I asked ChatGPT: If a person has little money, please list a low-cost meal plan for one day that would maximize nutrition and minimize cost.
I asked ChatGPT:
If a person has little money, please list a low-cost meal plan for one day that would maximize nutrition and minimize cost.
This is the answer that it gave:
Creating a low-cost meal plan that maximizes nutrition involves choosing affordable, nutrient-dense foods. Here’s a sample meal plan that aims to balance cost, nutrition, and simplicity:
Breakfast: Oatmeal with Fruit and Seeds
Oats: Cooked with water or a small amount of milk (or a plant-based alternative). Oats are inexpensive and provide fiber, protein, and various vitamins and minerals.
Flax Seeds: Add a tablespoon of ground flax seeds to the oatmeal for omega-3s and additional fiber.
Banana: Sliced banana on top for added vitamins and potassium.
Cost Estimate: ~$0.50–$1.00
Lunch: Lentil Soup with Spinach
Lentils: A great, low-cost source of protein and iron. Cook with onions, garlic, and a few spices.
Spinach: Add a handful of fresh or frozen spinach to the soup for vitamins A, C, K, and folate.
Carrots and Celery: Optional, for added flavor and nutrition.
Cost Estimate: ~$1.00–$1.50
Snack: Apple and Peanut Butter
Apple: Provides fiber and vitamin C.
Peanut Butter: A small spoonful for protein and healthy fats.
Cost Estimate: ~$0.50–$1.00
Dinner: Rice and Beans with Vegetables
Brown Rice: Provides complex carbohydrates and fiber.
Black Beans: A good source of protein, iron, and fiber. Use canned beans for convenience, or cook dried beans if you have more time.
Mixed Vegetables: Use frozen vegetables for affordability and nutrition.
You can stir-fry or steam them to add to the rice and beans.
Cost Estimate: ~$1.00–$1.50
Total Daily Cost Estimate: ~$3.00–$5.00
Nutritional Highlights:
Protein: Lentils, beans, and peanut butter provide good sources of protein.
Fiber: Oats, flax seeds, apples, and vegetables contribute to high fiber intake.
Vitamins and Minerals: Fruits, vegetables, and legumes offer essential vitamins and minerals.
Tips to Keep Costs Low:
1. Buy in Bulk: Purchase staples like oats, rice, and lentils in bulk to save money.
2. Use Frozen Vegetables: They’re often cheaper than fresh and have a longer shelf life.
3. Seasonal Produce: Choose fruits and vegetables that are in season for lower prices.
4. Store Brands: Opt for store brands or generic products which are typically cheaper.
This meal plan is designed to be affordable while providing a good range of nutrients. Adjustments can be made based on local prices, seasonal availability, and personal preferences.
I support using modern technology to give every person on earth a first world standard of living. The Asian tiger countries went from third world to first world in a very short period of time. Now Haiti is starting to do the same thing.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/experiment-haiti-making-once-arid-103000097.html
An experiment in Haiti is making once-arid lands fertile, and poor farmers into money-makers
By Jacqueline Charles
November 24, 2023
At first sight, the nearly four acres of farmland in this rural hamlet in northeast Haiti resembles more of a desert than a thriving agricultural experiment. The soil is brown and barren, battered by a lack of water and neglect.
But walk further inland and the seemingly lifeless terrain soon turns green: Cabbages and pumpkins rise out of the ground, papayas hang from trees and workers plant rows of hot peppers in the freshly plowed dirt as a generator hisses in the background.
A year ago, such a lush landscape was unimaginable for Fransik Monchèr, a farmer and father of seven who couldn’t even grow fiery habanero peppers because they quickly died.
All that changed the day a group of entrepreneurs decided to take a gamble to launch a socioeconomic experiment with the goal of answering a simple, but daunting question: What if a Haitian farmer, like Monchèr, had everything he needed to be a successful grower?
“That farmer who has the land, how do you get him to upgrade his way of production — and how do we recuperate that cost?” said Maxwell Marcelin, one of the entrepreneurs.
