$50 A Week Challenge: Or One Chicken, Three Dishes
During the summer, one of my internet girl crushes, Emily Farris, wrote to ask if I would participate in the 50 Bucks a Week Challenge. Since that was already my food budget, I figured this “challenge” to eat well would be a breeze.
But then my budget and my tastes changed. I cut back the grocery bill to something closer to $25, and I did that by eating pretty humble things: beans and rice, baked potatoes, bean soups. Because I am a peasant and because the seasons are changing, I liked eating like this. But suddenly the challenge to eat well on $50 left me feeling totally exposed — if you all knew how simply and uncreatively I’ve been eating lately, you might just lose all respect for me.
So I decided to step things up — but just a little bit. I employed our favorite “eating thrifty” tip — start with a chicken (or some other animal protein) and utilize it throughout the week. I was also somewhat limited by the fact that I was house-sitting. Without my shelves of cookbooks, I decided to use what was at hand: lots of copies of Better Homes and Gardens and Family Circle (incidentally, I kind of love reading these magazines, but they also make me very gratefully I’m not having to talk to a teenager about internet porn.) And so, without further ado, my wrap-up for the challenge:
Roast Chicken Dinner
On Sunday, I roasted a chicken and ate half of one chicken breast with a baked potato and some kale sauteed in olive oil with garlic and crushed red pepper. I picked the rest of the meat off the chicken and stowed it in the fridge to make…
Curried Chicken and Cauliflower
adapted from Family Circle
Serves 6
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 small onion, diced
1 can light coconut
1 cup water
2 tablespoons yellow curry paste (or substitute red curry paste)
leftover chicken meat (about 2 cups)
1 head cauliflower (about 2 pounds) trimmed and cut into florets
4 scallions, trimmed and sliced
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 15-ounce can chickpeas, drained and rinsed
brown rice, to serve
Heat olive oil in a large skillet over moderately high heat and saute onion until soft. Add cauliflower and cook for 1 minute. Stir in coconut milk, water, and curry paste, and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to medium, cover and simmer for about 5 minutes.
Uncover pot and add chicken, chickpeas, and scallions. Raise heat to medium-high. Sprinkle in cornstarch and stir until incorporated. Cook for 3 minutes and serve with brown rice. Tastes great seasoned with fish sauce. (You could also easily make this vegetarian by leaving out the chicken altogether).
Chicken Stock
To make a light stock for the next recipe, put the chicken carcass in a large pot, cover it with water, and add an onion, a carrot, and a celery stalk. Bring to a boil and simmer until the stock is reduced. This isn’t as flavorful as making a stock from a raw chicken, but it will work in a pinch.
Butternut Squash Bisque
Serves 8
adapted from Better Homes and Gardens
This soup is so interesting — it’s sweet, savory, and spicy, all at the same time. If I made it again, though, I would likely omit the cheese. I liked the texture best just after the sour cream was blended in.
3 12-ounce packages frozen winter squash, thawed
1/4 cup butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large carrot, coarsely chopped
1 stalk celery, coarsely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
2 large Braeburn or Gala apples, peeled, cored, and chopped
6 cups chicken stock (if you don’t have enough, add water to make up the difference)
1 cup apple cider
2 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, coarsely chopped
1/2 cup sour cream
3 ounces smoke Gouda, shredded
Heat oil in a large soup pot over moderately-high heat. Add onion, celery, carrot, and garlic, and cook, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are tender, about 10 minutes. Add squash, apples, broth, cider, and chipotle peppers. Bring a boil, then reduce head. Cover and simmer for 25 minutes, or until vegetables and apples are tender. Remove from heat and cool slightly.
When slightly cooled, puree in pot using an immersion blender, or puree in batches in a blender, then return soup to pot. Blend in sour cream. Heat through. Remove from heat and stir in shredded Gouda.
Stamppot with Kale
Using leftover Gouda and kale, make a stamppot.
So that’s what I cooked. If I could do it again, I wouldn’t have cooked a week’s worth of meals that were all color-coordinated (I was a little gung-ho on the first of fall yellow/orange autumnal hues). And truth be told, I wasn’t crazy about the curry. But I filled in the gaps with Bob’s Red Mill 7 Grain Hot Cereal (love this stuff!) topped with slivered almonds and maple syrup, Wasa crackers with peanut butter, and beans and rice with hot sauce, all of which I had in the pantry. My grocery bill came to $44, and could have easily fed another person on this budget. In fact, as I write this, there is chicken curry for lunch and half of the squash bisque in the freezer for a rainy day. But honestly, I’m ready to get back to baked potatoes.
