thirty-one on one hundred

Day 32: Breaking habits

I made it. Which means I’m off to go spend 1/5th of what I spent on food this whole past month on one day’s brunch and coffeehouse niblets.

Wow, that makes me feel guilty.

Day 31: Conclusions

Okay, I wussed out on blogging this month. Consider it a reflection on me, rather than on the plan: I did in fact manage to finish out the month under $100. No, today’s not over yet, but I’ve got my final few meals planned and stocked. Unless I develop a sudden and uncontrollable need for a pint of Haagen-Dazs, I’ll end the month at $97 and change.

I should clarify that the reason I started this project was not doubt that a person could eat on $100 for a month; it was doubt whether I could go from the habit I’d developed of eating out for about two out of every three meals to cooking just about every one for a month. I’ve managed it, and could have done so on around $80 or less if necessary—several times I rewarded myself for a good day or, ridiculously, for having gone X long on Y amount of money.

The first couple weeks of the month, I focused fairly heavily on eating freely available, pickable food, and even considered going dumpster-diving. I haven’t done the latter, and have largely avoided the need for the former during the second half of the month. Turns out it’s entirely possible to eat from a small-town supermarket for $100 for a month, if you’re careful and get to know what they’ve got—and if you don’t mind a serious amount of repetition.

That’s my biggest complaint about this month: I have eaten more zucchini (brought to the office in large quantities by a coworker with an overflowing garden), potatoes (8 lb. bag for $1.69), sweet corn (six ears for $1.29), eggs (18 for $1.50), and more pasta (2 boxes for $3) than I’m entirely comfortable with. While I’m sure I will be eating out this month a fair amount out of sheer relief at being able to, I will also be putting some serious time, effort, and money into cooking some more complex and fun dishes—and buying stupid, simple things like peanut butter and grape jam that I couldn’t afford this month if I also wanted necessities like cooking oil and butter.

Missing mushrooms and tofu (with one exception each) from my diet for a full month was as frustrating as I expected. I managed to fit one pint of ice cream and a loaf of banana bread (well, the components thereof) into my budget over the course of the month, but I have no doubt I am slightly healthier—if unwillingly so—as a result of the dearth of sweets I’ve been suffering.

Getting my bike early this month made this whole experiment far more reasonable. Being able to bike out to the supermarket on the edge of town and back in just a few minutes made shopping much less of a chore; I will be much more likely to cook for myself in the future because acquiring components is less of a hassle. I suspect the fact that my weight hasn’t actually changed much hides a not-insignificant change in body mass from fat to muscle since I started riding more regularly. On a couple of occasions this month, I started a >4 mile circuit halfway through my lunch break and got back before it ended; while I complain about the flatness of Ohio sometimes, it has its benefits.

The tomato plant I bought hasn’t given me any tomatoes yet, but then I haven’t been as solicitous of it as I ought to have been. I plan to retrieve two tomato plants that I’ve spotted lurking around campus in flowerbeds where they don’t belong, and relocate them to provide the Nyagous with friends.

Several times this month, I’ve found myself planning a future veggie garden: the three sisters in one section, some heirloom tomatoes and peppers with purslane and dandelion companion crops, carrots, daylilies for the buds, perhaps some nasturtiums for salads, basil and other mints, thyme, and some other herbs… potentially a lot of work, but also very handy for cooking with and cultivating a more relaxed mind. Once I’m more certain about being in the same place for more than a year, I will probably find space and start laying it out.

All in all, this month has been a great learning experience but I am sure as hell ready to be able to ‘afford’ the occasional meal out or unplanned snack, not to mention some variation in my diet.

Project 31on100: Success.

P.S. - If you’re curious what I’m eating tonight, it will be a giant tofu, broccoli, pepper, purslane, dandelion leaf, and bamboo shoot stir fry over rice, possibly with some eggs for protein and texture. Never believe it’s not possible to eat healthily for one on a very low income; I haven’t gone a day without delicious, healthy vegetables in at least two weeks, not counting fast days, and protein hasn’t even been close to an issue.

P.P.S. - Far more even than variation in my food intake, I have missed the social aspect of food; not being able to invite friends out to brunch, lunch, or dinner put something of a crimp in my social life, particularly opportunities to interact with certain friends. I look forward with great enthusiasm to not having to respond to invitations to dinner with, “I’d really like to, but I ‘can’t afford’ to until the end of the month.”. It’s extraordinarily embarrassing even when I can go on to explain about 31on100; I sincerely hope to never again have to say it because it’s really true.

Still Alive

(This was a triumph.)

But seriously, with five days to go in the month, I’m not dead and I’m still under $100 (with plenty of food left). I’ll write more soon, but now I have to be busy working.

Catching Up

My elaborate plan to go for a 20-mile bikeride today has been put on hold by a sudden attack of not-wanting-to. Plus my body isn’t wildly pleased about the 18 miles I sprang on it out of nowhere the last three days. Perhaps I’ll try tomorrow.

Since I don’t think I’ve mentioned it here, on Thursday I picked up a bike after not riding one for the past several years. It feels fantastic to be back in the saddle, but as my body is reminding me today, I’m horribly out of shape.

