Update : Mike and the girls

From start to (almost) finish…

 

I was unable (unwilling really) to start on Friday.  It was Danielle's 40th b-day and I was consumed by orchestrating a surprise party that also included planning for 8 secrete house guests.  This was more than enough planning for me.  Fill the Gap would have to wait.  But the party was amazing and she was totally surprised!

 

Our house was packed with kids all day Saturday, and there were people with us till Saturday night…so while we had some good discussion about FTG, I thought best to start fresh on Sunday.  The reality of making separate meals and snacks for us and them seemed way too daunting. This was our first conversation theme – socialization revolves around food.  It’s wild how quickly this becomes apparent.  Another night we were booked to go to a concert in Ottawa that included dinner beforehand…in the end the night was postponed for other reasons, but it would have been a major downer for our friends if we didn’t join them at the restaurant.

 

When our first day came, we, like everyone else, we did a quick scan of the food items followed by a more formal inventory.  That was the first time I’ve ever counted the number of slices in a loaf of bread.  We tried to explain the purpose of this project to the kids who are 5 yrs and 3 yrs old.  They were pretty stoked about the cookies and cupcakes and didn't get too worked up one way or the other about everything else. 

 

Our first dinner was pasta. The kids both said it was better than the usual pasta we have (where we use wheat noodles and more ingredients).  We were a bit concerned that this trend could continue – they seem partial to starchy/salty food.  Danielle and I have a chat about the importance of setting eating habits early and the difficultly in changing habits once they are formed.  Still, the girls enjoy cupcakes for desert and they are indeed just fine with this project.  More or less, the kids have actually eaten more this week than the average week.  It might be paranoia, but I also find them more needy than normal. 

 

The second conversation theme was on the luxury of choice, specifically identifying that: 1) we are fortunate our kids have the option to eat healthy; 2) we are not used to someone choosing food for us; 3) I really want to buy lunch or a protein bar or something…this isn’t easy.

 

My best meal of the week (so far) was Fish Cakes.  I actually got down to business and created something from nothing.  I was pretty proud of myself as the whole family legitimately enjoyed them and finished their plates. Thanks Kendra for the receipe!  This is the third and final main conversation topic – it is very rewarding to create a tasty dish and see others enjoy the product.  I’m no cook and spend limited time in the kitchen, but that night I felt like great about my creation!

 

It’s been ok so far, but the salty diet and inability to buy food is catching up on me.  I am looking forward to Sunday!  

Update: Leanne

Thursday March 24, 2010

We have a good week so far with our food items.

Monday night’s stir fry was great: onions, garlic, carrots, mushrooms sautéed in olive olive oil. I realized that we hadn’t had much protein that day so I whisked up 4 eggs and then added those to the stir fry. We cooked rice to go with it. Mark had voiced some reluctance earlier on Monday about the challenge and I’d convinced him to be fully on board on Monday night. As I served up the stir-fry, I looked at it and said: “I’m going to have a bit of soy sauce on this.” And Mark laughed and said: “Well, you’re a good example aren’t you?”. So we did add a bit of soy sauce. And added a bit of cheddar cheese too (pantry item). Later that night, while watching the news, Mark said: “Can’t I have a little bit of whisky?” And I said no, and he didn’t.

Tuesday morning was 2 pieces of toast with peanut butter and bananas, plus juice. Mark woke up a few hours later than me and told me later that he didn’t know what he should have for breakfast so he had coffee (pantry item) and waited to lunch to have left over stir fry. And the stir fry (with cheese, no soy sauce) was my lunch as well. For supper, Zoë suggested macaroni and cheese. We cooked 3 boxes of the macaroni, added milk and a bit of butter (pantry item) plus only 2 packages of the powdered cheese. We added some of the old cheddar that we have been using for our pantry item. I also sautéed onions, mushrooms and broccoli and added these as well (along with one whisked up egg). While I was doing this, Mark and Zoë were happily making the chocolate pudding and we had a great discussion about the use of our milk quota for the pudding. Mark and Zoë argued that it would be ok to use the milk for this purpose as they intended to eat all of the pudding and therefore would get all the nutrients. How could I argue with this?

