A free cookbook for people living on $4/day(leannebrown.ca)
leannebrown.ca
A free cookbook for people living on $4/day
http://www.leannebrown.ca/cookbooks/
20 comments
Do u already have complementary cooking resources; powder, garlic, oil etc? These often overlooked in a buck a day meals.
Excellent point. There is a baseline capex to getting a kitchen in shape. Yes, you can go to the dollar store for cheap spatulas, or the discount supermarket for 89 cent herbs, but the point is that the startup cost is non zero. Especially for a person or family who is tired from long hours of work, microwave burritos or pizzas or other "convenience" foods are cheap enough.
Also, skills are a big factor. If you don't know how to cook, making and freezing a giant pot of chili or stew in portions is a daunting task. And if you get it wrong, and you just blew your entire food budget for the next two weeks ... good luck!
Excellent point. There is a baseline capex to getting a kitchen in shape. Yes, you can go to the dollar store for cheap spatulas, or the discount supermarket for 89 cent herbs, but the point is that the startup cost is non zero. Especially for a person or family who is tired from long hours of work, microwave burritos or pizzas or other "convenience" foods are cheap enough.
Also, skills are a big factor. If you don't know how to cook, making and freezing a giant pot of chili or stew in portions is a daunting task. And if you get it wrong, and you just blew your entire food budget for the next two weeks ... good luck!
"Do u already have complementary cooking resources; powder, garlic, oil etc? These often overlooked in a buck a day meals."
This comment is specifically addressed in the opening section of the book. They even lay out a strategy for how to slowly build up the basic necessities for preparing good tasting, as well as cheap food, over a long period of sprinkling in 1-2 more expensive items per trip.
This comment is specifically addressed in the opening section of the book. They even lay out a strategy for how to slowly build up the basic necessities for preparing good tasting, as well as cheap food, over a long period of sprinkling in 1-2 more expensive items per trip.
As I mentioned elsewhere, this is also better for who this book is aimed at - poorer people. They generally have less disposable time on top of lack of money, so will prefer less time consuming, but more expensive meals (such as fast food, ready meals). If instead they could prepare a load of (say) stew that would last for a weeks worth of lunches and dinners, it would be much easier for them spend less money on food.
I'm cooking for myself all next next week, not for the usual collection of hungry people, so I shall be making a large pot of vegetable stew. Might try pot of peanut soup as well! Oatmeal/porridge for breakfast as I have that a lot anyway.
I think the idea of providing storage times in the fridge is a good one.
I think the idea of providing storage times in the fridge is a good one.
Phase one: ratatouille
Bought two large aubergines (egg plants) and four courgettes (zuchinis?) and three red peppers, a couple of cans of tomatoes and a can of kidney beans from local corner shop[1]. Cost less than 4 pounds sterling.
Cut and salted the aubergines for 20 minutes and rinsed the bitter liquid. Chopped the courgettes and peppers. Put in large oven dish with four table spoons (60ml) of olive oil. Roasted on gas mark 8 (230C, 450F [1]) for 45 min, stirring once.
Added canned tomatoes and beans and a couple of garlic cloves and cooked for a further 30 min at gas mark 6 (200C, 400F).
5 meals...
1. Served a small portion with rice (cooked in my one button rice cooker). Rest allowed to cool and stored in fridge. Rice is bought in 10Kg bags from local shop for Pounds 7.50
2. A small serving cold on fresh thick white toast for breakfast
3. Fry onion in heavy frying pan and add ready made Rogan Josh sauce from the corner shop. Add substantial serving of the ratatouille. Served with rice with Tumeric/Haldi and naans from the local nan man (1 pound for four naans fresh cooked at local street side bakery). Yoghurt and cucumber (50p per half) dressing.
4. Pasta bake: boil old leftover pastas from various jars. Drain. Stir in 100g (4oz) of cheap grated cheddar cheese (£3.50 for 750g from local supermarket). Spoon in ratatouille from fridge into base of oven dish. Top with the pasta and cheese mixture. Serve with cheap Italian wine (5 pounds and let it breathe)
5. Liquid reserved from the ratatouille plus a few courgettes used in final stages of stir fry of cabbage and mushrooms (50p and 1 pound from local supermarket). Served with rice.
Next: peanut soup but I'm looking for a non-chi-chi recipe. Another local shop oriented to African Caribbean community sells yam and cassava as well as tapioca. They have harissa as well, but I find that hard to digest (burns twice &c).
[1] http://sohcahtoa.org.uk/pages/spicy_lentils_recipe.html
[2] http://www.godecookery.com/goderec/equiv.htm
Bought two large aubergines (egg plants) and four courgettes (zuchinis?) and three red peppers, a couple of cans of tomatoes and a can of kidney beans from local corner shop[1]. Cost less than 4 pounds sterling.
Cut and salted the aubergines for 20 minutes and rinsed the bitter liquid. Chopped the courgettes and peppers. Put in large oven dish with four table spoons (60ml) of olive oil. Roasted on gas mark 8 (230C, 450F [1]) for 45 min, stirring once.
Added canned tomatoes and beans and a couple of garlic cloves and cooked for a further 30 min at gas mark 6 (200C, 400F).
5 meals...
1. Served a small portion with rice (cooked in my one button rice cooker). Rest allowed to cool and stored in fridge. Rice is bought in 10Kg bags from local shop for Pounds 7.50
2. A small serving cold on fresh thick white toast for breakfast
3. Fry onion in heavy frying pan and add ready made Rogan Josh sauce from the corner shop. Add substantial serving of the ratatouille. Served with rice with Tumeric/Haldi and naans from the local nan man (1 pound for four naans fresh cooked at local street side bakery). Yoghurt and cucumber (50p per half) dressing.
4. Pasta bake: boil old leftover pastas from various jars. Drain. Stir in 100g (4oz) of cheap grated cheddar cheese (£3.50 for 750g from local supermarket). Spoon in ratatouille from fridge into base of oven dish. Top with the pasta and cheese mixture. Serve with cheap Italian wine (5 pounds and let it breathe)
5. Liquid reserved from the ratatouille plus a few courgettes used in final stages of stir fry of cabbage and mushrooms (50p and 1 pound from local supermarket). Served with rice.
Next: peanut soup but I'm looking for a non-chi-chi recipe. Another local shop oriented to African Caribbean community sells yam and cassava as well as tapioca. They have harissa as well, but I find that hard to digest (burns twice &c).
[1] http://sohcahtoa.org.uk/pages/spicy_lentils_recipe.html
[2] http://www.godecookery.com/goderec/equiv.htm
> Also, in places like Africa,food is stored!