The quest for the answers has birthed an unusual partnership among four Port-au-Prince-based friends and entrepreneurs, and local farmers and agronomists in northern Haiti. Together, they are pushing locally grown peppers and sweet potatoes while also aiding farmers like Monchèr in transforming their sun-scorched land, restoring hope in the only livelihood they’ve known: agriculture.
Though 75% of Haiti’s population lives in rural areas, the country can’t feed itself. Nearly half of the population, 4.9 million people, are experiencing acute hunger, according to the United Nations. The blame, the U.N. says, can be placed on a number of factors, including poor irrigation systems, lack of capital, political instability and the intensifying gang violence that has spread beyond the capital of Port-au-Prince to rural areas.
In areas where gangs are not occupying farmland or distribution routes, small-scale farmers are fighting to grow crops with limited or no government support. Crops fail due to increasingly frequent and severe droughts and tropical storms, and higher-than-average temperatures.
None of it makes for a hopeful scenario where agriculture can once more become the driving economic force in the countryside.
“Everybody is locked into the idea that it can’t be done,” said Geoffrey Handal, the accounting and logistics expert in the friends’ group, who challenges such pessimism. “We have all of the qualified agronomists, we have all of the techniques needed, we have all of the land, we have all of the water, we have everything.”
While Haiti’s capital is overrun by gangs, in the north entrepreneurs and farmers are trying to focus on its economic potential. Peppers like these growing in a field in Paulette, Haiti are being grown for both the local and export markets.
‘Total despair’
When Marcelin first arrived at Monchèr’s farm in Limonade, the northeast city that is part of the Marihaboux Plain, he believed, like the farmer, that the land was unworkable.
“It was total despair,” Marcelin said, as a group of workers dig a hole on a dirt mound to plant habanero pepper trees. “He said every time he tried to plant, there was no rain and he would lose his harvest.”
Refusing to accept that the expansive plot was a wasteland, Marcelin and Handal began to think about how they could help. Monchèr not only needed seeds, but also financing. But most importantly, he needed a steady supply of water so he wouldn’t have to depend on rains.
“That’s the basis of agriculture. Otherwise it’s like you’re playing the lottery” waiting for rain, Marcelin said.
Farmers in Haiti have always struggled to make a living off their crops. But with help from a group of fellow Haitians, they are hoping to see their fortunes turn.
In Haiti, crops failed not just because of too little or too much rainfall, but also due to a lack of access to irrigation, even when water is available.
Just across the border 45 minutes away in the Dominican Republic farmers are successful, Marcelin said, so the issue is not the availability of water.
“The only thing is there is no investment on our side of the border to bring the water to the producers,” he said.
Armed with a study showing that there was indeed water under Monchèr’s arid land, the group sprang into action. Magalie Dresse, a well-known designer who works with women artisans, helped with financing. Handal, who is also experimenting with producing a bank of high-quality seedlings, provided the seeds. And Marcelin crunched the numbers. With a background in management economics, he wanted to show Monchèr that he could have a successful harvest and rely on it for income to feed his family.
“We provided him with a well, a submersible pump, a generator —a propane one because there is no gas,” Marcelin said. ”He has the support of one of our agronomists to help him on what to do and what not to do. We plowed his field.”
The contributions have not gone unnoticed. Since January, Monchèr has grown more than 2,000 pounds of habanero peppers in addition to other fruits and vegetables.
‘“They backed me up,” he said, flashing a smile and standing upright in his field. “I could not have accomplished this on my own. I could not have dug a well because I don’t have the means to do that.”
Whereas before he saw despair, he now sees hope.
“My children are starting to eat and I am beginning to make some money. If they tell me they are hungry, I can come here, grab two or three papayas and sell them to find money to buy food,” Monchèr said.
The group’s initial investment of about 480,000 gourdes — about $3,600 — is expected to bring Monchèr about $7,000 in sales, which he will make from selling his habanero peppers to AGRILOG/Ets JB Vital, S.A., the company that Marcelin and Handal use to export peppers to Miami.
A group of young entrepreneurs from Port-au-Prince is helping farmers in northern Haiti grow peppers. This variety, known as “Piman Bouk,” is among the peppers being developed in Paulette, Haiti.
“This is someone we’ve taken out of poverty when we gave him this opportunity,” Marcelin said.
