How to Eat Healthy on $5.00 a Day: Day 5

Well, we made it to Friday. Were we hungrier than usual during this experiment? Yes. However, I didn’t think about snacking in between meals….it’s just that I was famished when it came time to make each one.

I’ll admit, this was a brain drain. I enjoy planning menus and recipes but weighing quantities and doing the math, that’s what hurt my head so much! Still, Bill and I made it through our challenge of trying to spend only $5.00 per person, per day, except where we went over budget. After all, as I disclaimed in my introductory post, this was an experiment.

While we may not have eaten as much in quantity that we usually do, and we certainly missed enjoying wine with dinner, I think we ate pretty well overall. For a recap of each day, check out the results from Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, and Day 4.

Here’s what we ate on Day 5:

Breakfast

Remember the bratwursts Bill bought last weekend at the winter market? We’ve been enjoying them, one by one, throughout the week. When we made the Lavash Pizza with Bratwurst and Kale on Day 2, we cooked the last bratwurst and stuck it in the fridge. And, voila, there it was waiting for us this morning to mix with scrambled eggs for breakfast!

Lunch

There’s nothing like a big vat of Cuban Black Beans to provide sustenance throughout the week. After enjoying them for dinner on Day 3, they’ve been waiting in the fridge to accompany our lunch today:  Quesadillas with onions and red peppers. I heated up some olive oil in a skillet and added the leftover brown rice and black beans, smashing the beans in the pan to refry them.

Dinner

Ah, how I love my Crock-Pot! Almost every family I knew growing up in the 1970s had one. And they are still popular today. I got my first one over 30 years ago. This is the answer to the busy cook’s dilemma. You can cook many things in a Crock-Pot, especially if you have a wonderful cookbook with recipes specifically for this slow-cooking appliance. Or, simply Google the web and you’ll find recipes galore.

I decided to make Split Pea Soup in our Crock-Pot, letting it slow-cook for ten hours. This was a satisfying one-dish meal after having a fairly large lunch.

Observations

• We came in under budget today!
• Again, meat seems to be one of the items that hikes up our costs so it seems prudent to limit it throughout the week. Healthwise, I’m not concerned about eating meat because all of ours comes from animals that are pastured or grassfed on local farms by people we know.
• Legumes and rice (no surprise) are the bargain foods that are also loaded with fiber and nutrients. I think about three-quarters of the world eats them. They are readily available and you can make them in a variety of recipes.

Here’s a slideshow of the ingredients we used and meals we ate this week. I look forward to hearing about your adventures in eating healthy—and cheap!

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