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Tuesday, August 23, 2022
The Observer & Baker City Herald
Steve Mellon/Pittsburgh Post-Gazette-TNS
Piled on the kitchen table of food writer Gretchen McKay are more than 60 ingredients that she purchased for less than $200. The ingredients will be used to provide a week’s worth of meals for a family of four.
Budget meals
T
The challenge: One week of
meals, from scratch, for a
family of 4 for less than $200
By GRETCHEN McKAY • Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
here’s no getting around this simple and unpalatable fact: It’s pretty stressful to go grocery shopping these days.
Thanks to the skyrocketing cost of inflation — which climbed to a 40-year record high of 9.1% in June compared to last year — food has
never been more expensive.
The price of pantry staples such as bread and cereal has jumped nearly 14%, according to the Consumer Price Index, and dairy products are not
far behind, costing an average of 13.5% more than a year ago. The price of meat, poultry, fish and eggs will also leave a shopper reeling from sticker
shock, and don’t even get me started on what a bag of Lay’s potato chips will set you back these days.
As the Post-Gazette’s food editor, my job is to cook —
a lot. And while I try (really) hard to choose recipes that
are as easy for the average cook as they are inspirational
and great tasting, it’s gotten considerably tougher in recent
months to also make them 100% affordable. Having raised
five kids, including three always-hungry sons, I know first-
hand how expensive three meals a day can be for a family
in good economic times. I can’t imagine doing it today,
especially when the cost of everything else we need on a
daily basis is rising, too.
The challenge
Yet I’m also a problem-solver who has penny-pinched
at meal time for decades. So I decided to make myself this
challenge: Prepare a week’s worth of meals for a family of
four, completely from scratch, for around $200.
Why that number? The USDA’s Supplemental Nutri-
tion Assistance Program currently allots $215.10 a week to
a four-person household to cover the cost of groceries nec-
essary to provide a “healthy, budget-conscious diet” under
its official Thrifty Food Plan. I wanted to know what that
would buy you and whether you could make three squares
a day taste good on a budget.
To accomplish that goal, I set some parameters. I’d do
one marathon shopping session to save on both time and
the crazy cost of gas. And I’d do so at a discount grocery to
assure I was getting the most bang for the buck.
Still …
I’m not going to lie. Even with all my experience and
excess storage (I have two refrigerators and a huge walk-in
pantry), coming up with a grocery list and nutritious rec-
ipes to feed a family of four for an entire week wasn’t easy.
It certainly took time, along with some math skills to break
it all down and figure out what ingredients were as afford-
able as they were easy to prepare for the average cook —
and what had to be left off the list.
To my surprise — and delight — my bill was $198.14.
And that included a brownie mix, a fresh pineapple,
English muffins, green chile salsa, a box of (real) Corn
Flakes and some chocolate-covered almonds I tossed in the
cart on a whim because they were so cheap. I had so much,
I had to supplement the four reusable bags I’d brought with
three 12-cent paper bags sold at checkout — and still ended
up under budget.
Menu planning
For advice on how to devise a healthful menu before
that marathon shopping trip, I turned to cookbook author
and registered dietitian and nutritionist Ellie Krieger.
Kelsey Hutter, a registered dietitian with Allegheny Health
Network, also weighed in.
Meat can stretch the budget, so both suggested building
at least a few recipes around plant-based proteins such
as tofu, peanut butter, lentils, or canned or dried beans,
which are nutrient-rich and full of heart-healthy fiber and
antioxidants.
“I would look at all different varieties and go with
what’s on sale, and then substitute them in a dish” like chili
or burgers, Krieger says.
Eggs are another good budget item — especially for
breakfast — along with frozen vegetables, which, because
they’re flash-frozen at harvest, are just as healthful as fresh
cooked (although the texture may be different), says Hutter.
