Grateful

I'm feeling very grateful right now.

The carrot I snacked on just before lunch was so pleasant and crisp. As I chewed, I became mindful of just how much I was enjoying it. I'm eating my lentils for lunch right now, and they really aren't that bad. I have something to eat. That is a gift.

Three more donations came in through my page - two from friends and family who have already given. I'm feeling supported and loved. And I'm feeling hopeful that there are many people in the world who care about fairness; who care about ending injustice; and who are willing to do something to make the world "more right." $385 to go to reach my goal of raising $1,000 for CARE.

I'm feeling relieved that I'm almost done with the challenge. It is exhausting to count every bite of food; to restrain yourself from eating more now, because you know you need to save something for tomorrow. And it is demoralizing to eat the same thing day in and day out. I have felt a lot of bitterness during the past few days, but having support from my friends and family has really carried me through. This challenge takes an emotional toll. Poverty takes an emotional toll.

Here's my food break down for the day so far:

Breakfast (a poor girl's version of tofu scramble) totaled $0.48
4 oz tofu = $.025
1/8 onion = $.06
1/16 cabbage = $0.6
1 Tbs oil = $0.10
salt to taste = $0.01

Snack (1 carrot) totaled $0.10

Lunch (1 cup lentils) totaled $0.27

$0.85 gone. $0.65 for the late afternoon and dinner.

I can't wait for my first meal tomorrow...

I hope you'll give if you haven't already: https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/claire


-Selfish Blogger

Day five below the line

It's the final count down! I took survey of what I've got left.

8 oz tofu = $0.49
2 cups cooked lentils = $0.54
1/4 onion = $0.13
1/8 head of cabbage = $0.12
1 carrot = $0.10

For a grand total of $1.38. That leaves some space change for a bit of oil and salt. The problem is that, with the exception of the carrot perhaps, I don't want to eat any of it. I'm trying to think of ways to make my final day of food palatable, but without access of herbs and spices and some additional ingredients, there's very little I can do to hide the fact that I'm eating the same food that I've eaten for the last four days. Time to buck up and power through. That's what people in extreme poverty have to do every day.

Here we go!

I've got $475 left to raise to help people who live on less every single day of the year (ugh, I can't even imagine!). Will you chip in $50?
https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/claire


-Selfish Blogger

End of day four

Today was fairly uneventful. My lentil soup carried me through the day. I ate some every couple of hours, and by the end of the work day I had finished the whole thing. I left work to finish cleaning out my old place. Spent about two hours there, then drove home. It was time to eat dinner, but I started to feel sick of lentils the same way I started to feel sick of peas. I pulled some lentils out of the fridge (portion three of five). I tried to think of an ingenious way to make them into something else. Nothing I could dream up would fit into the rest of my budget for the day. I ate them cold, leaving 1/4 cup behind.

My total at the end of the day was $1.20.

I hope you'll contribute if you haven't already! https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/claire


-Selfish Blogger

Day four below the line

Soup for the day

Skipping breakfast again. I cooked up a big batch of soup to carry me through the full day at work.

1 cup peas (the last of 'em) = $0.38

1 cup lentils = $0.27

1/8 head of cabbage = $0.12

1/4 onion = $0.12

2 Tbs oil = $0.10

$0.99 total. It's my final day as Executive Director of the arts nonprofit I've been running for eight years. I need to be on my game to train the new person.

I only have two days left in the challenge, but I'm only half way to my fundraising goal! Will you help? https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/

-Selfish Blogger

Bonus lentils!

Tonight's dinner. All my meals are starting to look the same...

I've cooked up my lentils for dinner tonight and other meals tomorrow  (please don't make me eat more peas!). I paid $1.33 for 2 cups of dried lentils. I expected them to cook up to 4 cups. But lucky me: they cooked up into 5 cups! Instead of paying $0.33 per serving, I paid $0.27 per serving. That extra $0.06 will go far.

I don't have a kitchen scale, so I've been tracking my costs and volume of what I eat by portioning, and sometimes storing each portion in a separate container. For dried goods (lentils and peas in my case) I cooked the entire batch, then measured them out into cup-sized portions into individual containers. I cut my tofu into eight equal segments of approximately 2 oz. each. I quartered my cabbage and my onion. Oil, salt and sugar live in big containers, and I measure out the amount I need for a particular purpose.

