Married, in college, during a recession?!

I decided to create this blog because of a distinct lack of information on the internet with regard to the art of living and eating frugally. Let me qualify: There were plenty of articles on how to save money, but nothing on how to be healthy while you were doing it. There were also many articles on how to create healthy meals, but few on how to do it when you have no money. And NEITHER of those categories took into account how much TIME I would have to spend being frugal or healthy.

So, are you ready? I'm about to begin an internet adventure in how to cook three meals a day for two people on less than $50 a week, without sending our blood pressure and cholesterol through the roof, all while keeping a 3.9GPA in a medical graduate program (we hope). Before we begin, there are a few words of warning:

1. I am all for the environment. Before getting married, I was a fist-shaking organic goddess. Unfortunately, dear friends, not on less than $50 a week. As a compromise, I have developed a list of rules to try to keep costs down while not kicking the earth to the curb.

• Buy organic/all natural....but only when it really matters OR if it is on sale. For example, we buy our eggs free range because the nutritional content is better and it's better for the chickens. Are they more expensive? Of course. To take up some of the difference I buy the 18ct carton, so the cost is only a few cents more per egg than the store brand.
  
• Waste not! If things are non-perishable items or items that you use frequently, buy the biggest size you can. PLEASE don't be one of those people who purchase the tiny cups of applesauce. yes it is convenient, but it's almost as convenient to pull a jar out of the fridge and dump it in a tupperware to take for lunch....just think, you'd have to wash the single-serve cup anyway if you want to recycle it.
  
• Buy unprocessed components and make the real thing whenever it is time/cost effective. You'll be saving money AND helping the environment AND (odds are) being healthy. To illustrate: my aunt was able to find us a bread machine at a tag sale. It is so easy (5min - max) to dump components into the machine and have cheap, healthy bread later. This saves us from buying bread without preservatives ($4/loaf around here) and saves the environment because we decrease the packaging used and can make just the amount we need - so nothing goes to waste.
  

2. So I think that's all about the environment - I should also note that I require no/low lactose meals so that some of the recipes shared here will have soy components...this includes the okara, or leftover soy bean grounds from making home made soy milk. If you don't need to omit the dairy, most recipes will work fine with milk. In the case of the okara, either get on the band wagon and try it out, or skip those recipes. Nothing quite substitutes. ;-)

3. Additionally, I will note that while I try to make meals low in dairy and fat, I cannot omit all fat, because my husband is chronically underweight. If there is a lighter solution that I can think of, I will try to post it alongside the original recipe.

Alright - here we go! What's on the menu for tonight? Lasagna made with tofu....will try to post the results with photos later on.


Until then, Hail and Farewell!