Germantown Mennonite Church - Community Garden

Comment

_anonymous — Tue, 14 Apr 2009 19:29:12 GMT

You ve controled your budget very well

Comment

Jenny Anne Horst-Martz — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 21:57:09 GMT

Okay, I said that I'd post a comment. I've been admiring those who really take on this challenge. For me, it seems really hard to contemplate doing this with kids, or even another adult member of the household who doesn't "buy in" to the idea that money needs to be doled out precisely according to the plan, as I'm sure happens a lot. Meanwhile, what has really got me thinking is what we take for granted that people on food stamps have no way to deal with - the drug store. Not so much the medicine, although of course that's a whole other discussion. But the deodorant, the acne cream, the tampons, the vitamins, the makeup. How do people on food stamps manage this? It's overwhelming. I'm very grateful not to have to go without such things, or to have to buy the cheapest possible thing at the dollar store no matter how nasty. So, true confessions, we have not eaten on the food stamp budget at all this Lent. We did make some more conscious choices because of Lent, and we have talked about the cost of food and supplies a lot, and the idea has made us more mindful of our food spending. And more grateful. So thanks for your example.

Comment

Patricia Beynen — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 19:53:52 GMT

We had guests all weekend and I completely blew the whole thing. When we ate at home, we ate high on the hog. When we ate out, well, just eating out makes $1 meals a joke. I'm back on the wagon again. Lesson learned was that being hospitable in the way we wanted to was a privilege that people who really do live on food stamps don't have. I know we could have stayed home and eaten frugally, but not these guests, and not this time.

Comment

Lois Ann Handrich — Fri, 20 Mar 2009 13:25:28 GMT

When I was in Virginia last week I made a grocery run to "Sharp Shopper" store that has better deals than Save-a-Lot. I was able to get large cans of chopped tomates for $.50. So I took a can of the $.99 Chicken, Sausage Gumbo soup I bought there, added some leftover sausage from the previous day's $1/person meal, a can of tomatoes, 1 carrot and some chopped cabbage and additional spices. I enjoyed the soup. That was the day I did a whole day for $3.00/per person. What I experienced was that I could prepare the meals for the day but I was not able to totally get through the day without snacking and that is what took me over the budget. I also experience that it takes time and energy to figure it out. I suspect Patricia, you've experienced that. I think about the working single mother with children and how exhausted she must be after a day's work, retrieving children after the work day, coming home and needing to put food on the table. I think I have a new appreciation for the things I've read about children going hungry during the summer when school is not in session.

Comment

Patricia Beynen — Tue, 17 Mar 2009 21:16:03 GMT

St Patrick's Day: Oh those Irish. Corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes. Corned beef is out of my price range, but potatoes and cabbage, that I can deal with. So, dinner is potato soup, cabbage salad (thanks to Alonna's recipie, minus the celery which I didn't have), and the not- so- Irish leftover quessadillas. Just a little cabbage makes a whole lot of salad. We're going to be eating it for another day or so. And another 'thanks to' for Jenny Ann. Thanks to her tip we now have a supply of whole chicken breasts at $1 a pound from Acme.

Comment

Patricia Beynen — Sun, 15 Mar 2009 00:27:18 GMT

Pizza is a wonderful thing. You can take whatever is in the fridge and turn it into dinner, named say, Hawaiin White Pizza. I have a great pizza crust recipie that I can remember to make at 5 pm, and the pizza is out of the oven at 6:30. Another lovely feature is that the cook can make exactly what she wants, and can accomodate the wishes of the rest of the household as well. I always want lots of onion on my part. In this pizza we had 1/2 a can of pineapple in the refrigerator, red bell pepper, a small piece of frozen pork (easy to slice in it's frozen state), and an open jar of alfredo sauce, which is better on pizza than pasta. Not to mention mozzarella, and the onion. I brown the pork first, while the pizza dough is on it's first 7 minute bake to avoid the dreaded soggy crust. All in all, delish.

Comment

Patricia Beynen — Thu, 12 Mar 2009 01:19:51 GMT

All I can say for tonight's dinner is that it was in budget, and filling. And, I guess, not awful. How's that for faint praise. I have a church cookbook that's undated, but clearly from many years ago. One part has 'supper dishes', which I take to mean the end of day meal that has followed a big midday dinner. Something less than was needed to fill the empty stomachs of hard working farmers in the middle of the day. So, one of these supper dishes was based on potatoes, eggs, milk, and bacon. Layered sliced potatoes, (I added a little onion) diced cooked bacon, then a mix of eggs and cream (double strength dry milk in my world) poured over the top. Baked, and then a sliced tomato and a sprinkle of parmesan on top for the last ten minutes. Boring. But in budget, especially with my warehouse eggs and produce store potatoes, and filling. Potatoes are like that.

