Monday night at dinner she stole some snuggle time with Nana. They read all of Nana's books at least twice.
Tuesday morning after breakfast we took a few pictures to send to Daddy at work and she got a little goofy with me.
And last night at Grandmother and Papaw's she sat in Daddy's lap while he played video games.
After her bath she always lets me fix her hair now and yesterday I managed to keep her still long enough for French braided pigtails. She left them alone all day and by evening she had beautiful wavy hair. She has this blonde streak down the back... I have no idea where it came from but it's so pretty.
Changing gears, how many of you have experience living on a tight food budget. I feel like most of us have probably been there before whether you were a college kid living on ramen noodles and canned beans or a small family living on a single income and trying to still feed the kids balanced meals.
September is Hunger Action Month according to Feeding America. SNAP, supplemental nutrition assistance program, is the new name for food stamps. SNAP attempts to supplement the food budget of low income families. I say attempts because I was shocked to find out that the benefits average out to $1.50 per person, per meal! That is outrageous! For many of these families SNAP benefits are the only food they have, all of their money is allocated to pay bills and fuel their vehicles.
I found out about this through Beth of Budget Bytes who is preparing to take the SNAP challenge for all of September. From what I've read on the Feeding America website the challenge was actually set up for last year, 2013, but I think the rules are still the same. You get a budget of $1.50 per person, per meal and keep track of your spending using your shopping receipts. For a family of three my budget will be $94.50 for the week of the challenge, September 15-21. You can't use food you already had in your pantry or food given to you by family or friends. The point is to experience what life is like living on SNAP benefits alone. Most families on SNAP have spent all of their benefits by 3/4 of the way through the month, meaning that for a little over a week out of each month they are starving.
So readers, please tell me what you spend on food each week or month. If you have a tight budget how do you decide on your menu and which products to buy?
I'll let you know on September 14 what the menu will be for the week of the challenge and I'll share my receipts and spending with you. I'll also keep you updated on our progress throughout the week. For all I know we'll be starving by Wednesday. I encourage you to try the challenge also. Can you live on $4.50 per day?
Here's this week's menu.
Monday:
Breakfast- blueberry smoothies
Lunch- jambalaya
Dinner- Pioneer Woman's baked ziti, salad, and garlic toast with Yaya and Nana
Tuesday:
Breakfast- chocolate chip muffins
Lunch- jambalaya
Dinner- chicken quesadillas with black beans and cilantro lime rice
Wednesday:
Breakfast- cinnamon roll casserole
Lunch- leftover chicken quesadillas
Dinner- buffalo chicken pasta bake, salad, and Hawaiian rolls
Thursday:
Breakfast- cinnamon raisin bagels with honey walnut cream cheese
Lunch- leftover buffalo chicken pasta
Dinner- pizza lasagna rolls, salad, and garlic toast
Friday:
Breakfast- scrambled eggs and toast
Lunch- leftover lasagna rolls
Dinner- brown sugar spiced baked chicken, baked beans, macaroni and cheese, salad, and Hawaiian rolls
Saturday:
Breakfast- sausage, gravy, and biscuits
Lunch- leftovers
Dinner- loaded potato and buffalo chicken casserole, salad, honey yeast knots
Sunday:
Breakfast- chicken biscuits
Lunch- leftovers
Dinner- Admiral will provide dinner
No comments:
Post a Comment