Wednesday morning was back bacon, scrambled eggs and toast with butter morning. We don’t normally buy this type of bacon but Zoë said that she liked it. For lunch we all took leftover macaroni and cheese. I took an orange too and Zoë took leftover chocolate pudding and a juice box. She is lovin’ the juice boxes. Wednesday night we were low on veggies. We chopped up the potatoes and made roasted potatoes with garlic. We also opened our first can of soup – the roasted chicken noodle soup. Both of these went over well. We all cheated again and added ketchup to the potatoes. Wednesday night was chocolate cake night. Zoë read the recipe and saw we need 3 eggs. I said well we only have 3 eggs left, should we use them for the cake or just eat them for breakfast? She agreed that we shouldn’t use them for the cake. She then took our lists of foods left and foods used and, after looking at them, said: “Mama, we’ve used 7 eggs in total so we have 5 eggs left, not 3.” I checked this and saw she was right. So we agreed to use 2 eggs instead of 3 for the cake. We turned the cake into cupcakes which we thought would be better for lunches.

Thursday morning we look after one of Zoë’s friends before school. She really likes crepes. And so it was because of her that we kept flour on the pantry item list. We made crepes with eggs, milk, butter and flour. VERY YUMMY. And since we couldn’t let her have maple syrup all by herself, we joined Zoë’s friend in putting maple syrup on the crepes (cheat number 4 !!). We also opened the pineapple tidbits and ate those. Thursday was an unusual morning and Mark and I forgot to pack lunches for ourselves. I hadn’t brought all our Good Food Box home (as I ride my bike) and so had 2 bananas in the office which I have eaten. Clint brought me a chocolate chip cookie which I ate (and will deduct from our treasure trove of chocolate cookies that we were given – we are definitely going to have chocolate chip cookies left over!). Zoë made herself a peanut butter sandwich and added a banana, cupcake and juice box to her lunch. For supper tonight we may try my idea of Shepard’s pie – using the canned chili and the rest of the potatoes. We have a few carrots and onions and some garlic left so we may add those. We will be eating cupcakes and cookies for DAYS!

We are going to continue with the challenge until tomorrow. The rest of the canned soups and some of the other items we are going to bring to the BBKC food cupboard. The two top things that have struck me about this week are: 1) When we have been faced with limited food choices and a challenge to be creative, we really did get creative….maybe not wildly so but somewhat. As a spin off of this creativity and limited food choices, we got better at planning ahead and all of us loved having leftovers as lunches AND 2) Zoë was excited and engaged with this project for the whole week (and before the food came too). She was into the planning, preparing and eating the food….and NOT just because of the cookies, pudding and cake. We had fun. And we are thankful that we have choices.

Update: Jordan

Day Seven:

With the Fill the Gap challenge wrapping up I must say I am looking forward to regaining the freedom to choose for myself what I eat.  We were all fortunate in this challenge to have been allotted the healthy options found in the good food box.  With those and my 5^th “pantry” item – Bell Peppers I was able to make a huge vegetable stir fry that sustained my through 4 meals in the middle of the week.  Lacking the creativity of many of my challenge mates more often than not during the rest of the week I ate the food as it was presented.  Cans of soup, chili or a box of Kraft Dinner  were the bulk of my diet.  This wasn’t how I envisioned things would go.  Boyed up by the challenge I imagined myself creating mini-delicacies with the food at hand.  This was certainly proven possible by many of my colleagues but I was largely unsuccessful in this regard.  I don’t mind admitting that I found it a little hard.  I have never really enjoyed cooking and restricting my choices didn’t make that job any more enjoyable.  It also seemed to me that time was always tight.  Planning and creating great meals takes time and energy that I didn’t have in abundance.  It is easy to imagine how much more difficult eating well would be for many in our community, those with disabilities or without a good job with a predictable schedule.  Things easily taken for granted like a reliable vehicle that can save an hour or more a day that would otherwise be spent commuting by bus or on foot.  This challenge helped me appreciate what I have more and gave me a glimpse of some of the challenges that people face when trying to eat healthy and well.

Perhaps the best thing that came from this challenge for me was a realization that I could last 7 days without going to a restaurant or stopping at a coffee shop for a drink.  It sounds funny – like it would be the easiest thing in the world, but it wasn’t.  This challenge showed me how often I eat out and how much I missed the option.  I hope that the knowledge of how much money I saved on food this week outlasts my craving for a trip to drive-thru and inspires me to spend more time in the kitchen or even the garden.

Day 5 & 6 - House of Zen Updates

The final day of the challenge is here!