Indeed. And, in savvier kitchens. See MFK Fisher's How to Cook a Wolf and the nicely written modern interpretation by Tamar Adler: The Everlasting Meal.
Indeed. And, in savvier kitchens. See MFK Fisher's How to Cook a Wolf and the nicely written modern interpretation by Tamar Adler: The Everlasting Meal.
On $4/day you should avoid being vegetarian, get cheap food with as many calories as possible. Better value for money.
EDIT: I get lot of down votes, so just to clarify:
I am objecting to being _exclusively_ vegetarian. People on $4/day have other problems. I am not saying you should buy junk food. There is lot of reasonable quality meat, for example fish if you live near sea. Also vegs such as rice or potatoes are cheap and high on energy
EDIT: I get lot of down votes, so just to clarify:
I am objecting to being _exclusively_ vegetarian. People on $4/day have other problems. I am not saying you should buy junk food. There is lot of reasonable quality meat, for example fish if you live near sea. Also vegs such as rice or potatoes are cheap and high on energy
Do you have any references on how eating meat is more affordable than things like dry beans and other grains?
http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/HHFS_BEANS_KIDNE... http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/HHFS_RICE_WHITE_...
That seems like a pretty affordable meal to me. Maybe you have some information I don't and would like to share it?
http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/HHFS_BEANS_KIDNE... http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/HHFS_RICE_WHITE_...
That seems like a pretty affordable meal to me. Maybe you have some information I don't and would like to share it?
Practical experience, I lived on $4/day for most of my life. Energy is important if you are moving a lot. Also sleeping outside (in cold) drains energy very quickly.
Obesity and related problems are usually associated with lifestyle, medication (antibiotics!) and lack of physical activity, not the food itself.
Obesity and related problems are usually associated with lifestyle, medication (antibiotics!) and lack of physical activity, not the food itself.
Meat has horrible calories/$ value. People end up eating more calories when they're eating carbs though.
Sure, you need balanced died, I objected about being vegetarian. Meat is important because it gives fat and other important nutrients, it would be expensive to get those exclusively from vegetarian food.
Checkout rabbit poisoning for some interesting read.
Checkout rabbit poisoning for some interesting read.
I don't eat this stuff for my own dietary reasons, but even I know Soy and Quinoa and old fashioned rice -n- beans and hummus (aka mushed up chickpeas) and plain old peanut butter sandwiches are cheap complete protein sources.
If you want fat intake, which is good as long as your carb intake is low, disgusting and unhealthy as it is, factory produced vegetable oil can fry nearly nutritionally vacant potatoes. Dip them in corn syrup ketchup for extra vegetables or at least empty calories.
If you are diagnosed allergic to soy like my son, or think the stuff on the above list is "gross" life gets complicated and expensive rapidly if you subsist entirely on the weirdest of vegetarian supplements and prepared meals and prepared snacks.
Also I'm locked out "submitting too fast" but:
A non paleo diet of nothing but rice will probably kill you in the long term. Lets run with it anyway.
Depending on how badly you got screwed and how many middlemen stand in the way and the size of packaging, 50 cents per pound is (was?) not totally out of line for rice. So at $4/day you can afford 8 pounds of uncooked rice. After cooking it, it'll be a whole lot more than 8 pounds due to water adsorption. But the nutrient content of the uncooked rice (not much washes away) is about 3 cal/gram somewhat pessimistically aka about 1200 calories per pound of uncooked rice. And you'll be consuming 8 of those pounds... per day. so thats 9600 calories of cooked rice per day.
Given an intake of 9600 calories per day, I checked out some basal metabolic rate online calculators. I got about 9000 calories per day BMR for a 30 year old male 6 ft tall weighing a mere 1300 pounds. For out metric readers, 1300 pounds is almost exactly 1/2 the mass of my new commuter car. So pretty freaking huge.
On a very long scale, given a mere $4/day to live on (I spend $6/day long term average and eat like a king, so WTF about that) and only eat rice and somehow don't die of a deficiency or diabetes, your weight will eventually stabilize at a mere 1300 pounds given that monetary intake in the form of 100% rice.
So yeah, vegetarians probably are not going to starve to death on a mere $4/day unless they're really screwing up.
(my apologies, I checked Amazon Prime and its hard to get rice shipped to my door for less than $1/pound, although it seems like mere years ago I saw 50 pound sacks for $25 at the grocery store... At any rate, $4/day is enough to be obscenely morbidly obese)
If you want fat intake, which is good as long as your carb intake is low, disgusting and unhealthy as it is, factory produced vegetable oil can fry nearly nutritionally vacant potatoes. Dip them in corn syrup ketchup for extra vegetables or at least empty calories.
If you are diagnosed allergic to soy like my son, or think the stuff on the above list is "gross" life gets complicated and expensive rapidly if you subsist entirely on the weirdest of vegetarian supplements and prepared meals and prepared snacks.
Also I'm locked out "submitting too fast" but:
A non paleo diet of nothing but rice will probably kill you in the long term. Lets run with it anyway.
Depending on how badly you got screwed and how many middlemen stand in the way and the size of packaging, 50 cents per pound is (was?) not totally out of line for rice. So at $4/day you can afford 8 pounds of uncooked rice. After cooking it, it'll be a whole lot more than 8 pounds due to water adsorption. But the nutrient content of the uncooked rice (not much washes away) is about 3 cal/gram somewhat pessimistically aka about 1200 calories per pound of uncooked rice. And you'll be consuming 8 of those pounds... per day. so thats 9600 calories of cooked rice per day.
Given an intake of 9600 calories per day, I checked out some basal metabolic rate online calculators. I got about 9000 calories per day BMR for a 30 year old male 6 ft tall weighing a mere 1300 pounds. For out metric readers, 1300 pounds is almost exactly 1/2 the mass of my new commuter car. So pretty freaking huge.
On a very long scale, given a mere $4/day to live on (I spend $6/day long term average and eat like a king, so WTF about that) and only eat rice and somehow don't die of a deficiency or diabetes, your weight will eventually stabilize at a mere 1300 pounds given that monetary intake in the form of 100% rice.
So yeah, vegetarians probably are not going to starve to death on a mere $4/day unless they're really screwing up.
(my apologies, I checked Amazon Prime and its hard to get rice shipped to my door for less than $1/pound, although it seems like mere years ago I saw 50 pound sacks for $25 at the grocery store... At any rate, $4/day is enough to be obscenely morbidly obese)
Rabbit poisoning is caused by having very lean meat make up too large of a portion of your diet. It has no connection to vegetarianism. In fact it's necessary to eat almost exclusively meat.