Portioned lentils for the next two days

It looks like more work than it is. I'm surprised at how easy this part of the challenge has been.

For dinner, I'm frying up my lentils with salt, oil, crumbled tofu, and onion. I really want to fat from the oil. The cost is as follows:

1 cup cooked lentils = $0.27
2 oz tofu = $0.12
1/4 onion (less 3 Tbs from my snack) = $0.10
2 Tbs oil = $0.10
Salt to taste = $0.01

Dinner tonight will cost $0.60, which means I'll have $0.30 left over!!! Watch out $0.33 cookie - I will eat most of you.

The one thing that would make me happier than a cookie is reaching my $1,000 fundraising goal to help people living in extreme poverty. Donate here: https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/claire


-Selfish Blogger

Day three snack

Fresh cabbage snack

I took a nap this afternoon. I never take naps.

I woke up ready for a snack. I shredded 1/4 of my half cabbage (so that's 1/8 of a head of cabbage, about 1 cup chopped). I wanted to toss the cabbage with some seasoned rice vinegar, but did the calculation and found that 1 Tbs would cost me $0.15. I don't think so! I could get a carrot or another portion of cabbage for less.

Instead, I mixed up a $0.03 dressing of 1Tbs white vinegar, a pinch of salt and 1/4 tsp of sugar. Boom! My very own seasoned "rice" vinegar. Oh man did it feel good to eat something fresh and crunchy. Even though I ate a raw carrot yesterday, I feel like I haven't eaten fresh food for a week.

My snack cost a total of $0.14, and it was bright and satisfying. At first anyway.

A few bites in and that cabbage started to feel pretty hard on my stomach. I thought about eating something else, but I'd still have to eat the cabbage later, or go without. I stared at the cabbage. I waited. I ate a few more bites. My stomach hurt more. I walked away and washed dishes. My stomach settled. I came back. I stared at the cabbage again. I ate some more. Two bites in and my stomach was upset. I did this three more times over the next few hours.

Cooked down with some onions, much better

Finally, I cooked the cabbage with 1/4 of a 1/4 of my onion (about 1 Tbs) and 1 Tbs of oil. That was the solution. My stomach was able to handle the cabbage and I finished off my snack around 5:30pm. The Tbs of onion cost $0.03, the oil $0.05. Bringing my snack to a grand total of $0.22. Add that to my peas earlier and I've spent $0.60. $0.90 left for the day.

Hoping to reach my fundraising goal of $1,000 soon. Will you help me get there? https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/claire


-Selfish Blogger

Day three below the line

Look how many boxes I unpacked in two hours,
and on an empty stomach! I'm proud of me :)

My strategy of skipping breakfast yesterday worked well, so I used it again today. Even though I was a little hungry when I woke up, I spent two hours unpacking before I ate. Around 10:30am I heated another 1 cup portion of peas (#3 out of 4, in case you are keeping track ) with 1 cup of water to make soup. I ate about 2/3s of it and saved the rest for later in the day. The peas that were unbelievably delicious just yesterday have lost their appeal. I didn't have to remind myself to save some of them for later - this time I just stopped eating and was surprised to see so much left in the bowl.

Yesterday I ate peas for breakfast, lunch, dinner, and second dinner. I'm sick of peas. But I don't have much choice, and there's only 1/3 of a cup left in my bowl...

I summoned my will power and told my stomach to STFU and ate the rest of the peas around 1:45pm. They were getting hard to swallow. I cannot imagine eating my last portion of peas for dinner tonight. The thought makes me feel sick. I'll save my fourth and final cup of peas for the last day of the challenge. I'll cook up lentils tonight.

Breakfast and lunch - no more peas please

So I've learned I can't make it two days on the same food. I have new found empathy for those who may have enough to eat, but not enough variety to eat. I did my best to "mix things up" with my peas (see my previous post), but apparently that wasn't enough to fool my stomach. Eating the same thing meal after meal sucks. It's not even that you get tired of the flavor. It's just… nauseating, like my best friend told me on the first night of the challenge.

If you haven't had a chance to donate, I'd really appreciate your support: https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/claire


-Selfish Blogger