Learning to Get Creative

CFC Day 2:

Breakfast: 6oz low-fat yogurt w/ 8 blackberries = $1.04
Lunch: Penne (½ cup), pasta sauce (2oz) and 1 chicken tender = $1.65
Snack: n/a
Dinner: Whole grain pita with hummus, chicken, feta, green onions, and cucumbers = $1.74

Daily Total = $4.41 = 1,443 calories

Challenges: I skipped my afternoon snack today so I would have more wiggle room to budget my dinner. I ended up going over the daily allotment by $.03 and realized how much every single item counts. Normally, when making meals, I tend to snack on the veggies as I chop them but I knew that if I did that, I would not have any to put on my pita. My self-control was definitely tested. 

Lessons Learned: I found myself becoming very creative with the ingredients I had. Instead of looking up recipes that may require me to go out and purchase additional items, I just took a look at what I had and chose to go with a Greek theme and just threw this together. A week ago, I probably would have purchased an item such as my pita creation for $5+ on the go. Now that I know I can make one for under $2, this will be added to my weekly lunch schedule. Plus, I made an additional one for lunch tomorrow!  

Nutritional Information Courtesy of MyFitnessPal App

Blog entry from Jaqueline Hess from Feeding America San Diego. Jacqueline is taking the CalFresh Challenge for the entire month of September! To access all her entries, you can visit her site here.