Whole-Food, Plant-Based on $5 a Day—Day 4
Today is the fourth day of my 10–day vegan on a budget challenge. Where every day, for 10 days, I spend no more than $5 a day on food.
I had plenty of leftovers for breakfast and lunch. The only meal I needed to make was a simple (but delicious!) Brown Lentil Soup for dinner.
Yay!
It’s days like this that make it possible to add some of the more pricey ingredients to my food stock. And because most of today’s budget can be carried forward to tomorrow, I had $10 to spend.
The health food store that I shopped at on Day 2 sells spices in bulk. Buying from bulk bins is great when you’re on a budget because it allows you to buy as much or as little as your funds allow.
I got about 1-2 ozs of each:
chili powder,
turmeric powder,
cumin powder,
curry powder,
crushed oregano
pizza seasoning
I went to my local supermarket, which sells grains and nuts in bulk and I got:
4 bananas,
1 sweet potato
2 small tomatoes
2 Serrano peppers
1 medium cabbage
1 pod of garlic
1 lb white rice
1/2 lb bean & lentil medley
1/2 lb brown lentils
3/4 lb corn grits
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup cashew nuts
Total: $9.77
My menu for today:
BREAKFAST:
Eating a solid meal for breakfast is a good way to start the day and it doesn’t have to be something sweet or standard like oatmeal , toast, muffins or cereal. Often I like to have grains, lentils and vegetables for my first meal.
I had a banana and leftover Chickpea Salad.
LUNCH: Leftover brown rice, potato chickpea stew
and Vegetable Pasta
DINNER: Lentil Soup on a bed of pasta.
With my newly stocked pantry, I’m looking forward to seeing what I can come up with for tomorrow’s menu!
Darshana
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PS: If you missed out on the other days of the challenge, here’s Day 1 and, Day 2 and Day 3. And for tomorrow’s adventures, here’s Day 5!