A Few lessons learned:

• breakfast really is the most important meal of the day ... fuel up the engine for the entire day
• open mind + creativity + any food = fun
• good eating is possible ... with any food
• creative food can mean less expensive grocery bill
• it's really helpful to have a few pantry items or fridge items always on hand to jazz up a meal

Food items most thankful for this week:

• eggs (from Food Hamper)
• blueberries (pantry item)
• pancake/muffin mix (from Food Hamper)
• potatoes (from Good Food Box)
• fresh greens (pantry item)
• fresh fruit (all 8 pieces from Good Food Box)

Food items most looking forward to next week:

• cereal (with fibre!)
• lots and lots of fruit
• yogurt

On the menu ...

Supper Day 5  a la chef Ken

• Twisted buckwheat pasta with tomato sauce
• Cook pasta according to pasta directions
• Sauce: 1/2 can diced tomatoes (with herbs) + 1/2 can tomato sauce
• Chocolate pudding
• 2 cups milk + pudding mix = something that may resemble pudding/jello/solid mass

Breakfast Day 6 &7

• Blueberries + apple + milk + scoop peanut butter

Lunch Day 6 (Wednesday)

• Brendine: 1/2 container V8 Corn Soup with Chipolte + milk + spinach
• Ken: can of beans in tomato sauce + rice crackers

Supper Day 6 (a la chef Ken)

• Ham, broccoli & spinach frittata
• Scramble 5 eggs in a medium sized bowl
• 1/2 cup each: chopped ham, broccoli, spinach
• Heat skillet over medium heat. Add scrambled eggs. Cook 2-3 minutes until just set. Add vegetables and ham. Continue cooking 4-5 minutes until eggs are mostly set. Place in oven under broiler for 2-3 minutes until top is lightly browned.
• Potato chips (homemade!)
• Thinly slice potatoes (into potato-chip thins)
• Place on baking sheet, drizzle with oil. Bake at 400F for 15-20 minutes, until crispy.
• Dessert (a la Brendine) - cookies!!
• In a small bowl: mix 1/3 cup sugar + 1/2 to 3/4 cup peanut butter + 1 egg
• Add: 1 cup pancake/muffin mix. Mix well. If mixture is crumbly, add some milk (just 1-2 tbsp at a time)
• Bake at 350F for 10-12 minutes.

Mmmm cookies ... they end up turning into something like a big pancake (translation = cookie dough all smooshes together) when cooked. But they still taste yummy!

March 22nd - Food in the news

Rising Food Costs
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/food-and-wine/trends/trends-features/any-way-you-slice-it-food-prices-are-going-up/article1950411/ 

Did you know that the average Canadian household spends 17% of income on food? With rising food costs, this amount will push to 20%. That's $20 for every $100 you make.

Be creative with your food dollars - explore ways to enjoy cooking, involve your family and be aware of how you eat.

Fill the Gap is about being creative with simple foods. It's about being more aware about how we use foods at home. Mindful about eating.

So, what can you do to invite this mindfulness about food?

• Talk about it! Chat about food, menus, meals, cooking and planning with friends, co-workers and family.
• Start cooking! Cook with your family at home or join a community kitchen (coming this April to Kingston Community Health Centres). Start from scratch and be impressed by what you can create.
• Start growing! Plant a few vegetables on your terrace, deck or perhaps garden space this spring and summer (lettuce, beans and fresh herbs grow well in a pot). Or, join a community garden space - you will be able to enjoy your own hand-grown foods for less than $20 a year!
• Get involved! Rising food costs mean more pressures for people who may not be able to access or afford a variety of food choices. Look inside your community to see how you may be able to help.

House of Zen - Updates

Day 4 has come and gone ... goodmorning day 5.

Over a salty chili dinner last night, we shared our experience from the day. On his way to work, after getting to a gas station, putting air in the tires, hitting the road to the office, Ken realized 'Forgot my lunch!!' He turned around, headed home and packed a few items from the box. Brendine so impressed that he actually went back for lunch instead taking the other road to dining out. Ken noted that at work, he's inspired some co-workers to be more mindful (and thankful) for what they eat.

Both of us are having a hard time with breakfast. Mini muffins, blueberries, peanut butter scoops and 1/2 banana aren't really taking us through the morning. The House of Zen has become pretty good a gluten free eaing over the past year, but being bound to 2 boxes of food is a little tricky. Ken's solution: can of beans in tomato sauce for breakfast tomorrow.

Only 4 days, but we're really inspired to challenge our food habits. Ken suggested taking the whole month of April for vegetarian eating. Brendine suggested May through October as a 100km diet challenge (eating only foods/food ingredients that have been grown and produced with 100km of our home). Bring it on (perhaps with an occasional allowance for a nice ripe avocado)! We're up for the challenge.

