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Emergency Food Box

4K views 20 replies 13 participants last post by  ktsmama 
#1 ·
Okay, so I have gambled badly on my move and currently have no official income. I have been living on saved money etc. Finally broke down and got a food box since the next money coming in is late next week and my food budget is about three bucks until then. (and it was $16 dollars last week)

So I go to the food bank and they take my info (didn't ask about income just showed me the guidelines). They assure me that since it is an emergency box I can only get it once a month and it should be enough for three days. This is fine since I figure it will tide me over until I can give plasma again (site is bruised so I have to wait) or my check comes in late next week.

So it is kind of cool because you get points in all the food groups so you can choose what you will eat and it is balanced. (I admit I would probably not eat the candied sweet potatoes that were there ..uuughgh)

So I got

Two fresh coucous salads (with tomato, basil and red peppers)
One bag of fresh basil
Two pounds of frozen blueberries
A can of peaches
A can of apricots
Five fresh organic apples (need to be used right away)
Two single single serve bags of crunchy veggie stick things
One can of spinach
Two cans of spaghetti sauce
One can of diced tomatoes

One 18 oz can of peanut butter
one dozen eggs
three pounds of chopped walnuts
one can of chili beans
two cans of garbanzo beans
one can of marinated bean salad
one pound of colby cheese. (they had fun cheese like brie etc. but only six ounces for the points of the 16 oz colby)

6 16oz bottles of flavered milk. I wouldn't normally do this, but I figured it can be frozen and I had a quart of milk left to use up.

2 pounds of WW Pasta
1 pound of "harvest grain blend" couscous etc (good for soups)
5 pounds of baking mix (like Bisquick)
5 loaves of "good" sandwich bread ie WW, 12-grain
1 pack of tortilla wraps
1 pack of Indian bread
1 pack of pita bread

And an apple cobbler.

So, my question is...

In what universe is this food for three days for one person????

A lot of it was free...no points counted...like the peanut butter. Some of it discounted because they had so much of it ...like the walnuts and pasta (and the left behind sweet potatoes).
But I will be eating on this food for a month.
And I left 5 loaves of bread which I could have taken because I just don't have the freezer space. Esp since I had the blueberries and the milk.
 
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#3 ·
three days for one person....

i read this and was like no way .... that is a lot of good food. Maybe someone could look at this and give you some ideas on how to make this last as long as possible.

I am so sorry that you are going through such a hard time. I have been there and done that and chances are it might happen again.

I hope things get better for you real soon.
:genie::shame:
 
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#4 ·
What an amazing amount of food and good things too!! I'm glad that you have resources to take care of you and the smarts to go for it!! Good luck and hope things continue to look up for you!!
 
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#5 ·
I am so glad that you went got this. I volunteer in the food bank, I it's make me happy to hear from those that benifit from it.

I sincerely hope that things begin to look up for you really, really soon!
 
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#7 ·
Dang! That is a huge pile of food!

Get some olive oil asap and turn that basil into pesto, with some of those walnuts -- forget the parmesan for now you can add it later-- before the basil spoils. Keep the walnuts in the fridge so they don't go rancid. Walnuts are $8 a pound!! You got a real deal there.

The bread can all be frozen, or at least refrigerated to extend its life.
 
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#8 ·
Actually, I think that I can use most of it fairly easily although I forgot to add the coffee creamer, one bag of regular salad and two cups of endamaame. I would like suggestions for that. Otherwise I am mostly concerned that I use the fresh food before it goes bad.
I'll be making a tomato based soup with pasta and beans and use the fresh basil in that ala' Vietnamese Beef Soup. (Crush a bunch of basil in the bowl and ladle the hot soup over it.)
I think I will have to eat the second couscous salad tonight, and salad for lunch tomorrow. (Before the census test...yeah!)

Any good ideas for the endamame?? Otherwise it might make it into the soup. It says "ready to eat" so I suppose I can go take a nibble now. I had never bought it before because it was too spendy.
 