In terms of food, on Thursday I treated myself to the cheapest dinner in town at a Mexican-inspired restaurant called Agave. They have super nachos and half nachos, and the half nachos are a full meal in themselves.

Unfortunately, they didn’t taste very good to me and I felt immediately guilty because this, the cheapest dish in town, cost SIX WHOLE DOLLARS. Given that I haven’t yet cooked anything for myself that cost even three, that feels like an awful lot of money to throw away. I won’t be doing that again until the end of the month.

After biking eight and a half miles on an empty stomach yesterday, I attended a friend’s lunch party. There was venison and gravy, green beans, applesauce, and corn on the cob, followed by vegan peach cobbler. I defied the purpose of the last by adding serious dollops of whipped cream to it. It was the most I’ve eaten at one sitting since I started this experiment, and it was delicious. I’ll have to see what I can do for my friend in exchange one this month is over.

Part of the eight-and-a-half-mile bike ride yesterday involved picking up this week’s groceries. I had to pick up some necessary items like cooking oil and so forth, putting me a little bit over my budget for the week. Between that and the Agave splurge, I’m currently at $55.29 of my $100 for the month. Mind you, if I’m careful, that should take me to the 20th, and next week I shouldn’t need to purchase many or any kitchen staples like cooking oil.

My prize find this week was either the six ears of sweet corn for $1.29 (guess what I’ll be having for dinner tonight and tomorrow) or the three yellow squashes for $2 that I picked up at the farmers’ market in town. Oh, and the salad dressing I picked up means plantain, dandelions, and portulaca can be eaten as a standalone salad if I’m feeling lazy or somehow manage to run out of all my other food.

Now if you’ll excuse me, all this talk of food has made me hungry—it’s time for breakfast.

Day 5 & Day 6

Forgive my disappearance. Yesterday wasn’t terribly interesting: cereal and milk for breakfast/lunch and spaghetti and tomato sauce with steamed broccoli on the side for dinner. Today was even less so; the last of the cereal with milk and banana for breakfast—I woke up unusually early—scrambled eggs and two slices of bread for lunch, and a bowl of ramen noodles, I am sorry to say, for dinner. I had to get out of the house to meet a friend in a hurry, so it seemed like a good moment to use my easy meal.

As this week winds toward its end, I’m finding myself a little bit freer with my food than I was to begin with. My worry was that the $25 I spent on the first of the month wouldn’t stretch the long first ‘week’; I’m no longer worried about that, and I’ve begun to anticipate that if I’m careful, I can reasonably splurge on eating out once or twice at the end of the month.

Unless I have some particularly brilliant stroke of culinary genius, experiment with some new or unusual ingredient, or manage to cook something for an absurd price, I may not blog every single meal from here on out. If it’s getting boring for me, it must be incredibly boring for anyone reading.

Day 4 | Breakfast/Lunch

Cereal. Milk. Banana. Still inexpensive. Still tasty.

Sweet realisations.

I just posted this to Twitter: 

I can’t decide whether the most frustrating thing about 31on100 is portion control or lack of sweets. Either way, it’s probably good for me.

About a minute later, I realised I have a box of gingerbread mix, as well as milk, sugar, cocoa, flour, eggs, and other items required for baking sweet things. I don’t plan on baking anything tonight—might as well save that for the holiday—but this is another reminder of a) how much food I didn’t even realise I had and b) how lazy I’ve been about cooking for myself.

If you have nothing more to eat.

idroppedcalculus:

Edible Flowers are flowers that can be eaten. Edible flowers may be preserved for future use using techniques such as drying, freezing or steeping in oil. They can be used in drinks, jellies, salads, soups, syrups and main dishes. Flower-flavoured oils and vinegars are made by steeping edible flower petals in these liquids. Candied flowers are crystallized using egg white and sugar (as a preservative).

Common Edible Flowers:

• Artichoke (flower bud)
• Broccoli (flower buds)
• Cauliflower (flower buds)
• Chamomile (for tea)
• Chives (flowers or buds)
• Chrysanthemum (flower)
• Citrus blossoms (lemon, orange, lime, grapefruit)
• Clover Daisies (Bellis perennis quills)
• Dandelions (Taraxacum officinale leaves, roots, flowers, petals, buds)
• Daylilies (Hemerocallis buds, flowers, petals)
• Elderflower (blossoms for drink)
• Hibiscus Honeysuckle Jasmine (for tea)
• Lilac (salads)
• Moringa oleifera Nasturtium (blossoms and seeds)
• Osmanthus fragrans (flower)
• Pansies (Viola x Wittrockiana flowers, petals)
• Pot Marigolds (Calendula officinalis petals with white heel removed)
• Roses (Rosa petals with white heel removed, rose hips)
• Sesbania grandiflora (flower)
• Sunflowers (Helianthus annuus buds, petals, seeds)
• Violet (‘leaf and flowers in salads, candied flowers for pastry decoration’)
• Zucchini blossoms (blossoms)

Source

I’m skeptical about lilacs, but brief research indicates the chrysanthemum tip is legit. A useful way to extend edible flower season into the autumn if you don’t mind making yourself unpopular with the neighbours.