“Lol, the first direction of each recipe is to ‘wash hands with soap and water.’ That’s a first for recipes!”
Well, those recipes are aimed at the ‘unwashed masses’ and they’re called that for a reason. ;)
I had a friend who ended up on food stamps when her husband was laid off from his job. She was eligible for $400 a month for her family of three, and since she had all the skills necessary to cook from scratch and meal plan, etc. she stretched those dollars so far that they were still eating from her stockpile LONG after her husband was back to work.
My complaint with just handing out these benefits is that NO ONE is held accountable for how they are spent. I mean, they are to some extent; not supposed to buy soda and candy, cigs and booze, etc. BUT if you don’t have the skill set to even boil water, you (and the TAXPAYERS) are not getting their moneys worth.
And, yes. I know. DEPENDENCY on Mother Government is the reason for any government program. Grrrr!
In February 1995, I was a single mom with 3 daughters. My last semester of engineering school was brutal. I was in school full time, no child support, and waitressing at least 30 hours on weekends (I paid for school and had help with scholarships, not a penny from big gov). Something had to give for those last months. So, I quit my job and went on food stamps. This was before the card. It was really embarrassing.
I was checking out one day, and the guy before me wanted to use his food stamps for dog food. When he was told dog food wasn’t covered, he threw a fit, and said, “I’ll get my dog hamburger”. He went out of line and came back with meat. It was sick. I was on those food stamps until I got a job in June. Exactly what they are supposed to be for. Not a lifestyle or career choice. As a side note, when I went to apply for food stamps, they tried to get me on all the other stuff too. I refused.