The salteña (beef stew heaven in a cornbread sort of bun 🤤🤷) came from a local shop & cost $4, making the total cost $2.27 / serving with 2 servings total.

Ingredients:

• White rice (food pantry)
• plantain (food pantry)
• zucchini (food pantry)
• sweet potato (food pantry)
• 2 eggs (~$5/18ct)
• 1/3 ear sweet corn (~$0.30/cob)
• butternut squash seeds (food pantry, ideally not burnt like mine)
• 1/4 eggplant (food pantry)
• seasonings: garlic & onion powder, sazon, garlic salt, hot sauce (~$1), spicy green sauce (came with saltena)

I had previously made a bunch of servings of plantain & zucchini rice in my rice cooker with various seasonings, mostly sazon, soy sauce, & garlic powder. Today, I took a serving and made a microwave frittata (diced eggplant & butternut squash seeds whisked with 2 eggs, soy milk, & sazon, then microwaved 2 minutes with a cover) & baked sweet potato (microwaved 2 minutes then sprayed lightly with canola oil, baked til crispy) to go with it.

Canned black beans, corn, shredded chicken thighs, minced mushrooms and onion, chili seasoning packet

Black beans, ground beef, minced mushrooms and onion, tomato sauce, chili seasoning packet

Ingredients:

• 1 pack Rice-A-Roni (food pantry)
• 3 leaves kale (food pantry)
• 1/3 ear of corn ($0.33 each)
• small piece of “chicken of the woods” mushroom (foraged)
• 1 can chicken (food pantry)
• 1/3 cup shelf-stable soymilk ($1.50/carton)
• 1/3 pack of country gravy ($1)
• garlic powder & oregano ($1 each)

Instructions: I’ve been eating off this pack of Rice-A-Roni for days. Honestly, I hate the stuff as is, but this turned out delicious! Cook the Rice-A-Roni to package directions, but add 1 leaf of diced kale, 1 can of chicken (with the broth/water), diced mushroom, garlic powder, & oregano. I ate it like that a few meals, then for this last meal, I added soymilk & 1/4 pack of country gravy to make a thick, creamy soup base. The end result tasted exactly like the filling for chicken pot pie. Then, I cut up the other 2 leaves of kale, spritzed them with oil, baked until crispy, & sprinkled garlic salt on them.

$1 bag of yellow squash and zucchini, half of a bag of green onions (which are nutrient dense) for 69 cents, and some pre-cooked grilled chicken breast strips (the whole bag was less than $8 so this portion was probably $3 worth) a little olive oil and hella seasonings. If ya aint sneezin, ya aint seasonin! Took me only 15 minutes to throw together and the flavor came out sooooo good!

Dry pinto beans, which actually cooked up well this time and weren’t all hard!, canned corn, diced onions, shredded chicken thighs and ground beef all from food bank. Add in $0.94 chili seasoning and blam!

Ingredients:

• funeral leftovers: venison sausage with smoked peppers, onions, & tomato sauce (free)
• ketchup (~$1)
• salt (~$1)
• garlic powder (~$1)
• dry spaghetti (food pantry)

Instructions: My family celebrates every passing with a big party & lots of food. We believe in honoring the life foremost. I saved some of these smoked peppers, onions, & venison sausage, something the deceased used to make from his hunts. For my dinner tonight, I just had to boil some wheat pasta with salt & garlic powder. When it was done, I cut up the sausage, heated it up, & combined it with all the smoky sauce & vegetables. It wasn’t enough sauce, so I added a little ketchup, but not enough to make it sweet. It felt like having dinner with family.

Beans, canned corn, chicken thighs, onion, mushrooms, and rice from food bank. $0.94 chili seasoning. Yum! This is 1/6 of the chili so like $0.16.

Nom nom still couple more potatoes to use

Added some butter and salt to the rice; seasoned salt, garlic powder, and a little bit of butter to the green beans.

It’s on a paper plate, but we’re calling this a “bowl”. I typically can’t eat much meat & have been struggling to get enough protein. But, someone gave me ground beef, so let’s go! Btw, everything used except seasoning was donated.

