Tips on What to Eat when You're Broke and Hungry

If you believe TV commercials, you'd think folks who are broke and hungry simply buy a $5 foot long or a Value Meal and walk away smiling, but in America today hunger can be much more serious. What can you do when the Social Security or unemployment check is days away and the cupboard is bare?

Food pantries across the country report that thousands of formerly middle class workers, the very people who donated money to hunger agencies in past years, are now turning up needing help. Supplies are running out at some agencies. According to a CNN report, more and more working professionals such as realtors are asking for help.

If you are used to finding yourself in this position, you've probably learned coping strategies, but if you are new to the world of living without, here are some ways to deal with an empty refrigerator. When you need to eke your way through just a day or two until money comes in, or have already exhausted the goodwill of your friends, you might try some of these tips.

Analyze what you actually have on hand
When the meat, fruit, vegetables and bread are gone, most of us feel stuck. Take a careful look through the cupboards to see what uncommon ingredients can be utilized in creative ways. I recently had head lettuce, but nothing else to make a salad. Luckily, I found shelled walnuts and shredded coconut left over from more prosperous days from Christmas baking. Herbs and spices last a long time and even when other foods are used up, I still have a good supply of them. Dried basil, oregano, walnuts and coconut sprinkled on the lettuce made it look and feel like a real salad, almost something from an upscale restaurant. Keeping that desperation attitude at bay is key to feeling fuller and more satisfied.

Cook like your grandparents
Busy working people rely so much on convenience foods and restaurant meals that scratch cooking skills have been forgotten or never acquired. Going back to the complete pantry inventory idea mentioned above, you will probably have flour, sugar, salt and baking powder on hand when everything else is gone. Learn to make filling basic scratch foods from these ingredients. Pancakes are a good example, but most pancake recipes do require at least one egg and some butter. It's easy to casually ask a neighbor to lend you one egg without the embarrassment of revealing your situation. Being broke and hungry shouldn't be a cause for shame given today's economic situation, but most of us still have trouble with it.

Seek leftovers at farm markets
When fresh produce is in season, farmers' markets are wonderful. What do you do if you're broke and hungry and have very little money to buy produce? One reason farm markets excel is because the food they sell is picked at dawn that day. At the close of the market, the farmer doesn't want to take home leftover corn or lettuce because it means extra work and the goods won't be as high quality the next day. Wait until closing time and ask if you can buy fruits and vegetables at a greatly reduced price if you have any money at all. Perhaps the farmer has slightly bruised or wilted stuff he will give away for free. I once got a very large box of tomatoes for $2 when a farmer was packing up at the end of the day. It held so much that I froze the tomatoes in zipper bags and they lasted all winter for sauces and soups.

Forage only if you know what you are doing
Picking wild fruits and vegetables used to be a major source of food for our ancestors. Today many delicious edible plants grow in rural and urban areas, but it is vitally important that you know what you're doing before you eat anything gathered from the wild. Mistakes can be fatal! Consult a book or computer at the library to make certain you know how to identify wild growing food plants.

Mulberry trees are common, even in cities. Blackberries grow in weedy areas. Jerusalem artichokes are a wonderful source of food, but not widely recognized. They're a tall, weedy looking plant with a bright, but small yellow daisy flower in late summer. The big tap root can be used like a potato or turnip. They commonly grow in vacant lots and by the roadside. These can all provide some nutrition and you can eat them in small quantities if you are broke and hungry.

Mushrooms are quite risky, and can be difficult to correctly identify even for experts. No matter how broke and hungry you are, wild mushrooms can be a dangerous gamble.

Source:
Personal experiences

CNN.com/US, Working Professionals Head to Food Bank, http://www.cnn.com/2009/US/03/02/california.foodbank/