Eating On $3 A Day For 30 days Food Challenge Begins Nov 1st.

[arakboss]

Potato's are easy to grow and preserve..Rice is cheap..Deer and elk is darn near free if you put in the miles..We did the math and monthly we spend around 300$ a month on a family of 5.. so 60$ per person with 30 days ...It isnt too bad if you just get off the Tv and put in some effort.

How do you preserve your potatoes?

 

[CamoDeafie]

How do you preserve your potatoes?

Bury them and water them, and they make more! but seriously though, they last pretty long in cool, dry and dark storage? Just not a fridge with the humidity in there.

 

[Val1884]

Freeze dried, canned, or just let em sit in the meat cooler ..stays dry and cool and they wont mold for 6-8 months. Anyone with a patch of dirt that isnt swamp can make a cellar to store potatoes.

 

[arakboss]

My latest attempt at bolstering food supply is letting go of one pound of Varget. We'll see If there are any takers.

 

[arakboss]

Freeze dried, canned, or just let em sit in the meat cooler ..stays dry and cool and they wont mold for 6-8 months. Anyone with a patch of dirt that isnt swamp can make a cellar to store potatoes.

We keep ours in paper sack but they always seem to start sprouting after a few weeks. We don't have a cellar or any cool places to store them.

 

[arakboss]

Full carb flour tortillas are back on the menu, thanks to Winco. Just popped into Winco and they had a 66oz pack (30ct) of burrito size flour tortillas for $5. That works out to $.00092 per calorie. I was going to stick with the corn tortillas because of price but now I can do both. They had 5lb sacks of potatoes for $1.68 so I grabbed a bag of those too.

 

[arakboss]

I may get this party started early. I am inching closer to my goal of 175lbs. If I achieve my goal early (before Oct 29th) I am going to participate in a couple of days of binging and then I will dive into $3 a day challenge. I will only be challenging myself and will not have any firearms on the line so if I can't eat on $3 a day, it won't be world ending for me.

As for weight regain, it is expected. I see no enjoyable path that would allow me to live at 180ish lbs. Being thin is miserable and over rated imho. I don't want to discourage anybody from losing weight but don't expect it to be all sunshine and rainbows. At 70+ lbs down I can bend over to tie my shoes easier and I can do more pull ups. That is about the extent of noticeable improvements.

My forever diet plan will be a diet that I enjoy eating, is cheap, provides satiety and boosts my energy levels. Whatever weight I am at when those things occur is the weight I will strive to maintain. I will begin rebuilding all the strength I have lost (which is substantial) once I achieve 175lb goal.

Edit: I had to put an extra wide part in oven which necessitated me to squeeze between oven walls and part. I was able to get by with sucking my gut in less than I did at 255lbs, so that is a benefit. Another con is loose skin. I didn't expect that but it is going to ruin any chance of achieving Zac Efron style abs.

 

[arakboss]

This is my solution to appease the veggie/fruit lovers who feel like I am headed towards disastrous death from micro nutrient deficiency. I will add a limited amount of veggies and/or fruit to my diet daily. It won't be meet FDA recommendations but it should be enough to ward off immediate death. I will not count the cost towards my $3 daily budget as it would blow my budget up in no time due to the extreme cost per calorie of veggies and fruit.

Hopefully this comforts the veggie/fruit lovers of the forum.

 

[arakboss]

I tried to get the wife to join me in this challenge and she is a hard no. She says it would be like counting calories. Looks like it's a solo ride unless I can talk the dog into it.

 

[monkeybutler]

You could always eat the dog if it won't cooperate and/or you are having trouble meeting your budgetary goals. Maybe use some of that giant jug of salsa?

 

[OldBroad44]

This is my solution to appease the veggie/fruit lovers who feel like I am headed towards disastrous death from micro nutrient deficiency. I will add a limited amount of veggies and/or fruit to my diet daily. It won't be meet FDA recommendations but it should be enough to ward off immediate death. I will not count the cost towards my $3 daily budget as it would blow my budget up in no time due to the extreme cost per calorie of veggies and fruit.

Hopefully this comforts the veggie/fruit lovers of the forum.