Comment

Patricia Beynen — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 17:30:54 GMT

Even though I now know how to make $1 risotto for 10 people, it's no longer an issue. I emailed my hostess about planning to bring risotto, and she said she's making Thai rice to go with the curry, and could I please bring soda or seltzer. I still have some Whole Foods natural sodas I bought when son Andrew was visiting (which were not a success, hence the remaining sodas) that I'll take along. Oh, well. To make Sweet Potato Hash I used one huge sweet potato ($.87), 1/2 a chopped onion, 1/4th of a red bell pepperchopped, and one chicken thigh, from a package of 6 for $2, one of the great Fresh Grocer meat sales. I boiled the cubed sweet potato first, (saving the water for my risotto, sigh) then fried all the veggies in 1 T olive oil. I added the shredded cooked chicken in the last 5 minutes, and topped the finished product with two $.10 fried eggs. When you eat it the egg yolk runs through the hash. I don't usually like runny eggs, but this is a good addition. Be sure to add salt and pepper through the cooking process. The sweet potatoes definately need it.

Comment

Patricia Beynen — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 18:43:57 GMT

The next realization: waste nothing. Tonight will be sweet potato hash, which should come out to about a dollar each, or at least within the range that puts us at $3/day/each. I'll peel the sweet potatoes before I cook them. From those peelings, some leaves from celery, and the end piece of an onion I nearly threw away, I'll make some vegetable broth. Vegetable broth is a critical component of risotto, which I'm trying to de-cost for Thursday's potluck. I'm not the hostess, so not responsible for the main dish this time, so I'll save the black beans and rice suggestion from Lois Ann for another occassion.

Comment

Lois Ann Handrich — Mon, 09 Mar 2009 01:15:24 GMT

Save-A-Lot has ground turkey in 1 pound rolls in the freezer section for $1.19. They were $.99 6 months ago :(.

Try eating for $3 per person/per day

Lois Ann Handrich — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 23:36:33 GMT

During the morning sharing, I encouraged us to try the Lent suggestion of eating on $3 per person/per day. My words ineffectively expressed what I was experiencing.

I was utterly moved this morning as we sang "Rain down." We sang verse 2 - "We who revere and find hope in our God live in the kindness and joy of God's wing. God will protect us from darkness and death; God will not leave us to starve."

As I tried this week to plan what I could cook for the 3 of us that were going to eat dinner at our house, the biggest thing that confronted me, was that there was no way I could cook the way I normally do. I couldn't use the amount of meat I would typically use. I couldn't pile on the cheese. I couldn't make that new dish that called for 2 - 4 oz cans of green chilies. Anyway, it was a great thing to face.

What does it mean when we sing "God will not leave us to starve"? I have to believe that if it means me and my friends at GMC, then it has to include the family on food stamps. I know I have stood impatiently in the line at the grocery store and engaged in critical thoughts about the persons using a green ACCESS card.

So I think I was partly feeling sorrow for my callous heart. My small foray this week into $3 meals has stirred me up in a very good way.

Lois Ann

Comment

Lois Ann Handrich — Sun, 08 Mar 2009 23:23:38 GMT

Patricia, what about vegetarian black beans and rice for your main dish for the book group. I found one at http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Vegetarian-Black-Bean-Chili-230632 that had good reviews and it uses red bell peppers that you already have. Another one at http://www.ivu.org/recipes/latinam/black.html might be a little cheaper. You can certainly pass it off as and "ethnic" dish. Black bean and rice is one of the foods I grew up on, introduced to our lives by the Cubans we related to in Tampa, FL where I grew up.