“Because we invested in Fransik,” he adds, walking through the papaya trees, “we’ve created an oasis.”
From coffee to sweet potatoes
Growing up in a poverty-stricken Haiti as a member of a well-off family, Handal knew he was blessed, a feeling he’s wanted to share with others.
“I’ve always felt like every Haitian should have it and we should show the world this is how we live,” he said.
For 200 years, the Handal family exported coffee, once among the island’s most lucrative cash crops. But deforestation, natural disasters and the increasing need for coffee to be grown at higher elevations due to warming temperatures led to a rapid decline in coffee production. In 2008, Handal said the family was shipping 33 cargo containers of coffee beans each season.
A year later, before the devastating 2010 earthquake further decimated production, the family shipped only two containers “because we couldn’t find any coffee.”
Handel said that an investigation into the demise of Haiti’s coffee market led him to conclude that the family needed to invest in agricultural production. But more than a decade went by before he revisited the idea of exports, spending most of the time working in the family’s shipping business in Port-au-Prince.
“I realized the only two things we could export here would be, first of all, textiles and second, agriculture,” he said. He decided on the agriculture route as a way to boost his export volume. “It was purely a logistic play to see what could I do to get containers full of agriculture products out of Haiti.”
Then he met Marcelin, who pitched him on growing peppers and sweet potatoes, and helping farmers boost their harvest.
“The Dominican Republic is the same size, same economy as Haiti and there is no reason why we can’t reach that level of GDP,” Handal said. “If we do this right, if we invest properly in Haiti in 20 years, we can have 10% GDP growth every year. With that measure, this is how billionaires get made. This is how you create a real economy.”
Marcelin said he became interested in agriculture through the work of his wife, Kalinda Magloire. She is the founder of a clean cooking social enterprise known as SWITCH, which encourages Haitians to move away from charcoal in favor of propane.
One of the effects of Haiti’s declining agricultural sector is that when farmers can’t cultivate their land, they turn to cutting their trees down for charcoal production, which gives them about $400 every two years. For farmers to stop cutting trees to survive, said Marcelin, they need a path to production to get replace that revenue.
Cutting down the trees is “the easiest choice today because he doesn’t have money to invest, so he just lets the trees grow and then every two years, he sells them,” he said. “But if he had the financing, the know-how and access to market, he would have an alternative.
“When we were presenting clean cooking as an alternative, the question we were always presented with was, ‘What about the farmer who lives off charcoal?’ ” Marcelin adds. “This is why we started thinking about agriculture.”
Bringing back the Scotch bonnet, saving the Bouk
About 17 miles to the east of Limonade along National Highway 6 in the rural community of Paulette is the for-profit side of Marcelin and Handal’s vision. Together with the Peasant Movement for the Development of Paulette they are growing sweet potato and several varieties of pepper, including the high-in-demand “Piman Bouk,” whose first shipment arrived in Miami in April.
Despite the demand for Bouk, it is hard to find, said Handal, who has built a nursery to provide high quality pepper seeds.
“Today, even if a farmer wants to go plant Bouk, he won’t find quality seeds to do it,” Handal said.
The entrepreneurs also want to bring back production of the Caribbean Scotch bonnet, a variety of chili pepper. According to local lore, the Scotch bonnet, popular in Jamaica, was bountiful around Cap-Haïtien before the Haitian revolution but soon disappeared after Haiti won its independence from France in 1804.
The two are also working on exporting sweet potato, which for now is being sold on the local market as they continue to improve the yield for export to Europe with the help of agronomists from Honduras, who have expertise in growing the vegetable.
Geoffrey Handal is among four friends from Port-au-Prince, Haiti who have come together to launch a socioeconomic lab focused on helping farmers in northern Haiti access expertise and new techniques to grow crops.
To make the agricultural project work, the duo invested in a drip irrigation system, similar to what’s used in the Dominican Republic, and fertilizer. They also brought onboard interns from the nearby University of Limonade to assist and to learn.
The financial model, which Handal came up with, calls for the Paulette farmers to get 30% of sales.
“At the end of the day, when you look at the investment, it comes up to 50-50 in terms of profits,” Marcelin said. “In Paulette, it’s a Fransik Monchèr magnified. We created jobs but the profit sharing is for the whole organization…. Everyone who is in the ecosystem is making money.”