On the menu from day 4 ...

Lunch

• Brendine: jazzed up tomato soup: 1/3 container V8 Tomato Soup + 1/2 cup milk + spinach (pantry item) and 2 stalks broccoli + 1 slice leftover pizza
• Ken: 1 package instant rice noodle soup + 2 rice cakes + leftover ham slices

Supper:

• Chili:
• Step 1: saute 1 chopped onion + 2 cloves garlic in medium sized sauce pan
• Step 2: add 1/3 can diced tomatoes + 1/3 can tomato sauce + 1 can corn (rinsed) + 1 can mixed beans (rinsed) + 1/2 package taco seasoning + 1 cup water (to dilute the sodium!)
• Potato Wedges
• Step 1: slice 1-2 medium sized potatoes into thin wedges
• Step 2: line a baking sheet with tin foil. Place potatoes on baking sheet and drizzle with oil. Bake at 400F for 15 to 20 minutes.
Surprises, insights and more from day 4 ...  
Preparing our chili dinner brought on a little exploration into the Nutrition Facts table on the canned vegetables used to whip it together. I know ... what a fun thing to explore on a Monday night. Only a 15 minute exploration though - totally fast meal!  But, it's pretty outrageous what you find in a can of 'tomato sauce' or 'diced tomatoes.' The low-down ... what's really in that chili?



tomato sauce


• tomato sauce = 470mg sodium per 1/2 cup
• diced tomatoes = 370mg sodium per 1/2 cup
• sodium recommendations for average joe = 1500mg - 2300mg per day
• roughly = 400-500mg sodium per meal
• translation = yikes! our chili has won the award for more sodium than we needed for the day

This morning, with my daily scoop of peanut butter, I began to notice the strange buttery-like consistency of the 'peanut butter.' Hmm... was this really peanut butter? Still in exploration mode,  I browsed at the ingredient list:

• roasted peanuts, soybean oil, corn dextrin, sugar, hydrogenated vegetable oil, salt

Hmmm .... so much for 'peanut butter' ... more like 'peanut product.'

There are a lot of stigmas that exist around canned and boxed food items. But, these items play a big role in feeding and nurturing many people and families. We're humbled by our ability to be able to choose fresh foods on a daily basis, and choose lower or no-sodium canned products when we need to. To choose just 'peanuts' peanut butter.

Hopefully others can be mindful that not everyone chooses the foods that they eat. They simply make the best of what they have. Something that can be humbling, happy and heartbreaking at the same time.





 

Update: Easy-eats, Kendra and Curtis

Things are going well.  Overall, the weekend was great - full of meal preparations and trying to convince Curtis not to cheat on the food challenge by the many food temptations (free samples, commercials, pizza coupons) ... he’s been doing great!  My coffee-free Saturday and Sunday mornings were an adjustment for sure! We definitely learned some lessons around remembering to bring foods that will last a Saturday afternoon away from the house - there has been long time periods between meals, trying to ration the supplies for the week.  

We've have been having fun coming up with meal ideas and cooking with the ingredients - looking onward, we feel positive about our food supplies for the remainder of the week, with still some fun ideas up our sleeves.



Meals we have enjoyed:

Potato Crust Pizza with Arugula:

Crust:
2 large (mashed and cooled) pototoes, skin on.
1 egg
Roughly 1 cup of flour - depends on size of potatoes (pantry item)

Mix together, adding flour 1 tbsp at a time, kneading until soft dough forms (expect it to be a bit sticky)

Toppings:
Tomato sauce
Mushrooms, onion, brocolli
Grated cheese (pantry item)
Arugula leaves

Bake for 20-25 minutes at 350 degrees


Cupcakes with Blueberry Sauce:

Using the cake mix and following the recipe; we made cupcakes.


Blueberry sauce:
1 cup of frozen bluebrries 
2 tbsp flour
1/4 cup of water x 2

In a saucepan over medium heat, combine the blueberries, 1/4 cup of water, stir gently, and bring to a boil. In a cup, mix together the flour and 1/4 cup cold water. Gently stir the flour mixture into the blueberries so as not to mash the berries. Simmer gently until thick, 3 to 4 minutes. 

 
Mushroom Soup Veggie Pasta:






Mix together sauteed brocolli, carrots, onions, garlic and mushrooms with a can of mushroom soup, and 1/2 can of water
Stir gently on medium heat for 10 minutes, until nice and hot. 
Serve over cooked pasta ...Enjoy!