Comment

Patricia Beynen — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 22:33:32 GMT

Correction: It's Save a lot, not Save More, for the low cost groceries described below. But it's the same place, on Wayne between Chelton and Rittenhouse. Here's my dilemma. My book club meets every six weeks at one of our houses, and our next meeting is this coming Thursday. The hostess makes a main dish, and we each make a side dish, appetizer, or dessert, or bring wine, which we announce by email ahead of time. Since this is dinner, my plan is to take something that will feed the eight to ten of us that show up for a dollar. Did I mention that there's a competitive element to the originality, presentation, and yumminess? That may be all in my head, but the food is always lovely. So what to bring? I'm flipping through cookbooks to find the right recipie based on potatoes or rice, but am still looking. The book we read, BTW, was terrific: Snowflower and the Secret Fan, by Lisa See. One of those books that open a whole new world to you, this one in China more than a hundred years ago.

Comment

Patricia Beynen — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 20:22:16 GMT

OK, I can learn a few tricks from others. I took Lois Ann's advice below and shopped at Save More and Produce Junction. Produce Junction's prices were amazing. I'm back in red bell peppers which I didn't think could fit into $1 meals. They were six for $2.50. Amazing. Now the challenge will be to use all six before they spoil. And, per Ruth's comments below, would I have bought them if I had to use nearly a whole day's worth of food stamps for them. BTW, they do accept food stamps but otherwise it's cash only, no credit or debit. And no detailed receipts either for later perusal to see just what you did spend. Save More is the place for canned goods. Canned fruits were $.69 and $.79 cents. And eggs...this is the place. And if you want to buy parts of a pig you might have never tried before, they're waiting for you there. Ears and snouts, and inner parts I'll spare you. Bring you own bags (which I'm sure we all do anyhow) because they're $.11 each. It's bag your own, and somewhat of a warehouse atmosphere, but it's not huge, and is less warehouse-y than the big box stores. I got into one of those nightmare checkout moments where everything went wrong. The woman ahead of me had more purchases than money, and the take back decisions and refiguring the check took awhile, my bag of rice turned out to have a hole in it and needed to be replaced, but the 15 minute event was running out of register tape, replacing it, finding it didn't work, getting a supervisor to help, she couldn't figure it out, and on and on. My checkout person was apologetic and said all the right things, but the people trying to help her were pretty lackadaisical. Or as I used to put in annual personnel reviews, they lacked 'urgency to action". Checkout lines were long at 3 in the afternoon, so don't plan I shopping there quickly, but the prices were significantly less for many things. The meat prices didn't tempt me. I'm still true to Fresh Grocer's meat sales. I regularly score there.

Comment

Ruth Sutter — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 06:43:41 GMT

Eat on three dollars a day? It seems possible to me since I know I have a well stocked pantry with nearly everything in it bought on sale, probably with not much more than $3 a day. But if I was starting out without that pantry it would be a different matter entirely. I doubt that many people on food stamps have a pantry full of food. And if I had $21 a week to spend, I doubt that I could buy staples in large quantities in order to get the cheapest price. I decided that I would try days at $3.00 instead of a meal here and there at $1.00 and I decided that I wouldn’t try to do this experiment with my sister Beth. Her chemo does weird things to her appetite and so she needs more variety so she can find something that will appeal to her. She was perfectly happy with the clam corn chowder she was eating yesterday until she threw it up. She knew then that she wouldn’t be going back to it for a long time so the rest is going to a friend. If we were spending $6 a day on the two of us I’d have to figure out if I was going to eat the rest of it despite being a vegetarian. And I’d have to get over my not wanting to deal with meat and buying it already cooked for her. But back to me. . . I made a pot of lentil soup and have been eating that the last two days. If my money was limited I’d have had to spend 90 cents more on it if I was forced to buy smaller quantities. Yesterday’s total was $1.98 and today’s was $1.91. In addition to the soup I had yogurt (29 cents which is unusually low and I stocked up last week) and pineapple juice at just 10 cents a glass. I was able to get it that cheaply by buying $10 worth and then getting a $5 coupon for my next shopping trip. I’m sure I wouldn’t have used ½ of my food budget to buy juice even if I could get $5 back the next time in. Nor would I probably have had access to coupons (buying the Phila. Inquirer) which helps bring down the price. (In addition to the great loss to our neighborhoods with the freebie Germantown Courier and Mt. Airy Times going out of business is the loss of free coupons in those papers.) Nor do I imagine I’d be buying many organic (or non-organic) bananas since the 60 cents for one yesterday was close to a third of the day’s total costs. Fruit is too expensive to have much on $3 a day. At 43 cents a serving I don’t imagine I’d keep eating organic oatmeal and peanut butter. I included the cost of bread in my 2 days even though I was eating the delicious gift of homemade bread from Ken White. Those scraping the bottom for food often have family and friends in the same situation and so I couldn’t expect to receive many gifts of precious food. Or to give them. Nor would I probably have known (got an email) that I could get a free lunch by showing up at the bank today when school kids were there offering samples of Weavers Way food. The free pickles and jam that I didn’t have to pay for due to sales/coupons in the past would have probably been eaten long ago instead of yesterday. I rounded off the days’ food with portions of a 98 cent chocolate Santa. Probably another thing that I wouldn’t have bought if I was on $3 a day forever. Last night I cooked up a pot of 49 cent rice for another day. Of course I forgot I had it on the stove and it burned. Last night I thought I’d be able to eat it. Tonight it tasted pretty smoky. Will I stick with it? Would I have enough money to tithe my food stamps and give food to Germantown Ave. Crisis Ministry? I made a haul buying groceries last night and got 12 free mac & cheese toddler servings and 2 jars of yellow mustard. I can pass them on but how can I continue that without the help of the Germantown Courier?