Handal also sees another important result.
“For me as long as the community is involved, that’s all you need,” he said.
The two also focus on finding creative ways to get around problems. After some of the habaneros and Piman Bouk ripened before they could be shipped out, Marcelin and Handal decided to go into the pepper sauce business.
With their next harvest less than 30 days away, they are hoping the sweet potatoes will be ready so they can be shipped out. If not, they will just continue to sell it locally.
The effort is “a bet that this country will not die, which is a bit of a leap of faith these days. But if it’s not going to die, it’s going to grow at some point,” Handal said. “And that’s why we invest.”
What’s Cooking in Switzerland: Burt Wolf Travels & Traditions (#805)
False advertising! Dole’s “100% juice” is not 100% juice. Dole deliberately adds insects to it.
Dole sells a product called, “Dole 100% Juice Orange Strawberry Banana.”
At least, that’s what is says on the front of the package.
However, on the back of the package, they admit that their claim of “100% juice” is a scam. A lie. A con. A fraud.
The back of the packaging says it includes something called “cochineal extract.”
Cochineal extract = insects.
Therefore, Dole’s claim that this product is “100% Juice” is a lie.
Shame on Dole!
An alternative to debt forgiveness: This writer says eating peanut butter and jelly for lunch instead of going to a restaurant made them feel happy and in control of their life.
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/m-18k-debt-went-no-143039541.html
I’m $18k in debt, so I went on a no-spend month. Here’s what I learned.
By Chegg Life
August 31, 2022
Standing in my kitchen on a recent morning, making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for lunch later that day, it occurred to me that what would appear to be a fairly mundane (albeit delicious) task was actually so much more.
Maybe that’s because, during the previous month, I spent close to $700 on restaurants alone. That’s like a million peanut butter and jellies.
It was that revelation that inspired a month-long no-restaurants-or-shopping challenge I assigned to myself in July. I could not continue to ignore my mounting bills, and I could not go on living with the constant reminder and anxiety of my $18,000 of credit card debt.
Since getting laid off in March 2021, I’ve been funding my life on a freelance salary in one of the most expensive cities in the world. I was living beyond my means, swiftly approaching my credit limit, and I felt completely out of control. Something had to change. And fast.
I was lucky to have a supportive (and much more knowledgeable friend) in my corner. We (she) quickly went on the offensive and introduced me to Tiller, a budgeting software she uses. She showed me how to calculate my expenses for the past three months and make a budget for the long term. Fun, I thought, but begrudgingly obliged. It was like watching a scary movie. But much like seeing Scream 5 in theaters after years of convincing myself I would be too scared, confronting my spending head-on made me realize that, like the Scream franchise, this isn’t that scary at all.
Looking at my expenses, I made the difficult-to-me decision to cut restaurants and shopping out completely for a full month. No shopping for non-necessities. No takeout. No dinners out with friends. No “Let’s grab a drink!” Could I actually do it? It was an off-putting prospect for a person who has been known to refresh Resy in hopes of scoring a last-minute, hard-to-get reservation for sport. But it felt worth trying.
Along with my shopping and food restrictions and newfound budgeting habit, I knew I needed to take action to feel like I was getting things a bit more in control; it was abundantly clear during this deep dive into my credit card statements that I was not in control at all. So, I began to make a few painful decisions, canceling a laundry list of plans that I simply could not afford: a dinner plan that very evening, a trip to Seattle later in the month to celebrate a friend’s wedding. I even called a beloved bathing suit brand to cancel an order I’d placed just days earlier. As I mentally crossed out things I’d been eagerly anticipating, I returned to a saying someone shared with me that I’ve found applicable in so many situations:
Just because something feels bad doesn’t mean it’s wrong.
I expected some change as a result — like, perhaps, a little extra literal change in my account at the end of the month. And that certainly happened. But there were so many other unexpected lessons, too.
I felt so much gratitude
When I first took shopping and restaurants out of the equation, I worried about how I’d fare without the dopamine hit that comes only from clicking “buy now” or the excitement of that initial sip of an overpriced cocktail — would I feel like I was missing out?