Read more about eating well on a budget at 50 Bucks a Week>>
Sara Rose: I doubt I would have added gouda either. It just seems too heavy for a bisque, for my tastes anyways. I wonder how I would feed the 4 of us on 50 a week. Our grocery budget is about $100 per week currently but I’m also dealing with two unnecessarily picky eaters. I could pretty much live on things like eggs, beans, saltines with peanut butter (I know, I know), tea, and dried fruit but I have to do that dumb thing like make my darned kid and husband happy. Boo.2 years ago
Margaret: “Lose all respect” ?!? Nay! Have more faith in us! I appreciate your everyday efforts, Sarah, just as much as the fancypants videos and plats composés. I can tell you, sitting here at 9 PM, with my plate of cucumber slices marinated in nothing, sopressata slices with no cheese, and baked tofu from Whole Foods warmed up in a pan, sometimes food is good just for its FUEL qualities (and I am on my way out for an evening of dancing so I’ll need the fuel!).
2 years ago
Chin up, kiddo, and find something to laugh at. For instance, the term, “kerfuffle.”
Anita: Did you know you can boil the heck out of the bones of a chicken to get even more broth? http://frugalabundance.com/chickenbroth.htm2 years ago
Anita: That was dumb, you did share how to do that. Goodness! I should of read the recipes. LOL2 years ago
Suzy: Wow, I’m amazed that’s even possible. I doubt I could live on just $50/week of groceries, and there’s just me and my husband. (It would demand organizational skills far beyond my capabilities. Seriously.) I’m sure it’s possible, even here in Canada where everything costs more than in the US, but I’m not sure I have the energy reserves to try. My negligible bank balance, however, thinks otherwise…
Don’t hate me ’cause I’m lazy!2 years ago
Lisa: You are so my internet girl crush
I love this post, a lot … have always enjoyed every single little thing you post, but this turn in taste and budget just makes me feel so — hmm, happy for similar souls out there in the world.
Because we farm, our fridge is filled with what I often call an embarrassment of riches — but our approach to dinner most of the time is very, very simple. I have no idea how my cooking might have evolved had I not fallen in love with a farmer and instead returned to New York.2 years ago
Katrina: I agree with Margaret – we don’t mind if your posts tell the truth!
If you don’t mind me asking, does the $25 per week budget feed just you or your fiance too? I know i could live on the £ equivalent alone, but not including the needs of my partner!2 years ago
Sara Rose, Yeah, considering the needs/wants of others definitely inflates the bill. And it bears repeating that you really turned me on to saltines with peanut butter. Yum.
Margaret, Kerfuffle IS a funny word! I love your cucumber slices marinated in nothing. Your comment really made me smile, M. And I have a feeling there’s a lot more reality coming down the pipeline here at POP HQ.
Anita! Yep — a great trick. The best stock I ever made though was when I cut a whole chicken up into pieces for one recipe and used the back for a stock. Much more flavorful than the bones — give it a whirl.
Suzy, I bet you could do it! It’s kind of like eating healthy — we have all the info to do it, we just don’t always use the info. But I bet you could eat on the equivalent of 50 US dollars. If you do, will you tell us?
Lisa! You are so sweet! I wish I had an embarrassment of riches-filled fridge. Instead I have a pretty well-stocked pantry. (And by pantry, I mean cupboard.) But I so hear you on the very very simple front. That’s totally where I am lately too, and I’m not sure why. Maybe just that life’s about as complicated as I can take right now.
Katrina, More truth, coming up! The $25 is really probably just me. The fiance always eats breakfast and lunch on his own, but we’ve been having dinner separately too lately because of work.2 years ago
Candice Graham: I am going to try your challenge. I am trying to save money to buy a house and I have been working on dwindling my food budget. I am going to try to keep it well below the $50.00 mark and still eat healthy this week.2 years ago
Allison Conley: Sarey, you did not label the items in the refrigerator…so intriguing! Thank you so much! – we were hungry when we arrived home, I heated up the curry – wow, delicious!! It was quite subtle. Packed up some more for lunch today, and for breakfast I am about to have the creamy stuff that you say is squash soup!! With your change from the $50, you could also make tuna macaroni salad, and omelets…It is easier to do this planning if you spend an extra ten bucks the first week and buy another protein item – and put some of each protein into the freezer for the future so you don’t feel like you are having only chicken one week, followed by a week of only potroast or kielbase or whatever. My sister says you should always treat yourself and buy a little piece of wild salmon on the day you shop. Keep in mind that for your longterm health the $50 menu has to truly sustain and nourish your body.
XOXOX mom
ps please call me!2 years ago
anon: feeling inspired before I head to the grocery store today – thanks!2 years ago