ILL WE SURVIVE COVID
No one can answer that at this moment 1 in 500 have been taken by it. Now that it has become a political "statement" it is doubtful that we will prevail. It may take a while and as the virus mutates, it will become stronger and more adaptable to our vaccines. This is all my opinion of course...
Meanwhile the one thing that has really made me think is the supply slow down and the migration of so many seeking asylum from violence in their country who are in need of humanitarian aide housing, food, and protection.
The influx of migrants at the border will only create an even bigger divide in the political division here in the USA. Anyone who was on the fence about changing parties will most likely change their mind as they see too many migrants as a threat to them. This huge influx is being blamed on the Biden Administration. I heard they are now trying to fly people back to Haiti. So either way they will come out smelling bad. Pro immigration will say "you promised" anti immigration will say "look what you did".
THE USA is under attack from within right now so I wish the world would give us a Break to be quite honest. Pushing the buttons is not helping us to help ourselves in this time of need. We have plenty of wealth but what good does it do if we lose control of our government and it becomes an Authoritarian nightmare because we cant get people to see the light of what is happening here within our borders.
Our way of life and freedom is at risk.
We have to be able to secure and control our borders to build support for Democracy. So in other words cut us some slack just till we catch our breath and have better control of policy and can feel that we have a plan in place there is NO Plan because our law makers are so divided and can't come to a decision that is fair and equitable. America is too proud to admit when it's wrong and to show weakness but currently we are quite weak. Our policies have been gutted by Trump and there is years of backlog to work through.
It almost makes me think the word was spread sort of like a Trojan horse...Propaganda told to the people of Haiti to help create this debacle. Sabotage by the opposition using hopeless people as pawns?
Meanwhile food prices are so on a sharp rise here...Although basics remain low. I am going to try and figure out a way to live on $15 worth of food per week!! Im going to see if I can make a viable plan and then give it a try. Im not talking being able to EAT well I am just talking eat to survive. And I can only base my plan on feeding one person. AND once the supply chain stops entirely I have no clue. BUT possibly saving money to use for other costs in the future may be the best idea. I don't eat meat so you won't see any animal products in my shopping list.
Example I purchased a 5 lb bag of Idaho Russet potatoes. $2.99 I was able to get 3 satisfying recipes out of that bag. There is so many things you can do I cut 3 potatoes into wedges and made a generous serving of chunky homefries. I had one large potato in the bag and so I baked it. I had 5 various sizes of potato and so I peeled those cut into inch pieces and cooked to the point of being soft but not falling apart and made Potato Salad. I could have made hash browns, potato soup, roasted potato, mashed potato, how many can you think of? So divide that $3.00 by 3 and that is $1 for each of the 3 recipes I made. the potato salad I can get 3 servings so 3 meals.
Of course Im tossing the food pyramid out the window and probably proper nutrition also that is not what Im trying to accomplish here.
I did season this with Mayo, Mustard, Onion, and Bell pepper. I grew the Bell Pepper. So in order to make my $15 a week work I would have to spend one weeks worth on Staples to have on hand. Salt, pepper, ketchup, mayo, mustard, soy sauce, dried onion, garlic powder things to help with flavor and taste.
What about rice? You can easily come up with a variety of simple meals with cooked rice. You can add Paprika and make it Spanish Rice, you can add Soy Sauce and make it Fried Rice, you can add Turmeric and make it Yellow Rice. So again you must have a larder of staples. You can buy 2 lbs of LG White rice for $1.50
Dried Beans. I love to cook and eat dried beans.
Black beans, Pinto Beans, Black Eyed Peas, Navy Beans, Lima Beans, Lentils, Red Beans, Kidney Beans. There is a large list.
Most dried beans come in various sizes but if we use 2 lb size you can get a bag for approximately $1.50 per bag. A whole bag of cooked beans will give about 20 1/2 cup serving, so If you're like me you will want more than that...say 1 cup as a serving or 1 1/2 cup of beans So that's 5-10 servings.
If I were to add any canned food to my meal plan it would be Spinach. You can add that to Rice, it can be a good addition to a meal of Potato and Bean. A can of Spinach is very cheap say 60 cents.
So we are up to about $6.60. So far we have enough food to make several meals...that will work for dinner...now lets work on Breakfast.
A sack of flour and sugar, would also be on my list. Store brand Walmart flour 5 lbs for $1.18, 4 lbs sugar $2 and small bottle of vegetable oil is $2 and a jar of strawberry Jam is $1.84. AND there will be sugar, oil and jam left over for next week along with sugar, so I think I can make this work. If I have anything money left over I will go for canned diced tomato.
After tax I would be over my $15 limit but not by much. If you can get by with smaller quantities I would add some tea bags, and some instant coffee to my list.
BUT we are talking survival here...none of these products have to be refrigerated (the mayo once opened) so cook only what you will eat that day...and they could all be cooked outside on an open fire if need be. You will need a water source of course. And a cast iron pot for cooking with.
You can make tortillas, flat cakes, biscuits, flat breads, pancakes, white gravy, (add soy sauce and you have brown gravy) IT won't taste like you are used to tasting but you can survive on it.
In Summer you can forage for berries, mushrooms (that you ID as safe)
Breakfast Meal Plan ex:
Biscuits and white gravy
Gravy and Hash Browns
Pancakes or muffins with Strawberry Jam
Dinner Meal Plan example:
Baked PotatoTopped with Beans and Brown Gravy
Spanish Rice with a side of Beans
Potato Salad with a side of Beans and a biscuit
Flat bread with Rice and Spinach
Potato Soup with flatbread
Pan Pizza with tomato chunks and rehydrated Onion
Mashed with gravy side of Spinach
Roasted Potato with side Bean.
You can take those staples and mix n match up for a variety of meal plans. Just something to think about!
15 x 4 =$60 per month! I think I want to try it out just see how it could work.
So what would your shopping list look like for $15?