That notion was tested a few times during the month. I went to a concert at a baseball stadium (tickets purchased pre-challenge) mid month, where, under normal circumstances, I would have typically bought, at the very least, chicken fingers and french fries and merch and, at the most, all of the above plus a $20 beer in a souvenir cup.
But I packed a sandwich and some wine in a thermos and tried to put fried food out of my mind. In line with a friend who wanted to get a drink, I felt the temptation creeping in. I’m not sure if it was the concert or the spending gods, but as we approached the front of the line, a very generous (and intoxicated) man turned around, announced he’d be buying drinks for everyone in the line and pulled out his credit card.
With the exception of the gifted tequila, I was mostly surprised to find myself not feeling deprived. I actually more grateful for not only the things I already have but for the people in my life that make it so special and sweet. Every time I shared my challenge with someone and they suggested going for a walk or having a picnic, it felt like my heart swelled three sizes.
I got more creative
That same friend who first sat me down in front of the computer to face my spending demons also helped me realize something that never occurred to me in all my life living in New York where your social life revolves around paying other people to cook for you. Meeting for dinner is so…easy.
Removing it as an option would mean getting more creative, finding more fun. I went on walks, on picnics, to the beach and to see free movies in the park that we always talk about seeing in the summer but never do. I snuck grocery store snacks into the movies. I went to Philadelphia to visit friends who planned an entire weekend of free or affordable activities — a pizza night and a bike ride. Another friend decided to host a potluck for her birthday dinner instead of going out. I found myself looking forward to finding new activities to do that didn’t involve spending money, and looking even more forward to checking my bank account and keeping tabs on my budget each day.
Who is she? I could barely recognize myself.
I tried my hand at new cuisines
Aside from the ubiquitous PB&J, I found myself trying out new recipes, like this miso-glazed salmon and a kale Caesar salad I cannot stop making. And, as an unexpected bonus, I feel… really good. It may not be sustainable to make myself every meal for the rest of forever, but having a basic idea of everything I was consuming for a month really made me feel like I was taking care of myself.
I connected with so many people
When I reached out to friends I’d made plans to spend the weekend with prior to starting this challenge, I was plagued with anxiety about how they would react. I wrote to them explaining what was going on and assured them that they were still welcome to go out to eat, that I would meet up with them when they were done. But they were more than happy to stay in and cook. Trying new restaurants is always exciting, but when it comes down to it, we make plans with people to connect and spend quality time together. And you don’t need to spend money to do that.
I started posting daily video diaries on my TikTok, mostly as a way of holding myself accountable and to keep a record of the experience. But soon, it grew into a community. I heard from so many different people who were either at some point in their debt payoff journey or looking for some inspo. I was happy to share both.
And I realized that, when given the chance, everyone has a debt story they’re eager to share.
I was initially scared to share publicly the actual amount of credit card debt I had. I was afraid of my mom seeing it, my family members on Facebook judging me. I was afraid of being made fun of, ridiculed for not knowing how to handle my money. What happened was quite the opposite.
I was on a walk with my friend (the one who helped me with the budget) one morning, agonizing over my finances when I just sort of…blurted it out, I told her I had $18,000 in debt — saying that number aloud for the first time. I waited for the shock, the disapproval. Bless her, it never came.
Once it was out there, my DMs almost immediately filled up with other people going through a similar situation, some offering tips on how to crawl out of it, some sharing personal anecdotes and even some comforting solidarity. It was not only refreshing; it was eye-opening, too. It made me realize that talking about finances openly and without judgment is something many of us are craving, and not necessarily getting.
I’m not sure what comes next. But as this month comes to an end, I have spent over $2,000 less than the month prior. I paid $1,000 off my credit card balance, put money away for taxes, and felt no anxiety about what my balance was while handing my debit card over to pay for some essentials. I didn’t get sick of peanut butter and jelly, and I have yet to miss a restaurant.
Mostly, I’m excited about the prospect of finally being in control of my finances — and my life — for what feels like the first time.
Chickens are self replicating. A hen lays approximately 5 eggs per week. Therefore, the communists who control Cuba would have to be especially incompetent to create a shortage of chickens.
