Day 5: Friday

The final day! Here's what I ate:

Breakfast: oats, organic raisins, soy latte and a banana
Total: $1.43

Lunch on Sunset Avenue: Quinoa salad (.78), Yogurt (.45), Organic apple (.80), iced green tea (.12)
Total: $$2.15

Snack: Protein Bar (.25). Please note: I resisted all temptations to go to Nama's Candy Shop for a chocolate truffle or to Revelation Yogurt!
Total: $.25

Dinner:  My husband, Bob, has returned from his travels! I'm going to try to use up a few items with the dinner tonight.
Spinach & onion omelets (3 eggs each), 1/2 corn muffin each (only 1 left so we shared), 1 Organic Apple.
Dinner total: $2.02

Tea later tonight: $.12

Dinner for Two

Day 5 Total: $5.97

Food Remaining: Enough coffee for 2 more lattes, about 1/2 cup oil, 1 large carrot, 1 serving of lentil soup, 1 serving of quinoa, 8 bags of green tea.

Total for Five Days: $30.98 (Budget was $7 per day or $35.00)

Was it easy? It helped to plan things out. I always knew what I would be eating or at least what my options were. Once the soup and quinoa were made it was easy to to heat or just eat what I needed.

Was it worth it? The goal was to create an awareness of hunger in our community and I had many interesting conversations with folks about the experiment. Many told me that I was creative and good at coming up with healthy options. They weren't so sure someone on food stamps would have put as much effort into the process as I did. I'm not so sure. When your options are limited, you make do with what you have. But, if someone is in a stressful living situation I am sure it would be much harder. I'm sure they get creative about utilizing food banks.  I felt hungry a few times and found myself thinking about food frequently. I was feeding myself mostly and it would be more challenging feeding a family.

I hope you learned a few things and I would encourage you to give it a try for 5 days to see what it's really like! I am more aware of the cost of food and understand better the challenge of healthy eating on a limited budget.

Day 5: Al Fresco Lunch

Dining on Sunset Avenue

I don't work on Friday's and today is extra special because the weather is amazing! I decided to have my first picnic of the year featuring the lovely quinoa salad, organic apple, yogurt, and iced tea made with one of my green tea bags. Take a close look to see the ferry and the Olympic Mountains.

Day 4: Thursday

Breakfast: oats with raisins, soy latte
Total: $1.18

Lunch: Quinoa Salad (.78), Yogurt (.45), Carrots (.18), Banana (.25)
Total: $1.66

Snacks: Tea (.12), Protein Bar (.25)
Total: $.37

Dinner: Lentil Soup, Corn Muffin, Avocado (.50).
The lentil soup and muffin were leftovers and I already calculated their cost on Day 1. I still have some soup remaining! I always think it tastes better after a couple of days. The avocado was really yummy!

Evening Tea: (.12)

Day 4 Total: $3.83

Total for 4 Days: $25.01 (budget is $28.00)

Dinner Day 4

I'm starting to crave some chocolate! We'll see if I can do something about that tomorrow.

Day 3: Weds. Meals

Half way through the week!

Breakfast: repeat of Monday & Tuesday.
Total: $1.18

Lunch: Quinoa salad (.78), organic carrots (.18), yogurt (.45)
Total: $1.41

Snacks: Tea (.12), Protein Bar (.25). Total: $.37

Dinner: Egg omelet, spinach, onion, bit of cheese, corn muffin. I was going to eat the banana but was too full. Saving it for tomorrow!
Total: $.84

Day 3 Dinner--It's all yellow

Day 3 Total: $3.80

Total for Three Days: $21.18 (budget is $7 per day or $21.00)

I get a little hungry in the afternoon and seem to be thinking about food a lot. I'm always pondering what I'll be eating next and when.  It is getting repetitive and I should have planned more variety.

Day 3: Wednesday

Some facts about hunger:
•1 in 5 kids is at risk of hunger.
•In the last four years, Seattle Food banks have seen a 30% increase in the number of clients coming to them for help. At the same time, they've had a 31% decline in donations.

Fun Fact: Did you know that King County Nurses Association makes donations to charitable organizations? In the last year we supported the following groups helping with the issue of hunger:  Food Lifeline, Northwest Harvest, and Solid Ground Food Bank. We also donated to the following groups working with the homeless: First Place, YouthCare, the Market Foundation, Noel House, and One4One, and Real Change.

How to help:
•Donate: Make a food or cash donation to your local food bank. I frequently see volunteers collecting food outside my grocery store. It's so easy to add a few extra jars of peanut butter, pasta, etc. to my cart and give it to them when I leave the store.

 Photo from Northwest Harvest

•Volunteer: I've volunteered at the following warehouse type facilities. It's hard work and you never know what your assignment will be. You could be putting labels on cans of salmon or sorting donations or packaging frozen corn. It's fun to bring a friend or group of people and I highly recommend it! The websites list all the volunteer opportunities.

 Food Lifeline is located in Shoreline and had regular work parties for individuals or groups.  Last year they distributed more than 35 million pounds of food throughout Western Washington! They are a centralized warehouse with a network of nearly 300 food banks, meal programs and shelters.

