SNAP aka Food Stamps meal planning

[offroad]

If you read in the news this week you might have seen that the mayor of Newark, New Jersey was going to live on $30 a week worth of food stamps. But is this really that tough to do? &nbsp;<br /><br />Does anyone have a meal plan - grocery list that lets you buy this virtual food list in the real world, and cook it up?<br /><br />Well kind of found something close with www.emeals.com and their various meal plans. Recently got a GROUPON coupon for the company and activated my membership. It gets me a meal plan from the list of six or so plans. &nbsp;Gives me a grocery list, and all the recipes for two people. For a single person you can eat a meal and have the leftovers for lunch. Picking the PORTION CONTROL version was able to get everything for $80 to $100 ( including extras for breakfast and lunch). &nbsp;Emeals.com let's you select Walmart as your grocery store, and can adjust to create a shopping list- recipes based on that store. Was able to find every item on the grocery list generated by EMEALS which was a concern. &nbsp;<br /><br />The reality is I had three meals from every recipe. Variety and nutrician seems to be good. Am thinking I can make this meal plan last two weeks. So this gets me down to $50 a week. If I had more time to use coupons-find sales- use discount stores, suppose I could push the cost to $30 a week. &nbsp;<br /><br />There are leftover ingredients for every meals as well. &nbsp;Just have to store them for next time you need to use. &nbsp;So much flexibility with this.&nbsp;<br /><br />So gives $2600 per year for food at $50 per week. &nbsp;<br /><br />Does anyone have better strategy for cost control, nutrition evaluation, realistic availability of ingredients? &nbsp;What are you doing?

 

[Lostinspace]

With tongue in cheek.&nbsp; How about frozen dinners, at 2.50 a pop and cereal with skim milk for breakfast.&nbsp; This gets you to $35 for the frozen dinners and $3 for the half gallon of skim milk and the cereal would go for two weeks at 1/2 of say 4$.&nbsp; Now we're up to about 40$.&nbsp; Not too bad.&nbsp; But we won't talk about the nutrition here with frozen dinners.<img src="/images/boards/smilies/rolleyes.gif" />&nbsp; Or the boredom to the pallet.&nbsp; As an aside, here in Florida the food is not taxed, nor the drugs.<br /><br />And a caveat be sure and read the labels on the frozen dinners.&nbsp; Some that push themselves as the healthiest have more sugar and fats than say Marie Calendars'.<br /><br />Wade in NW Florida

 

[offroad]

Lost - the salt is dangerous for high blood pressure and is well entrenched in every frozen meal. Not enough raw vegetables for health in frozen either. &nbsp;

 

[Lostinspace]

Yep I know.&nbsp; I didn't say it was good for you, just one way to do it.&nbsp; Not my way BTW.&nbsp; I don't have troubel with salt but I need to stay away from sugar.

 

[john_perry]

hey offroad! i looked at the site and it seems to be right down my ally! a single man living alone in an rv,&nbsp; that i am, it was just easier to grab a frozen dinner and throw it in the nuker. however i now have to take blood pressure control meds and cholesterol control meds. ps, i had a good time when i was young- lol. i always found it hard to shop for good food most of the time. i would end up getting cookies and coke and cup cakes. when i got back home i would realize, i spent a bunch of money but had nothing to eat. it was the planning of meals i disliked&nbsp; the most. not so much the cooking part. so that site seems to be just what i need. give me the list of thing to buy that are good for me and then ill cook it. with the coming of a free life in april, i will be forced to stop using the nuker and cook.

 

[sl1966]

hah! I lived on that when I was homeless and ate healthier than I do now.<br /><br />