Same Old, Same Old (Sort of)

Mama-daughter Hunger Action Week art

Halfway into my family's Hunger Challenge, our lineup of meals hasn't changed much from the usual: nothing fancy (oatmeal, PB&Js, rice and beans ... more rice and beans) and mostly healthy (fruits, veggies and whole grains with most meals).

The main things we're missing are variety and protein.

We could afford just three fruits: a bag of mandarin oranges, some applesauce and frozen raspberries.

And four veggies: two heads of broccoli, some pre-washed organic spinach (our go-to green leafy vegetable), a medium-sized bag of carrots (non-organic so we'd have enough to last all week) and some frozen green beans.

The only meat in our $22/day budget this week is a can of tuna I'll be whipping up with some penne pasta and spinach Thursday or Friday night.

We're sort of missing snacks. I hadn't realized how much I relied on a munch here and a munch there throughout the day.

Our meals have been pretty bland -- no room for spices or salsas or anything in our budget this week. 

For mac & cheese, I usually boil some whole wheat shells or elbows, drizzle in some olive oil, sprinkle on some Parmesan cheese and stir. Simple, and my kids love it. Last night, I went with the 59-cent-per box variety, which tasted pretty processed. Made me wish I had done a side-by-side cost comparison with my stand-by recipe before budgeting for what I assumed was the cheaper alternative. 

All in all though, when my daughter and I sat down to do some Hunger Action Week artwork together, we noticed our drawings had quite a colorful variety of foods we like. Sylvia added yogurt and a few things she misses, but still said, "Hey! We have a lot of good stuff here!"

That was before we ran out of cheese for the week. And we've almost polished off our only box of cereal. Good thing I kept our Hunger Challenge grocery bill $15 and change shy of what we have to spend through Sunday.

So ... do I replenish the cheese and cereal or follow through with my surprise plan to pop into our neighborhood butcher shop for a small cut of beef tomorrow night?