Of all the causal factors for obesity that science has isolated -- and there are many -- I've never heard of any evidence for obesity being among those factors. Do you have any evidence to support that claim?
> I've never heard of any evidence for obesity being among those factors.
I think you mis-typed the wrong word there, but I'm not sure what to substitute it with.
I think you mis-typed the wrong word there, but I'm not sure what to substitute it with.
This is targetted for people on SNAP ("food stamps") in the US -- there, the problem doesn't seem to be calorie deficit (obesity in poverty is quite common), so confusing calories/$ with value is a serious error.
While the book is quite nice, I think it really misses it's target demographic. Many people in poor areas end up buying a lot of their food from the local convenience store where there's just a selection of low quality and unhealthy food (and not anything fresh). Kids also tend to be left to fix their own meals, which will be mostly junk food or something that doesn't require any preparation. It's a very challenging problem to address. Even when you have programs to get fresh and healthy food to these neighborhoods, it's a challenge to get people to take advantage of it.
Rice, lentils, beans, vegetables (corn, potatoes in particular), soy/tofu/tempeh, oats are all stupidly cheap and healthy.
That depends largely on who you ask. I don't eat most of those foods. And corn?
The OP's comment said "you should avoid being vegetarian" so your comment applies to his as well.
Also, isn't corn healthy unless you process and concentrate the sugars or powder it? I doubt one can gain weight by eating lots of raw or cooked corn unless you slather it in butter or something.
Also, isn't corn healthy unless you process and concentrate the sugars or powder it? I doubt one can gain weight by eating lots of raw or cooked corn unless you slather it in butter or something.
Corn contains cellulose and our bodies aren't built to break it down. Eat some corn and wait until you have to go to the bathroom. You'll see.
You're doing it wrong, apparently. Humans are not meant to swallow corn whole. Cook, chew. Eat popcorn, corn-on-the-cob, tortilla chips, corn-flakes.
Corn is stupidly cheap and a fairly caloric, which directly addressed my parents point. It's also high in protein, fiber and Bs. Movie popcorn and or the corn syrup in pop aren't healthy.
movie popcorn is also way above $4/day
Poor communities and cultures in the USA have been eating the cheaper, undesirable cuts of meat for a long time. Pig and chicken feet, turkey necks, beef tails, intestines, carp and catfish.
Food quality is really important, though. Eating low quality food can have an adverse affect on your performance and health, costing more maybe immediately and definitely in the long run. When you're really poor in any way, your health is the most important thing to take care of.
You can make quality food cheap (assuming that you mean something along the lines of "not processed crap"). I learned to cook as a student as a big bag of potatoes was more value for money than a frozen pizza.
Is this true? I was always under the impression that meat was considerably more expensive than basic vegetarian food. I know some vegetables can be expensive but I'm pretty sure cereals and pulses are cheaper than any meat.
This isn't always true, you can buy packs of small porkchops that work out to be about 1.25 per chop.
While this book is interesting it seems to go to great lengths to create new dishes when many compatible traditional dishes exist. For example you can make Schnitzel, Spaetzle, Blaukraut and Brussel sprouts for 5 for around $10.
While this book is interesting it seems to go to great lengths to create new dishes when many compatible traditional dishes exist. For example you can make Schnitzel, Spaetzle, Blaukraut and Brussel sprouts for 5 for around $10.
I live in Europe, so I can not really say for US. For 1 burger you need like 4 pounds of vegs, so the meat is cheaper here.
> For 1 burger you need like 4 pounds of vegs
In terms of calories, this is technically correct, but the metric of calories is not at all useful in a first-world context. At my local market, £1 gets you about 10,000 kcals of rice or pasta. In other words, any budget above $1 / £1 per day will be able to provide plenty of kcals. Kcals are not the problem.
What matters are the other things the body needs. I eat vegetables to provide fiber, vitamins and phytonutrients. I eat meat to provide protein and certain types of fat. In this regard, they're not fungible, because leafy green vegetables are a poor source of protein and meat is a poor source of phytonutrients.
In terms of calories, this is technically correct, but the metric of calories is not at all useful in a first-world context. At my local market, £1 gets you about 10,000 kcals of rice or pasta. In other words, any budget above $1 / £1 per day will be able to provide plenty of kcals. Kcals are not the problem.
What matters are the other things the body needs. I eat vegetables to provide fiber, vitamins and phytonutrients. I eat meat to provide protein and certain types of fat. In this regard, they're not fungible, because leafy green vegetables are a poor source of protein and meat is a poor source of phytonutrients.
Given energy constraints and the economics of things, meat should be more expensive everywhere. But the US also has massive agriculture subsidies, so what determines the cost of food here is Congress more than any market.
Dried beans (my favorite) tend to be much cheaper than just about any other source of protein, but I don't think I've ever seen tofu being sold for less than hamburger. Ground meat in this country tends to be really cheap, thanks to agricultural subsidies, filler, "pink slime" and the like.
Dried beans (my favorite) tend to be much cheaper than just about any other source of protein, but I don't think I've ever seen tofu being sold for less than hamburger. Ground meat in this country tends to be really cheap, thanks to agricultural subsidies, filler, "pink slime" and the like.
I think there might be a misunderstanding about a typical vegetarian or vegan diet. Do you believe that most vegetarians and vegans eat primarily vegetables like broccoli and cabbage? Myself and others I know tend to eat a large amount of beans, grains and root vegetables as this is typically necessary to get the required daily amounts of protein and calories.
I'm vegan and I eat super cheap. Lentils / black beans in a soup or burrito gets you very far. My luxury meal items are fresh bread or tortillas.
I don't think you're doing a fair comparison, which would mean comparing the cheapest meat with the cheapest non-meat foods.
Of course mince meat is cheaper per calorie than lettuce, it's probably cheaper than tomatoes, but it's not cheaper than rice or lentils.
BTW - I live in Europe too.
Of course mince meat is cheaper per calorie than lettuce, it's probably cheaper than tomatoes, but it's not cheaper than rice or lentils.
BTW - I live in Europe too.
Again, I am arguing against being EXCLUSIVELY vegetarian, I also think rice potatoes etc are good value for the money.
Back in my old days in post communist Europe, the cheapest eatable meat was horse (kind of like a beef). Most vegetables were imported (and expensive) or scarce outside of season (and expensive) . People usually loaded their cellars with 1000 pounds of vegs for winter, but students did not had this option.
Back in my old days in post communist Europe, the cheapest eatable meat was horse (kind of like a beef). Most vegetables were imported (and expensive) or scarce outside of season (and expensive) . People usually loaded their cellars with 1000 pounds of vegs for winter, but students did not had this option.
