The Wrap

My welfare food challenge came to a close two weeks ago with little fanfare.  Towards the end I was growing angry at boredom: sneaking food from my roommates pantry (forgive me), buying the odd beer.  Since returning to an unbridled food budget, I’ve enjoyed fresh seasonal produce, nutrient dense foods and even the odd restaurant meal.  One of the first things I did was buy a flat of fresh strawberries and preserve the living daylights out of them.   It’s good to take pride in my food again.

Though I was rarely hungry, I was constantly struggling to find the gusto to take my limited groceries and prepare something nourishing to both my gut and my soul.  I certainly learned a few ways to breathe life into my diet.  If there were anything to take home, it would have to be:

• Identify staples on your own terms.  For me, the affordable staples I found myself gravitating to were peanuts/peanut butter, brown rice, lentils, coconut/coconut milk, bananas, sugar, salt and flour.  I also bought coffee and hot sauce, useless for nutrients but real comforts to me.  For anyone else, this list may look entirely different.  Let your tummy guide you.
• Prepare fresh food, one meal at a time.  I learned this one the hard way after a week of large batch cooking.  Cooking in small batches not only avoids the wastage associated with culinary misfires, it ensures we’re eating the freshest food possible.  Freshly prepared food is at its peak of flavour and nutrition.  It also forces us to take time out of our day to focus on our own nourishment.  Realistically, anyone’s schedule is going to necessitate a few PB&J moments, but try to prepare your food fresh at every opportunity.
• Consider nothing to be waste.  Pretty basic.  I made stock from veggie scraps.  I dumpster-dove.  I used scant leftovers in breakfast fried rice.  I even made use of a whole box of regrettably awful green tea for kombucha.  Look at every morsel of your groceries as valuable and salvageable.
• Look for opportunities to add value without paying for it.  For me, this was all about fermentation.  I made sourdough, kombucha, coconut and water kefir.  All made using starters given to me or whipped out of thin air.  Other techniques might include slow braising a tough, cheap cut of meat to make it more digestible (and delicious).  You’ve got these tools in your toolbelt, look for them.

To wrap this all up nice and tight, I’m making a plea for partners when I revisit the $26-dollar-week during Raise the Rates hosted challenge in October.  Perhaps if enough of us put our heads (and bellies) together we can build upon these meager blog posts and actually try to raise a few bucks.  Who’s with me?

-S