#10 ·
Someone in my family is hurting like you and my heart goes out to you as well . I can only pray that you find work and can lead a good life after--and what I want for my family member as well.
 
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#11 ·
No olive oil ...but I do have parmasen cheese. My grocery list before was : WW flour, rice, and eggs.
I have eggs now. Can wait on the flour since I have bread. Rice might be nice to have in the cupboard but not needed for a while. And I still have a half cup or so that I can toss into soup if I want.
So maybe I will look at the olive oil. I know that in Jersey you could get a small bottle for a dollar.
Didn't think about walnuts going rancid. Don't usually get three pounds at a time either ;) Two bags of walnuts now in the fridge.
All of the bread went straight to the freezer. I still have half a loaf of homemade so I will use that first.
 
#12 ·
never cared for the edamame beans myself. Sounds like you got a huge selection. Maybe they meant enough for a family for 3 days, but still 5 loaves of bread?

3 pounds of walnuts?

I love just snacking on walnuts and give me a PB & J sandwich any day of the week.

Don't forget you can dry the basil if you don't use it all. just hang it up by the stem near a light in a room not used by visitors.

Good luck in the job hunt!
 
#13 ·
I confess I hate PB&J. Peanut butter sandwiches are okay. Peanut butter with appples is great. I have a tiny bottle of jam that my mom gave me when I got here. (It had been given to her and she is diabetic) It has been used on waffles.
Cooked oatmeal for breakfast, PB&J sandwiches for lunch were the every, every, day diet for me as a child. Okay not 100% of the days, but most school days. I can eat that now but I prefer to alter it somewhat. No jam in sandwiches and oatmeal cooked like musliex. And not everyday.
 
#14 ·
Can you get food stamps to help you out ?

I use a lot of beans here myself. I got some dry beans I need to cook up sometime soon. The last batch I did for soup was split peas.
 
#15 ·
I have not tried this, but you might like it. Edamame dip: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/edamame-dip-recipe/index.html

Do you have pods or beans? The pods get boiled for 3-5 minutes and then salted like chips, and you eat the beans out by squeezing them in your teeth.

If they are shelled and it says ready to eat then you can use them anywhere, pretty much, just heat them up. They will be pretty firm textured. Use in soup or stir fry. There should be a lot of recipes on the web.
 
#16 ·
Congrats on the great haul of food and good luck in the job search. :hugz:
 
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#17 ·
The endamame has pods...

I didn't waqnt to get foodstamps since I will be getting enough money for at least a month of expenses at the end of next week. (I had one year in a pension that was going to dissappear if I didn't use it)

As far as food stamps...I don't think I am there yet. I have appealed my unemployment. I've done an interview for a job that I should know about by Friday. Of course there is that pesky "until you get paid" time. I think it would be awkward if I got foodstamps and then got back unemployment or a job in the next week or two. And I have the money coming. When I looked at it, I just realized that this is exactly why they have emergency boxes. If I had been here longer I would have had a stockpile set up. And my baby emergency fund.
Really, when they said "three days" I was more than content with that. I can eat lentils and rice and beans etc. The amount I received was almost an embarrassment of riches and sets me on my way to a mini-stockpile.
I suppose I would re-consider the food stamps issue in a month or so if I don't have a job. Also there is a food bank I was told that asks for $10 a month and you get two pick-ups. I might ask about that because it would help stretch out the money.
 
#18 ·
I just eat edamame cooked (no shell) sort of like peas. They do take a lot longer to cook than you think because they're incredibly dense.
 
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#19 ·
So I got the call this morning. I have a job. I can sign the official papers tomorrow, drug test, background check, no worries there. New hire orientation (paid) starts on the 10th.
I'm still going for the census test this afternoon. Census work is temp but well paid and if I can do both I will.
The very, very best thing is ...I will have health insurance. I've been without for about 18 months.
 
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