This grande chai tea latte from Starbucks can cost up to 6 dollars!
Now, don’t get me wrong, I love a good chai tea latte,
but did you know there are some people in the world are living on $1.90 or less PER DAY?
Which the World Bank defines as extreme poverty.
What can you do to help?
Hey my munchies!
I’m Alyssia if you’re new, and I really appreciate you coming by the channel,
especially today, because we have a very special episode.
The American Foundation for Children with AIDS has asked me to participate in their
#PassMyPlate campaign.
This event brings awareness to the hunger epidemic in Africa and the extreme poverty line,
which is defined as living on $1.90 or less per day by the World Bank.
For that reason, I took the challenge of creating a menu of a day’s worth of healthy meals
that must fit within the $1.90 budget.
Just so you know, I did not include items like spices and olive oil in my prices,
because those are items that work out to being almost nothing,
since you use so little and you don’t need to buy them every week anyway.
Also, this menu happens to be plant-based, so I hope you all enjoy!
Let’s get to it!
I’m starting off with some homemade bread.
This recipe is SO easy and super affordable.
Combine whole wheat flour, salt, and yeast in a bowl.
Whisk that together.
Most vegans consider yeast to be plant-based,
it’s technically in the fungi kingdom and sort of like a mushroom.
Then add in water and mix into a dough, which will be sticky but don’t worry about it.
Cover it with plastic wrap and leave it out at a warm room temperature for 12 to 18 hours.
Yes, the time means you do have to plan a little or mix it together the day before,
but it’s SO easy that I will take it.
When you come back to the dough, it will have expanded and the surface will be dotted with bubbles.
Place it on a floured work surface and fold it over itself just a few times.
Cover with plastic wrap and let it sit for about 15 minutes.
Then we can flour a cotton towel, form the dough into a ball, and place it seam-side
down on the towel.
Sprinkle some additional flour on top, cover with another towel, and let it sit in a warm
place for another 2 hours to rise.
When you come back, it will be about double the size,
and when you poke it and the dough does not spring back, it’s ready!
I’ve preheated my oven with a cast iron pan inside
(you could use ceramic, enamel or Pyrex, too)
and I’m going to simply slide my hand under the towel,
turn the dough over into the pot seam-side up,
and shake it out to evenly distribute.
Then we bake!
Take the lid off after about 30 minutes and let it finish off until it’s beautifully browned.
This bread is SO tasty,
you won’t believe it’s only 3 simple ingredients, and it doesn’t even require kneading!
This bread also works out to about $0.07 per slice,
which will work great for our challenge today,
but for breakfast I’m also going to make a spread for my bread:
DIY peanut butter.
Again, it couldn’t be easier.
Add peanuts to a food processor with salt and cinnamon.
Let it rip!
You could use any spices you prefer, or none at all!
Just peanuts will work.
You could also add sweeteners like honey, but I’m keeping this clean and cheap.
Your food processor will go through a few stages, including a dough ball,
but once that breaks it will be super smooth and ready to enjoy!
Such a great way to enjoy cheap nut butter—
and yes, you can do this with any nut you’d like!
So for breakfast, I’ve got a slice of my homemade bread, with some of that DIY peanut
butter and a banana!
Breakfast comes out to $0.40 for the serving, leaving me some room for my other meals.
For lunch, I’m making a soup with some affordable ingredients:
potato and zucchini!
Potatoes are pretty much always an affordable go-to,
and zucchini are a seasonal ingredient right now, which makes them cheap, too!
To add a ton of flavor to this soup, I’m going to roast the veggies first.
I add the zucchini to one pan, with some olive oil, salt & pepper, tossing to coat,
and I do the same with the potatoes.
I throw both pans in the oven together making life easy.
Once they’re roasted, they smell delicious and we’re ready to make the soup.
Add olive oil to a pot and sauté some garlic until fragrant.
Then we can add those roasted vegetables,
along with broth, milk and water.
Bring to a boil, turn down the heat and allow to simmer for about 20 minutes.
Then we can blend it all up!
I used a high-powered blender, but a food processor or immersion blender will work fine.
I like this soup SUPER smooth and creamy,
but you could of course leave it chunky if you prefer,
and season to taste if you don’t have enough salt from the roasting.
You could also make this soup with the potatoes and zucchini raw,
but roasting them adds SO much flavor, it really tastes like a roasted soup!
These thicker soups also really fill me up,
which is important when we’re limited with our budget and quantity of food.
For lunch I’m also making a bruschetta.
Brusketta?
I’m not even going to pretend I know how to pronounce it.
Whatever, it’s a tomato salad.
I combine chopped Roma tomatoes, minced garlic,
fresh basil, salt & pep, and olive oil,
tossing to combine.
So fresh and SO much flavor!
But a brusKETTA wouldn’t be complete without a vessel,
and for that I’m toasting up a slice of my homemade bread from earlier.
I’m also rubbing a garlic clove on that slice of toasted bread before topping it off,
because we’ve got to make the most of every ingredient for flavor with this budget!
And lunch is complete!
So fresh, filling, flavorful,
and would you believe the entire meal only set me back $0.81?
Healthy can totally be affordable!
Let’s see what we can do with our remaining budget for dinner.
I’m starting off making some lentil patties.
I combine cooked red lentils—always a great affordable ingredient,
especially when bought in bulk—along with cooked and mashed sweet potato,
rolled oats, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, and salt & pep.
Mix it all together, and then I used an ice cream scoop to portion each patty.
I add the scoops to a sheet pan lined with parchment,
and then flatten them down slightly with my hand into a patty shape.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 30 minutes,
until they’re just beginning to brown on top.
I can’t believe how much flavor these have, and this yields a hefty serving:
5 patties per person!
I would not complain about that.
Alongside these patties, I’m roasting up some vegetables.
Two of the most affordable are carrots and green beans.
So I’ve added those to a pan with olive oil, salt & pep, tossing to coat.
I roast them until they’re cooked through,
softened and beginning to brown on top, and I’ve got delicious roasted veggies!
What a dinner!
Healthy, tasty, great textures, and affordable—
only 0.68 per serving!
That brings our total to $1.89 for the day.
Not too shabby, if I do say so myself!
Truthfully, a lot of people think healthy is expensive, and it doesn’t have to be,
but the sad part of this whole experience is $1.90,
even if it is enough to create a menu,
it isn’t enough to really have well rounded nutrition regularly.
So while I am so excited to share these recipes and the #PassMyPlate campaign with you,
and to bring awareness to the American Foundation for Children with AIDS,
I must encourage you to consider your nutrition, overall caloric intake,
and macro and micronutrients if you choose to try out the challenge for yourself.
I will put all of the links in the description box below to the campaign and organization,
and in September, they will be hosting the actual #PassMyPlate event,
where you can join the fight and participate by attempting to eat for a week using this budget,
and help the organization by donating whatever else you would have spent on groceries for
the week.
Really, every little bit helps, so if this tugs at you at all and you feel inspired to give,
I know that they are grateful for anything, and I am grateful,
and, most importantly, the kids and families in Africa who will be benefiting are grateful.
If you liked this special episode,
I also participated in this campaign last year, so you can check out that video for
another budget menu,
and if you found the video helpful, I hope you’ll share it to bring even more awareness
to the organization and campaign to others.
Plus, you’re sharing some nifty affordable and healthy recipes, too.
I appreciate you all so so much for your support of the channel, and of the organizations that
I choose to support here.
I will see you next week, and remember,
it’s all a matter of Mind Over Munch.