The Joy of Eating

One reason I chose to become a dietitian was my passion for food. Some people enjoy learning about politics, marketing, or style...I want to learn everything I can about food.
I consider my place of "zen" when I have the opportunity to spend time in my kitchen creating nourishing dishes. I find comfort in grocery stores. I spend hours researching where my husband and I should go for dinner.
I find "joy" in eating. It is one of the pleasures of life.
Although I ate "nutritiously" throughout this hunger challenge and proved to myself that I could eat healthy on an extremely low budget, I can't say I found the "joy" of eating that I am accustomed to. I take for granted that every single day, I can walk into a food store and "splurge." I take for granted that I can savor a food and not feel guilt. This week, I had a very strict plan that I could not afford to stray away from and it felt constraining. I turned down going out to eat with friends. I turned down easily accessible food when I was hungry. I turned down going in for coffee with my running group because I didn't think I could handle smell of fresh brewed coffee.
Living on this budget separated me socially from friends, reduced my ability to immediately nourish myself when I was hungry, and in the end, stole some of the "joy" out of eating. Participating in this challenge for the second year did not make thing necessarily easier. $28 is $28 and it's restricting, it's challenging, and it's scary to feel hunger. I am blessed that it ends tomorrow. I think that this challenge goes beyond calling us to take action by helping to provide resources for the food insecure, but just as importantly, to give them moments of "joy" in eating.

Late...and Eating Snobby

Last Monday as I was almost about to savor the last bite of my cake batter flavored frozen yogurt from "Chill," my spoon stopped short and I realized...Oh no! this was the week I had decided to participate in the FO challenge! And there I was so proud of myself that my frozen yogurt treat weighed in at just under $4, when in reality, if I was living off of food stamps, this $4 ice cream treat would have had to last me all day. I decided to start next Monday the 20th.

From participating in this event last year, I knew how much planning it would take to eat "well" feel "full" on $28/week. So, for 1 1/2 hours I slaved over an excel spread sheet calculating what I could and could not afford. At one point, not knowing what I was working on, my husband passed by my computer and commented that I seemed to be tackling, "quite the project."

After using Schnuck's on-line grocery store for price checks, and searching for new recipes, I had finally calculated out all meals and snacks for seven days. I headed off to the store with my detailed list and small budget.

In my original FO blog, I mentioned I had grown tired of lentils from the first challenge. Well, they are back, but they've had a makeover. They have lost that drab brown color and have re-appeared in red. This inspiration came from a cooking demo that my student's performed last year. In this demo, they demonstrated how to make a vegetarian version of sloppy joe's called "Snobby Joes." It was fantastic, and I knew it would be affordable. Protein tends to be one of the most expensive items on one's grocery list, and legumes such as lentils are a satiating and healthy way to fill up on cents.

Snobby Joe Ingredients:

And here is a picture of the finished product, along with my other two items I could afford.

It's day 2 of eating this meal, and I am hoping it not only lasts 5 days more, but that I don't get tired of my new and improved legumes. I look forward to the awareness of hunger this week might bring.

1 in 7

Recent news reports have announced that 1 out of every 7 Americans live in poverty-the highest proportion of the population since 1994. At Food Outreach, we are increasingly enrolling individuals who never dreamed they would have to go to a food agency. Many of these clients used to donate to food pantries, but now find themselves in need. Year to date, we have provided 21% more meals than in the same time period in 2009.

Lessons Learned

I’ve had a few days to look back on my Hunger Challenge experience and wow, what an experience it was! Being on such a tight food budget is hard. Really hard. It takes an enormous amount of planning and food knowledge to create balanced meals. Satisfaction and variety are hard to achieve and when you can only spend $28 a week, sometimes you go to bed hungry. I want to thank Food Outreach for this enlightening opportunity. The Hunger Challenge made me appreciate my own blessings and raised my awareness of the reality of food insecurity. This was a valuable experience that I will carry with me into my future as a dietitian.

2010 Food Stamp Challenge Day 1

Today is the first day of my 2010 Food Stamp Challenge and although it will no doubt be easier this year since I know what to expect, it's not an experience I'm looking forward to. The objectives for me are the same as last year: increase my firsthand knowledge of eating on a budget so I can better serve our clients and raise awareness about the food insecurity our clients face. Food Insecurity is a very real issue, right here in St. Louis, MO although you won't see any 3 am TV programs on it and there isn't a gaggle of celebrities doing PR for it.

As for me: Breakfast is always the easiest meal of the day for me because I usually eat oatmeal and today was no different. Lunch is the hardest. Today was the weekly Monday lunch at Food Outreach. This program is designed to provide a restaurant experience for our clients so at least once a week they can still feel as though they still get to go out to eat. Instead of stuffed sole, hushpuppies, and a decadent dessert, I had tuna salad sandwich, a yogurt, and an apple. Dinner will likley be more of the same for me as I have a meeting and won't feel like preparing anything by the time I get home. To be clear, I certainly don't feel sorry for myself as I'm only doing this a week; our clients have no end in sight, I have cast iron stomach; our clients battle numerous GI issues associated with the treatments/meds, and I'm not battling a life-threatening disease and unfortunately, ALL of our clients are.

Variety is the Spice of Life

When I did my grocery shopping for the Hunger Challenge, I was surprised by the amount of healthy food I could get for $28. I filled my cart with yogurt, whole wheat tortillas, veggies, frozen fruit, oats, beans, and lentils. I proudly brought my healthy bounty home and prepared for my cheap week of eating. Flash forward to Day 7. Yogurt is great, but eating it every. single. day. is getting a little old. And I don’t even want to look at another bean or lentil again. Although 28 bucks can buy you healthy food (one of the things I hoped to prove while completing this challenge), it doesn’t buy you variety. I ate oatmeal every morning with the same frozen blueberry topping. I had to rotate the leftovers from three dishes for my lunches and dinners. I’ve actually started to dread mealtime. I would shovel down the monotonous food and feel full, but never satisfied. I’m craving variety- spices, sauces, new side dishes! When you are on limited funds, variety is a difficult thing to pull off. I’m starting to regret allowing my windowsill herb plants to wither away. Variety really is the spice of life.

As the my last day of the challenge winds down, I am beginning to reflect on all the valuable lessons I’ve learned this week. Tomorrow morning I will be sipping my Kaldi’s coffee with ample gratitude.

No Frills

After 2 $4 days, I'm really missing my little extras. $28 covers the basics, but it leaves no room for the frills. Yesterday I noticed how many frilly food choices I make on auto-pilot: brewing my morning coffee, adding vanilla almond milk to my oatmeal, buying a slice of banana bread at the cafe on campus, grabbing a small handful of chocolate chips after dinner. As I enviously watched my fellow classmates tote their daily dose of Starbucks and freshly baked banana bread, I realized how oblivious I was to those that can't afford to make these mindless decisions. Food choices that are part of my daily routine are extravagant splurges for others. Eliminating the frills made me realize that they are just that: frills. Extras. Not necessities. However, even though I am getting plenty of calories, forgoing all of my between-meal indulgences has left me feeling a little underfed.

I had to laugh when I read Jen's post because I made a brown lentil soup for dinner last night and as I portioned out the mounds of leftovers into Tupperware, my appetite for lentils quickly began to fade...