It’s the dawn of day three of the Hunger Challenge and things are going well! Our two dinners so far have been outstanding – on the other hand, lunches and snacks have been quite underwhelming. I really miss having snacks throughout the day and a variety of food in my lunchbox. I also miss sparkling water that I drink during the day (I know, cry me a river right?). That said, it hasn’t been horrible by any means.
I have cheated once. I was offered a small piece of pie at work yesterday and I took it. I felt guilty about it but the craving for sweetness to end my meal was overwhelming. I realize that many people on limited budgets and food stamps don’t have access to these kinds of freebies – it was my own weakness that pushed me to take it.
Breakfast: Small bowl of cereal and a hard-boiled egg. This does the trick until at least mid-morning - it mimics what I typically have, though the cereal I eat is more filling (more fiber and protein).
Lunch: Yesterday, leftovers (chili and cornbread…and pie). Today, PB&J, slice of cheese, leftover cornbread.
Snack: 1/2 cup cottage cheese, though I haven’t eaten it yet because it’s on the goopy side. Evening snack has been popcorn with a little salt and butter. I’ve also had a spoonful of peanut butter and peanut butter toast with milk.
Dinner on Sunday night (and Monday’s lunch) was a very basic chili recipe – I say basic but there’s a little twist that hit this chili out of the park. It starts with a P and ends with “oblano.” You can usually get miscellaneous peppers for a decent price at the grocery store or the farmer’s market. My market has jalapeno’s for a quarter! Also, keep the seeds in if you want plenty of spice! Even without the seeds, the chili had quite a bite to it.
I used dry beans so I got to soaking early in the day. I did the “quick soak” method, which involved putting the beans in a large pot with enough water to cover by a couple inches, bringing the pot to boil, then cover, take off heat, and let sit for two hours.
After soaking the beans, rinse with clean water, then add back to the pan with fresh water (3 cups water to every 1 cup beans). Bring the new bean/water mix to a boil then simmer, partially covered, for 60-90 minutes. Mine only took 60! You can also boil in broth with spices for extra tasty beans. There are a lot of fun ways to cook beans and I’m a bean newb so check around for great recipes!
For the full chili recipe, check out my blog! It's excellent, I promise.
Our dinner last night was a pepper, onion, and pepperjack frittata, potatoes, and toast (photos on my Facebook page!). It was delicious and something we have often, actually. I used 5 eggs for the frittata, meaning we have 7 left for one more “breakfast-for-dinner” night, plus one weekend breakfast (egg sammies!). Tonight I’m making baked pasta, tomorrow quinoa-stuffed peppers. Black bean soup is thrown in there somewhere as well!
Question: Does your local farmer’s market accept food stamps?
(Not all of ours do, but I wanted to show what you could get at the market. Many around the country do!)
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