Saturday, September 12, 2015

Hello!

Just when you probably thought that this blog was done, I have returned!

Well, it's been almost 2 1/2 years since my last post.  

What have I been up to?  Well...



First I met Colin, and we started dating.


Then we got engaged 




and got married


and then about a year later we had a baby.


Ella is now 5 months old


She is such an amazing and beautiful little girl, we are very blessed.

So, that's where I have been, what a busy couple of years!  

What has brought me back to blogging?  So glad you asked!  

Did you know that September is Hunger Action Month?  

In 2013, 49.1 million Americans lived in food insecure households, including 33.3 million adults and 15.8 million children.

In 2013, 14 percent of households (17.5 million households) were food insecure.

In 2013, 6 percent of households (6.8 million households) experienced very low food security.

In 2013, households with children reported food insecurity at a significantly higher rate than those without children, 20 percent compared to 12 percent.

In 2013, households that had higher rates of food insecurity than the national average included households with children (20%), especially households with children headed by single women (34%) or single men (23%), Black non-Hispanic households (26%) and Hispanic households (24%).

In 2011, 4.8 million seniors (over age 60), or 8 percent of all seniors were food insecure.


Luckily programs such as SNAP are available to assist families and individuals in need.    SNAP amounts vary per state but provide roughly $4 per day per person to buy needed groceries.  While it may not be too hard to only spend $4 a day the real challenge is how to spend $4 per day AND meet daily nutrition needs.

As a Dietitian, eating healthy on a budget has not only been something that I feel very strongly about but something that I have been practicing for years.  I have always considered myself a frugal person but the true test came in the years following college.  After undergrad I decided that I wanted a masters degree and knew that in order to not have to take out a loan I had to take one class at a time and really work on sticking to a budget.  It was then that I started to coupon, shop "loss leader" sales and meal plan.  Although I am not always perfect I still to this day try and keep my grocery costs as low as possible without sacrificing good nutrition.

This year I will be participating in the SNAP Challenge and sharing my experiences on the blog. 

 You can read about the SNAP challenge here, but the basics of what I will be doing are simple:

- 5 Days
- $4.40/day per person
- Meet nutrition recommendations

Although I have experience in healthy eating on a budget this task poses much more restriction than I am used to, will I succeed?  We will see :) 

To get started here are a few tips that I have discussed in the past






Want to join me?  Feel free to leave comments below or link to your blog, twitter, instagram, facebook, etc. to share your experiences!




2 comments:

  1. Congrats on your marriage and beautiful baby girl!! I'm so glad to see you blogging again!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I am so glad that you both still follow the blog :) Hope all is well in Iowa!

    ReplyDelete