Northwest Harvest is located in Kent and distributes to a network of over 325 food banks, meal programs, and high-need schools. They provide 1.6 million meals every month to their network.

Day 2: Tuesday

We had fun at the PCC food packing event last night. About 20 volunteers packed 1,000 pounds of food into smaller bags for food bank distribution. This included lentils, oats, granola, couscous, rice, pinto beans, and pasta. Packing and clean up only took about one hour. Super fun and a great way to help the local food bank!

Breakfast today is a repeat of yesterday: Soy latte, oats with organic raisins
Total: $1.18

Lunch: Leftovers from dinner last night! Lentil soup, corn muffin and a brownie. I already calculated the cost yesterday.
Total: $0.00

Snack: Green Tea (.12), Yogurt (.45), Organic Fuji apple (.80)
Total: $1.37

Dinner: Lummi Island Wild Salmon (.99), Organic Spinach sauteed with onion and garlic (.80), Sweet Potato (.87)
Total: $2.66

Evening Tea: Total $.12

Day 2 Total: $5.21

Total for Two Days: $17.38 (Budget is $14.00).
I'm getting closer to the budget! I still have more leftover lentil soup and corn muffins. I'm hoping it will all work out by the end of the week.
Dinner, Day 2

Day 1: Monday

Breakfast:
1 package of Better Oats (.20)
Small handful of organic raisins (.15)
Soy Latte (had to have coffee!) (coffee .46 + soy .37))
Total:  $1.18

Lunch:
Quinoa Salad (quinoa, almonds, garbanzo beans, spices, dried cranberries): (.78)
Carrot sticks (.18)
Banana (.25)
Total: $1.21

Snacks (I love to snack!):
Yogurt (.45)
Granola Bar (.25)
Green Tea  (.12)
Total: $0.82

Dinner: I will be feeding 4 people for dinner but chose to not increase my $$ allotment.
Bree's Lentil Soup (lentils, tomatoes, onions, garlic, spices, broth): ($5.52)
Corn Muffins (mix, eggs, oil, soy): ($1.79)
Brownies (eggs, oil): ($1.53)
Total: $8.84

Evening Tea: (.12)

Day 1 Total:  $12.17

I know, it's supposed to be $7 per day but I plan to make up for it during the week.

Recipes:
Quinoa Salad: (Note: I skipped the golden raisins and mint).
Have you tried quinoa? It's considered a superfood with the perfect balance of all 8 essential amino acids. It's gluten-free and a great source of protein. I bought one cup in the bulk section for a total of $2.22 ($5.29/lb). Here's a great website with lots of recipes and info: http://quinoa365.com/

Click here for the recipe

Bree's Lentil Soup: I love this soup and it makes a giant pot! I skipped the cilantro and the fresh tomatoes.

Click here for the recipe

Here are the happy dinner guests:

My Shopping Trip

Yesterday was my grocery shopping day! I went to Top Foods, my usual store, and tried to combine their sales with my coupons to create menus for the next 5 days. Take a look at what I got:

The real challenge was buying small amounts of items since I'm only eating for five days. I'm also not used to just feeding one person. I'll let you know what I do with the items and my total spent as the week progresses.

Great Way to Get Involved!

Did you know the local PCC stores hold bulk food packing events on a regular basis to benefit local food banks? Dates, times, and locations vary (note: they are not held at the PCC stores but at a nearby location). I noticed that there will be three packing events held during Hunger Action Week. It's an easy way to get involved and make a difference.

Events next week all starting at 7 pm: Edmonds, 3/19; Seward Park, 3/20; Fremont, 3/21
Here are the details and locations including all 2012 events:  PCC Food Bank Packaging Work Parties

I'll be at the Edmonds event, come and join in the fun!

Welcome to my Hunger Challenge Blog!

I'm taking the Hunger Challenge to see what it would be like to live on food stamps for five days. It's a lesson in empathy and a way to create an awareness of hunger in our community.

The Challenge is from March 19-23, 2012 and is sponsored by United Way of King County. Check out their website for lots of ways to get involved with Hunger Action Week. Anyone can participate, I encourage you to give it a try!

The basic rules:

1. Eat breakfast, lunch and dinner, spending only $7 per day.

2. Factor in seasonings (except salt and pepper), cooking oils, condiments, snacks, drinks, etc.

3. Don't use food you already own.

4. Don't accept food from family, friends, co-workers and others. No free samples!

5. Try to include fresh produce and healthy protein each day.

  
Pre-Challenge: I've been thinking about possible menu options for the week but will wait to make final decisions until my Sunday, March 18 grocery shopping trip. I'll be looking for sale items and ways I can use coupons to stretch my dollars.

Have you heard of the Environmental Working Group's Shopper's Guide? They list the "Dirty Dozen" and "Clean 15" fruits and vegetables. I'll be using this guide to make purchases of organic and non-organic produce. You can check it out here:http://www.ewg.org/foodnews/guide/

Great Resource:

The United States Department of Agriculture has a very helpful website ChooseMyPlate.gov with lots of tips on healthy eating on a budget. Remember the food pyramid? Here's the newest version: