Budgeting on a Shoestring

Mo-Jo Chili. Shoestring Chicken Potpie. Salmon Primavera. Three Bean Ramen Salad. Nutrition instructor Melody Anacker’s Culinary Fundamentals class showcased these and many other recipes when they held an open house, “Budgeting on a Shoe­string,” this past spring in the Herrick Hall Lounge. The project began as an idea when Rebecca Jones, a senior in Food and Nutrition, worked as an intern for the summer lunch program at the Gallatin Valley Food Bank.
 
 “Because I’m also secretary for Montana Student Dietetic Associa­tion, a nutrition club on campus, I try to find volunteer activities for the club to participate in, and so I periodically ask Heather Grenier, Gallatin Valley Food Bank director, if there is anything we can do to help out,” Jones said.

Grenier saw an opportunity to apply a real life situation to the classroom. She brought in food boxes from the food bank  that would provide for a family of three for five days. She then challenged the students to create recipe op­tions to best utilize items in the box, mindful of nutritional values.

 “What is the best nutritional value for the cost?” she asked students.
 
After students analyzed items in the box, they were asked to improve the contents or provide ideas for adding inexpensive ingredients to make the menu more interesting and nutritious.

Nutrition students Kristin Dowd and Amber Stacy found it was “a lot of work” to pick a recipe, then “shop” for items that food bank clients can access. Cory Talbott and Melissa Frazier were chal­lenged further when their family needed to find recipes that were gluten free and dairy free. Both agreed that the project was a “neat assignment and a good chal­lenge to see how far you can make the food last.”

To culminate the assignment, the class worked in pairs in the Foods Lab to pre­pare one of their recipe ideas and share it with the class.

 “I am glad to have incorporated a ‘real life’ outreach project into the Culinary Fundamentals class that allowed students the opportunity to un­derstand the challenges that families face on a limited budget, as well as apply the important principles of nutrition in menu planning and recipe development,” Anacker said.