Hunger Challenge Day 4: But what did it taste like?
If you read my post from the Hunger Challenge Day 3, you read about, and perhaps even watched, as I prepared a couple of meals.
They were anything but fancy, and fairly simple to put together. I made a pasta bake with spinach, along with a mix of beans, rice, tomatoes, and corn.
And the food tasted great!
For those just joining this adventure, I'm taking the Hunger Challenge issued by the King County United Way. It's part of Hunger Action Week. There are some big events planned at the capital in Olympia on Friday to bring attention to hunger issues here in Washington. Last year, I took the Hunger Challenge and failed. This year, I don't mean to be boastful, but I'm on track to "ace" this.
Claiming to "ace" this, however, doesn't mean that I'm thrilled with the foods I've been eating, or the efforts to put these meals together. Often, I find some of the foods a little bland, and because I'm on a fixed income for the week, leftovers are getting a little boring.
The point of the Hunger Challenge isn't glitz and glamour in the kitchen -- it's about stretching your food money like so many Washingtonians are forced to do on a regular basis. I feel strongly I'm going to be able to stretch my budget to last for the week easily, something I couldn't do last year.
By the way, thanks for the chicken soup recipes. You're right, it's pretty simple, so I may give it a go this afternoon in the kitchen. Keep your fingers crossed.
I've been eating "light" anyway (part of a New Year's resolution to not be embarrassed when I take my nephew to the indoor waterslide park in the spring), and that's made it a little easier to make the food last.
For breakfast this week, I've been enjoying a bowl of cereal with milk, and a banana. That's been enough for me. Lunch was a tuna sandwich Monday, a spinach salad Tuesday, beans and rice Wednesday, and today, leftover pasta bake. Dinner has been the pasta bake, beans and rice, and one night, I just felt like a sandwich.
Have you noticed the pattern?
While all of the meals are seemingly nutritional, they are merely a rotation of the 5-6 items I could afford this week at the grocery store. Eating on just dollars a day forces you to adopt several new habits, and one of them is getting used to the same things.
Part of me feels badly for complaining, because at least I got good, nutritional food, while there are others who went hungry. But the other part of me feels enlightened. I can easily see how someone in this same situation week after week may get bored of the same things, and find themselves "spicing things up" by supplementing their menu with items from a dollar menu somewhere. I see a slippery slope here, and I wonder if anyone else is connecting these dots.
I'm not hungry this week, but I am growing weary of the same things. I know, "poor baby," right? "Try being hungry on a regular basis!" I understand the critics, I really do. But this challenge, for me, is about being honest with everything a person goes through when they suddenly have to deal with a lot less. I'm just letting you know what I'm feeling, and I know I'm not alone.
Today's accounting: I haven't spent a dime, so I still have just over $3 cash. I'm not sure I'm going to need to spend it at this point, which is a good feeling. Then again, do you know anyone who'd be happy if they truly only had $3 to last until payday?
They were anything but fancy, and fairly simple to put together. I made a pasta bake with spinach, along with a mix of beans, rice, tomatoes, and corn.
And the food tasted great!
For those just joining this adventure, I'm taking the Hunger Challenge issued by the King County United Way. It's part of Hunger Action Week. There are some big events planned at the capital in Olympia on Friday to bring attention to hunger issues here in Washington. Last year, I took the Hunger Challenge and failed. This year, I don't mean to be boastful, but I'm on track to "ace" this.
Claiming to "ace" this, however, doesn't mean that I'm thrilled with the foods I've been eating, or the efforts to put these meals together. Often, I find some of the foods a little bland, and because I'm on a fixed income for the week, leftovers are getting a little boring.
The point of the Hunger Challenge isn't glitz and glamour in the kitchen -- it's about stretching your food money like so many Washingtonians are forced to do on a regular basis. I feel strongly I'm going to be able to stretch my budget to last for the week easily, something I couldn't do last year.
By the way, thanks for the chicken soup recipes. You're right, it's pretty simple, so I may give it a go this afternoon in the kitchen. Keep your fingers crossed.
I've been eating "light" anyway (part of a New Year's resolution to not be embarrassed when I take my nephew to the indoor waterslide park in the spring), and that's made it a little easier to make the food last.
For breakfast this week, I've been enjoying a bowl of cereal with milk, and a banana. That's been enough for me. Lunch was a tuna sandwich Monday, a spinach salad Tuesday, beans and rice Wednesday, and today, leftover pasta bake. Dinner has been the pasta bake, beans and rice, and one night, I just felt like a sandwich.
Have you noticed the pattern?
While all of the meals are seemingly nutritional, they are merely a rotation of the 5-6 items I could afford this week at the grocery store. Eating on just dollars a day forces you to adopt several new habits, and one of them is getting used to the same things.
Part of me feels badly for complaining, because at least I got good, nutritional food, while there are others who went hungry. But the other part of me feels enlightened. I can easily see how someone in this same situation week after week may get bored of the same things, and find themselves "spicing things up" by supplementing their menu with items from a dollar menu somewhere. I see a slippery slope here, and I wonder if anyone else is connecting these dots.
I'm not hungry this week, but I am growing weary of the same things. I know, "poor baby," right? "Try being hungry on a regular basis!" I understand the critics, I really do. But this challenge, for me, is about being honest with everything a person goes through when they suddenly have to deal with a lot less. I'm just letting you know what I'm feeling, and I know I'm not alone.
Today's accounting: I haven't spent a dime, so I still have just over $3 cash. I'm not sure I'm going to need to spend it at this point, which is a good feeling. Then again, do you know anyone who'd be happy if they truly only had $3 to last until payday?