Veggies are more critical than fruit. And the most nutritious veggies are leafy greens, lettuce excepted. And you probably get much more nutritional value if the greens are cooked. So if you add an occasional cabbage to your repertoire and add some chopped up cabbage to your soups during the last couple minutes of cooking you could get the most mileage out of your $$ with the least disruption in your normal dietary patterns. Kale would be even better, but its expensive if you don't grow it.

 

[arakboss]

Veggies are more critical than fruit. And the most nutritious veggies are leafy greens, lettuce excepted. And you probably get much more nutritional value if the greens are cooked. So if you add an occasional cabbage to your repertoire and add some chopped up cabbage to your soups during the last couple minutes of cooking you could get the most mileage out of your $$ with the least disruption in your normal dietary patterns. Kale would be even better, but its expensive if you don't grow it.

I will be eating lots of soup and I'll give the cabbage idea a try. I do like coleslaw on occasion.


Edit: cabbage does seem to be one of the better value vegetables.

What are the Cheapest Vegetables Per Pound?

While doing research about getting the most nutrition for my dollar, I ran across an interesting report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture called How Much Do Fruits and Vegetables Cost? [pdf].…

www.mymoneyblog.com

 

[OldBroad44]

Hello @P7M13 and @arakboss . Here's how to scrounge veggies and EGGS.

Go to the farmer's market about an hour or too before closing the first time to find the right vendor to approach. You are looking for a lone operator. He's gonna have to take down his booth and load his unsold produce and tables and equipment back into his truck all by himself. It's going to take him at least an hour, maybe two. It's very unfun. He's already tired from a full day of loading and getting his goods to market and setting up his booth and display, then selling all day. You're going to offer to come back at the end of the market and help him load his unsold produce back in his truck and break down his booth, etc. You'll do this in exchange for vegetables (and eggs if he has them).

The Corvallis Saturday market runs to the last weekend before Thanksgiving. There's an indoor Winter Market that then starts up at a building in the Benton County fairground. There's also Wednesday market during summer.

Vendors with more than one person tending the booth don't need you. In addition, bigger vendors usually have employees tending the booths, and sell in multiple markets. So what they don't sell in one market they can sell in the next market in a day or two. The lone operator may attend just one or two markets. And he's in danger of losing some of the produce he doesn't sell. Especially loose-leafy greens. Early in the day he views everything as worth full asking price because he might sell it. At the end of the day, anything left is worth much less because he wouldn't need to take it back home and bring it again. Take plenty of bags and boxes with you. You might be able to get all the tag ends of boxes, for example as well as anything that wouldn't store well till next market.

You might also, by talking with such lone operators, be able to make a deal to come out to his farm on Friday and help harvest the crops for market and get paid in generous amounts of everything.

Eggs. Many people have a backyard flock of layers. They may have a sign in front of farm or yard. Or not. Informal keepers of small flocks usually have too few eggs or too many. And if they have to many they may just give the excess to friends or neighbors. Or to someone who offers to do some chores in exchange. For the best quality eggs, choose a flock that is free ranging on a generous amount of area that's full of insects. Not animals in confinement or "free ranging" on a bare yard.

 

[arakboss]

I just read a Harvard med article that claimed the difference in price between the most unhealthy and most healthy diet was only $1.50 per day.

I am going to maintain separate receipts and calorie counts for the fruits and veggies I buy and see if that is close to accurate. I suspect they used some really fuzzy math to arrive at that $1.50 a day number.


Link to article.

Eating healthy vs. unhealthy diet costs about $1.50 more per day

Meta-analysis pinpoints the price difference of consuming a healthy diet, which could be burden for low-income families but is trivial compared with health costs of eating an unhealthy diet For imm…

www.hsph.harvard.edu

 

[monkeybutler]

I just read a Harvard med article that claimed the difference in price between the most unhealthy and most healthy diet was only $1.50 per day.

I am going to maintain separate receipts and calorie counts for the fruits and veggies I buy and see if that is close to accurate. I suspect they used some really fuzzy math to arrive at that $1.50 a day number.

I do not doubt that at all. You just have to know what you are doing. Legumes are your new best buddy.

 

[arakboss]

I do not doubt that at all. You just have to know what you are doing. Legumes are your new best buddy.

I have plenty on hand and will be acquiring more soon. Hopefully my digestive system can adapt.

