Day Twenty-Seven

What I Bought on Day Twenty-Seven

Summary Page

Into the home stretch. (And sorry if I’ve been whiny lately about the project. I didn’t get enough sleep on Tuesday and the rest of the week was a bit of a struggle.)

My plan for the next few days is to try to work with what I’ve got so as to finish up everything and end on Wednesday with nothing left (except maybe salt—I’m not going to make any special effort to try to use that up).

A commenter asked about that strategy when I mentioned it earlier, saying they thought it would be cool to eat for a dollar and have leftovers. But as far as I’m concerned, anything I’m left with in the end represents money I could have spent on something that I could have eaten.

And this week since I don’t have to build for the future, I might actually be able to eat some things that aren’t a great value long-term, because you only get one or two servings, but that work as a one-shot deal. Not sure what lessons come out of that, but I am looking forward to being able to get things because I want to eat it that day, instead of trying to figure out how I can fit it into a grand plan.

But sticking with the grand plan for now, today I decided to get Jiffy mix, so I could have some breakfast bread today and over the next three days.

What I Cooked on Day Twenty-Seven

There are several flavors of Jiffy mix, and with only a few days left I’m less concerned about squeezing every penny, and decided not to worry about the cost difference.

The options were blueberry, bran, or banana, all priced at $0.59 each — $0.14 more than the cornmeal muffins at SuperTarget and $0.09 more than the biscuit mix, and they also require an egg. So the biscuits are definitely the best value, $0.50, just add water. Next best value is the cornbread, but that requires a trip to Target, which is much less convenient for me. And I wanted to mix things up a little.

I like banana bread and banana muffins when I make them with actual bananas, but I don’t always like banana-flavored things. I love blueberry muffins, and have a great recipe that I don’t make nearly as much as I’d like, but because of that I was afraid the Jiffy version would be disappointing. So I got the bran muffins, which I never make on my own and thus had no preconceived notions about.

They’re pretty good. They’re actually quite a lot less sweet than the cornbread and they felt like they had some fiber, but don’t taste much like health food.

I give them a thumbs up.

I had those with a tangerine and a soft-boiled egg for Meal Two and about half of the remaining yakisoba for Meal One. The yakisoba is really great. I will definitely be making that again when the project is over.

I used one egg in the muffins, and ate one, and have one left. I also have beans and cabbage, and chicken stock and a little chicken, and also some chicken fat. And a little bit of pasta. So I’m thinking I should be able to get two meals of chicken soup, and hopefully I’ll be able to use the chicken fat to stir fry the cabbage. I think that’s the best way to cook it—it brings out the sweetness, but the cabbage is still crunchy, and using chicken fat you get a nice flavor. I’ll probably fill in the rest from the bulk bins at Whole Foods, where I can get just enough for a meal or two.

Receipt Day Twenty-Seven

Next Project?

Before starting this project, my friend Rowan suggested a follow-up—she said I should eat for $30 a week and report on what I bought, what I made, and whatever else I feel like writing about.

Her thought was that $30 is more than I usually spend, but still less than most people spend, so I’d be able to eat really well, and other people would be able to actually get useful information out of it (as opposed to this project, which is really too extreme to have much in the way of take-home lessons).

So I’m thinking about that. I know I can’t post every day because it’s been too disruptive, but I think I could do it with two or three posts a week. And with $30 a week, I think I could have some pretty good food.

Finally

Two different friends sent this link earlier in the week.

I feel like I can stop writing now. (And actually when I read this, I wondered if Jane Brody has been reading my blog—much of the recommended food sounds familiar…)

Eating Well on a Downsized Budget in the New York Times on Monday, March 2, 2009.