Some Things I Want You to Know

This is what the grapefruit skin looks like after it's dried out. 

I've finished my first month and am going to keep going. Amazingly, I have just under $20. leftover. I was so nervous about running out of money, I got tighter and tighter with it as time went on. I guess I could have bought the almond butter I so wanted and missed!

Some things I want you to know:

I'm not trying to see how cheaply I can eat.
I understand that not everyone has a full kitchen or kitchen equipment.
I know that I have the skills to create recipes and not everyone else does.
I know that not everyone has access to real food.
I know that most people think cooking takes more time than ordering.
I know that I can take sugar packets and soy sauce packets and mustard packets from fast food joints. That's not part of my plan.

What I would do differently:
I would buy herb plants and in the spring would grow as much food as possible.
I would be more organized.
I would think about shopping and cooking in terms of a whole month, rather than what I have been doing (my whole life) which is thinking one meal at a time or at best, four dinners at a time.
I would make more soup and I would make it sooner. I would freeze more so I would have more variety.
I would use Bounty Bucks right away.
I would shop (almost) solely based on what was on sale, would have purchased more quantity in the beginning.

Cooking on a SNAP budget is really hard but - if you have the will and the access- it can be done.