My goal, between now and the end of the year, is to spend only $5 per week on food.

Can I do it? We will soon find out.

Why the strict budget? Well, my income went down and now I’m finding out I can still pay all my bills (that’s good) but I will have to choose between firewood and food (not so good.) As it gets really cold here in the mountains, I definitely want to buy the firewood. A nice young man comes by and dumps the wood, a cord at a time, in my front yard right in front of the flower bed. We pay him $190 for all his labor, and usually need more than a cord per month once winter gets rolling.

I have a lot of food stored up here. I have canned foods I almost never touch. I was saving them for an emergency. They’re about a year old now and I really should consume them and then replace the stored items when I’m feeling more prosperous. I’ve also got lots of stored beans and rice, and other dry foods… you know, flours and things like that. I think this will serve to sustain me.

I’m nearly through consuming all the vegetables from my summer garden. I need to plant a winter garden soon… but that won’t suffice for this six-week budgeting experience. Therefore I expect that some of the weekly shopping money will be spent on vegetables. I’ll also need to buy tortillas, though if need be I can make them.

One thing I’m giving up entirely is bread. All it does is make me fat and fill me with candida. It may be the primary reason why I’ve had trouble losing weight. Whoever said bread is the “staff of life” really hooked me. All these years I thought of bread as essential… but no more. The supermarket here sells quality bread (the only kind I’d eat) for $4.50 a loaf. Obviously that will be too much for my $5 per week food budget. I’d rather spend my money on other things.

Another thing I’ll have to give up is my beloved Clif Bars. I’ve been buying them for breakfasts and snacks for a couple years now, and I’ll sure miss them. But at $1.50 a pop, I just can’t afford them now. I’ll probably make myself bowls of oatmeal to get the same effect without the high cost.

I’ll post my results after my first weekly shopping trip.

Oh, I also should mention — I will no longer go into town more often than once weekly to pick up mail and get groceries. Staying away from shopping areas is sure to help keep me from spending money!

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Now for a word on what I’m eating today. I recently bought a rice steamer and I’m just loving it! I make brown rice with lentils (2 cups rice, one cup lentils) in the bottom of the steamer and put vegetables in the steamer tray on top. This week the veggies were potatoes and carrots. I take the resulting rice/lentils/veggies and fry them in a bit of olive oil, adding garlic powder, pepper, turmeric and ginger. This goes into a warm tortilla with fresh diced onion and a bit of hot sauce. A delicious, healthy and filling meal. Very vegan!