£7 challenge - day four

We've now past the half way point in our £7 challenge. In terms of what we've eaten it's pretty much the same as Monday, but with a bit more rice, an extra carrot, 1/4 of a swede, and two extra slices of bread.

Today's highlight was the surprise of a banana, a lovely present from my wonderful wife. This cost us 9p, which along with another 4 pints of milk, takes our total weekly spend to £13.94, so still another 6p left to spend. 3/4 of a banana (I did share it) was just what I needed after a 6 mile run.

One of the things that made today a little harder for both of us we being in close proximity to food that we were unable to eat. I had a meeting this evening with a tasty looking buffet, and my wife first of all made some chocolate treats for a school party tomorrow, and then iced a cake for an icing demo she's doing on Friday. Our children have not been taking part in the challenge, and a nightly temptation is to finish off the food left on their plates.

In many places wealth and poverty exist in close proximity. Those who have alongside those who do not. Those with more than enough to eat next to those with nothing.

Sometimes we are physically reminded that we have so much and others have so little. At other times it can be easy to forget that we are at the top of the pile.

The UN Committee on World Food Security have been meeting this week in Rome, and on Monday Ban Ki-moon sent a message in which he reminded delegates that "There is more than enough food on the planet to feed everyone, yet today nearly 1 billion people will go hungry because food is unavailable or unaffordable.  This is the context in which you meet." If help is going to reach those at the bottom, something will have to change in those of us who are at the top.

£7 challenge - day three

The highlight of today was this evening's three course meal. Breakfast and lunch were much the same as yesterday although half an orange was substituted for the banana. But this evening...the first course was a glass of clean drinking water; the main course was a delicious red lentil curry - as on Monday but with no stock cube, an extra carrot and 1/4 swede - with a slice of bread as a side dish; dessert was homemade rice pudding made from 100g rice, 1/4 pint of milk, and some water - topped off with half an orange.

In terms of nutrition today's totals, including the piece of toast with peanut butter I will be having later, come to:

Calories: 1500 kC (2500)
Protein: 54g (55)
Carbos: 216g (300)
Fat: 49g (95)
Fibre: 27g (25)

So pretty good for protein, but still not a lot of fruit and veg - only 1/4 onion, 1 carrot, 1/8 swede, a bit of garlic, and an orange.

By mid afternoon I was feeling quite hungry today, but caught myself saying, 'I'm starving'. Clearly we're not starving - you only need to look at the photos of our evening meals to know that that is not the case. Yes, we're a bit hungry because we are eating less than normal, and when we get a bit peckish there are no biscuits or crisps to eat - and whilst we could have an extra slice of bread, if we eat it now, it won't be there at the end of the week - but we're not starving.

Billions of people have about £1 to spend a day, and that's not just for their food - that's all they have to spend. And so if medication is needed, or some other emergency expense, they literally go hungry. People on our planet continue to starve, going days without food, and I'm complaining about feeling a little hungry, but knowing that I have a red lentil curry to look forward to, and come Sunday this little experiement comes to an end.

£7 challenge - day two

I never thought I would be so pleased to see a swede and a parsnip. Today we spent a further £1.35 on a loaf of bread (35p), 6 oranges (50p) and a 'stew vegetable pack' consisting of 3 carrots, a swede and a parsnip, for the amazing price of 50p. And we still have £1.15 left of our £14 - although this is in reserve for more milk.

One of the things that was clear as I made my first cup of coffee of the day, to go with my porridge, was that we had used too much milk and too much coffee yesterday - so now I am rationing my coffee intake to the two cups that go with breakfast, and maybe one more before lunch.

As I went for a 7 mile run today, which apparently used almost 800 kC, I had an extra bowl of porridge and one piece of toast with peanut butter, straight after my run. Then two more slices of toast and peanut butter and a whole banana for lunch - that's the end of the week's bananas. And it's only Monday.

This evening's meal was a vegetable and bean curry with rice. We have plenty of rice and now a few more vegetables, so we could include 1/2 onion, 2 cloves of garlic, 1/4 of the swede, 1/3 parsnip, a whole carrot, a tin of kidney beans, 9g tomato puree, 30ml olive oil, 15g curry powder with 240g of rice (uncooked). No stock cube required as we made vegetable stock from the vegetable peelings - the stock cube is being saved for a potential vegetable soup later in the week.

With the extra loaf of bread we can look forward to a slice of toast before bedtime.

The bread was reduced (from 69p to 35p) because it had to be sold by today, and as we have a freezer we can put it in there, and only take out slices as and when we need them. Of course without a freezer we would not be able to make the most of such deals, and without a fridge we would be even worse off in terms of not being able to store food. Of course most of those who are living off $1 or $2 a day, every day, for real, don't have the luxury of fridges and freezers - making their lives even harder. We really do have so much to be thankful for.

The extra porridge and bread and the rice have boosted the amount of food we were able to eat today.

Calories............1800kC...(2500)..72% (54% if run included)
Protein..............52g..........(55)......95%
Carbohydrates.....280g.........(300)...93%
Fat....................55g...........(95)....58%
Fibre.................31g...........(25)....124%

Back to lentils tomorrow. Check back for some lessons that we're learning...

£7 challenge - day one

Today was the first day of the £7 challenge, living for a week with a £7 budget for all food and drink. To find out more and read why we're doing this read this post.

So today I had porridge with water and two cups of coffee for breakfast. A normal breakfast would be something like 2 weetabix with milk, home made yogurt, an apple and a banana, and maybe a kiwi fruit. Again there would have been two cups of coffee - but not instant!

Sunday lunch consisted of a red lentil curry. The recipe for two is:

30ml olive oil (a lot more than we'd normally use)
1/2 onion
2 cloves garlic
15g curry powder
1 carrot
166g lentils
1 stock cube
8g tomato puree

This is not a lot different from what we might normally eat although it would probably have contained a whole onion as well as courgettes, mushrooms, tinned tomatoes and a couple of peppers; there would probably have been a nan bread on the side, and there would have been a dessert of some form or other.

Before church this evening I had a piece of toast with 15g peanut butter, and a cup of coffee, and then our evening meal consisted of 2 pieces of toast and peanut butter and a whole banana. We were only going to have half a banana each, but they are already starting to go black, so we splurged and had a whole banana each.

Already it is obvious that we are going to need more milk (£1 of our remaining £2.50). Once the bananas are gone we will try to get some apples. And then spend the rest on whatever vegetables we can get cheaply.

Although lunch tasted fantastic, I could have done with seconds, and that nan bread as well as dessert. It's only 10.30pm and I am hungry - no weetabix before bed tonight. We have food to eat, but not enough, and not enough fruit and vegetables.

In terms of nutritional value I worked it all out earlier. The approximate totals for the whole day are given below with the figures in brackets being the daily recommended amount per day.

Calories...................1450 kCal.......(2500).......58% of RDA
Protein....................49g.............(55)...........89% of RDA
Carbohydrates.............172g...........(300).........57% of RDA
Fat.........................66g............(95)...........69% of RDA
Fibre......................24g.............(25)...........96% of RDA

In terms of weight loss potential for the week - looking likely. If you're familiar with the weight watchers points system today's total comes in at 35 points (even with the 15g of olive oil) - but this is still in the weight loss region. Tomorrow will see a little variety in that we are alternating the lentil curry with rice and beans - and as we have 1.5kg of rice larger portions will be available. But tomorrow I have a 7 mile run scheduled! I have a half marathon in two week's time and training and the lack of calories and carbs doesn't look a good combination.

Check back tomorrow to see how we're getting on.