Frozen fruit, which makes superior smoothies and is
wonderful on top of yogurt, is another smart buy. Not only
is it much less expensive than fresh, but also it reduces
waste because it’s not going to rot when you forget about it
in your refrigerator.
Something as simple as brown rice is perfectly nutri-
tious as are oats and canned fish. Krieger, for instance,
likes to use canned tuna in water for sandwiches and tuna
in oil for salads “because I can use the oil in the can as my
dressing.”
Pasta is another great choice that’s shelf stable. Pair it
with a homemade sauce made from canned tomatoes or
toss it with frozen veggies for a quick and low-cost stir-fry.
Also, grains like rice can help stretch out a meal.
“You have to change your mindset that ‘healthy’ is
expensive, so why bother,” says Krieger. “You just have to
be strategic about it.”
Shopping tips
Take an inventory of your pantry and fridge before
shopping so you don’t end up buying what you already
have.
See, Meals/Page B2
Cool down with cucumber soup
By LINDA GASSENHEIMER
Tribune News Service
C
ucumbers and
cooked shrimp make
a cool and refreshing
summer soup. No cooking
is needed. The entire soup
is made in a food processor
or blender and takes about
10 minutes, start to finish.
You can serve it right away
at room temperature. Or,
if you want to serve it very
cold, fill a large bowl with
ice water. Add the cumber
soup to a smaller bowl and
nest it in the ice water. Stir
to help the cooling.
Helpful Hints
• You can find cooked
shrimp in the frozen section
of the market. It takes about
5 minutes to defrost in a
bowl of water.
• The recipe uses a small
amount of chicken broth.
Freeze the remaining broth
for another time.
• You can use any type
of bread.
Countdown
• Prepare all ingredients.
• Make the soup.
• Toast the slices of bread.
Shopping List
• To buy: 2 cucumbers,
1 loaf whole wheat coun-
try-style bread, 1 container
plain, low-fat Greek-style
yogurt, 1 bunch fresh dill,
1/2 pound cooked shrimp,
and 1 container no-salt
added chicken broth.
• Staples: olive oil,
onion, garlic, salt and black
peppercorns.
COLD
CUCUMBER
SOUP WITH
SHRIMP
Recipe by Linda Gassenheimer
2 cucumbers (about 1 3/4
pound, 3 1/2 cups cubed)
3 slices whole wheat country-
style bread, divided use
3/4 cup plain, low-fat
Greek style yogurt
1/2 cup fresh dill leaves, coarsely
chopped, divided use
1 crushed garlic clove
1 cup coarsely chopped onion
1/4 cup no-salt-added
chicken broth
Salt and freshly ground
black pepper
1/2 pound small, cooked shrimp
2 tablespoons olive oil
Peel cucumbers and cut in half
lengthwise. Scoop out seeds with
a teaspoon and discard. Cut off
half of one cucumber, cut into
small cubes and set aside. Cut the
remaining cucumbers into 1 inch
pieces. Add these pieces to a food
processor or blender. Remove
crust from 1 bread slice and
reserve remaining 2 slices. Add the
crustless bread, yogurt, half the
dill, garlic clove, onion and broth
to the food processor. Process
until a smooth puree. Add salt and
pepper to taste. Save out 6 shrimp
for a garnish. Divide the rest of the
shrimp between two soup bowls.
Linda Gassenheimer/TNS
Cold cucumber soup with shrimp.
Pour the cucumber puree over
the shrimp. Divide the reserved
cucumber cubes in half and add
to the bowls as a garnish. Add the
reserved shrimp to the cucumber
cubes. Sprinkle the remaining dill
on top. Drizzle olive oil over soup.
Toast remaining 2 slices of bread
and serve with the soup.
Yield 2 servings. Per serving:
444 calories (36% from fat), 17.8
g fat (3.5 g saturated, 7.3 g mono-
unsaturated), 193 mg cholesterol,
36.9 g protein, 34 g carbohydrates,
5.7 g fiber, 275 mg sodium.