I think your point is, when resources limit you, you should focus on a hierarchy. In the case of food, the hierarchy is diet optimization > basic balanced diet food > cost/calorie efficient food > any food > no food. Don't start worrying about the higher parts of the hierarchy until those below it are taken care of. None of which prevents diet optimization while resource limited, but you need to make sure you don't miss some of the more basic stuff.
My wife and I have been living on a $100 a month grocery budget for a few years now and are having no problems with it. Plenty of calories.
I'll upvote you because as my mother has said, "being a hippy is expensive."
(I say that as a vegetarian who recycles nearly everything and drives a Nissan Leaf. However, I still get haircuts and work for The Man, so what do I know?)
(I say that as a vegetarian who recycles nearly everything and drives a Nissan Leaf. However, I still get haircuts and work for The Man, so what do I know?)
Is it really though? I think it depends on accessibility.
Every week I dry 40 minutes round-trip to a grocery store that specializes in raw foods (vegetables, fruits, cheeses, etc) and get enough food for about $60 to feed myself and my friend for the full week.
Those prices just aren't available to someone without a vehicle and those in the city are probably paying more for less (for instance, the Shaw's across the street from me in Boston sells lettuce for 2.50 and I pay 98 cents for organic outside the city).
Every week I dry 40 minutes round-trip to a grocery store that specializes in raw foods (vegetables, fruits, cheeses, etc) and get enough food for about $60 to feed myself and my friend for the full week.
Those prices just aren't available to someone without a vehicle and those in the city are probably paying more for less (for instance, the Shaw's across the street from me in Boston sells lettuce for 2.50 and I pay 98 cents for organic outside the city).
I believe that you are mistaken here. The first cookbook listed is all vegetarian while the cookbook this post is referring to is the second one listed and includes various non vegetarian dishes such as roasted chicken.
I can't flag this enough
Nice looking book so far.
I think a "preservation" section might be useful, however, advising how long things tend to keep so that people can have a better idea of what stuff can stay in the pantry for weeks and what stuff should be devoured quickly. One of the primary pitfalls of my spending habits is buying fresh produce that I end up throwing out because I don't eat enough salad to go through the entire box of spring mix before it starts to wilt.
I think a "preservation" section might be useful, however, advising how long things tend to keep so that people can have a better idea of what stuff can stay in the pantry for weeks and what stuff should be devoured quickly. One of the primary pitfalls of my spending habits is buying fresh produce that I end up throwing out because I don't eat enough salad to go through the entire box of spring mix before it starts to wilt.
I cross-posted this from Reddit (where it originally blew up) figuring that a bunch of us might benefit from the recipes. I sure did; they're amazing. But now I'm wondering if I should've let the author submit it instead, so that she could be here to answer questions or get feedback immediately (like "you should make the PDF pay-what-you-want because I'm throwing money at my monitor and it's not reaching your wallet").
Would anyone send her a tweet that her book's being featured on HN? https://twitter.com/leelb Thanks!
EDIT: And thank you to the mods for moving this comment chain to the bottom! Wish I could've done it myself. I hesitated to even write this comment since it was offtopic and didn't want it to become the top one, but letting her know her book was on HN seemed important.
Would anyone send her a tweet that her book's being featured on HN? https://twitter.com/leelb Thanks!
EDIT: And thank you to the mods for moving this comment chain to the bottom! Wish I could've done it myself. I hesitated to even write this comment since it was offtopic and didn't want it to become the top one, but letting her know her book was on HN seemed important.
Why not do it yourself?
I don't have an account since it'd probably just stagnate. I guess I could create a throwaway, but I have no idea how twitter works or whether she'd even get a tweet from a brand new account (spam prevention). Figured it's better to leave it to someone who knows what they're doing.
Ok, done.
from a quick skim this looks nicely done.
The only thing that missing is <time required> next to price per serving/total.
Maybe you can make pierogi for .2$ apiece, but especially if you're not experienced it will take you hours, so if time is part of the equation they become vastly more expensive than, say, green chile & cheese quesadillas.
Maybe you can make pierogi for .2$ apiece, but especially if you're not experienced it will take you hours, so if time is part of the equation they become vastly more expensive than, say, green chile & cheese quesadillas.
I think this is very important for the market they're targeting as well (people on food stamps). An often overlooked aspect of poverty is how time consuming it is. Instead of clocking off work at 5, going home, cooking and relaxing, you've got to work multiple jobs, leaving far less time to cook, and far less incentive to cook well. This leads to a downward spiral of overspending on faster to prepare, but more expensive food (e.g. fast food, ready meals), and thus a relative loss of income.
That is a very popular and heavily promoted belief for cultural reasons. And of course people like that DO exist. None the less, the "big news release" late last week / early this week was 1 in 5 American households have no one living in the household who is currently employed. At all. And labor force participation rates as a percentage of population, and adult labor force population, continue to crash from a peak a long time ago. Of the households where at least someone in them is employed, not all have multiple full time jobs etc. And at the higher end I can afford the leisure time / I enjoy cooking to my specifications and tastes. So figure an absolute minimum of 1/2 the population could participate in slow cheap cooking, which is a large target market.
There are people in a hurry. There is also a statistically provable much larger group who given the choice of starvation or homemade bread from scratch clearly have the time and motivation, although maybe not skills, to make homemade bread from scratch. They'd be better off eating a salad anyway, but you get the idea.
It is highly likely that the two groups need two cookbooks.
Someone poor and in a hurry needs to buy a $10 slow cooker, that is something I can say from experience.
There are people in a hurry. There is also a statistically provable much larger group who given the choice of starvation or homemade bread from scratch clearly have the time and motivation, although maybe not skills, to make homemade bread from scratch. They'd be better off eating a salad anyway, but you get the idea.
It is highly likely that the two groups need two cookbooks.
Someone poor and in a hurry needs to buy a $10 slow cooker, that is something I can say from experience.
This cookbook seems ideal for someone on retirement or disability benefits.
It just takes more planning ahead if you have a busy schedule. Stews and the like are pretty easy to make in a large batch or slowcooker.
This is an excellent point. The key complaint you hear from lower income (and really almost across the board) is that they don't have time to make food at home, because they are busy working/transiting, so they buy fast food.
So awesome! Would love for there to be an option to pay what you want for the PDF. I wouldn't mind giving a couple bucks if you offered the options.
Congratulations on shipping!
This reminds me a lot of budgetbytes.com (in particular the $X total, $Y/serving nomenclature), alas without my favourite feature of pictures throughout the cooking process.
