Monday, February 24, 2014

So, I have been hitting Youtube a little bit...

I have been perusing Youtube for paleo-friendly ideas for freezer meals.  I have been been impressed by "debtisdum"'s videos, because so many of their ideas can be transitioned to paleo so easily, plus I just love how adorable they are.  This is one of my favorites of theirs, and it goes through a brief explanation of how they eat all of their dinners for $22.00 per week.  Please excuse the kiddo-s in the background.  I like them, because I totally know how kids can act up when the video cameras come out; but when I sent it to a friend, she said that she could not watch it all the way through because the kids were so distracting.  Oh well, I like it, so I am sharing it. :-)  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vdL6cYpBw1k  I made the recipe featured in this video lat night, and it turned out great!  I used Great Lakes Unflavored Gelatin as my thickening agent. ( http://www.amazon.com/Great-Lakes-Unflavored-Gelatin-16-Ounce/dp/B0008D6WBA/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1393260139&sr=8-2&keywords=great+lakes+gelatin )

One of the side links on that page was to the "Thrifty Farmer"'s youtube page, and I clicked on it.  A man and his wife made the decision to see if they could live off the amounts offered by the USDA's "Thrifty Plan".  I had never heard of such.  In all of my looking up for the SNAP challenge, I somehow did not find this helpful chart that lays out the four levels of plan set out by the USDA.  I have to say that I was kind of pleasantly surprised to find that I have never gone over the "Liberal Plan" that the USDA sets forth for our family of 4.
http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/sites/default/files/usda_food_plans_cost_of_food/CostofFoodJun2014.pdf

If you want to look at other months, here is a grid that covers the 4 levels from 1994 to 2013: http://www.cnpp.usda.gov/USDAFoodCost-Home.htm  As always, I found it interesting to click on different months to see how the prices have changed over time.

The Thrifty Farmer's video for Day #7 included an overview of how their week on the Thrifty Plan as set forth  by the USDA (which, but the way, happens to be the same amount of the SNAF benefit - so no difference at all to what I have already been doing) and he had a couple of reflections that folks (read:lawmakers) seem to be missing.

He said that his goal was not to prove that you can eat healthfully on the SNAP budget (although all of their meals did look to be healthy - Weston A Price approved, actually - if I am understanding him correctly) but to see if he and his family could just do it, and they did.  He did bring up the fact that they are lucky in the fact that they can get to a fully stocked store.  By "fully stocked" I am talking about his point of seeing if there are vegetables that you can buy, not even thinking about organic - can you buy produce?  Some people live in food deserts, and do not have the most basic of produce available to them.

Oh, and he and his wife work on Polyface Farms!  The Paleo Parents first introduced me to the fact that Polyface Farms was an entity out there, and then I started seeing Joel Salatin on documentaries that I was watching, so it was kind of cool to see that random tie in.  :-)  Well, here is the Day #7 video...  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8F31MhOdCg&feature=c4-overview&list=UUQGYBeA2CMgzxK7XHPl3knA I hope you enjoyed it like I did.

I read the blogs associated with the one week experiment, and was surprised to find out that seeds are included on SNAP, as well as the ingredients for canning.  Sadly, mason jars, lids, and such are not included, but hopefully people can eek out enough money in their budget for the things they need if they do want to start canning or gardening - even if it is container gardening by the window in their home.  Check out the FB page for The Container Gardening Alliance if you are interested in getting some containers going for yourself...  https://www.facebook.com/willemvancotthem

This year, as I buy produce, I am keeping some of the seeds.  I already have a plethora of green pepper seeds, and I have the seeds from a single butternut squash.  As I process my produce, I plan on keeping the seeds to see if I can grow my own without having to buy seeds at the store, thereby making my produce this summer "free".  I will let you know how it goes.  :-)

t

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