Comment

Patricia Beynen — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 18:07:47 GMT

The hard part is no extras, the good stuff that makes something plain, like a peanut butter sandwich, better. Adding my usual marmalade puts it in a different category. Or adding a banana to the cheerios. And the difference between a $.02 cup of tea and a $.42 glass of milk gives one pause. For last night's $1 dinner Making More with Less was my friend. The Skillet Cabbage recipie is a standard for us, with a few variations. Last night I made it adding about 3 ounces of thin sliced pork left over from another meal. We use Indonesian soy sauce which is thicker and sweeter. We've had the huge bottle since Iowa so I don't know what it actually costs, but I added $.05 for the 2 tablespoons I used. And, for a final Indonesian (the land of Bert's birth) touch, I topped it with two eggs made into an omelet and then cut into slices for the top. The Indonesian variation in More with Less mixes the eggs into the onion/cabbage/carrot mixture for more of a fried rice look, but per my source, this is more authentic. When I added it all up it came to $1.02 per portion. And, I found from my grocery receipt research that butter costs less than extra virgin olive oil. Who knew?

Comment

Patricia Beynen — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 21:48:35 GMT

I tried another $1 dinner, this time a variation on this pizza http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/pizza-pasta-recipes/roasted-garlic-and-spinach-white-pizza/article.html The biggest key to reducing the cost of Rachael's pizza is to make your own pizza dough. I had some leftover bread dough from my experiments with no-knead bread. It was pretty skimpy for a pizza, so it turned out to be a verrry thin crust pizza, almost cracker like since it was spread so thin, but still, a very fine pizza. I also used much less spinach, only 1/3 of a package, which stil seemed like plenty, and instead of roast whole garlic I used some chopped garlic from a jar mixed in with the garlic which was sauted with a bit of the bacon drippings (thereby eliminating the olive oil cost too). It only uses two slices of bacon, but that was enough to cover the pizza. It made 6 slices at $.48 a slice. I virtously had only two slices since any more would go over the $1 limit, but on proper reflection, after Bert had four slices, I realized I hadn't used the full $1 on the other two meals, so could have had my third piece. Alas. In case you're wondering about the other meals, one piece of pepperidge farm whole grain bread, two tablespoons of peanut butter, and 8 ounces of milk is $.82, and oatmeal with almonds and a bit of sugar is only $.35 cents. I figured out the prices from some register tapes I kept, but my oh my the prices vary by week and store. By who's having sales, how smartly I shopped, and probably the phases of the moon.

Comment

Galen Horst-Martz — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 22:05:01 GMT

When planting a garden that is not near one's own kitchen, I am reminded of the ancient Chinese proverb, "The best fertilizer in any garden is the farmer's own shadow".

Instructions - Add a Comment

Lois Ann Handrich — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:51:35 GMT

Comments are displayed in descending order. This means that the most recent comment is displayed at the top of the comments.

Click on the Blog Name in the left column (above).
Type your comments in the empty Comment box that is displayed immediately below the original entry.
Click the "Leave Comment" (it means "Post Comment") link below the box.
You need to click on the Blog name in the left column (above these instructions) to see that your comment has been "published".

