Enough Mac N Cheese!
By alaskanray
@alaskanray (4636)
United States
October 5, 2011 9:41pm CST
I may never eat pasta again! It seems like that is all that is in my pantry! You can only eat so much mac n cheese before becoming totally averse to the stuff!
In the past year my budget has taken several blows. First thing that happened was my daughter got her GED and so the food stamp office started counting her income as household income, which has cut my food stamps down to $43 per month. The next thing that happened is that the state stopped sending me a transportation allowance so my income went down by $50 per month. Then my lot rent went up, gas prices went up and food prices went up! Needless to say, I am having a heckuva time trying to put decent food on the table.
I still get food at the food bank, such as it is, but my pantry is full (and I do mean full) of white flour pasta! Hello, diabetic? White flour has a high glycemic index and does not do my blood sugars any good. I do ask for brown rice at the food bank and they usually give me one package...plus three packages of pasta! Oy vey! More pasta that I do not need! Trust me, I would rather have four packages of brown rice than the pasta, any day!
My pantry was looking really off-balance and I really could not afford any fresh foods. I was telling my friend about it and actually broke into tears over my frustration. I really do try to live within my means but the costs keep going up and my means keep going down! What's a girl to do?
I really try to be as self-sufficient as I can possibly be and I know very well that I would be worse off in Alaska because no one there cares but my friend jumped in to the rescue and contacted my church leaders and tonight we have food in my house. Apples, lettuce, tomatoes, bell peppers, onions, carrots and fresh chicken and beef. Enough to tide us over till Sunday, at any rate, when we will meet with my bishop.
I really prefer not to have to ask the church for help but it is good to have them there when I need them. And thank heaven for good friends who understand!
5 responses
@marguicha (223720)
• Chile
9 Oct 11
Where do you live now, alaskanray? I thought you lived in Alaska, from your username. I know what you mean to have to live on a budget. I always have to use my imagination to have my table with the food I want. In my country we don´t have food stamps, food banks nor food cupons. You either have the money or you don´t eat.
But these two least years, and thanks to internet, I have started a small vegetable garden. The fisrt year it wasn´t so good as my mom was sick and I did not have time to water it in Summer. But last year I ate my own tomatoes and peppers and even had potatoes in big sacks I got for nothing. 
This Winter I had lettuce, arugule, radishes, kale and chives. A wonder because I´m on chemo and the doctor forbid any raw veggie that could posibly have pesticides. So my garden provided.
Now we are in Spring and I just planted in their final home tomato seedlings and pepper. I also have onions, garlic and leeks. As of now, I am using the garlic leaves for cooking.
Do you live in a house or in an apartment? Because you might have some veggies, even in containers. Last Winter I placed all my lettuce in containers so they would not freeze.
This Winter I had lettuce, arugule, radishes, kale and chives. A wonder because I´m on chemo and the doctor forbid any raw veggie that could posibly have pesticides. So my garden provided.
Now we are in Spring and I just planted in their final home tomato seedlings and pepper. I also have onions, garlic and leeks. As of now, I am using the garlic leaves for cooking.
Do you live in a house or in an apartment? Because you might have some veggies, even in containers. Last Winter I placed all my lettuce in containers so they would not freeze.1 person likes this
@marguicha (223720)
• Chile
9 Oct 11
I´m so glad that you will get the help you need! Check at internet for raised beds for polanting. They are unexpensive and you can double your yield of veggies if you plant there as bugs and weeds can be controlled better.
Check at internet for raised beds for polanting. They are unexpensive and you can double your yield of veggies if you plant there as bugs and weeds can be controlled better.1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
18 Oct 11
Yes, I have a raised planter in my yard that rarely has weeds in it. It's a terraced planter with three tiers. I have my rhubarb, strawberries and mint growing in it. My poor rhubarb is still attacked by the nasty earwigs, though.
*sniff*
lol...Anyway, my wall will work very well once I get it finished. I just need eight more cinder blocks and I can finish it and start filling it with soil.
*sniff*
lol...Anyway, my wall will work very well once I get it finished. I just need eight more cinder blocks and I can finish it and start filling it with soil. @alaskanray (4636)
• United States
9 Oct 11
lol...I'm sorry for the confusion, my friend. I am from Alaska but live in Oregon. Believe it or not, it gets colder here than it did in Alaska, although it is drier. I live in a mobile home and currently my garden is small and all outdoors. My trailer is pretty small, as well, and I don't have much in the way of containers to grow stuff in although I do have plans to grow stuff.
Currently my garden is limited to rhubarb, strawberries, some mint and an onion or two as well as some saffron that I recently planted. I have seeds for tomatoes and bell peppers that I plan to plant in the spring. I do grow as much as I am able. I recently began building a wall out of cinder blocks that I am filling the holes with soil to plant in. Still, the immediate future is difficult.