Update: Leann, Mark and Zoe’s Comments for the Food Challenge

We had a late start to the challenge as we received our food hamper items on Sunday March 20^th and our Good Food Box today. We made some assumptions about what would be in the GFB so we used onions, mushrooms and garlic in our supper last night.

So…to begin with, Zoe, who is 9, was very interested in this project. She went through the food hamper supplies thoroughly and her first comments were: “This is interesting” and “can I have a cookie?”. She was also VERY excited about the chocolate pudding, chocolate cake mix, spaghetti, candy, Cesar salad mix and the juice boxes. She said to let the readers know that “we don’t normally eat a lot of this food…like chocolate pudding and chocolate cake mixes. Mama sometimes buys cookies but not very often and she NEVER buys juice boxes.” We sat down to plan the week of meals and discuss the pantry items. Our pantry items initially were: butter, coffee, olive oil, cheddar cheese and flour. When Mark arrived he said that he wanted to add beer to his pantry as well. We had a discussion about this and in the end decided that beer was off the list even though he argued strongly that it could replace flour as a grain product. He did drink a beer prior to our official start and Zoe had a final Rolo candy that her grandma had brought her.

Our first meal was spaghetti with diced tomatoes in herbs combined with sautéed onions, mushrooms and garlic with cheddar cheese on top and milk to drink. We also had salad thinking that since there was a ceasar salad mix that we would get lettuce in the GFB…we ended up not getting lettuce so we cheated the first night.

For breakfast today we had oatmeal with milk and sugar. We also shared an orange.

Since we cooked the whole package of spaghetti, we were all able to take some for our lunches today. Plus I had an apple. Zoe had a ½ orange in her lunch, two cookies (which she is insisting on having every day since we calculated that we could have 4 cookies per day for 7 days) and a juice box. She also said, being resourceful, “If I run out of food, I can ask the teacher for some from the “extra food” supplies in my class.” I think she’ll have plenty for lunch though.

Prior to reading Kendra’s note in response to Mary’s, I had saved two free Country Style coupons and drank a coffee and ate a cookie today as well…we also had a friend deliver lemon squares unannounced to our house and we ate some of those last night as well. We’ll try not to do that again!!

Over all our initial planning went well and I think we’ll do ok for the week. Suzanne said today that EACH of us could chose 5 pantry items but I think it is just 5 in total. I think we will miss grains, more fruits and veggies and MAPLE SYRUP which, sadly, got knocked off the pantry list even though we spent 8 hours making it on Saturday.

I think the discussions with Zoe have been the most interesting…I’ve explained to her where the food is from and how we have to think ONLY of the food we have been given. She was helpful in planning the meals and made the ceasar salad and cooked the pasta almost by herself. She LOVES getting the juice boxes!!! And can’t wait until Tuesday (chocolate pudding night) and Wednesday (chocolate cake) night. Mark, as well, had some interesting comments…one being that there is “not a lot of fiber or protein in the choices”. We also wondered about the expiry dates on eggs and had to get rid of a can of mushrooms (expired) and a can of tomato sauce (leaking). I discussed this with Zoe too and said that we could probably go back to the Food Bank with these items and get them replaced (had we obtained them with real need from the Food Bank) so we are going to replace them.

That’s it for now…tonight for supper we’ll have rice and a veggie stir fry! Plus cookies!!

Update: Suzanne

I am getting on the blog after 3 days of the food challenge.   Diane and I put all the food on the top of the hutch to display our weeks’ worth of food. When people have come through the house it has provided great topic for conversation and interest.   Most individuals were surprised at the items and then realized that these items are exactly what they themselves have donated to the food bank.  They did not feel good about selection that was available.  It surprised people that there were items that were completely unrelated to anything else in the food bank box.  For example the canned beef gravy.  However, it will be good over a potato by the end of the week!  Most people thought you could go to the food bank monthly, but if you are on Ontario Works you can only access the food bank three times a year however, if BBKC takes a participant a four or fifth time, they are not turned away.   This news was also new to most people.

Here we go:

I have been fighting a nasty cold so the challenge started by me dragging myself out to pick up our food.

Day 1:  Friday March 18^th

Drinking box

Toast and PB for breakfast

Tomato soup for lunch

Egg Sandwich for dinner

Day 2: Saturday March 19^th

Oatmeal for breakfast ( took me two attempts because there were no instruction ( although I know it isn’t hard!  )

Tomato soup…again and a bagel

2 pieces of the “bacon”, one onion and two carrots cooked together and…………..6 cookies  I am sick and on the couch.

