Aside from nutrition, one of the biggest challenges with doing this challenge is limited choice. Limited funds limits the choices available to you. One of the hardest things was deciding not to buy free range eggs for this challenge. We usually always do. But free-range eggs are over double the price of the cheapest cage eggs - so in order to up our protein, which is still sorely lacking in this diet, we had to go with the cheapest option. I put nutrition over ethics.
My Mum does this. She's a vegetarian. I don't think she's eaten meat in more than fifteen years. She'd prefer to buy free-range, but she has limited funds. She will not be alone in having to make these kinds of sacrifices. Families NZ wide make these kinds of choices each week at the grocery store. And other places too. Families having to choose between turning a heater on or being able to have credit on their phone. Selling their car to cut down on maintenance expenses so they can afford school trips. Parents skipping meals to ensure their kids have enough in their lunch boxes.
Speaking of which, our school is one of the lucky ones benefiting from the Free Lunches In Schools programme. It happened very quickly - the budget was announced then exactly one week later - poof! The lunch programme is on. What is fantastic about it is that it doesn't single those in need out. The food is available for everyone. While we did have Kidscan lunches available at our school prior to this, the way these were dispersed was tricky. The teachers had to make a sneaky informed guess at who was missing out that day, then send a message to reception who would ensure they had a lunch. And while Kidscan is an amazing charity that I wholeheartedly support, it is limited. It can't afford to feed everyone. Those with the paperbag Kidscan lunches were more obvious.
As a kid who grew up with less I know how tough that is. I went to a small, high decile school - you could count the poor kids on one hand - we stood out. And as a kid that was different in other ways it was just another thing that made me feel left out. The great thing about the free lunch plan is it removes the need for othering. All the kids are allowed to say yes to some free lunch. Our kids go to school with ample lunches they pack themselves and they've said yes to parts of the school lunch. Etta tried peaches the other day. She would never try them at home, but her friends were having them. Not only does this plan fill empty tummies and helps everyone do better in the classroom, but it builds a sense of community. Like the whakatauki in Abby's classroom says - 'He waka eke noa.' - we are all in this together.
Anyhow, on to what we ate yesterday.
Yesterday was the one day I bought meat for. And the only reason I could buy meat was because I found this bargain at Pak 'n' Save a week ago and popped it into the freezer. The only thing I could have got cheaper that was actual meat, was chicken bones. Since the rise of MKR, even offal is dearer than this.
And I am so glad that I did. After just two days eating on limited funds, we were both hungry. Murray felt dizzy on the way home from work and I was grumpy and hungrier than usual and very excited about the prospect of dinner. The thing that high protein foods do is keep you full for longer. While carbs are a good stopgap, they are not a great long term fix. If you want energy to last through the day you need to eat decent protein (which is why many nutritionists recommend having protein based breakfasts when you are trying to lose/or maintain a healthy weight). So with this chicken, egg fried rice and some peanuts we actually managed to make our recommended protein quota for the day - but having it at the end of the day meant we lost out on all that it could have given us earlier on.
Consequently, this was our biggest spend day. We both ate more than planned WAY over the daily of $5.70, but with that pittance of food on Monday, we're still on track with budget for the week. This does mean there is no wriggle room in what we eat over the next two days though, and that makes me feel a bit nervous. How did we do in the other areas of nutrition?
We managed to make our vege quota. This is because I bought seasonally and on special - I got a massive cauliflower from Countdown for $2 and used 1/2 of it in dinner. Brocolli is reasonably priced at the moment so we had 1/4 of this too. This plus the mixed veges in the egg fried rice, plus the carrot and corn with our lunch means we had 3 - 4 servings of veg - but still only one serving of fruit. We also dipped out in the whole grains and our dairy intake was basically negligible - I maybe had 1/4 of my daily dietary requirements so am thankful broccoli is also a good source of calcium.
