Today marks exactly one month until the start of the Ration Challenge!
And even though I post about this every week, every week a lot changes. This week I had a big change. I started a team. Starting a Ration Challenge Team is hard when you don't actually know any other people doing the Ration Challenge. And hard when you have social anxiety. But I thought - what have I got to lose? And I asked a random lady who had commented on the Ration Challenge Facebook page if she wanted to form a team with me. And she said yes! Then I asked a lady in one of my Mummies forums - she also said yes (but I haven't heard from her since...)
So anyhow - I am now in a team of two which feels awesome!
Because now I am not doing this on my own! My team mate, Sonali, lives on the North Shore. And even though meeting new people makes me super anxious - we are actually going to meet during the week of the challenge! It will be nice to have someone to talk to that is also experiencing the difficulties of participating in this challenge. And it will be nice to share a meal with someone during this week. Actually, this is an amazing opportunity to meet someone I never otherwise would, just because we believe in the same principle of helping others.
The other news this week is that I am 2/3rds of the way to achieving my fundraising goal. Which makes me believe I will achieve it - and possibly even more? If I raise $864 I can pay for a child's education for a whole year! And if I raise $1024 those funds can feed four people in the Zataari Camp for a whole year! That would be amazing. And every little bit that is donated counts. So far, in its inaugural year in New Zealand the Ration Challenge community has already raised more than $114,000 which is enough to feed 445 refugees for a whole year. And it's still a month away from the actual challenge!
So I want to say thank you so much to everyone who has donated to the Ration Challenge so far. Whether your donation has been small or large, every bit of it helps these folk who through no fault of their own face massive challenges every day. And if you've sponsored me, you have also helped me gain some rewards to make this challenge a little easier. So far your contributions have got me some the following extra bits and pieces:
A vegetable! This is amazing! I would have struggled without this boost. 170 grams is not a lot, but it is enough to make a difference to both my energy levels and my frame of mind. I am as yet undecided on what vegetable to choose. I have strongly been considering carrot as I can make a nice carrot and lentil soup and cut the remainder into little strips for teeny sweet snacks during the day. But it will most likely be rainbow silverbeet from the garden. Leafy greens you get more bang for your buck weight wise. Plus having stems and leaves make for two different textures for more variety. And rainbow silverbeet equals colour which equals antioxidants which equals more happiness. Well, that's my theory anyway.
And even though I post about this every week, every week a lot changes. This week I had a big change. I started a team. Starting a Ration Challenge Team is hard when you don't actually know any other people doing the Ration Challenge. And hard when you have social anxiety. But I thought - what have I got to lose? And I asked a random lady who had commented on the Ration Challenge Facebook page if she wanted to form a team with me. And she said yes! Then I asked a lady in one of my Mummies forums - she also said yes (but I haven't heard from her since...)
So anyhow - I am now in a team of two which feels awesome!
Our fundraising team page - The CompassionAtes
Because now I am not doing this on my own! My team mate, Sonali, lives on the North Shore. And even though meeting new people makes me super anxious - we are actually going to meet during the week of the challenge! It will be nice to have someone to talk to that is also experiencing the difficulties of participating in this challenge. And it will be nice to share a meal with someone during this week. Actually, this is an amazing opportunity to meet someone I never otherwise would, just because we believe in the same principle of helping others.
The other news this week is that I am 2/3rds of the way to achieving my fundraising goal. Which makes me believe I will achieve it - and possibly even more? If I raise $864 I can pay for a child's education for a whole year! And if I raise $1024 those funds can feed four people in the Zataari Camp for a whole year! That would be amazing. And every little bit that is donated counts. So far, in its inaugural year in New Zealand the Ration Challenge community has already raised more than $114,000 which is enough to feed 445 refugees for a whole year. And it's still a month away from the actual challenge!
