Nutrition Class

Nutrition 101

Nutrition Project

Introduction

In Washington State, SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) is the

government assistance program available for people whose income does not allow them to buy

enough nutritious food. An average weekly stipend for an individual is $31.50. I am very fortunate

to have never experienced real food insecurity myself, and because of this, did not anticipate

how difficult it would be to put together a weekly menu that kept costs under $31.50. It is

possible, but it does require a great attention to detail and cost comparison.

Methods

Since the point of the project was to shop for foods that I would typically eat, I chose to

shop at Safeway, which is already the least expensive shopping center in my area. In addition, I

used their membership coupon program (of which I am already a member and regularly use)

which allowed me to access special prices for many items. They have many 2-for-1 deals and

$1 off coupons, which ended up saving me $5.50 total, which is 17% of my budget. So that

helped significantly. I chose not to buy organic unless the organic food was already the cheapest

option. Only one item ended up being organic, the quinoa, which I had a coupon for. The rest of

the organic versions of items were usually at least 50 cents more expensive than the

conventional versions, and in the case of dairy items like yogurt, about double the cost.

In creating my menu I chose to stick to foods that I already like and eat on a regular basis. There is a significant amount of repetition, for two reasons: 1) The extremely limited budget did

not allow me to buy a huge variety of ingredients. It was much more cost effective to buy larger

quantities of fewer items, and 2) I am a creature of habit, and when I cook, I eat the same thing

until the food is gone. This means I usually eat the same thing for dinner 3-4 nights in a row. And

my breakfasts rotate between the same 3 options regardless of what is available to me. I really

don’t have a terribly varied diet anyway when I’m preparing my own food. I tend to gravitate

towards Hispanic style dishes, because beans and grains stick with me for longer than other

foods and stabilize my blood sugar. With that in mind I chose dried black and pinto beans, which

are extremely inexpensive (1 pound of dry beans yields 5-7 cups of prepared beans). My grain of

choice was quinoa, which is a complete protein unlike rice. It also has more fiber. My menu has

a lot of eggs, which are a major source of protein in my diet. The cholesterol is not a concern for

me because I go through a dozen eggs a week on my own and my lipid panels have always

been excellent. My doctor told me I don’t need to worry about it. My biggest challenge was in

choosing portions that I thought would be typical for people with normal sized stomachs. I have

had weight loss surgery and my stomach is extremely small. I eat about 7 small meals a day.

For this project I only did 3 meals per day for simplicity’s sake. But I had to try to estimate the

volumes of food based on what I see my roommate eat, because I simply wouldn’t be able to eat

enough calories if I were only eating 3 meals per day. My breakfasts tended to be very small and

I had to keep going back and adding more food to them. I only eat about 250 calories for

breakfast. I was frustrated that I couldn’t buy more fresh fruits and vegetables with my budget,

but I did what I could.

Shopping List

Item Quantity Total Cost

tomatoes 3 lb $2.97

skinless chicken breast 2 lb $3.98

black grapes 1 lb $1.77

avocado 2 $2.65

green leaf lettuce 2 heads $2.98

green peppers 2 whole $1.00

whole wheat bread 1 loaf $1.49

dried black beans 16 oz $1.49

dried pinto beans 8 oz $0.75

Greek yogurt 24oz $3.29

dried pasta 12oz $1.00

organic quinoa 16oz $3.49

bananas 1 lb $0.77

bunch green onions 1 bunch $0.30

sweet potato 2 lb $0.96

Total Cost

$28.89

WEEKLY MENU

Breakfast Lunch Dinner Daily Nutritional

Totals

Day1 2 eggs 2 slices toast 2 roma tomatoes 1/2tbs olive oil ⅛ tsp salt ½ tsp pepper

Quinoa chicken salad: ¾ c cooked quinoa 1 c grapes 4oz chicken 2 tsp olive oil 2 tsp vinegar ¼ bell pepper ½ avocado 2 cups salad greens