Winner winner chicken dinner
So was the food delicious? Yes! I like egg fried rice and veges and ginger and chicken. But did it meet our nutritional requirements? No. 2/5 is not a passing mark. And the type of meat you can afford on this budget isn't exactly the healthy kind. We usually buy skinless chicken breast if I'm using chicken - a good, low fat, healthy protein. A whole chicken leg with skin and fat and bone isn't exactly healthy, but if I'm hungry, there is no way I'm getting rid of any of it.
Tune in tomorrow to see how I coped with work and this challenge. I have a funny story to tell you...
My Mum does this. She's a vegetarian. I don't think she's eaten meat in more than fifteen years. She'd prefer to buy free-range, but she has limited funds. She will not be alone in having to make these kinds of sacrifices. Families NZ wide make these kinds of choices each week at the grocery store. And other places too. Families having to choose between turning a heater on or being able to have credit on their phone. Selling their car to cut down on maintenance expenses so they can afford school trips. Parents skipping meals to ensure their kids have enough in their lunch boxes.
While I don't agree with all that Labour does,
this plan is a good'un
this plan is a good'un
As a kid who grew up with less I know how tough that is. I went to a small, high decile school - you could count the poor kids on one hand - we stood out. And as a kid that was different in other ways it was just another thing that made me feel left out. The great thing about the free lunch plan is it removes the need for othering. All the kids are allowed to say yes to some free lunch. Our kids go to school with ample lunches they pack themselves and they've said yes to parts of the school lunch. Etta tried peaches the other day. She would never try them at home, but her friends were having them. Not only does this plan fill empty tummies and helps everyone do better in the classroom, but it builds a sense of community. Like the whakatauki in Abby's classroom says - 'He waka eke noa.' - we are all in this together.
Anyhow, on to what we ate yesterday.
The cheapest meat I could find.
Yesterday was the one day I bought meat for. And the only reason I could buy meat was because I found this bargain at Pak 'n' Save a week ago and popped it into the freezer. The only thing I could have got cheaper that was actual meat, was chicken bones. Since the rise of MKR, even offal is dearer than this.
And I am so glad that I did. After just two days eating on limited funds, we were both hungry. Murray felt dizzy on the way home from work and I was grumpy and hungrier than usual and very excited about the prospect of dinner. The thing that high protein foods do is keep you full for longer. While carbs are a good stopgap, they are not a great long term fix. If you want energy to last through the day you need to eat decent protein (which is why many nutritionists recommend having protein based breakfasts when you are trying to lose/or maintain a healthy weight). So with this chicken, egg fried rice and some peanuts we actually managed to make our recommended protein quota for the day - but having it at the end of the day meant we lost out on all that it could have given us earlier on.
Consequently, this was our biggest spend day. We both ate more than planned WAY over the daily of $5.70, but with that pittance of food on Monday, we're still on track with budget for the week. This does mean there is no wriggle room in what we eat over the next two days though, and that makes me feel a bit nervous. How did we do in the other areas of nutrition?
We managed to make our vege quota. This is because I bought seasonally and on special - I got a massive cauliflower from Countdown for $2 and used 1/2 of it in dinner. Brocolli is reasonably priced at the moment so we had 1/4 of this too. This plus the mixed veges in the egg fried rice, plus the carrot and corn with our lunch means we had 3 - 4 servings of veg - but still only one serving of fruit. We also dipped out in the whole grains and our dairy intake was basically negligible - I maybe had 1/4 of my daily dietary requirements so am thankful broccoli is also a good source of calcium.
Winner winner chicken dinner
So was the food delicious? Yes! I like egg fried rice and veges and ginger and chicken. But did it meet our nutritional requirements? No. 2/5 is not a passing mark. And the type of meat you can afford on this budget isn't exactly the healthy kind. We usually buy skinless chicken breast if I'm using chicken - a good, low fat, healthy protein. A whole chicken leg with skin and fat and bone isn't exactly healthy, but if I'm hungry, there is no way I'm getting rid of any of it.
Tune in tomorrow to see how I coped with work and this challenge. I have a funny story to tell you...
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