Steal This Recipe #1: Mashed turnips and potatoes

I recently read a blog of a couple who were striving to eat on a dollar each per day. Their project is sobering.

I'm not going to try to eat for a dollar a day. On the other hand, the fact that I spend about $300 a month on food, as a single vegan woman, is fairly absurd. It didn't used to be this way. I used to be poor. I remember a time when I knew before I got to the cash register exactly how much each item cost, and what my total bill would be, and I watched the cashier like a hawk. (Amazing how many errors I caught.) Now, I can't tell you how many times I literally don't even see/hear the total.

So I think there's room for more prudence than I have exercised. Don't get me wrong, I still buy generic and compare prices and buy what's on sale. But, I could definitely ratchet back the amount of convenience and exotic food I buy.

So, this, too, is going to be a regular feature: Steal this Recipe will be recipes that cost, literally, pennies a serving.


Turnips and mashed potatoes

1/2 of a 2 lb turnip (also known as a rutabaga when they get this big): .75
about 1.5 pounds of russet potatoes: .50
a couple of tablespoons margarine: a few pennies (say .10?)
maybe a half a cup of unsweetened soy milk: .25
salt and pepper: essentially free
TOTAL: $1.60

Boil 'em up, and mash 'em with the soymilk, margarine and salt 'n' peppa. This makes a heaping load of starchy goodness. I ate it for dinner last night, and lunch today. Nothing else. Yes, it's an acceptable meal. Don't forget that whole generations of Irish lived, literally, on nothing but potatoes. And this is potatoes PLUS turnips PLUS soymilk. Mmmm mmmm!

So today, I ate:
morning coffee (costs maybe .30?)
potato/turnip mash (.80)
some pretzels (maybe .50?)
huge Ethiopian meal (homemade, approx. 2.00)
two beers (2.50)
TOTAL: $6.10

And it would have been under $5 if I had only one beer. And under $4 with no beers. (Not to mention saving about 400 calories.)