Eat on $30: Day 1

I started out documenting everything we ate today, but then it occurred to me that maybe that information would be totally uninteresting to a reader. So, in a nutshell, for breakfast I made some coconut rice pudding using leftover rice and a can of coconut milk that’s been in my cupboard since the beginning of time; for lunch I had an almond butter and blackberry jam sandwich; for a snack I made some less-than-stellar rotis out of leftover dal and some whole wheat flour; and dinner was a version of my tuna casserole using only ingredients I had on hand (so no fresh cremini mushrooms or lemon juice). In total, I spent zero dollars because I still haven’t had to go to the store.

You might be saying to yourself, “Hey, they had tuna casserole for dinner and they said they were going vegetarian for the week!” Well, we had a heart-to-heart yesterday, and Erik told me he really doesn’t want to go veg--at least not all at once--so I’m going to try to include some meats in my shopping budget for this week. I really don’t know how plausible it is for two people to eat on $30 a week, including meat, but we’ll see. I made a commitment and I’m sticking to it.


Coconut Rice Pudding

Ingredients

1 1/4 c cooked rice
1 can unsweetened light coconut milk
1/4 c sugar
1 cinnamon stick
5-6 cardamom pods
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients except the vanilla in a saucepan; bring to a boil, then lower heat to a simmer. Add vanilla extract. Cook until most of the liquid is absorbed. Eat hot or chill in the fridge first.


TOTAL
Spent: $0.00
Left: $30.00


So far, so good.