Eye on Blogs

Sue Kwon, you're shopping all wrong on your $4 a day. My family has been on food stamps now for over a year, I'm disabled.

Here's a hint! Don't shop the big stores all the time. Make a plan.

First see what's on sale. Safeway had whole chickens last week for $3.09 if you have a store card which gives you discounts. So, you boil that whole chicken with garlic. That gives you a chicken breast for lunch or dinner, you chop up the chicken with celery and the free packets of mayo from the fast food places, and some left over to add to a big pot of soup.

Some Farmer's Markets allow food stamps, you wait and go at the end, farmers don't want to pack it all up for the drive home, carrots, potatoes, and seasonal fruit can be really cheap. Grocery Outlet, you can get eight roma tomatoes for $1.49 last week( They were large ones too.)

Don't fry your eggs poach them better for you. Wal-Mart has whole wheat bread for .88 cents. A bag of jasmine rice for $1.39 or if on sale even better, you could have even mixed the carrots and some other veggies with some chicken. It's all in the planning. The best thing if someone wants to buy you a birthday gift, a vaccum sealer is key. Why! When there is whole chicken's at $3.09 you buy more than a couple and take them home and wash and seal. The chicken's then are good for over 6 months in the freezer. Jenny O has turkey burgers frozen for $6.99 there is a dozen in a pack that about .59 for a protein! Also pasta the good brand and even your whole wheat you buy when it's .99 cents which it was last week at Safeway. The people who are helping you plan are not so great at the planning?!

Clip coupons, Healthy Choice is giving away free mini meals. So is Kashi. Which means two meals are free. Breakfast, your oatmeal is good. But with planning you can get whole wheat flour, eggs and even soy milk (which is all that we drink also) and make waffles or with that apple make apple pancakes in the oven. Even a cheap packet of yeast and make your own bread, better and cheaper (but Wal-Marts bread is the freshest and cheapest, also eggs there are $1.97 for 18 eggs. Because of the great turn around they are always fresh. Wal-Mart even has frozen pizza for $1.25 add some of the left over chicken and pesto and you have a gourmet pizza at that, and it feeds two or two meals for one.

If you have to have your caffeine, good bottled tea that is $2.49 an 8oz bottle is $1.99 for a half gallon at Grocery Outlet. Never buy meat at Wal-Mart to me it's not quality. Now Sue that's my opinion. I plan my trips so I don't waste gas. Make sure you take your vaccum seal and seal water and make thick ice packs. This way you can do all your shopping in one trip stopping at the store farthest from your house and work your way back. Planning is key, lasagna is a great thing and cheap if you freeze in a sealed bag, you make a large one and freeze in portions. Not the salt and additives of forzen foods. Yes, it takes time and thinking, but it can be done much better than you are doing.

Never shop hungry and have a list and meal plan along with coupons, and you can eat alot better and healthier than you're doing.

Good luck, and THANK YOU, THANK YOU, THANK YOU, for making people aware of the hunger in America and here in the Bay Area. Oh and just to let you know you can get a whole bag of shrimp at Wal-Mart frozen ( large shrimp) and if you defrost in lemon water, the bag has enough for five meals, at $5.99 it's a treat but you can also make a stir fry with rice and shrimp etc. Again planning and not shopping at Whole Foods, too costly. When someone wants to do something nice for my family, a whole foods gift card is what we always ask for. And by the way at least in the Napa Whole Foods they have non-alcohol local wine, for $1.29 a bottle when it's on sale. It's just as good as the real thing and you can get two glasses out of it. It comes in white or red, the red is out of this world.

I feel sorry for you who hasn't had to live this way, I don't for myself. You can't imagine what you can do if you have too. Plus if I was living near you I'd bake a cake, yes a whole cake for .99. But I guess this week you already have your food so I'll watch you struggle as I sit back and think, "let them eat cake"! Along with my homemade soy ice cream.