Day 1

I've had very little experience with this blogging thing, so please pardon me if I don't stick to the format. We'll try to keep the stream of consciousness typing to a minimum.

So, I've decided to participate in this Hunger Challenge thing. It may sound like a good thing, in the vein of "Are you hungry enough to eat this entire tray of super hot wings?!" That would be a good challenge. I would win that challenge. But as I understand it, there is no prize for winning this challenge. Well, okay - there's the whole greater awareness of others' suffering deal. But it's not like I'm getting a t-shirt out of this. Wait - do we get a t-shirt for doing this? No? What the heck, I'll do it anyway.

For details you can check out this website: http://www.foodoutreach.org/hungeractionmonth.html. Basically, I'm going to try to see what it feels like to live off of food stamps for a week. The purpose is two-fold: First, to promote awareness of the issue of hunger during the time that the Mayor of St. Louis has proclaimed Hunger Action Month; Second, to boost local sales revenue on Sep. 8th by causing me to make up for the drop in caloric intake I will have this week. Alert the Emperors Wok on Hampton - I will be seeking their buffet table next Tuesday. When I've exhausted the possibilities there, it's on to Ted Drewes. I am totally serious.

You know what's going to be the worst part of this Challenge for me? Missed opportunities. This is Labor Day weekend people! A three-day weekend where one usually barbeques. And the Greek Festival at St. Nicholas is this weekend. I can't pronounce half of their dishes, but everything tastes great. So, I can totally handle eating less for a week (says the man who is only half-way through Day 1). But missing opportunities for great food is going to hurt.

Okay, so what did I buy for this week?

I went to the Schnucks that is two blocks from my house (I could have gone somewhere chea... with different check-out arrangements, but I'm a big believer in supporting local merchants). With a goal of less than $29, I started figuring out what I needed. Wait, let me back track. My wife had just gone grocery shopping, so we already had bagels, peanut butter, jelly and milk. She swears she got the bagels for $2.50, but everything else I priced in the store. $1.35 for jelly, $1.66 for PB, $2.80 for a gallon of milk. That's $8.31 so far. Then I got some bananas (4), apples (3), carrots (1 lb), and red potatoes (4). I went in to the meat section and it must have rained chicken parts in the Midwest recently, because I got a bag of 8-ish boneless chicken breasts for $4.88. Ramen Noodles is a staple of a hungry person's diet and so I got five packages. Listen, before you go all sodium-conscious on me, I have to tell you that I took the time to look for the flavors that had less than 40% of your sodium. In the meantime, a package of Schnucks Duplex Cookies fell into my cart and they simply would not leave. I went into the cereal aisle and saw that Total cereals were marked down to $3.00 each. Did you know they have Cinnamon Crunch Total now? I did not know that. What I like about Total cereal is that it claims to give you 100% of a bunch of stuff. I don't really know how they can claim that holds true for everybody. 100% for a 100-pound woman, or 100% for a guy like me who is just a little north of 210? I'm really not that far above two hundred (I weighed in this morning at 216), but I did break a chair recently that had a weight limit of 200lbs. It was a camping chair - you'd think they would allow for some rough usage there. But noooooooo. It had to wimp out on me and make me feel all self-conscious and stuff.

Where was I?

Oh yeah, Total cereal tells me it can give me 100% of what I need. I choose to believe it. My grocery bill comes to $19.09. When you add in the $8.31 from prior purchases, we are now up to $27.40. There's a buck-fifty left on my imaginary EBT card (they don't actually have food stamps anymore, y'know). I will spend it before the week is out.

With one bowl of cereal down, an apple and one PB bagel recently finished off, I feel confident. I can do this. Probably. I'll let you know.