but I chock that up to feeling more secure with my food supply.

I've said it before, but this challenge has really opened my eyes to what I really need from food. The lessons I am learning will stick with me a lifetime. How much will my culinary practices change? I don't know. I just know that they will.

I will eat less, and by doing so spend less on food.

There have been studies that say that food waste in America is in the 30-40% range. But that is total. Household waste is in the 20% range.

I have not wasted a single shred of food since I started this challenge. Having only $29 to spend on food means I need to use every little bit. And that I have.

I have looked over every strawberry to eat the ones that looked the closest to going bad. I eat all that I make, and as I said before I make less.

I cook what needs to be cooked before it goes bad, instead of what I want to eat.

There is more, but I plan to write a whole post on my experience after this is all done.

So stick around!

Question for you; How much food do you throw away?