Since I started my $5 per week food budget, I’ve developed an odd habit: dinner for breakfast. Yes, I’m eating my dinner foods first thing in the morning, odd as that may seem.

Before I started conserving on my food budget I started each day with a tall mug of sweetened tea and a Clif Bar. The Clif Bars cost $1.50 or so here in the one supermarket in our remote mountain town. My favorite flavor was “Peanut Toffee Buzz” which has a bit of caffeine in it. Unfortunately the Clif Bars, which cost me a minimum of $10.50 per week, were the first things to go from my food budget. I say minimum because I liked them so much, I often ate them for snacks later in the day as well.

When I ran out of Clif Bars I started making oatmeal for breakfast but my supply has dwindled. Though I’m an avid food storage advocate, I hadn’t stored oatmeal. Big mistake! I plan to make a food storage shopping trip after my six-week $5/wk. budgeting experiment is over. Oatmeal is one thing I’ll stock up on. It is a great way to get a filling breakfast in the morning.

I know a lot of people reading this will be groaning because they think oatmeal is the worst breakfast ever, but it has its uses. It digests slowly and come to think of it, Avena Sativa (oat) is a popular herb for various reasons… energy being one of them. Google “Avena Sativa” and you’ll get other ideas on what people are buying this herb for. I have some in capsule form that I’ve taken as part of my regimen to get off hypothyroid medications.

Since I like to eat a substantial breakfast, and am a total vegetarian, I’ve started eating my rice, lentils, potatoes and carrots for breakfast. I cook them once or twice weekly in my rice steamer; rice and lentils in the bottom and veggies on top. I cut my potatoes in half and eat them like baked potatoes when the rice steamer opens. For breakfast I chop the steamed potatoes and carrots into small pieces, warm in olive oil with sliced fresh garlic, and then add the rice and lentil mixture on top. Spices I add are simply salt, pepper, and garlic powder. I like lots of garlic as you can see, and believe it has great health benefits for my circulatory system.

It is nearly 4am as I write this and I’ve just had two small plates of this wonderful breakfast. Though I also eat the same for dinner I’m fully satisfied with this and know I won’t be hungry for a while.

I’m developing another breakfast… with vegan pancakes and a variety of toppings. More on that another time. The recipe isn’t perfected enough to share yet. Meanwhile, I can say I’m still eating well though I’ve reached week three of my $5/wk. food budgeting experiment.

Food purchases last week were $1.99 for a bag of potatoes, $.35 for carrots, and $.98 for fresh broccoli. That gave me $1.68 left over which I’m adding to this week’s food budget. I haven’t decided yet what I’ll spend it on. I’m considering olive oil as I’m almost out. I do have a couple pounds of butter I could use instead. I’ll probably wait until later in the week to make a decision on what to buy next. Oatmeal comes to mind.