I found those extremely valuable by removing the vestigal risk at trying a particular recipe, as well as inspiring confidence throughout the process and finally in identifying things I shouldn't attempt yet.
This reminds me a lot of budgetbytes.com (in particular the $X total, $Y/serving nomenclature), alas without my favourite feature of pictures throughout the cooking process.
I found those extremely valuable by removing the vestigal risk at trying a particular recipe, as well as inspiring confidence throughout the process and finally in identifying things I shouldn't attempt yet.
Perhaps not your intended audience, but as a college student with close-to-zero cooking ability, this looks amazing.
I would second this obvious suggestion to merely re-market to create something like a "first cookbook"
As a criticism (and a minor one) decades ago I worked thru school at a retail food store and WIC program women would come in with a long list of very specific required products. I'm told this program still exists. So pregnant poor women must buy precisely 2 pounds of dried navy beans per week. Not 3 pounds, not lima beans, not canned, 2 pounds dried navy beans per week. Ditto cheeses and rice and specific canned fruit juice for vitamin C. My point with this anecdote is coordination with that program might help guide further recipes in the book, assuming it hasn't already been done to maximal ability. Perhaps similar coordination with food banks to match whats typically donated with recipe ingredient lists.
A non-coincidental observation I can make is the cookbook is highly non-paleo and that correlates with poor people who aren't literally starving tend toward obesity. So a bit more salad and a bit less bread products might be a healthy idea. A stir fry never killed anyone and they don't cost much of anything unless you put fancy stuff in. More recipes like the carmelized bananas and less like the cookies. Less pizza more veggies. Less noodles more salad.
As a criticism (and a minor one) decades ago I worked thru school at a retail food store and WIC program women would come in with a long list of very specific required products. I'm told this program still exists. So pregnant poor women must buy precisely 2 pounds of dried navy beans per week. Not 3 pounds, not lima beans, not canned, 2 pounds dried navy beans per week. Ditto cheeses and rice and specific canned fruit juice for vitamin C. My point with this anecdote is coordination with that program might help guide further recipes in the book, assuming it hasn't already been done to maximal ability. Perhaps similar coordination with food banks to match whats typically donated with recipe ingredient lists.
A non-coincidental observation I can make is the cookbook is highly non-paleo and that correlates with poor people who aren't literally starving tend toward obesity. So a bit more salad and a bit less bread products might be a healthy idea. A stir fry never killed anyone and they don't cost much of anything unless you put fancy stuff in. More recipes like the carmelized bananas and less like the cookies. Less pizza more veggies. Less noodles more salad.
> I would second this obvious suggestion to merely re-market to create something like a "first cookbook"
On the same site the author has a vegetarian cookbook targeted at people "people just becoming comfortable in their own kitchens".
http://www.leannebrown.ca/cookbooks/
On the same site the author has a vegetarian cookbook targeted at people "people just becoming comfortable in their own kitchens".
http://www.leannebrown.ca/cookbooks/
The other book also contains good recipes.
However, some (most?) of the recipes in the first veg cookbook are both healthier and probably cheaper than some of the recipes in the poverty cookbook. (some are the same, at first glance)
And re categorizing the other way, aside from offending vegetarians, in a first cookbook, it wouldn't hurt to transplant the roast chicken from the poverty book into the first cookbook. Other than cross contamination its pretty hard to screw up a roasted chicken, so its a good place for kitchen noobs to start.
On a small scale, all appears awesome, only on a larger scale is it debatable exactly which recipe belongs in which book and how much of each kind of dish belongs in each book. An editor-class of problem more than an author-class of problem. I can find no author-class problems to complain about, so far, which is impressive.
However, some (most?) of the recipes in the first veg cookbook are both healthier and probably cheaper than some of the recipes in the poverty cookbook. (some are the same, at first glance)
And re categorizing the other way, aside from offending vegetarians, in a first cookbook, it wouldn't hurt to transplant the roast chicken from the poverty book into the first cookbook. Other than cross contamination its pretty hard to screw up a roasted chicken, so its a good place for kitchen noobs to start.
On a small scale, all appears awesome, only on a larger scale is it debatable exactly which recipe belongs in which book and how much of each kind of dish belongs in each book. An editor-class of problem more than an author-class of problem. I can find no author-class problems to complain about, so far, which is impressive.
> As a criticism (and a minor one) decades ago I worked thru school at a retail food store and WIC program women would come in with a long list of very specific required products. [...] My point with this anecdote is coordination with that program might help guide further recipes in the book, assuming it hasn't already been done to maximal ability. Perhaps similar coordination with food banks to match whats typically donated with recipe ingredient lists.
WIC is a federal-state partnership program, and the specific requirements are set by each state WIC program within federal guidelines. So, sure, it would be nice to have cookbooks that were coordinated with each state's WIC program, but its really not reasonable to expect someone to do that in a free cookbook offered as part of a degree project. Donations to food banks vary even more than state-level WIC requirements, and so present an even more dramatic version of the same problem.
WIC is a federal-state partnership program, and the specific requirements are set by each state WIC program within federal guidelines. So, sure, it would be nice to have cookbooks that were coordinated with each state's WIC program, but its really not reasonable to expect someone to do that in a free cookbook offered as part of a degree project. Donations to food banks vary even more than state-level WIC requirements, and so present an even more dramatic version of the same problem.
"it would be nice to have cookbooks that were coordinated with each state's ..."
That sounds like a computationally difficult, yet possible, "hard" problem. Sounds very "start-uppy" to me.
We already have book-on-demand, more or less, we need content-on-demand, and it sounds like an interesting startup.
I want a "upper-midwest" "cost is not much of a concern" "paleo-ish" hypercustomized cookbook. So given my tags a hundred or so recipes his the B-O-D printer and its under my christmas tree. My sister in law on the other hand is Kale Krazy so her tags would be similar region of the country, and every recipe must contain Kale, and like my son she's medically allergic to soy so cross all of those out, and she likes Dancing with the Stars (well, there's no accounting for taste) so thats where the background art in the cookbook will come from. And a hypercustomized B-O-D printer squirts out a cookbook for her under the christmas tree.
If its a success, I could see major publishers getting "interested" in turning it into a division of their own as an exit strategy.
Sounds easy to screw up and difficult to get right. Got startup written all over it.
That sounds like a computationally difficult, yet possible, "hard" problem. Sounds very "start-uppy" to me.
We already have book-on-demand, more or less, we need content-on-demand, and it sounds like an interesting startup.