2 oz pasta 4oz chicken 1 tbs olive oil rosemary, thyme ¼ tsp salt ½ tsp pepper 2 roma tomatoes 1 cup salad greens

1,752 calories

158g carbs

81g fat

116g protein

1,831mg

sodium

Day2 ½ c quinoa 1c grapes 1c greek yogurt 1tbs honey

Sandwich: 2 slices wheat bread 4oz chicken ¼ avocado ½ tbs mayo ¼ green pepper 1 tomato 1 c lettuce greens

Bean stew: ¼ c quinoa 1 sweet potato ½ bell pepper 2 chopped green onions 1c black beans 1 ear corn, cut off the cob 1 tsp olive oil cumin thyme red pepper flakes 3 cloves garlic

1,994 calories

281g carbs

38g fat

100g protein

786mg sodium

Day3 French toast: 2 slices bread 1 egg for dipping ½ tsp vanilla ½ c greek yogurt 1 banana 1 tsp honey

Sweet potato mash: 1 sweet potato ¼ avocado 1 cooked garlic clove ½ tsp olive oil pepper red pepper flakes

Chicken and Vegetable skewers: 3oz chicken ½ sweet potato, cubed ½ bell pepper ½ corn on the cob 2 green onions 1 tsp olive oil

1,816 calories

286g carbs

37g fat

101g protein

697mg sodium

2 chopped green onions ½ tomato ⅓ c quinoa

⅔ c black beans cumin

Day4 2 eggs 2 slices toast 2 roma tomatoes 1/2tbs olive oil ⅛ tsp salt ½ tsp pepper

Quinoa chicken salad: ¾ c cooked quinoa 1 c grapes 4oz chicken 2 tsp olive oil 2 tsp vinegar ¼ bell pepper ½ avocado 2 cups salad greens

Mexican Bean Salad: 2 cups salad greens 4oz chicken 1 c black beans cumin red pepper flakes 1 clove garlic pepper hot sauce ¼ c quinoa ½ c greek yogurt (plain) 2 tomatoes

1,905 calories

192g carbs

72g fat

142g protein

871mg sodium

Day5 Mexican bowl: ½ c quinoa 1 c black beans cumin hot sauce 1 tomato ½ c greek yogurt

1 c grapes 4oz chicken 1 fried egg 2 c salad greens hot sauce ¼ avocado ½ c pinto beans ¼ c greek yogurt

2oz pasta 2oz chicken 1tbs olive oil 1tsp pepper 1 tsp red pepper flakes 2 tomatoes 2 cloves garlic salad: 2 green onions ¼ c quinoa 1c salad greens 1 tbs vinegar

2,271 calories

284g carbs

46g fat

186g protein

955mg sodium

Day6 breakfast sandwich: 2 eggs 1 tomato ½ avocado 2 slices bread ¼ c greek yogurt hot sauce

2oz pasta ½ tbs olive oil 2 green onion, chopped ½ c sweet potato, cubed and baked 2oz chicken 1 tomato, sauteed 1tsp pepper 2 cloves garlic

Bean stew: ¼ c quinoa 1 sweet potato ½ bell pepper 2 chopped green onions 1c black beans 1 ear corn, cut off the cob 1 tsp olive oil cumin thyme red pepper

1,921 calories

259g carbs

49g fat

129g protein

640mg sodium

flakes 3 cloves garlic

Day7 1c greek yogurt ½ c quinoa 1 banana 1 c grapes 1 tsp honey

Mexican chicken salad bowl: 1 c salad greens 1 tomato 2 green onions ½ corn on cob, cut off 2 fried eggs 2oz chicken ½ tbs olive oil pepper red pepper flakes hot sauce 1 slice toast

Lettuce taco wraps: 4 oz chicken ¾ c pinto beans ½ bell pepper 2 green onions ½ corn on cob, cut off ½ sweet potato, cubed and baked ¼ c quinoa ¼ c greek yogurt hot sauce

