5 Hours and Counting....

The challenge starts tomorrow. Had another last-supper today - unexpectedly, as my parents wanted to go to PICADILLY'S after church. This is the second trip to old-folks-buffet land (don't get me wrong, the food is good) in two days - but Moms paid. 

Total bill for the six of us, $55 or so, and I could eat on that for a month. 

I took an continuing education class tonight - Knife Skills (on food, not people) - and lucked up on some spinach, a half-chopped pepper and some cilantro - out of the garbage, which was headed into a compost pile at the Botanic Gardens. 

There were probably 20 people in the class, and we chopped up all sorts of stuff (Melissa Peterson of Edible Memphis was our great teacher and she's a prepper for the Neely's cooking show on the Food Channel) - and I didn't keep anything I sliced and diced, just stuff that was in the garbage and didn't look like this:

About to do some serious math on the meals to see how I can follow the rules on fruits/veggies AND try to win. 

Like Cabbage?

On Friday, my search for cheap food continued.

Easy Way, I'd been told, has a cheap table. Got two potatoes there. Also got this:

which will be at least two servings, steamed, or sauteed with an onion I got from Moms, in exchange for vacuuming two rooms.

I'm pleasantly surprised by how many fruits and veggies I've been able to snag - eating fresh food will be a snap - it's the meat I can't afford. Or milk. Or Cream of Wheat. Or wheat bread. 

I went to four stores today - a luxury that people who are really trying to stretch a $20 bill don't have. Maybe they don't have the transportation, or can't afford the gas - so don't get it twisted, I still realize that for me, this is still just a game, a challenge, something that can end soon. 

I have to say, I was stunned by the suggestions offered by a nice lady I met at Easy Way. She broke down how to know if you're getting a good deal on potatoes so it will forever remain broke. She advised me that you can't take the plastic wrap off the stuff on the cheap table to see if it's spoiled on the other side. And she came back into the store - twice - to tell me about stuff at other stores, namely Aldi's, where I did get a few things.

Now if I can just find some really cheap chicken.... 

In the store, it gets real

After a long day of work and an after-work event, I took myself to Schnuck's, a local grocery store chain, to do some looking. Not really shopping, just looking. Bought a few things, but I reserve the right not to use them next week.

In the refrigerator aisle, I ran into Mother Wit! For those who don't know, Mother Wit had folks howling with laughter as they drove to work in the mornings, as she was part of the Soul Classics 103.5 radio team (until they ditched local talent for syndicated crap).

 

Mother Wit had seen my column in The Commercial Appeal (you can read it here) and had suggestions for me - since her income has shrunk dramatically since she has been off the air and is supporting herself doing local comedy shows wherever will have her. 

She steered me to the frozen veggies section, where they have mixes you can put in a stew. Like tomatoes and okra. (BLECH!) and other veggies. I'm not sure I'm ready for that, but I did find a bag of rice for 79 cents. We used to eat rice for breakfast, so that may be what I do. And I can eat it for dinner - if I can find some cheap meat.

Mother Wit also suggested Sav-A-Lot - where the place doesn't always smell so fresh and you have to pay for your plastic bags. There's one near me, so I'll check that out. And I've got my eyes on some carrots at Aldi's. And I hear Easy Way has a discount table. 

Just going through the store with my notepad, writing down prices (which I'll compare to what I find at Aldi's and Easy Way and Cooper's and Kroger) was a sobering experience. I still have to eat between now and when the experiment starts on Monday, so I did pick up a few things, but spent just $10. I can't tell you when that's happened before, and I had three bags full of stuff. 

The Rules...

For Feb. 2-8, the goal is to eat as cheaply as possible. But to keep my brother from finding Ramen noodles somewhere 5/$1, drinking only water and then declaring himself the winner, we need rules.

I propose:

- Three meals a day, at least. 

- You can't eat the same thing more than 3 nights during the 7-day challenge. I.E., no soup every night.

- Condiments you already have on hand don't count, including margarine, olive oil, mustard, ketchup, spices. I can't be expected to figure out how much a tablespoon of mustard from a jar I bought last year costs. I'm a writer.

- At least two servings of fruits/vegetables a day. Juice counts. 

Aaron, I know you've suggested we can get three free meals - i.e., meals someone else paid for - but if part of the spirit of the challenge is to live as those who really have to watch their $ live, how many financially challenged people get invited to places with posh buffets? (I'm thinking of somewhere I already have an invitation to next week). Maybe one free meal during the week? And it has to be a meal you eat in one sitting. No having a friend order you a large pizza that you nosh on for three nights. 

What other rules am I forgetting, baby bro? 

How Cheaply Could You Eat For One Whole Week?

My brother, Aaron, and I (Wendi) wondered this exact question - and since we are competitive overachievers, we decided to do a weeklong challenge to see how cheaply we could eat for an entire week.

We've picked Feb. 2-8 to do our challenge, and we'll both be posting here daily about our progress. We'll have rules, which we'll post soon, and pictures of what we can find cheap to eat. 

This isn't about a diet, or eating Ramen noodles all 21 meals (that's the kind of slick stuff my baby brother would come up with. I haven't forgotten how he "solved" the Rubick's cube simply by moving around all the colored stickers). 

It's an exercise in awareness - how much we spend on food, how much we waste, what choices we'd make  if we were like too many families in America - and could barely afford groceries.

My brother and I - as we speak and knock wood - are financially comfortable and don't have to think twice about what we spend on food. But for this coming week, we will.