I want a "upper-midwest" "cost is not much of a concern" "paleo-ish" hypercustomized cookbook. So given my tags a hundred or so recipes his the B-O-D printer and its under my christmas tree. My sister in law on the other hand is Kale Krazy so her tags would be similar region of the country, and every recipe must contain Kale, and like my son she's medically allergic to soy so cross all of those out, and she likes Dancing with the Stars (well, there's no accounting for taste) so thats where the background art in the cookbook will come from. And a hypercustomized B-O-D printer squirts out a cookbook for her under the christmas tree.
If its a success, I could see major publishers getting "interested" in turning it into a division of their own as an exit strategy.
Sounds easy to screw up and difficult to get right. Got startup written all over it.
Do yourself a favor, learn to cook yourself as healthy as possible. Will help for finances and lifestyle considerably during your years in college.
On the same site the author has a vegetarian cookbook targeted at people "people just becoming comfortable in their own kitchens".
http://www.leannebrown.ca/cookbooks/
http://www.leannebrown.ca/cookbooks/
I would simply caution that $4/day is an on-spec ingredient pricing[0] and does not account for actual cost to make these meals. A trained cook in a professional kitchen could do it, given the acess to storage and ability to re-use ingredients via a well-structured menu. But the paid-for overhead would be masking a variety of costs that weigh heavy on the target audience.
> Frequent re-supply and cost-effective quality control of ingredients
> Zero-cost re-application and limited spoilage of non-consumed minium purhcase portions
> Abundant prep space, intermediate storage/refrigeration, and sanitary control
===============
Quickly glancing this book, Kale Salad on p 16
Hidden costs: Most of the nutritional of this salad comes from dried bread (1/2 loaf), leaving (1/2 loaf) in the pantry. Likewise, Fresh parmesean ($10/lb+up), anchovies ($2/tin), and dijon mustard ($3/per) leave most of their value in the pantry as well.
Hidden Nutrition: Most of the calories for the salad come from the bread, not the kale. Meanwhile, a 15% protein diet needs ~70-80g protein a day/person[4]. The only material protein in this "dinner" salad is 1 egg yolk, and 1 anchovie split by 2x people. That is 3-4g of protein per head, when a typical dinner should have ~30g (off by an order of magnitude). Twice as much protein actually hides in the cheese garnish. But to increase the protein to reasonable levels, Its tempting to double or tripple portion the cheese...thus driving up the food cost of the recipe. 4 oz of fresh-grated parmesan is at least $2.50. That would give you 25g protein/head out of the meal, but the cost for the salad would be $8 for 2x portions, blowing the daily budget in just one meal.
In any event, this is an increasingly interesting area for cooks and food authors[3].
[0] http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-Yields-Purchasing-Professiona...
[1] Assume 2000 kcal/day, 15%=300kcal. 80g protein is 320kcal, 70g is 280.
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Monroe
> Frequent re-supply and cost-effective quality control of ingredients
> Zero-cost re-application and limited spoilage of non-consumed minium purhcase portions
> Abundant prep space, intermediate storage/refrigeration, and sanitary control
===============
Quickly glancing this book, Kale Salad on p 16
Hidden costs: Most of the nutritional of this salad comes from dried bread (1/2 loaf), leaving (1/2 loaf) in the pantry. Likewise, Fresh parmesean ($10/lb+up), anchovies ($2/tin), and dijon mustard ($3/per) leave most of their value in the pantry as well.
Hidden Nutrition: Most of the calories for the salad come from the bread, not the kale. Meanwhile, a 15% protein diet needs ~70-80g protein a day/person[4]. The only material protein in this "dinner" salad is 1 egg yolk, and 1 anchovie split by 2x people. That is 3-4g of protein per head, when a typical dinner should have ~30g (off by an order of magnitude). Twice as much protein actually hides in the cheese garnish. But to increase the protein to reasonable levels, Its tempting to double or tripple portion the cheese...thus driving up the food cost of the recipe. 4 oz of fresh-grated parmesan is at least $2.50. That would give you 25g protein/head out of the meal, but the cost for the salad would be $8 for 2x portions, blowing the daily budget in just one meal.
In any event, this is an increasingly interesting area for cooks and food authors[3].
[0] http://www.amazon.com/The-Book-Yields-Purchasing-Professiona...
[1] Assume 2000 kcal/day, 15%=300kcal. 80g protein is 320kcal, 70g is 280.
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Monroe
I'm inclined to agree with you, but various hyperboles in your comment make it harder to do so. Some points you make are made by the author in the introduction, which also reduces my confidence in your criticisms.
p.5, emphasis added:
> This isn’t a typical budget cookbook, nor is it a nutritional guide, it’s a collection of recipes that happen to be inexpensive. Pricy ingredients are wonderful, but so are cheap ones—in fact most of our favorite foods can be had for pennies—the raw ingredients don’t cost much. Your time and skill add the value.
p. 9, emphasis added:
> In order to encourage fruit and vegetable consumption, the recipes do not feature large amounts of meat. Many recipe collections created for the American audience use meat as the central feature of most meals. My recipes celebrate the vegetables rather than the meat.
The $4/day figure is from SNAP, and so only represents food costs anyway -- yes, obviously labor costs matter too, but SNAP isn't very fungible. Few of the recipes really require much in the way of equipment or space. It's safe to assume that the typical American family in poverty has a refrigerator, stove, and microwave [0].
Regarding your analysis of kale salad, I'm unclear why you imply the value of the other half of the loaf of bread, the rest of the cheese, and etc., are lost. The author addresses minimum buying requirements by recommending that people amortize the cost of expensive ingredients. (All of the expensive ingredients in this particular recipe remain unspoiled for months, and in particular the cheese has an exceptionally graceful failure mode.) On a different note, the protein RDA for an adult male (female) is 56g (46g), not 70-80g [1].
You really lost me when you tried to double or triple the cheese. Have you ever tried to eat 4 oz of parm at once? Gross.
To recap, I think it's easy to inflate the "actual cost" of any meal when one fails to amortize costs (of all sorts) and assume unused ingredients are never eaten. I feel that the cookbook represents a meaningful and feasible improvement in the average quality of the American diet in general.
[0] http://www.census.gov/hhes/well-being/publications/extended-...
[1] http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/protein.html
p.5, emphasis added:
> This isn’t a typical budget cookbook, nor is it a nutritional guide, it’s a collection of recipes that happen to be inexpensive. Pricy ingredients are wonderful, but so are cheap ones—in fact most of our favorite foods can be had for pennies—the raw ingredients don’t cost much. Your time and skill add the value.
p. 9, emphasis added:
> In order to encourage fruit and vegetable consumption, the recipes do not feature large amounts of meat. Many recipe collections created for the American audience use meat as the central feature of most meals. My recipes celebrate the vegetables rather than the meat.
