Rolled out of bed early Sunday morning, ready to start the Hunger Challenge. Promptly forgot about it until I had already put a batch of banana bread in the oven, with ingredients I clearly could not afford on my 5-day food stamp budget. Figured nothing really counts before 9am, and someone had to taste the batter and the outcome, right? And someone had to finish their cheater’s cup of tea that they had not purchased with HC funds. Left the rest of the loaf for my housemates.
Hunger Challenge, Take Two:
Sunday, 9am: Cheerios ($1.99/box) with milk ($1.99/ half gallon) and 1 banana ($0.69/ lb, $1.50 for small bunch).
Cheater’s snack: Chocolate snagged from my apocalyptic stash as more of a compulsion than a willful action. Three times. Will add to my bill. Darnit.
After a half-day of hanging drywall and other house construction projects, I made some bowtie pasta ($0.99/box) with tomatoes ($0.85) and spinach ($1.49/bunch), only to realize I hadn’t purchased any seasonings or interesting vegetables with which to season it, nor oil, butter, cheese, or any time of protein. Result: Bland and disappointing. After several more hours of construction work with nothing to eat but my horrible pasta and some grapes, I needed something for dinner. On a rainy Sunday afternoon, with few buses running, and no grocery store in a mile radius, my best option was a discount Japanese mini-market (Maruta) a few blocks away in Georgetown. We jetted over just after 5pm for their ½ off deal on all bento boxes, and came back for a dinner of California rolls, including wasabi and soy sauce ($1.50). Heaven for this cheap sushi queen.
Four more hours of drywalling later, exhausted and covered in dust, I picked through my pasta and meager food selection at midnight and went to bed disappointed. (And grumpy without any dessert!) Tomorrow I would have a better plan.
Distance commuted for food: Less than 1 mile
Running total spent: $10.50 + cheater's chocolate= $12.00
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