Day 3: Sunday March 20^th

½ orange and a banana for breakfast

Soft boiled egg and beans for lunch

Stir fry of mushroom, garlic, carrots, broccoli and a couple of stewed tomatoes over linguini for dinner

Vanilla pudding and a few canned mandarin oranges

Our experience:

I have found the inability to make a choice confronting.  I would like to eat what I want when I want and because I have been sick I would have liked more juice and home made chicken soup!  Over the weekend, while lying on the couch I could not believe the number of food commercials on television!!!!!   Our eggs did not have an expiry date on them so we used our own eggs.   I am tracking our sodium intake because of the number of canned items. Thank goodness we had the five pantry items, however, we are missing our fresh vegetables.    I am looking forward to some creative recipe ideas.

Morning of Day 4 - House of Zen Updates

Day 3 brought some insights and thoughtfulness into the House of Zen ... spontaneous eating? Not an option. Grab & go? Nope ... more like pack and then deside how far you want to go. A few road bumps and epiphanies have come up in the House of Zen as the challenge unfolds:

Bump 1 - Brendine continues to feel the effects of a massive headache/migraine (perhaps sparked by a reaction to the pineapple). She has been dreaming about ice cream and yogurt and homemade butternut squash soup ... those feel good foods that really do bring on feelings of mmmmm ...

Bump 2 - Let's get active! Brendine is a very active person ... walking (everywhere), teaching fitness classes, daily yoga practice, swimming ... the list goes on. Eating to fuel her day is a big deal ... she is being very strategic with how she is using her 4 pieces of fresh fruit (2 bananas, 1 apple, 1 orange). She is thankful for the potatoes - some extra potassium for hydration!

Epiphany 1 - When you have to think about how to make your food last, you think about food even more. A simple snack is not so simple. Preparing meals become a task of planning -  how to make that ham last for a few days, how to add the most pizazz and taste to the meal, how to balance the meal with a variety of food, how can the meal make leftovers for tomorrow...

Ok ... down to the eating ...

Day 3

Breakfast

• Brendine (after a swim and yoga): blueberries - heated in a saucepan with 1 cup spinach + 1 scoop peanut butter
• Strange yet delightful
• Ken: muffins, banana

Lunch

• Ken: leftover tuna cakes
• Brendine: 'how are they' Ken: mmm... edible I guess
• Brendine: snack before yoga: scoop of peanut butter, rice crackers

Supper





Blueberry Salad





Pizza!

• Salad: Greens with Blueberry Dressing
• Blueberry dressing: 1/2 cup frozen blueberries (defrosted) + zest of 1/2 orange
• Pizza: pancake/muffin mix + tomato-green pea sauce + sliced mushrooms + shaved ham + greens (spinach) + drizzle of olive oil
• Sauce: 1/2 cup V8 tomato soup + 1/2 can peas (leftover from tuna cake recipe yesterday)

Day 4 ... welcome back rain ... no snow ... sleet?

Breakfast

• Brendine: blueberries + 1/3 banana (rationing the bananas) + scoop peanut butter
• Reviving a childhood favorite ... the scoop of peanut butter ... on the spoon ...

Lunch: currently counting down 2 hours to lunch time ... dreaming about the menu below ...

• Brendine: leftover pizza slice + 2 trees broccoli + spinach + 1/2 cup V8 tomato soup
• Ken: to be determined using the 'you can eat these items whenever you want' foods (not the: 'you can't eat these things whenever you want ... they each have a very special part in the menu plan')

Namaste from the House of Zen.

Update: Jordan

Food Challenge Log

Delivery Day: Thursday March 17^th, 2011

The food arrived today… and kept on arriving.  Right to my office a great variety of canned goods, fresh fruit and vegetables.  Plus a dozen eggs, a litre of milk, bread, bagels and a slab of back bacon the size of a roast.  Perhaps I am overconfident but I don’t foresee any problems expected living off this and living well. 

Day 1: Friday March 18^th 2011 (Vacation Day)

I guess my confidence got the better of me.  I left the eggs, milk and bacon at work.  I convince myself that substituting the milk and eggs from home is allowable within the rules of the challenge as long as I replace them with the official supply and don’t eat more than I was allotted.  With my belly full after eating some eggs, toast and two bowls of cereal I am forced to re-evaluate that decision.  Have I failed in the challenge on the first meal?  I suppose – from a certain point of view.  Oh well, things can only get better from here, I hope.