The $4/day figure is from SNAP, and so only represents food costs anyway -- yes, obviously labor costs matter too, but SNAP isn't very fungible. Few of the recipes really require much in the way of equipment or space. It's safe to assume that the typical American family in poverty has a refrigerator, stove, and microwave [0].
Regarding your analysis of kale salad, I'm unclear why you imply the value of the other half of the loaf of bread, the rest of the cheese, and etc., are lost. The author addresses minimum buying requirements by recommending that people amortize the cost of expensive ingredients. (All of the expensive ingredients in this particular recipe remain unspoiled for months, and in particular the cheese has an exceptionally graceful failure mode.) On a different note, the protein RDA for an adult male (female) is 56g (46g), not 70-80g [1].
You really lost me when you tried to double or triple the cheese. Have you ever tried to eat 4 oz of parm at once? Gross.
To recap, I think it's easy to inflate the "actual cost" of any meal when one fails to amortize costs (of all sorts) and assume unused ingredients are never eaten. I feel that the cookbook represents a meaningful and feasible improvement in the average quality of the American diet in general.
[0] http://www.census.gov/hhes/well-being/publications/extended-...
[1] http://www.cdc.gov/nutrition/everyone/basics/protein.html
This is a lot of pedantic "correction". My basic point remains
(1) If I source the ingredients to "kale salad" at retail, it doesn't make the budget.
(2) If I eat 1/2 of it for dinner, its not a meal.
You can argue all you want about caveats, but people in the market for $4/day food are going to be reading for things at face value. I understand the market is not people like me--but then again, I've actually food-costed somewhat extenstively. One of the lessons of that exercise is that making a nuturtionally unsound "meal" is trivial and doing it "cheap" is even moreso. Brushing aside the major constraints of the exercise is missing the point.
The comment about parmesean is also telling. Retail for fresh parmsean--which I assume is $10--is more realistically higher. And 4 oz split 2 ways is 2oz/head. While you might "gag" at this, its not uncommon for a risotto finish to be 1/oz a person. And decent product is quite fine to eat 'straight', its quite normal actually. Parm is actually a generous assumption here because its protein density is so high per/oz. But that is precisely why it is a costly ingredient.
Lastly, pantry items are not "lost"--another mis-understanding. The issue is that they have spoilage and a cost-of carry that is not insignificant. A pro-kitchen can cost these out as overhead. A consumer kitchen on a real budget needs to pony up the working capital, and then needs to keep a speadsheet of inventory to re-use the ingredients. EG, we have 3/4 of a anchovies pack and 1 egg white now in the fridge...where does that go? In a resturaunt it will get used with 100% certainty...and most trained chefs will easily find a way manage that. Most people trying to slog out $4/day migh not have a plan for what to do with "pantry leftovers" in the same way. This is quite common affliction for people who don't cook regularly--eg college students, people with irregular schedules--etc. This is another reason why many avoid "scratch" cooking altogether as a strategy to "save money", because of food wastage issues.
Lastly, fresh ingredients are in fact quite expensive. How many calories are in an 8oz container of mushrooms? 100? for $2? A jar of Pickles? A $4/day book needs to average 500 calories per dollar. Whilst this is easy with starch, and with flour/bread, its not so easy with other types of "fresh food". Proteins and decent vegetables in particular.
Lastly, in any kind of urban environment this is doubly so. Outside of chinatown or the mission, even at farmers markets, the prices for fresh foods are typically marked up quite a bit more than preserved foods. Again, this issue is not faced by a resturaunt cook, but it is faced by the home cook who has to pay transit/taxi or time to go shopping to source ingredients in a way which makes efficient use of working capital.
None of this is personally directed at the author--it's more the nature of this exercise is that many published works in this class take certain amounts of privledge for granted.
(1) If I source the ingredients to "kale salad" at retail, it doesn't make the budget.
(2) If I eat 1/2 of it for dinner, its not a meal.
You can argue all you want about caveats, but people in the market for $4/day food are going to be reading for things at face value. I understand the market is not people like me--but then again, I've actually food-costed somewhat extenstively. One of the lessons of that exercise is that making a nuturtionally unsound "meal" is trivial and doing it "cheap" is even moreso. Brushing aside the major constraints of the exercise is missing the point.
The comment about parmesean is also telling. Retail for fresh parmsean--which I assume is $10--is more realistically higher. And 4 oz split 2 ways is 2oz/head. While you might "gag" at this, its not uncommon for a risotto finish to be 1/oz a person. And decent product is quite fine to eat 'straight', its quite normal actually. Parm is actually a generous assumption here because its protein density is so high per/oz. But that is precisely why it is a costly ingredient.
Lastly, pantry items are not "lost"--another mis-understanding. The issue is that they have spoilage and a cost-of carry that is not insignificant. A pro-kitchen can cost these out as overhead. A consumer kitchen on a real budget needs to pony up the working capital, and then needs to keep a speadsheet of inventory to re-use the ingredients. EG, we have 3/4 of a anchovies pack and 1 egg white now in the fridge...where does that go? In a resturaunt it will get used with 100% certainty...and most trained chefs will easily find a way manage that. Most people trying to slog out $4/day migh not have a plan for what to do with "pantry leftovers" in the same way. This is quite common affliction for people who don't cook regularly--eg college students, people with irregular schedules--etc. This is another reason why many avoid "scratch" cooking altogether as a strategy to "save money", because of food wastage issues.
Lastly, fresh ingredients are in fact quite expensive. How many calories are in an 8oz container of mushrooms? 100? for $2? A jar of Pickles? A $4/day book needs to average 500 calories per dollar. Whilst this is easy with starch, and with flour/bread, its not so easy with other types of "fresh food". Proteins and decent vegetables in particular.
Lastly, in any kind of urban environment this is doubly so. Outside of chinatown or the mission, even at farmers markets, the prices for fresh foods are typically marked up quite a bit more than preserved foods. Again, this issue is not faced by a resturaunt cook, but it is faced by the home cook who has to pay transit/taxi or time to go shopping to source ingredients in a way which makes efficient use of working capital.
None of this is personally directed at the author--it's more the nature of this exercise is that many published works in this class take certain amounts of privledge for granted.
> (1) If I source the ingredients to "kale salad" at retail, it doesn't make the budget.
This isn't actually a point you made. You never questioned the author's pricing scheme (which would have been a good point, by the way -- her methodology is n=4).
> (2) If I eat 1/2 of it for dinner, its [sic] not a meal.
It is completely common for people to eat salads of this size and this protein content (before doubling or trebling the cheese) as a meal that is also a part of a healthy diet.
