Challenge!

Today, I have finally started something I've been thinking about for a few weeks. I read Melody's blog and was very inspired by her creativity on such a tight budget. I started to wonder if/how I could eat raw on a much tighter budget. I usually eat AT LEAST as much as a teenage boy (sometimes two!), and I am responsible for feeding myself full-time, and my son has a pretty hefty appetite as well (pobably comparable to a "normal" adult female? I'm obviously far from average in calorie consumption!), so I'm figuring (guessing) that we may be close in calorie consumption to Melody's family. I have wanted to create recipes for "raw on a budget" to include in the book I'm writing, and I can always stand to save money! Because I feel so much better when I eat right for me, I am not going to try $3.33 per day just yet - being raw I am going for $5 a day. This will take a lot of planning & work, as I spent quite a bit more than that before going raw, and now I've had a hard time keeping it under $10 a day! My son is not raw but eats healthy whole foods, and I prefer to eat raw plant foods, although neither of us is vegan. I'll let you know how it goes!

My Rules/Clarifications/Random Stuff I Feel Like Telling You:

1) Even if I already have foods in storage (i.e. grains, etc.), I will be counting the cost of what we eat every day, because I will need to replace it eventually. This way, I won't be tempted to eat it all up just because it's already there & I want to buy loads of exotic fruit with my $5 a day.

2) Our chickens are our pets (not food-making machines), so I'm not counting a cost for the eggs my son eats, since we'd be feeding the chickens anyway.

3) I buy things in bulk as often as possible, so some of the things I post will only be possible if I continue to buy bulk amounts (i.e. lentils & grain in 25 to 50 pound bags, honey in a 4-gallon bucket, gallons of agave & coconut oil, giant bags of spices & sea salt, etc.). One of my favorite places to buy bulk is http://www.azurestandard.com/

4) Several sprouting trays, a LARGE garden, lots of freezer space & a dehydrator are going to be some of my best friends in making this happen! :)

5) I refuse to compromise my health for the sake of proving something to myself - if for some reason I can't get everything I need this way, I'm GOING to change it. ;)

6) My son is eating four to five meals away from home each week for the next two or three months, so the need for food will go up after that.