Suppers when you're poor

amother

Leaf

Wed, Nov 08 2023, 4:42 am

strivingmom wrote:

There’s actually a school of thought that you don’t need as much protein as the world thinks you need. They claim you can have enough protein from fruits, vegetables(they have some protein in them) beans. You can check out Chris Beats Cancer(instagram/book) or The china study(book) for more info on this.
So you may be better off not having so much protein, which they claim is the cause of many illnesses nowadays.

My ds who has cancer and never ate any of the 'cancer causing foods' in his life. Please give your kids lots of protein and don't believe any of these ridiculous books

amother

Leaf

Wed, Nov 08 2023, 4:45 am

amother OP wrote:

Is it justified to serve chicken, meat, fish during the week? Or just eggs, tuna, beans? (We do use a small amount of ground meat and cheese for flavoring but not as a main part of the meal. Like I would put some ground meat in sauce to flavor it but not serve meatballs. I will make tuna pasta but not tuna patties which use much more tuna.)
That is what we do but I want to know if I am doing the right thing.
We are in a lot of debt and get some tzedakah assistance. Also tuition assistance.
We do not have Tomchei Shabbos or similar in our location.

Its 2023 and absolutely is justified to serve fish and chicken for dinner . Fish is usually less pricey version like tilapia ,flounder (salmon for Shabbos ) chicken , ground beef all normal. If needed take more tzedaka. There's enough money to go around in the Jewish community. No jew should be deprived.

amother

Sienna

Wed, Nov 08 2023, 4:56 am

I think a mom that makes the effort to have a dinner prepared for her family is doing a great job.
Soups can go a long way, are filling and nutritional and don’t cost a lot.

Pasta tuna is great (I don’t see why nutritionally it is any different that lasagna or Mac n cheese)
Chili is nutritional, delicious and you can put in less meat or just make it vegan.
Pancakes or French toast - the kids love this one. Shakshuka is the same idea but uses more eggs.
Kiesh.
We make pizza sometimes. The kids love it and it comes out better than the store.
Chicken lo me-in can stretch chicken.

If you have the things listed above with a soup your all set.

amother

Maroon

Wed, Nov 08 2023, 4:57 am

The main thing is that no one should be hungry.

I grew up poor. We ate very simple suppers and as kids we didn’t even realize until we were much older.
We had chicken on shabbos and yomtov.
Small pieces of cheap meat in the Chulent.
Otherwise during the week we had a lot of pasta usually with a little cheese, corn from a can or frozen corn, tuna sandwiches, sometimes there was soup made from frozen peas and carrots and barley, grilled cheese, of course if there was extra shabbos food we ate that until it was used up. Usually it was just the Chulent that was leftover and we had that on Sunday even sometimes on Monday. Once in a while (like 2-3 times a yr) my mother made a stew. It was mainly potatoes and carrots with a drop of meat. Baked potatoes were served often along with tuna or another type of fish from a can. rice was served often. It was cooked in different ways- sometimes with spices, sometimes with milk and sugar and it was a meal…
Until we were older teens we thought this was normal. When we were older our mother took a job and she wasn’t home all evening. During those years we had frozen food for supper. Fish sticks and frozen pizza… frozen veggie burgers and anything frozen from the freezer section in the grocery.after a while we realized that our food wasn’t normal. We heard what other people eat and we realized that we never ate like that.
It was many years ago. We survived.
Now our kids complain when we have schnitzel for supper. They claim they only want pasta and we don’t have normal suppers!

amother

Pumpkin

Wed, Nov 08 2023, 5:04 am

amother Leaf wrote:

There are lots of delicious foods people can serve without being deprived and without going further into debt. If op wants to ask for more to tzedakah to be able to buy more chicken and meat and fish then I guess that's up to her. Hashem has unlimited resources but I don't think all the tzedakah orga do at this time, at least not enough to ensure every Jew has chicken and fish and ground beef every week. So can we please not look down on people who serve more frugal but still delicious and healthy meals for their families, whether it's by choice or because of need?

