It’s day three of the Food Stamp Challenge. I still haven’t made it to the grocery store, but our menu today was mainly leftovers reinvented into a new meal. I will have to make a trip out if I want to pick up items to donate which is my goal.
For the third day in a row, I ate Multigrain Cheerios for breakfast. Anna ate a banana and peanut butter. I’m fairly sure the vast majority of her Cherrios ended up on the floor and not in her mouth. I’d still estimate the cost of our breakfast plus the additional milk we consume during the day to be around $1.50. Lunch was leftovers from last night’s dinner for me and leftover eggs from two nights ago for Anna (cost $0). My husband had a busy day at work, and one of his co-workers paid for his lunch. That means that at least one of us has had lunch provided for us for three days in a row. What a blessing! We ate apples and brownies left by a friend after a playdate I hosted on Monday for a snack (cost $0.50).
Dinner tonight was a success on many levels. We ate Teriyaki chicken and fried rice. I used the leftover rice and the rest of the bag of veggies from last night’s dinner (cost $0) plus a little oil and an egg (cost $0.10) to make the fried rice. I marinated a single chicken breast ($0.75) bought for $1.19/lb in Ken’s Teriyaki sauce purchased for free after a sale an coupon. After marinating for 45-minutes, I cooked it and served it over the rice. Not only was this meal incredibly inexpensive, but it was also fast to throw together and fast to clean up. It was also really tasty.
Anna apparently was not in the mood for Teriyaki chicken so she spent most of dinnertime mixing her applesauce and Teriyaki sauce together. My philosophy on feeding her is that if I consistently offer her a wide variety of healthy choices and limit the junk, she will get the nutrition she needs. So far, it appears to be working for us. I’d prefer if she ate three well-rounded meals each day, but she doesn’t. Yet, by the grace of God, she is healthy and growing. 
Approximate daily food expenses: $2.85
Running total: $11.90
I’m actually quite shocked at how low our running total is. I’ll be interested to see how long I can keep this up. Definitely three days in a row of free lunches has helped!
How did the rest of you do? If you’re participating in the Food Stamp Challenge, I’d love to hear what was on your menu today.
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