2,043 calories

278g carbs

43g fat

141g protein

860mg sodium

Analysis

It is evident from my diet analysis that my sample menu, which is closely representative

of how I actually eat, is lacking in fresh fruits and heavy on the protein. The recommendation of 3

cups of dairy a day is not possible with this menu, because my only dairy item is Greek yogurt. I

don’t drink milk, and cheese was too expensive for my budget. I don’t eat much dairy on daily

basis, and that is reflected here. I do supplement with calcium and vitamin D though. For

someone else who did consume more dairy, they could cut out other items and buy a gallon of

milk for around $3. My only sources of fruit were bananas and grapes. The grapes were on sale,

and bananas are generally very inexpensive. I probably could’ve snuck in a small apple. Berries

were far too expensive, at about $4 per carton. I did a bit better with vegetables, but while I

managed to get in the recommended 2 ½ cups of vegetables each day, there was not a huge

variety. My veggies consisted of salad greens, tomatoes, avocado (a splurge considering my

budget), sweet potato, and green onions. I was tempted to purchase a bag of potatoes for $5 but

knew that I would end up eating white potatoes at every meal if I did, which would cut down on

other nutrients I could be getting in with other items. I know that for my size, I need 60g protein

per day. Most days I got almost double that. This is a reflection of that fact that I prioritize protein

because of my weight loss surgery. However I probably don’t need to be going quite as

overboard as I do. I could cut down on protein and spend some of that money on more fruits and

vegetables. One good thing is that I came up with a very low sodium menu, I never went over

1,000mg in a day. In terms of raw calories, I was not able to get enough calories in each day to

maintain my current weight. I know that I need about 2,300 calories at my size. I ended up with

between 1,752 and 2,271 calories per day. Many of these calories came from fat. I used avocado

and olive oil as fat sources, which are good sources of fat, but I should ideally be eating more

calories from grains and vegetables.

Discussion

With the menu as it stands, I bought too many beans and too much protein, and not

enough grains and fruits. The beans were the most inexpensive item per serving, and I can see

why they are a staple food in many cultures. I have a feeling that in order to add the number of

calories I need per day in order to maintain my weight (about 500 on average) without just adding

a bunch of fat, I would need to add more grains and more low-fat dairy. I could add in some

brown rice. I still don’t know if I could afford more dairy items. One way to get more fruits and

veggies would be to go to a farmers market at the end of the day, when many vendors are just

trying to get rid of the last of their produce. They often offer very good deals, rather than load it all

back up again. The variety, as I’ve stated before, was kind of lacking. One strategy would be to

roll over items from week to week. For example, if I bought a pound of dried black beans, I could

use half of them one week, and then save half to use the next week or even following weeks.

Coupons from my loyalty card ended up being extremely important, and I would spend even

more time poring over my Safeway coupon booklet each week to get the best deals. I could join

other coupon programs at other area grocery stores to keep an eye out for other deals.

Conclusion

I usually grocery shop with an eye for economy, but this project taught me that I am

extremely fortunate to have the funds to provide myself with an interesting and varied diet. It is

much more difficult than I thought it would be to get enough nutrients while at the same time

having different things at every meal. A high degree of repetition is necessary (at least in the

short term), because as the ingredient list expands, so does the cost. I think it would be easier in

some senses if one were shopping with a food allowance for more people, say, a family of 4

(assuming the amount of money available increased proportionally). You could still buy large

amounts of staple items (dried beans, rice, potatoes, pasta, chicken on sale) but you’d have

more left over for vegetables and garnish items. It is not surprise to me that many people

afflicted by poverty end up eating a lot of fast food. This menu took a lot of meticulous planning,

and the meals require preparation. On the flip side, you can get a burger for $1, which is lunch.

This is a very sad reality for many Americans. One that I hope can change with more public

education, assistance programs, and increased accessibility of quality food sources.