amother

Cobalt

Wed, Nov 08 2023, 5:04 am

We are tight, BH not in debt or receiving tzedaka aside from tuition breaks. Some months we can afford animal proteins during the week, some months I mainly serve vegetarian proteins during the week. It's absolutely not considered depriving your children. I make delicious, filling meals that my family enjoys and we're all BH healthy and strong and growing wonderfully. It's very strange to me that some people can't fathom six days of the week going by without eating chicken or meat. Barring someone with a known medical concern, absolutely no one on the planet needs that, and many of us are much healthier without it.

amother

Sienna

Wed, Nov 08 2023, 6:36 am

If time isn’t an issue for you, you can make things with your children that would cost a lot to buy but cost little to make.

They enjoy the process and you can freeze extra batter or dough for another dinner or 2 when you don’t have so much time.

Doughnuts
Pizza
Falafel and pita
Sushi
French fries

amother

Mauve

Wed, Nov 08 2023, 7:13 am

We, thankfully, are not poor, and we rarely serve meat, chicken, or fish on weekdays. most of the fish we do is canned salmon for salmon burgers. Bread, pasta, beans, and eggs have plenty of protein. Bread and soup, sesame/peanut butter noodles with vegetables, curries, and stuffed vegetables are as hearty, filling, and satisfying as anything.

amother

Cobalt

Wed, Nov 08 2023, 7:15 am

amother Crystal wrote:

I owe a few hundred dollars in tuition. I will use the $200 in my bank account for food. Not for tuition.

You definitely should. And you should also stretch it to get as much healthy food as possible, rather than getting small quantities of expensive foods.

imanotmommy

Wed, Nov 08 2023, 7:20 am

Start with what's standard where you live (which is probably based on prices where you live)... If most people are buying chicken and ground meat for multiple suppers a week, then it makes sense that they would give tzedaka expecting that you would use the money to serve that at least once or twice a week. Basically, even if you're getting tzedaka, you don't have to spend the absolute minimum that would satisfy your nutritional needs, you can find a middle ground between that level and the level you'd spend at if you had the money through other means.

GLUE

Wed, Nov 08 2023, 7:23 am

In the non-Jewish world there are a bunch of cook books that tell you how to cook with little $$$. Many of the people who write these cook books have a lot of kids(over 6). Many will even give a few weeks menu.

Many of the recipes are not for a Jewish household. I wish someone in the Jewish world would write such a cook book. But, I could see why it would not work because the price on Kosher food can very so much from town to town.
(Another problem is that they will only be able to sell 5 copies everyone else will just borrow it from someone' Wink

amother

Charcoal

Wed, Nov 08 2023, 7:35 am

amother Crystal wrote:

I owe a few hundred dollars in tuition. I will use the $200 in my bank account for food. Not for tuition.

I would not. There are many other ways to get food, and with $200 the food will be gone in no time.
With tuition, I will feel right knowing that I paid for the most important thing. BTW schools provide food for your kids too, so if they were home, it would add on to your food bill.

amother

Cadetblue

Wed, Nov 08 2023, 8:27 am

amother Crystal wrote:

I owe a few hundred dollars in tuition. I will use the $200 in my bank account for food. Not for tuition.

No so clear cut.
How much was tuition already? Did you pay $45,000 and have $200 left to pay, or was total tuition $200? Or did you get a reduction already and agreed to pay $200? How long will it take to get another $200 to pay the tuition?

And then the same with food. Is the $200 food for the month? for the week? Do you have food fully stocked freezer & food already for shabbos and the $200 will go toward additional meat for shabbos?

Obviously family need food, and tuition is a given too, but there needs to be a reasonable balance.
I have a reduced tuition contract, agreed to pay monthly, but some months its a little late. I also have $30,000 credit card debt and some months it goes up instead of down. I have some food in the pantry & freezer - and some weeks I dont buy anything special for shabbos and use what I have (leftovers from freezer & cans of tuna & veg).

amother

Pumpkin

Wed, Nov 08 2023, 8:36 am

amother Charcoal wrote:

My schools don't provide any food for my kids. That must be nice, though.