I'm not really sure what to make of the rest of your comments. There's some good points here somewhere...?
This isn't actually a point you made. You never questioned the author's pricing scheme (which would have been a good point, by the way -- her methodology is n=4).
> (2) If I eat 1/2 of it for dinner, its [sic] not a meal.
It is completely common for people to eat salads of this size and this protein content (before doubling or trebling the cheese) as a meal that is also a part of a healthy diet.
I'm not really sure what to make of the rest of your comments. There's some good points here somewhere...?
Eating a dinner with (lets call it) 8g of protein leaves you to source (lest call it 60/per day) 52g of protein in breakfast and dinner.
Lets say our bunhc of kale is $3, bread $4 other stuff is "free". This leaves us with $7/2=$3.50 food cost. So we get about $1 to split for extra stuff for lunch. We can easily make egg/toast for breakfast, for $.50 cents (egg and a tbsp of jam), and get 5g protein. So now, we need to eat our lunch: 1/3 loaf of bread, 3/4 jar of sardines, and some mustard. Mix in the olive oil and its a reasonable amount of food. But there is only 15g of protein /per 100g in preserved anchovies. So, lunch plus breakfast is ~20g and 1/2 salad is 8g, total of 28... In other words, you are missing your protein intake by 50%. So, the price for eating kale salad while sticking to $4/day--even with generous assumptions--is that the rest of your meals need to make up for it. This is only realistic with a certain level of culinary sophistication. The type of basic re-purposing of ingredients illustrated above is much more likely in reality. And the tradeoffs there are you have to stomach a sandwich that some may condsider an aquited taste (although with 1/2 a lemon and some parsely not so bad) for lunch. But the real issue is scalability ans sustainability: over time missing 30g protein a day...is no problem for one day...but it is a problem as a lifestyle.
If you have the skills/education and priveledges needed to access cost-effective fresh ingredients, whilst maintaining an active pantry...and/or you are the type of person to do spreadsheets of food cost...life isn't so hard...but one is assuming away many of the difficulties that face the $4/day folks on food-stamps, IMHO.
Lets say our bunhc of kale is $3, bread $4 other stuff is "free". This leaves us with $7/2=$3.50 food cost. So we get about $1 to split for extra stuff for lunch. We can easily make egg/toast for breakfast, for $.50 cents (egg and a tbsp of jam), and get 5g protein. So now, we need to eat our lunch: 1/3 loaf of bread, 3/4 jar of sardines, and some mustard. Mix in the olive oil and its a reasonable amount of food. But there is only 15g of protein /per 100g in preserved anchovies. So, lunch plus breakfast is ~20g and 1/2 salad is 8g, total of 28... In other words, you are missing your protein intake by 50%. So, the price for eating kale salad while sticking to $4/day--even with generous assumptions--is that the rest of your meals need to make up for it. This is only realistic with a certain level of culinary sophistication. The type of basic re-purposing of ingredients illustrated above is much more likely in reality. And the tradeoffs there are you have to stomach a sandwich that some may condsider an aquited taste (although with 1/2 a lemon and some parsely not so bad) for lunch. But the real issue is scalability ans sustainability: over time missing 30g protein a day...is no problem for one day...but it is a problem as a lifestyle.
If you have the skills/education and priveledges needed to access cost-effective fresh ingredients, whilst maintaining an active pantry...and/or you are the type of person to do spreadsheets of food cost...life isn't so hard...but one is assuming away many of the difficulties that face the $4/day folks on food-stamps, IMHO.
These are amazing looking cookbooks! I love the layout and photography. I am going to have to try a couple recipes! Congratulations on publishing!
Thank you for this. It is very helpful to think of all the combinations I can make cheaply or quickly, with only a few ingredients. Reminds me that we don't need to go overboard to make something tasty.
4$ is expensive.
I eat only white bread and cheese. Sometimes with a tomato. Those are the only things that parents buy. (Also meats but i'm vegetarian).
Potatoes are good and cheap (0.3$ per kg), but:
- I won't eat anything that I touched with bare hands, so I would have to buy some single-use gloves.
- Right now I don't have my own pot. And I'm saving for a phone so I don't want to spend 10$.
- It takes more than hour to prepare them.
I recently added multivitamin tablets to diet. Almost all vitamins, for 0.1$ per day.
I eat only white bread and cheese. Sometimes with a tomato. Those are the only things that parents buy. (Also meats but i'm vegetarian).
Potatoes are good and cheap (0.3$ per kg), but:
- I won't eat anything that I touched with bare hands, so I would have to buy some single-use gloves.
- Right now I don't have my own pot. And I'm saving for a phone so I don't want to spend 10$.
- It takes more than hour to prepare them.
I recently added multivitamin tablets to diet. Almost all vitamins, for 0.1$ per day.
what? i'm having a hard time even understanding what's going on here. there's no logic behind not eating anything that you touched with your own hands, doubly so when they're to be cooked. you need your own pot to boil water in? potatoes take some time but not an hour. multivitamins aren't a replacement for a poor diet.
This looks really good. I'm currently eating for 5-6$ a day and am vegan so I'm looking forward to trying this out.
I came across this site years ago (http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/) and it serves the same group. Easy recipes, as low cost as possible to feed familes.
This is useful, but a good portion of these recipes aren't useable in an office environment. Curious if anyone has something similar, but where are you limited to, at most, a microwave and/or toaster oven.
making a large quantity of burritos at once can be inexpensive, last a long time and they're easy to heat up in the microwave. salads are easy to make at the office as are sandwiches. most leftovers from home can be brought in. i guess i've never seen the office as a place to get your cook on.
Nutritional info would be helpful.
... although telling people to caramelize onions as part of a snack is some kind of evil.
I get a 403 on Good and Cheap pdf.
Try this one: https://googledrive.com/host/0Bxd6wdCBD_2tdUdtM0d4WTJmclU/be...
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Thanks
That's a very good idea!
Do u already have complementary cooking resources; powder, garlic, oil etc? These often overlooked in a buck a day meals.
One thing with western dishes is the attempt to give food an aesthetic appeal. In places where people live on a dollar a day, they tend to be more concerned with getting full and not the appealing or garnished outlook of food.
Also, in places like Africa,food is stored! I cant emphasize this more. A peanut soup or chicken soup could last a span of 3 days to a week. It cab be served with rice, bread, or other dough meals. After taking servings, the soup is warmed and placed back in the fridge and can be eaten another day. This to me is what frugal cooking is. It is easier to tweak frugal eating this way than shopping fresh groceries every other day.
NB: Pardon my incoherence :)