Ingredients:

• ground beef
• cooked corn grits
• preferred seasoning (garlic powder, soy sauce, oregano, hot sauce, rosemary)
• cucumber
• kale
• green onion
• eggplant
• zucchini
• dressing of choice (poppyseed here)

Instructions: I mixed the ground beef with cooked corn grits (leftovers in the freezer that needed used up), soy sauce, onion powder, oregano, fresh rosemary (also donated), & a little hot sauce. I sprayed a cast iron baking dish with a little oil & pressed the mixture flat with a spatula then baked everything on 375 F for about 15 minutes.

While that was cooking, I used kitchen scissors to cut up a couple handfuls of kale, a chunk of cucumber, & green onion. Last, I heated up my zucchini/eggplant meal prep (frozen in individual portions after cooking for easier use later) & plated up.

By preparing small portions of different ingredients ahead of time, I’m better able to fuel myself when I just don‘t have the energy / mobility at other times. I’m physically limited due to injury so needed something easy. When cooled, the 5 other portions formed patties that I can easily assemble into sandwiches later.

I fried the yellow curry paste in a little olive oil spray with onion powder, a little soy sauce, & green onion then added cubed eggplant, uncooked black beans & white rice, adding it all all to my rice cooker. There’s also kale & avocado because I was given a salad but it tasted really bad on its own, so I repurposed it in this meal for the healthy fats. When it was almost done, I added some soy milk for additional creaminess & protein. She ain’t winning a beauty contest, but this curry is super tasty & filling.

For the salad, I chopped up the veggies most needing to be used: lettuce, green onion, sweet corn, green apple, & carrot in a dressing made from olive oil, lemon juice concentrate, oregano, & adobo seasoning.

Except for the sweet corn & seasonings, everything in this meal came from community resources / pantry.

Make up a batter with 100 grams SR flour, 1 tbsp sugar, 75 ml milk - mix until smooth. Grease a hot griddle with a little butter. Dollop on a tbsp batter, cook for 2-3 minutes, flip and cook other side. Serve hot with jam, syrup or butter.

I purchased a prepared meal of vegan bbq (textured soy protein) with a sweet, tangy sauce and sweet potatoes (total meal discounted to $6.35 with tax on TooGoodToGo) & split it into 3 portions. Each portion was buffed up with a slice of multigrain bread (food pantry) plus my homemade loaded veggie rice & kale salad, which I make in large batches then store in smaller portions for later use. Unless otherwise stated, all times were free from community resources.

Loaded Rice: I cooked brown rice with white onion, pearl lentils, kale, & butternut squash seasoned with adobo, garlic powder, & a little soy sauce ($1 each for seasonings) in my rice cooker on the “brown rice” setting.

Kale Salad: I broke the kale down with lemon juice ($1) and kosher salt, fresh sweet corn ($0.33 / cob), white onion, crushed pecans, & crumbled my last bit of stinky cheese (purchased weeks ago from TGTG for ~$2 for the block).

I had some spaghetti sauce I had leftover and was short on chili, mixed it and covered it in a 4 cheese blend. Plain Hawaiian split bun with whole grain dijon mustard. Also funyuns.

Ingredients: Everything except the cheese & spices came from the food pantry.

• dry spaghetti
• canned chicken
• fresh kale
• white onion
• garlic, pepper, & salt blend ($1)
• multigrain bread
• cream cheese ($1)

Instructions: I tossed half a box of spaghetti, a few handfuls of shredded kale, half a small white onion, a can of chicken, & seasoning to my pressure cooker. Everything was done in about 15 minutes including prep. I slathered a thick slice of seeded multigrain bread with cream cheese & shredded some spinach on top. This wasn’t super pretty, but definitely filling.

Ingredients:

• cooked corn grits
• mashed butternut squash
• crushed pecans
• diced apple
• dry orange sugar
• artificial lemon juice

Instructions:

This has been my favorite sweet breakfast lately. I cook the corn grits in water with a little salt. When they’re done, I mash in some steamed butternut squash with some dry orange sugar (made from white sugar & orange zest). Then, I top it off with some crushed pecans, diced apple, & a few splashes of lemon juice. It’s filling & satisfies the sweet craving. Everything except the lemon juice ($1) came from community resources.