Things You'll Need:
- $1
- Friends
- Neigbhors
- Hunger
- Humility
- An open-mind
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Step 1
Do not despair, times are tough and you have to cut back on a lot of luxuries, but your proper nutrition is not a luxury. You need nourish your body. Your focus will be on "ingredients" not products. That means you won't be getting too many ready-to-eat things, instead select staples like beans/legumes, grains, pastas, flours, vegetables and fruit. Oh yeah, and even if you are not a gourmet chef, you will have to cook.
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Step 2
Focus on grains and beans--keep a big variety on hand. Depending on where you live, for example, a pound of beans costs about 50 cents--make sure to get these at the bulk foods section of your store. Packaged foods always cost more.
Some favorites:
quinoa
amaranth
brown rice
barley
beans/legumes
red lentils
pinto beans
adzuki
lima beans
black-eyed peas (cook super fast) -
Step 3
When shopping for fruits and veggies, hit the ethnic markets--they generally have the best prices. Avoid big chain grocery stores like the plague. Select fruits that are in season and on sale. Compare prices--a pound of potatoes is .79 cents but 10 pounds of potatoes are $2.79. Go for the best deal, even if it's more than you might be able to eat yourself--you can always share/barter with friends, or better yet, invite them over for dinner! How about a loaded baked potato party?
suggested:
potatoes
cabbage
kale or spinach
lemons or limes (I think they both taste the same)
apples or pears
oranges or grapefruit
bananas -
Step 4
make it ethnic! traditionally ethnic foods are very flavorful and affordable--consider indian curries, homemade veggie sushi, lo-mein, refried beans and rice, pho, boba, basil seed tea, ginger tea, tamales,
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Step 5
spice it up!
keep on hand:
olive oil
soy sauce
salt
sugar
your favorite herbs and spices--if possible buy whole and grind yourself. BONUS of getting the whole spice, is that the flavor is more -
Step 6
keep your garden sustainable. plant everything that can be planted--a friend of mine has an avocado tree yielding beautiful fruit because his mom planted the pit just two years ago.
learn how to plant potatoes.
Keep an herb garden with all your favorites, fresh herbs add such pizzazz to simple foods, like plain pasta with a little fresh basil and olive oil: divine!
Plant some of your spice seeds (from above). Did you know that you can get cilantro from your coriander seeds? Or that you can "extend" your little knob of ginger by planting it? You get more ginger and some lovely smelling flowers. -
Step 7
Check out what your city has to offer. A lot of community centers and churches arrange for USDA food subsidies distribution. There is no shame in this--you pay taxes! Plus if this food is not distributed, the excess will be thrown out. They offer great stuff too. I've gotten in one visit: mashed potato flakes, rice, pasta, cornmeal, milk, apple juice, peanut butter, honey, dried figs, rump roast, canned beans and dried beans. The larger your household the more you get.
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Step 8
Throw a potluck! Not only are they so much fun but more often than not, if you are hosting it, you get to keep a lot of the leftover stuff because it's a hassle to take back. You host and make potato salad with a vinaigrette--hey, what else would you do with the 10 lbs of potatos.
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Step 9
If your neighbors have fruit trees, ask them if you can have some. Consider it a mutual favor. For a lot of people, the yield of the fruit trees is so great that they have it coming out of their ears. One way my honey was sick and I wanted to make him tea with honey and lemon but was out of them. I went across the street introduced myself and came back with a few pounds of lemons and some juicy grapefruits too! And my neighbor said to come by and get some any time.