This CNN video is from 2019. It was filmed in Cuba. It shows a large number of people waiting in line, for many hours, all based on the hope that there might, maybe, possibly be one chicken available for them when they finally get to the front of the line. Maybe they’ll get a chicken that day. Maybe not.
Even if they do manage to get a chicken after waiting in line for many hours, the opportunity cost of waiting in line for such a long amount of time is enormous. Imagine all of the things that all of those people could be doing with all of that time if they were living in a country that wasn’t Cuba.
Chickens are self replicating. A hen lays approximately 5 eggs per week.
Therefore, the communists who control Cuba would have to be especially incompetent to create a shortage of chickens.
Skip to 3:09
The ‘Fittest Woman on Earth’ shared the diet she eats to lose weight, including bagels, bacon, and peanut butter
https://www.yahoo.com/news/fittest-woman-earth-shared-diet-110000684.html
The ‘Fittest Woman on Earth’ shared the diet she eats to lose weight, including bagels, bacon, and peanut butter
By Gabby Landsverk
March 22, 2022
Tia-Clair Toomey is a five-time CrossFit Games champ who has also competed at the Olympics in weightlifting.
Tia-Clair Toomey is a five-time CrossFit Games champion and trained for Olympic bobsled.
She said her diet was designed to help her lose weight slowly, while maintaining performance.
Toomey eats about 2,500 calories a day, including bagels, peanut butter, meat, and fruit.
To lose weight, the “Fittest Woman on Earth” relies on a heaping breakfast packed with bagels, bacon, and peanut butter, as well as plenty of protein and carbs sprinkled throughout her day, to support an intense workout schedule.
Tia-Clair Toomey, a five-time champion of the CrossFit Games, shared a YouTube video on Monday showing what she ate to transition from training for the Olympic bobsled team back to CrossFit.
CrossFit incorporates multiple fitness disciplines, from weightlifting to gymnastics, and tests of stamina, like long trail runs and open-water swimming. As a result, it can be advantageous if CrossFit athletes put on muscle mass in the offseason, then try to get leaner for competition.
Toomey’s fat-loss diet focuses on dropping weight slowly, while making sure she has plenty of energy to complete her training, according to her coach (and husband), Shane Orr.
In total, her day of eating clocks in at about 2,500 calories, compared with the 3,000 to 3,500 daily calories she consumed during bobsled season.
For breakfast, Toomey has a bagel with bacon, two eggs, another half a bagel topped with peanut butter and banana, blueberries, and supplements.
At 790 calories, it’s the biggest meal of the day with plenty of fats, protein, and carbs, which Toomey said helped her perform more effectively.
“I find I have enough energy and I recover very well,” she said.
Toomey has said she relies heavily on high-carb foods to fuel workouts. She incorporates about 790 calories’ worth of snacks throughout the day to keep her energy up, including oatmeal, bananas, fruit snacks, and protein smoothies.
Lunch is 500 calories, high-protein with quick-digesting carbs, which Toomey eats during a long break between training sessions. The meal consists of ground beef, liver, and white rice. It’s high in iron, zinc, and vitamin A.
Toomey rounds out the day with a light but filling dinner of pork tenderloin, potatoes, avocado, and salad, which is about 440 calories.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6KOSvt6ME6M
I remember this old TV commercial for Sunkist soda, back when it didn’t have caffeine
I prefer soda without caffeine. I remember this old TV commercial. I think I heard this before I ever heard the original Beach Boys song on which it is based:
The Maduro diet: How most Venezuelans lost an average of 43 pounds in two years
By Daniel Alman (aka Dan from Squirrel Hill)
July 15, 2020
In May 2017, the Washington Post reported:
In a recent survey of 6,500 Venezuelan families by the country’s leading universities, three-quarters of adults said they lost weight in 2016 — an average of 19 pounds… a level of hunger almost unheard-of outside war zones or areas ravaged by hurricane, drought or plague.
In February 2018, Reuters reported:
Venezuelans reported losing on average 11 kilograms (24 lbs) in body weight last year… according to a new university study…
That’s 43 pounds in two years.
Before I explain how this came to happen, I want to start out by explaining what did not cause this to happen.
(more…)
Dan from Squirrel Hill's Blog 