 

[arakboss]

Young Wyoming parents skipping meals, turning to ramen noodles as inflation, gas prices soar

Young parents Jesus and Krista Montiel joined 'Fox & Friends First' Monday to share ways they are cutting household costs to provide for their daughter as prices climb.

www.foxnews.com

 

[OldBroad44]

Ramen noodles are a poor choice if you are low on cash. They are highly processed convenience over both cost and nutritional value. Rice and beans would be a much better choice.

 

[TNThomas]

Hello @P7M13.
Okay. Now let's get us some fruit. Many suburban homes and small homestead style farms have several fruit trees or even a small orchard. The fruit is precious once picked, but is not considered nearly as valuable when its still in the tree. Especially when trees are tall. Knock on the door and offer to pick the tree clean for 1/3 the fruit. At this time of year it will be only certain late varieties of apples and pears. At this time of year its a matter of picking the remaining varieties clean before the first freeze. If you have a pickup or van and can buy an orchard ladder and transport it, so much the better. Orchard ladders have very wide bases at the bottom.

Many city and suburban dwellers don't have an orchard ladder. They try using ordinary ladders, which aren't as stable. So they get scared and their trees don't get picked. Sometimes they think their pears are no good because they always are rotten on the inside by the time the outside is ripe. And they think the apples on that one tree that's still full of apples now never ripens at all. so the still sour apples drop and are wasted every year. Pears need to be picked when unripe and allowed to ripen in storage. If left on the tree the insides are rotten by the time the outsides ripen. If I were providing this critical info and providing the orchard ladder and doing the picking I'd ask for half the fruit.

The apples left on their tree in October are a late long storing variety. They taste starchy, astringent, and sour when picked, then ripen in storage. Some of the apples most famed for flavor are thus. Cox Orange Pippin, for example. Spectacular flavor, sweet tart spicey. But inedible when picked. And undistinguished in appearance. A russet type that is a sorta dull brownish orangish color and only about 3" in diameter.

Where you are learning from the trees owner, and just helping, ask for a much more modest share of the harvest. Trees in the stretch between the sidewalk and road belong to the home owner, by the way, who pays taxes on that land. And is required to mow and maintain it even though the city severely controls what they can do with it. Especially at intersections where its essential that motorists be able to see what's coming. Do not harvest anyone's fruit trees without their permission.

Long keeping apples and pears should be stored in bags or open buckets or bushel baskets in an attached but unheated garage that stays slightly moist, cool, and above freezing as they do in the maritime NW. In bags or containers that allow some air circulation so fruit doesnt rot. Take fruit out as needed and bring indoors to finish ripening. If you can get 1/3 the fruit from one late apple and one late pear tree of medium size you'll have all the apples and pears one person needs for at least a month or two . Given my druthers, I would buy or scrounge six bushels of apples to last all winter. (If you are buying a few bushels or more buy directly from and pick up at the farm for the best price.) My favorite pear by far is Comice, a huge beautiful fat glory to behold. Its a late pear. Will probably be picked now, in early october in mid Willamette Valley. Should be allowed to sit quietly in cool storage a month before being brought lovingly inside to sit in a beautiful bowl to finish ripening to fragrant perfection.

Apple slices go great in sandwiches and salads by the way. And apples are one of the ingredients in my "Winter Salad' made of Steinfeldt's sauerkraut, apples, daikon radish, carrots, and celery.

Alternate way of scrounging fruit--same as used for veggies. Next post.

Winter salad will be my lunch today! Thanks for the posts, very imfornative.

 

[TNThomas]

I will be eating lots of soup and I'll give the cabbage idea a try. I do like coleslaw on occasion.


Edit: cabbage does seem to be one of the better value vegetables.

What are the Cheapest Vegetables Per Pound?

While doing research about getting the most nutrition for my dollar, I ran across an interesting report from the U.S. Department of Agriculture called How Much Do Fruits and Vegetables Cost? [pdf].…

www.mymoneyblog.com

Coleslaw baby! Super cheap. Cabbage, carrots, Celery, Mayo, a little sugar, a little vinegar, a little lemon juice, a little cilantro, and a little horse radish. Cabbage is cheap, and lasts fairly well.