Later in the day my family is getting packed up to make a trip to town to see some friends and take in a movie.  No problem… I knew this was coming – a little bit of planning and I’ll be fine.  I opt to eat supper before leaving while the others can take it easy in the knowledge that food is only a drive-through away when they get to town.  For me it’s a can of vegetable soup with Melba toast (no crackers in the food supply) and another piece of bread with peanut butter.  This is a piece of cake (not literally – I am conserving  the cake that came in the basket).  Smug with the confidence of a full belly I head into town.  It’s about 5 hours later that I am reminded that I didn’t bother packing any snacks.  I’ve never really been one to go for the Cineplex popcorn and treats but it’s a whole different story when the option is taken away.  I quickly forget about the movie as my stomach rumbles on the way out of the theatre.  Too bad – a quick trip home isn’t in the cards.  My wife decides now would be a good time to tour the shops at the Riocan.  This sucks!  Another 2 hours later and my positively empty stomach is ready to eat the whole world.  I settle for some more bread, a can of chilli and slightly expired dessert squares.

Day 2: Saturday March 19^th 2011

With the food swapping precedent set yesterday I opt for eggs again.  I also work through the rest of the bread.  Mostly because it won’t be long before it goes bad and I hate to waste food.

Another trip into town - this time for Costco and groceries.  Sheesh groceries – I don’t even get to eat them.  It isn’t too bad, though I am forced to wonder if I am trying to make up for the egg swap when I skip out on the free Costco deep dish pizza samples.  Perhaps things are getting easier. 

After stopping to pick up my forgotten eggs, bacon and expired milk it’s another mad dash home to my food supply.  This time I go for  a nice can of chicken soup and some more melba toast.   I don’t know if I will ever have a shortage of food but I’m sure I don’t like be tied to by kitchen like this.  I certainly took for granted the freedom that comes with having enough money to eat out.  Perhaps I should stay home tomorrow.

Team Inverary, Mary, Rick & Kayla (17-sports jock) - Day 2 Report

Team Inverary, Mary, Rick & Kayla (17-sports jock)

 

Team Inverary reporting in... mid-day, on day 2.

 

Tonight we are having another couple over for dinner (which was planned a while ago). They know about our Fill the Gap initiative and are excited to be included in one of our dinners. Judy wants to be responsible for making dessert, so I've asked her to make up one of the puddings when she arrives for her contribution to dinner. She thinks it's kind of odd to be making her contribution from out of our pantry, but she's up for some fun.

 

Here's what we are working with today. Out of our Food Bank Hamper

 

1 sleeve of chocolate chip cookies

1 pkg of 4 Honey Buns

5 small candy bars

4.5 bagels - Cinnamon Raisin (whole wheat)

2 bags milk

11 eggs

2 1/4-lbs Peameal bacon (frozen)

7 cans Campbell's tomato soup (reduced sodium)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can Roasted Chicken with Grilled Vegetable Soup

2 sleeves whole wheat crackers

1 box whole wheat Triscuits

750 g Natural Peanut butter

1 x 500g Linguine pasta

2 x 206g boxes Mac and Cheese

1 28oz can diced tomatoes

1 pkg Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry Mix

1 can corn

2 cans chunk tuna

2 cans mandarin orange segments

8 pkgs Sweet n'Low 

1 kit Caesar Salad dressing, with croutons, & parmesan cheese

1 cup sugar

2 1/2 cups oatmeal

3 cups instant white rice

2 x 200ml Apple Juice

3 x 200ml Strawberry & Banana Juice

1 x 200ml Peach & Clementine Juice

1 can beef chilli

1 can beans in tomato sauce

1 white cake mix

2 boxes vanilla pudding

1 box butterscotch pudding

 

Large Good Food Box

 

10 lb bag potatoes

1.5 lb rainbow carrots

2-lb bag onions - minus 1 onion

1 head leaf lettuce

1 bunch broccoli

1/2-lb mushrooms - minus 3 mushrooms

1 head garlic - minus 2 cloves

3 bananas

1 orange

2 royal gala apples

2 pears

2 red grapefruit

 

We are skimping on use of the fresh fruit because we have Kayla arriving home tomorrow, and she will appreciate having some fresh fruit to enjoy at breakfast with us. Feel we need to ration the fruit to make it last, but don't want it to get too ripe in the meantime. Everything but the bananas can be kept in the basement where it's cold or in a bin in the refrigerator to slow down the ripening process.

