Can a family eat thrifty AND healthy? Let’s find out

I am so excited to finally share this project with you!

The MyPlate on My Budget Project was conceived by fellow blogger Jenny Bardsley of Teaching My Baby to Read. Throughout the month of March, Jenny and I will be taking a closer look at the expense and value of the food we feed our families.

Jenny’s MyPlate on My Budget posts will document her personal challenge to spend only the USDA’s “Thrifty” food budget for the month while feeding her family according to their MyPlate daily nutritional guidelines. I am very excited to see what challenges arise from sticking to these very specific and potentially opposing perimeters.

While Jenny does the heavy lifting, as far as math is concerned, I will be chiming in with budget-friendly healthy recipes and my tricks for reducing grocery bills. I don’t know what is going to happen between now and the end of the month. I do predict a few emotional responses by various participants faced with stretching their comfort zones!

In addition to reading our March blog posts, you can see our growing collection of recipes and budgeting ideas on Pinterest. Follow the MyPlate on My Budget board to keep up with the latest additions to the collection.

AND if you are a blogger who has done a similar project or written a relevant post, please let us know. Send me your name, blog name, and a link to the post or posts you have written on this subject.

Now, without further adieu, here is Jenny’s official introduction to the project:

Admittedly, I’m obsessed.

It all started a few weeks ago when I was at Trader Joe’s. I was just there to pick up “a few things”. When I got to the register, the total came to $67!

As I was driving home I kept thinking about how lucky I was to be able to afford a spontaneous grocery store trip like that. I also started wondering what items I would have put back, if I had been on a tighter budget.

Just to be clear, it wasn’t like I was buying steak and champagne.

Milk, string cheese, coffee, eggs, a bag of apples, a few loaves of bread… It all starts to add up, especially if you buy organic.

That’s how my obsession started.

Food…money…privilege…deprivation…nutrition…weight…poverty… I can’t stop thinking about all of those big questions.

When I got home I started exploring the USDA website for Cost of Food at Home. Our family falls somewhere between the “Moderate and Liberal” end of the spectrum.

What shocked me?

The “Thrifty” budget would only allocate my family $144.80 cents a week!

Maybe you are a thrifty shopper already and are looking at that amount and thinking “Big deal, that’s easy.”

Here’s the catch.

The USDA has this other website called Choose MyPlate.gov. They want people to fill half their plates with fruits and vegetables, consume three servings of dairy a day, choose meat less often, and eat fish twice a week.

Is that even possible? Food costs money. Veggies are expensive. Fresh fish that hasn’t been shipped all the way to China and back, is pricey.

Could I follow the USDA thrifty food plan and meet the MyPlate requirements?

That’s the question I’m going to answer this March with “MyPlate on My Budget”.

Luckily, I’m not attempting this experiment without a lot of support. Rose McAvoy from Our Lady of Second Helpings is providing help, guidance, and yummy recipes.

March is going to be a major educational experience for my entire family.

We are going to learn about nutrition. We are going to find out where food comes from. We are going to experiment with new recipes.

There’s going to be math and science and art and all sorts of things tied into this.

So stay tuned! In the meantime, you might want to check out the MyPlate on My Budget board that Rose and I are creating together on Pinterest.

Talk to us

> Give us your news tips.

> Send us a letter to the editor.

> More Herald contact information.

More in Life

Brandon Hailey of Cytrus, center, plays the saxophone during a headlining show at Madam Lou’s on Friday, Dec. 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington. (Olivia Vanni / The Herald)
Lynnwood-based funk octet Cytrus has the juice

Resilience and brotherhood take center stage with ‘friends-first’ band.

FILE - In this April 11, 2014 file photo, Neko Case performs at the Coachella Music and Arts Festival in Indio, Calif. Fire investigators are looking for the cause of a fire on Monday, Sept. 18, 2017, that heavily damaged Case’s 225-year-old Vermont home. There were no injuries, though a barn was destroyed. It took firefighters two hours to extinguish the blaze. (Photo by Scott Roth/Invision/AP, File)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Singer-songwriter Neko Case, an indie music icon from Tacoma, performs Sunday in Edmonds.

Dominic Arizona Bonuccelli
Tangier’s market boasts piles of fruits, veggies, and olives, countless varieties of bread, and nonperishables, like clothing and electronics.
Rick Steves on the cultural kaleidoscope of Tangier in Morocco

Walking through the city, I think to myself, “How could anyone be in southern Spain — so close — and not hop over to experience this wonderland?”

chris elliott.
Vrbo promised to cover her rental bill in Hawaii, so why won’t it?

When Cheryl Mander’s Vrbo rental in Hawaii is uninhabitable, the rental platform agrees to cover her new accommodations. But then it backs out. What happened?

The Moonlight Swing Orchestra will play classic sounds of the Big Band Era on April 21 in Everett. (submitted photo)
Music, theater and more: What’s happening in Snohomish County

Relive the Big Band Era at the Port Gardner Music Society’s final concert of the season in Everett.

2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD (Honda)
2024 Honda Ridgeline TrailSport AWD

Honda cedes big boy pickup trucks to the likes of Ford, Dodge… Continue reading

Would you want to give something as elaborate as this a name as mundane as “bread box”? A French Provincial piece practically demands the French name panetiere.
A panetiere isn’t your modern bread box. It’s a treasure of French culture

This elaborately carved French antique may be old, but it’s still capable of keeping its leavened contents perfectly fresh.

(Judy Newton / Great Plant Picks)
Great Plant Pick: Mouse plant

What: Arisarum proboscideum, also known as mouse plant, is an herbaceous woodland… Continue reading

Bright green Japanese maple leaves are illuminated by spring sunlight. (Getty Images)
Confessions of a ‘plantophile’: I’m a bit of a junky for Japanese maples

In fact, my addiction to these glorious, all-season specimens seems to be contagious. Fortunately, there’s no known cure.

2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited (Hyundai)
2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited

The 2024 Hyundai IONIQ 6 Limited is a sporty, all-electric, all-wheel drive sedan that will quickly win your heart.

The 2024 Dodge Hornet R/T hybrid’s face has the twin red lines signifying the brand’s focus on performance. (Dodge)
2024 Hornet R/T is first electrified performance vehicle from Dodge

The all-new compact SUV travels 32 miles on pure electric power, and up to 360 miles in hybrid mode.

Don’t blow a bundle on glass supposedly made by the Henry William Stiegel

Why? Faked signatures, reused molds and imitated styles can make it unclear who actually made any given piece of glass.

Support local journalism

If you value local news, make a gift now to support the trusted journalism you get in The Daily Herald. Donations processed in this system are not tax deductible.