$5 Challenge

I'm a member of Slow Foods here in San Diego and they have issued a $5 challenge.  The premise is to take back the value meal with a healthy alternative for the 'happy meal.'


I have always considered my home cooked meals value meals since I cook from scratch with fresh ingredients.  It can be done and I'm always amazed when people think that good food is more expensive than fast food.


Back in the day when I worked at USDA with their wonky food pyramid, every summer we would have a challenge for one week to live on the equivalent of what a family on food stamps would receive.  I'm pretty sure that there was a contest in the Fresno Bee newspaper each summer with this challenge.


There was always an argument that the amount of food stamps (a USDA program) was too little to feed a family and Congress should be petitioned to increase the amount to a more realistic figure.  I was always had money left over.


I believe that it is all about education - how to shop, where to shop, and scoping out weekly grocery ads and using coupons.  I'm not even talking about nonmeat options.


Here are a couple of meals at my house broken down.

Elbow pasta with mushrooms and sausage - 
    1 lb package of store brand elbow macaroni - $1.00
    2 links of hot sausage from a package of 5 (16 oz) - $1.20
    1 8 oz package of fresh cremini mushrooms - $3.00
    1 lb 8 oz jar of Ragu pasta sauce - $2.00
Total cost of meal - $7.20


I can get 5 meals out of this recipe which takes each meal down to $1.44.  All of the prices were at the local grocery store using the club card that you get for free.  No additional coupons necessary.  Even if you decide to include the entire package of sausage this would only increase your individual meal cost to $1.80.

Steak with broccoli and rice - 
    1 6 oz sirloin steak - $1.50*
    1 head of broccoli - $1.81
    1 cup of rice - $1.00**
Total cost of meal - $4.31


I guess if you get really fancy ingredients, the cost will increase dramatically, but for everyday meals, food is very inexpensive.  It is a conundrum to me on why people are hungry.  Just my personal take on the cost of food.


I think it is cheaper to make food at home than to eat out at a fast food place, but on occasion, you pay extra for the convenience.  It does take time to prepare meals and I have had times in my life where I cooked all weekend and prepared meals for the rest of the week due to long work hours.  So my view is that it can be done even if you are busy.


So take the challenge and see if you can prepare a delicious meal for $5 today!


* Steak cost was $2.99 per pound at the club price.
** 10 pound bag of rice was $10.00 so I just rounded the cost of 1 cup to $1.00.