Monday, September 13, 2010

Day 2 Lunch and Dinner

Day 2 of the Hunger Challenge is over. This morning I was a little nervous that this week was going to be a big ol' mess. However, I kind of lucked out with dinner. But first, lets talk lunch.


 
Lunch was boring but yum -- I had the leftover pasta with veggie sauce that I made last night. It actually was enough to stay full for a while. The whole box of pasta was $1.25 I used half yesterday an today's portion was half of that...0.31 cents! The sauce was $1.49 I used 1/3 yesterday and half of that today... 25 cents...can this be right? The carrots were 49 cents a pound, I bought one and used half today...so maybe it was 20 cents? And then for a 3 o'clock snack I had 1 gala apple that was 39 cents. 
I was really hungry today at work. It was distracting and annoying. It made me feel sluggish and I felt the 5 o'clock stupids at like 3pm. At least lunch was only $1.15! Maybe today will be easypeasypuddinpie!



But since, as Sarte says "hell is other people" there sitting on the "tasty shelf" in the development office was NOOOOO an amazing looking piece of chocolate wedding cake...BUT I RESISTED IT! I did however take a photo so the whole world can know how beautiful it was. Oh, and during our morning meeting a lovely apple strudel was passed around...BUT I RESISTED IT!


After work my sister came over. We usually go out to dinner once a week BUT I RESISTED! We chatted, I had a banana 45 cents (2lbs for $1) and then she went home a little after 8. I love her but I was going to eat her face or starve to death if she stayed another minute. I also knew I had about 30 minutes of cooking ahead of me:




Then I decided to get creative for dinner...I knew I had sweet potatoes and tofu...so I googled "tofu sweet potato" and found this amazing recipe: Sweet Potato Tofu Burgers!
Unfortunately, I didn't have all the ingredients...I substituted my Ragu sauce for the tomato paste and I skipped the corn starch, cumin and cilantro (didn't have it). I did use a splash of curry powder so I'm willing to deduct 10 cents for that.

ingredients: I used 1/2 cup of brown rice = 27.5 cents ($2.75 for 20 quarter cup servings)
Two sweet potatoes = 49 cents (.69 lb.)
Two Tbs. of Ragu sauce = 15 cents ($1.49 jar)
Half an onion = 31 cents (.39 lb)
Three cloves garlic = 27 cents ($1.99 lb)
One Tsp. curry powder = 10 cents (estimate)
Pinch of salt 'n peppa = 5 cents (estimate)
One package of tofu = 20 cents (5 for $1)
Two slices wheat bread = 37 cents (one loaf $2.99 with 16 slices)
Ketchup squirt = 2 cents (estimate)
Total= $2.24

I microwaved the two sweet potatoes instead of boiling them. I don't have a food processor or a blender (in real life, so reason stands I also might not have these items if I was even more poor) so I just used my clean hands to mix and mush things like god intended.

I made little patties and pan seared them on each side. They were so handsome! I bet the real recipe is amazing because my little lame excuses are pretty damn good! I did have to add some ketchup because they needed some wetness and a little flavor so I added 5 cents for that. Frankly I think having some McDonalds ketchup packets around the house in these United States is quite common, but maybe that is cheating. I'm a rule breaker babe.
6 extra burgers! 


Total price of a single burger (minus 2 slices bread and ketchup) = 26 cents!
Total consumed today = $2.52? That can't be right. i think my math is bad, which wouldn't surprise any math teacher I ever had. 

Breakfast = 27 cents + cheater's coffee
Lunch =
$1.15
Snack = 45 cents
Dinner =  65 cents

I did spend more on what I prepared today but I will eat it for the rest of the week. I think I'm going to get more decadent with my eating though because I can't keep eating oatmeal and pasta. CARBCARBCARB.  Oh wait? I can't because I already spent all my money. I am glad I got the tofu in for protein but I still need some fruits besides apples and bananas. And I definitely need more calcium since osteoporosis runs in my family like FloJo.

I was really hungry for a lot of today so maybe that's why I didn't spend so much. I think tomorrow I'm going to experiment with eating more and maybe going out of budget. I'm also going to go back and check this math in the morning.

I wonder if it would be healthy to eat like this every day. I would really need to substitute in some Greek yogurt or spinach to get me some calcium. Maybe an egg or two. I am tempted to try this another week since I'm kind of mad I already spent my money.

4 comments:

  1. Buyer's remorse is one of the hardest parts of the challenge! And it sounds like your office is loaded with goodies. I don't know how you resisted all that.

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  2. those look better than what i ate. i've been living on a strict diet of eggs, tortillas, cabbage, black beans and hot sauce. because it's delish. not because i'm taking the food stamp challenge.

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  3. We are a goodie loaded office for sure. 'Tis a curse and a blessing.

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  4. I'm gonna make those tofu burgers! Right on!

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