Surviving

I really don’t like tomato sauce very much, although I will definitely eat it.  For some reason, though, it seems to be the number one item placed in food banks.  Every time I go, I get a big can of pasta sauce (sometimes just unflavored tomato sauce, or even just canned tomatoes) and a bag of pasta.

The last time I went, the very nice lady volunteer pointed out that a little bit of ground beef and some nice parmesan cheese would make me a very nice meal, especially if I had some garlic bread.

Now, let me get this straight.  I’m broke.  I can’t really afford to buy very much groceries at all.  They check income and expenses every month, so they know I’m broke.  However, I can probably afford to pick up a $1 bag of pasta and a $1 on-sale can of pre-seasoned spaghetti sauce.  I don’t need to, though, because I get lots of it from the food bank.

What I cannot afford to buy are: Parmesan cheese (around $6), ground beef (at $3/lb on sale!) or a nice loaf of garlic bread (even a loaf of bread is an insane $3+ these days).

The can of artichokes and bottled of spiced garlic, I was told, would make a delicious dip …. once I bought cream cheese, some cheddar, and spinach.  (I paid $1 for a block of frozen spinach and brought them as a gift to my brother in law’s birthday party, and made the dip with the ample food in his fridge.)

I am very grateful that food banks exist.  I really am.  I just wish sometimes people would pay attention to what they are giving.  If it’s a food that almost requires another, more expensive ingredient, give them both together.

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