Comment

Lois Ann Handrich — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:47:35 GMT

I have been exploring recipes and thinking about what it will take for me to achieve $1/person dinners. We eat a lot of soups and I typically use purchased beef or chicken stock. Since regularly the cheapest stock is about $3.00 for a quart, I quickly began to see the challenges. Unlike Patricia, I have not actually done it yet but I will and I bet I'll be shopping at my 2 favorite lower-cost stores - Save-A-Lot on Wayne near Chelten Ave. and the veggie/fruit store on the corner of Green St. and Harvey St. Are there other cheaper sources in the different areas that GMC people reside?

Comment

Patricia Beynen — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 18:13:35 GMT

We tried a $2 for the two of us dinner last night, modifing one of Rachael Ray's recipies from the link above. Here's a link to the Baked nested Eggs http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/breakfast-recipes/baked-nestled-eggs/article.html (opps it didn't come out as a link, but you can copy/paste) I substituted a few ingredients to bring down the price. Figuring out the actual price of a hand ful of this, and 1/2 of that is a challenge, but here's what I did: Substitute two thick rings of red pepper for a whole pepper, 1/2 a zucchini for the butternut squash, a tsp of fennel seeds for the fennel, and double strength dry milk for the cream. Oh, and I added a handful of cabbage/carrot cole slaw mix to up the veggie content. It turned out to be yummy, in a vegetarian sort of way.

Comment

Lois Ann Handrich — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:37:58 GMT

Judy Leatherman Another 2 cents on these ideas: For many years we have had trouble getting GMC people to help maintain our flower beds in the summer. They take a lot of work, and the one spring work day is not enough to maintain them the entire spring/summer/fall. A few people have taken on a disproportionate share of this work. And it is NOT all fun, rewarding work--especially pulling the weeds out of the brick sidewalk in the sweltering heat! This does not involve a harvest of healthy veggies, but it is an important aspect of our presence in the community, and we haven't always done a good job of it. I'm pointing this out because I think we are barely taking care of the basics here, and I want people to keep these responsibilities in mind before we think of branching out. -Judy

Food Stamp Budget

Lois Ann Handrich — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 20:17:12 GMT

During the season of Lent, you are encouraged to find way to place yourselves in physical solidarity with those members of our larger human community for whom obtaining adequate food is a regular challenge.

The poor receive food stamps if they have the means to cook, and the food stamp rate is $1/per person/per meal. One way to honor the spirit of sacrifice in Lent is to engage this is to try living on a food stamp budget, for a meal, a day, a week, or even the entire season of Lent. Begin with one family dinner at $1 a person.

Resources

USDA Recipes, Meal Plans, Advice

Two Blog Stories of Those Who Have Tried It

Local Stories from newsreview.com

http://www.rachaelraymag.com/recipes/dinner-for-10-or-less-recipes

Snap-Ed Connection The USDA provides this resource to help Food Stamp Nutrition Educators find the tools and information they need to provide quality nutrition education for low-income audiences.

Share your experiences. Add comments to this blog to share ideas, recipes, reflections.

Comment

Tami Gerber — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:00:19 GMT

Here is a link to the Neighborhood Gardens Association that should be of help as we all continue this conversation and explore possibilities: http://www.ngalandtrust.org/ I've been an active community gardener in West Philly for 10 years. What I have found is that gardens that are preserved under the NGA have additional resources and support to ensure their survival. Philadelphia Green is connected to the Pennsylvania Horticultural Society. http://www.pennsylvaniahorticulturalsociety.org/phlgreen/index.html My current garden, Aspen Farms, is involved in the City Harvest program. The City Harvest network raises naturally grown vegetables and distributes them to Philadelphians who lack access or the means to purchase fresh produce. We may want to consider an involvement in City Harvest in the future. http://www.pennsylvaniahorticulturalsociety.org/phlgreen/city-harvest.html --Tami

Comment

Lois Ann Handrich — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 18:40:33 GMT

Dottie Baumgarten I don't get how the church blog on orbius works. Some of this garden conversation seems to be happening on the list serve, but some seems to be on the blog, but when I go to the blog, there doesn't seem to be a linear connection from one comment to the other. . . . Anyway, here is my 2 cents: I think a community garden is a fantastic idea but it must be something that the larger community embraces. Pomona Cherokee, I agree, needs to embrace this idea for it to work. There's a great resource in the city for creating community vegetable gardens. It is through the Ph. Horticultural Society, and I believe it is a called Philadelphia Green. They may have a model for how to start the neighborhood collaborating together. Seems to me the people from church who would be most interested in having a plot, could start meeting together and planning how to inquire with the neighbors. . . . Dottie