To snack or not to snack?

The ride home yesterday was rough.

The day started out great, with my bowl of oatmeal, milk, apples and brown sugar, and I made it past my usual ten o’clock hunger pangs feeling no need to snack.  Lunch was delicious, with my potato salad made with eggs and broccoli, and a chicken salad sandwich that I created with the chicken from the whole chicken I boiled the day before.  Then three o’clock rolled around, and the afternoon munchies kicked in.  I know this about myself, I get hungry around 10AM and 3PM, but I was so nervous about not having enough food to get me through the week, that I forewent snacks for the day.  Big mistake.  I have a 45 minute commute home on a good day, and yesterday it was raining, and I had to wait on a train.  All I could think about was getting my hands on an apple when I got home, and the oatmeal cookies that I was going to make using my supplies.

An individual may make no more than $931 in net monthly income in order to be eligible for SNAP benefits.  Once you factor in rent, utilities, car payments, insurance, and any other monthly expenses, a person could be left with very little money for food.  Being mindful about when and where your next meal is coming from is a very real issue.  If you don’t plan ahead, it’s easier to make poor choices.
But the day ended on a positive note; I was able to use some of my chicken stock, more of the chicken, half a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, and some flour to make chicken and dumpling soup, which I ended up getting three meals out of. And let’s not forget those delicious oatmeal cookies I made to satisfy my sweet tooth for the week!  What I’m realizing is that the key to success this week is going to be thoughtfully preparing my meals, and thinking about how I can stretch one recipe to last multiple days.  This is good because everything I am eating is fresh and homemade.  It is also very time consuming.  I spent a good part of my evening last night preparing food, and was truly exhausted by the time it was all said and done (and so many dishes!).  I can’t fault anyone for choosing easy to prepare, inexpensive convenience foods like macaroni and cheese or Spaghetti-O’s, it sure would have saved me a lot of time and mess.  That said, I feel good about my food choices and resourcefulness, and am blessed to have been taught the skills I need to get by this week.

And I brought snacks today for the ride home!