I beg to differ. And to prove that eating healthful, delicious foods doesn’t have to be expensive, I have come up with this project: I will feed myself and my son over the next month on $367. Now keep in mind that he is a 6′ 3″, 15 year old! So he kinda counts as two people We also like gourmet foods. And surprisingly, we will be able to accomplish this project without eating beans and rice every day!

Why $367? With the recent economic crisis, there are many families receiving food assistance. For a family of 2 in Washington state, $367 is the maximum amount they could receive. I want to prove that a family can eat well on that small amount of money.

Techniques that I will employ to achieve this goal: 1) Plan weekly menus and shop from this, 2) Avoid eating out, 3) Avoid pre-packaged, processed foods (since I love to cook, this will be fairly easy for us), 4) Use more expensive organic items (meats, dairy) occasionally or as condiments rather than as the main feature of meals.

I will post our weekly planned menus, shopping lists and recap what we actually eat and spend. Stay tuned!

Pear & Pumpkin Seed Salad