I met with my bishop today, though, and he was very supportive. I showed him my budget spreadsheet on my computer and he was very impressed with how strictly I have stayed within my budget despite the recent loss of income. He said that he would see that we have the help we need. I am so grateful for my church! I don't think I could ever survive without it!
@RitterSport (2451)
• Lippstadt, Germany
8 Oct 11
dear alaskanray, I would also say oy vey about that pasta s I am diabetic as well. We still have a packet of ordinary spaghetti and I hope my husband will take care of this as he is not diabetic and can eat that stuff.
I am glad to hear your church helped you out when you needed food now and my idea would be swapping the pasta from the food bank and trade in some other stuff you as a diabetic can eat, like more brown rice from someone also using the food bank and maybe not being diabetic and grateful for the pasta.
1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
8 Oct 11
Yes, I do plan to talk to the food bank about my dilemma and return most of the pasta in my pantry. I have to say that, as long as I put enough fresh veggies in my pasta to add the necessary fiber, it can be a healthy dish. But when I lack the veggies, it is just like eating sugar!
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
9 Oct 11
I don't know where this food bank gets its food. Many of the brands are strange to me and some of the food is frozen or mass produced like from a welfare farm or some such thing. But much of the food is, as you say, donated by merchants who can't sell it anymore due to it being outdated.
In the summer there are fresh veggies that is locally grown and donated but that is rare. When we go to the food bank, we are in a line and there is not a lot of exchange among the patrons of the food bank so it's just easier to donate back the food we don't eat.
@RitterSport (2451)
• Lippstadt, Germany
8 Oct 11
Yes dear alaskanray, thats maybe the best way to deal with the problem. As being diabetic I have noticed that if I eat pasta with white flour I will soon crave for more food as it was not full grain. Same goes for bread. sigh. I dont know anything about these food banks where you are but over here they collect stuff from the shops with a fast approaching sell by date so it would be the best to swap with others who are there as well when you get there.
1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
6 Oct 11
I own my home, too, but it is just a mobile home so I guess there's a difference. I still have to pay lot rent. Sometimes I think I was better off renting...but then, I had to follow more rules when I was renting and I like the freedom of having a garden and pets. I would like to get out of the trailer court, though, so I could have some chickens and a few other things that they don't allow here. Oh, well.
At least my garden is growing. I planted saffron this fall and have some onions growing along with my strawberries, gooseberries and rhubarb. My daughter also has some mint...oh, my! Does she have some mint!
@ElicBxn (63639)
• United States
6 Oct 11
You are very lucky.
I have to say that there are times when not having anything healthy in the house is a real problem... I haven't been quite that bad, but its been close a few times.
Maggie's cupboard looks pretty bare right now, but tomorrow is shopping...
1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
8 Oct 11
lol... you cook black beans the same as any beans. I like them because they retain a chewiness that the other beans lose in the cooking so when I eat them it's more like chowing down on some meat. (YUM) They are smaller than the pintos and kidney beans so that's why they are chewier. I'll make a nice black bean chili and don't even have to add con carne to it.
1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
7 Oct 11
Oh, I know that feeling all too well...usually at the end of the month, though. These days I can't even keep a week's worth of fresh food in the house. I try to buy a case of canned milk each year to fill in when I run out of the fresh stuff but my daughter won't drink it, I'm the only one who will. Still, this is case lot time and I don't have the funds to buy my cases! I did get a case of green beans but still need to get chili and milk and maybe some black beans. (I love black beans.)
1 person likes this
@louievill (28851)
• Philippines
6 Oct 11
hello, I'm glad you got to eat what you want, looks like your church members are very reliable people. Wow a lot of pasta! That would have been already a feast here for a lot of children of poor families!while rice is just ordinary everyday food to them, and most don't even know the nutritional value of brown rice because they prefer white polished rice, life is really full of ironies ah friend?
, looks like your church members are very reliable people. Wow a lot of pasta! That would have been already a feast here for a lot of children of poor families!while rice is just ordinary everyday food to them, and most don't even know the nutritional value of brown rice because they prefer white polished rice, life is really full of ironies ah friend? 1 person likes this
@alaskanray (4636)
• United States
6 Oct 11
You are so right, my friend. Many people fail to realize the nutritional qualities of their food. I have had education in nutrition and had excellent teachers when I received my training so I retained much of what I learned. Hence I am very aware of just what nutritional values are in my food. Many people fail to realize the benefits of the bran in their grains and so go for the white flour and rice.
My mother and father used to buy whole wheat and grind their own flour so I grew up loving it. I rarely...and I do mean rarely...have white flour or sugar in my house, much less use it in my diet. If I could get some whole wheat pasta, I would, believe me.
