"Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a
lifetime." - Chinese Proverb
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I knew that preparing meals was going to be a challenge
within the SNAP Challenge. While shopping
for the week, I intentionally purchased quick assemble food to get me out the
door in the morning and easy to eat between work and community meetings. It was the dinner meal that scared me the
most. There was only so much beans and
rice I would be able to tolerate and the idea of having to spend much time in
the kitchen gave me some anxiety. What
if I overcook and ruin the rice, my main dinner starch and filler?
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I thought I was pretty clever heating up a can of creamed
corn and pouring it over some rice and a can of the buffalo chicken I bought
(the regular canned chicken was gone due to a four cans for $5 special). The beans proceeded to soak for a few hours
to be used in another evening's meal or to take to work when I get bored of
bologna and cheese sandwiches.
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An aspect of SNAP that often isn't recognized is the SNAP Ed program, which assists SNAP recipients with budget shopping, advanced
meal preparation and low-budget, nutritious meals. In North Dakota, dieticians, educators and
extension agents provide classroom style programs, one-on-one consultations and
community outings to educate SNAP recipients of the variety of resources
available to them to make more healthy and budget-conscious decisions when
shopping. It's certainly an aspect of
the program that I could have benefited from before taking on the SNAP
Challenge!
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