My husband Peter and I have been watching a lot of June's videos on budget eats. Her videos are really inspiring and fun to watch. Last week, Peter challenged me to do the same - make 7 dinners for the two of us on a $25 budget. Well, challenge accepted!

Planning

In addition to the budget goal, I thought I would give myself a few nutrition goals. Overall, I followed a plate method to plan these dinners.

1 Vegetables: About half of the plate are vegetables, among which 1/2 are dark green vegetables. It is recommended to have 2-3 cups of vegetables a day. Since we usually eat vegetables at lunch and dinner, my goal is to meet 1/2 of the daily recommendation: 1 - 1.5 cups (or 150-250 g, including >75 g dark green vegetables).

2 Grains: About 1/4 of the plate are grains and starchy vegetables. Limit refined grains to < 50% of all grains and starchy vegetables.

3 Protein foods: About 1/4 of the plate are protein foods, each meal has > 20 g protein.

4 Calorie: 550-750 kcal per meal.

5 Sodium: It is recommended to limit daily sodium intake to less than 2300 mg. Since we don't usually add sodium to our breakfast, my sodium goal for these dinners is less than 1150 mg (or 50% of the daily limit).

Grocery Shopping

Before I went shopping, I briefly planned the menu following these steps:

1 Decide the protein source for each meal;

2 Plan the grains and vegetables that will go well with the protein foods;

3 While planning, keep in mind that I only have a $25 budget.

I went to the Farmers' market, an Asian grocery store, and a regular grocery store for grocery shopping. Plus, I had some grains and potatoes I got in bulk. I'm only calculating the cost based on how much I would use. And I am not counting the spices and condiments I have at home. It came down to a total of $24.92.

Cooking

Day 1: Korean style silken tofu soup, bean sprouts salad, and steamed brown & white rice

Day 2: Buddha bowl

Day 3: Soba noodle soup

Day 4: Baked peppercorn chicken, stir-fry kale, and steamed white rice

Day 5: Bean curd lentil soup

Day 6: Teriyaki salmon belly, stir-fry bok choy, and brown & wild rice

Day 7: Bean curd stir-fry, brown & wild rice

Did I meet my budget and nutrition goals?

Here is a summary of the cost and nutrition information of the meals.

On average, I met the budget and nutrition goals. However, not every meal met all the goals. I have to admit that it was challenging to be on such a low budget and eat a nutritionally balanced diet with a variety of foods. I had to improvise on the go. For example, I originally planned for a spinach salad to go with the Korean silken tofu soup. However, the spinach was over $2/lb and I could not afford that on the $25 budget. Instead, I got bean sprouts for $1/lb.

How did I do? Let me know what you think in the comments below.