So I want to say thank you so much to everyone who has donated to the Ration Challenge so far. Whether your donation has been small or large, every bit of it helps these folk who through no fault of their own face massive challenges every day. And if you've sponsored me, you have also helped me gain some rewards to make this challenge a little easier. So far your contributions have got me some the following extra bits and pieces:
- 50 grams of sugar
- 210mls of milk This is 170g of carrot - the other vege I am considering.
- 170 grams of a vegetable
A vegetable! This is amazing! I would have struggled without this boost. 170 grams is not a lot, but it is enough to make a difference to both my energy levels and my frame of mind. I am as yet undecided on what vegetable to choose. I have strongly been considering carrot as I can make a nice carrot and lentil soup and cut the remainder into little strips for teeny sweet snacks during the day. But it will most likely be rainbow silverbeet from the garden. Leafy greens you get more bang for your buck weight wise. Plus having stems and leaves make for two different textures for more variety. And rainbow silverbeet equals colour which equals antioxidants which equals more happiness. Well, that's my theory anyway.
The other awesome thing is that as a team Sonali and I have each raised over $350, which gives us a team bonus of either an extra 100mls of milk or 25 grams of sugar each. Which really is helpful! I think I will be going with the milk as the extra protein will be helpful in helping me survive the days better. And of course, if either of us makes it to a reward level the other hasn't by the 17th of June, we can share the extra we have with each other.
The other benefit of being in a team is that we get to pool our unlimited spices! I let Sonali choose the combo so we are going with salt and lemon pepper. While I had not even considered lemon pepper I do see a lot of potential here so am starting to feel excited about her choice. And if anyone else wants to do the challenge and/or decides to join our team we may even have even more variety and more people to share ideas, feelings and recipes with.
If you want to sponsor me, just click here. Or if you don't have credit card/are struggling with the website, just PM me and we'll work it out.
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Recipe time!
So I measured out how much flour I will have for the challenge, deducted what will be used for my cookies and divided the rest roughly into seven. This gives me about 1/4 of a cup per day to use for flatbread (plus an extra 1/2 cup to be used as needed on tougher days). I decided to base my recipe on Fatima's recipe from the Ration Challenge Guide. So my recipe is:
Gluten Free Flatbread
1/4 cup gluten free flour mix
enough water to mix to a smooth dough
A little salt to taste
1/2 tsp oil to fry flatbread in.
1) Mix the flour, salt and water to make a firm dough. Knead for 2 - 3 minutes.
2) Leave to rest covered with a damp cloth for 10ish minutes
3) Flatten your flatbreads into super flat rounds - I reckon the flatter the better.
4) Heat a small frying pan to a medium high heat (I use the second to highest second) and fry until starts to brown, then turn and cook the other side the same.
5) Cut into triangles and serve with whatever you have available.
Next to a teaspoon for comparison.
I rolled the next one flatter so it was a little bigger.
I have made these twice and the visual difference between my gluten free version and the regular version is quite apparent. I made both versions yesterday to go with our chickpea curry. I didn't try the regular flatbread, but Murray tried both and reckons in spite of the visual differences they actually taste similar. And I think it's ok. Not super delicious, but ok.
But 1/4 of a cup makes just one small flatbread. These test cooks are helping me realise how difficult this week is actually going to be. These flatbreads with hummus and rice are going to be my version of taking sandwiches to work that week. It's not a lot. If I have enough leftovers from my planned dinners I will take some of those too. But looking at the number of lentils in the bag and the 105 grams of vegetarian mince I have (what I've replaced the sardines with) I don't think there will be much. But knowledge is power, and I feel these test cooks are helping arm me with skills for the challenge ahead in June.
In this instance, the kids did not like the challenge food at all. Etta deigned to put a teeny sliver in her mouth and chewed and spat it out, and Abby wouldn't even put it in her mouth. Oh well. I can't win them all.
In this instance, the kids did not like the challenge food at all. Etta deigned to put a teeny sliver in her mouth and chewed and spat it out, and Abby wouldn't even put it in her mouth. Oh well. I can't win them all.
A breakfast bowl of flatbread. Small, but reasonably delicious.
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