 

5 Pantry Items

 

1) local maple syrup

2) wild meat

3) spelt berries

4) plain Balkan style yogurt

5) oil

 

Day 2 - Saturday March 19th

 

The weekend - yeah!!!

 

8:00 am Slept in again - what a life.

 

Put kettle on for some hot water. Added a 1/2 tsp of the orange marmalade to hot water for flavour. Not bad but needs to be strained - chunky bits in my wake-up drink - not that nice. 

 

Getting ready for those yummy oat pancakes...

Oats soaked overnight on the counter and are looking really good.

 

Add the remaining ingredients (recipe on post for day 1, Inverary team) while cast iron frying pan comes up to temperature. Have used some finely ground oats for the required flour - works really nice. I omit the baking soda and salt because they are not on my pantry list and am confident they will turn out wonderfully.

 

Add some oil to the hot pan and portion pancake mix using a large cookie scoop. Press down batter so that it's an even thickness throughout. Once nicely browned on both sides and cooked through serve immediately or hold in a warm oven, top the pancakes with leftover marmalade from yesterdays breakfast, some yogurt and maple syrup. What a great breakfast.

 

Rick packs up to go fishing on Sydenham Lake and takes with him 2 juice boxes, a bagel and a banana. He's hoping to catch some trout, pike or crappie today. Imagine how much fun it is to invite friends to come and share a crappie dinner with you. Would you come?!  Perhaps one evening next week we'll enjoy some pan-fried crappie coated with an egg wash and some crushed crackers. Another option for the crappie would be to incorporate it into one of the canned soups I have ; tomato or cream of mushroom - hmmm - along with some veggies from the GFB. It could work...

 

I also found a website today http://www.cookwithcampbells.ca/en-ca/ that allows you to select the canned Campbell's product you have on hand and they provide an assortment of recipes for you to make with them.

 

I'm looking at the macaroni casserole recipe to use with one of the boxes of Mac and Cheese for example. And there are many other options as well like:

• Hearty Tomato and Vegetable Soup
• Roasted Tomato & Barley Soup (perhaps sub spelt berries for the barley?)
• Tomato Beef and Mushroom Stew (sub venison for the beef)
• Shepherds pie

 

Kayla, Rick and I all have thermoses so if we double up on the recipes we should have enough for dinner in the evening and lunch the next day. Have decided to have the spaghetti pie (from yesterdays leftovers) for dinner on Sunday evening.

 

I've also got 10-lbs of potatoes to use up, and 2 bags of milk. Rick and I aren't milk drinkers so we have to incorporate it into food to enjoy it:

• potato pancakes
• scalloped potatoes
• garlic mashed potatoes
• roasted potatoes
• home fries
• cream of potato, onion and roasted garlic soup

 

Getting hungry just thinking about all the options.

 

Since our food hamper includes 1 pkg Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry Mix, it provides inspiration for tonight's dinner menu:

• We have broccoli, garlic, onions and carrots in the GFB
• I have venison steaks in the freezer (pantry item).
• we've got rice in the hamper

 

Sounds like a winning combination. And with pudding for dessert that should be a nice finish.

 

I've got some plain yogurt in a coffee filter in the fridge that is straining so I can make some yogurt cheese. If I add some garlic and finely diced onion (that have been sautéed and caramelized first), I've got an appetizer for my dinner guests to serve with crackers. I think they will like that.

 

Well I'm off to tidy up for my guests. Attending a workshop on Seed Saving this afternoon from 2-3:30 pm so my house and dinner items need to be prepped before I head out.

 

Looking forward to tonight's meal.

 

House of Zen ... day 2

Yesterday, Brendine had a reaction to the pineapple (she knew she reacted to fresh pineapple ... now is fully aware that all forms of pineapple are on the 'no-eats' list). It was an exciting time filled with inflaming tongue, red/rashed face and some form of hives brewing inside the mouth. Hmmm .... Ken now has 2 cans of pineapple in his corner. 

On Saturday's menu ... 

Breakfast

• Brendine started her day with teaching 2 fitness classes. Still feeling quite ill and now with a pounding migraine, she managed to swallow a blueberry muffin with a little bit of peanut butter spread.
• Ken enjoyed the original muffin batch  - blueberry-pineapple with orange zest

Lunch

• Brendine, still feeling ill, opted out of lunch and instead will be sleeping for the rest of the day. Warm tea is providing a soothing touch.
• Last night, Brendine prepared some tuna cakes, which Ken heated up for a quick lunch

Snacks

• Popcorn (a pantry item) - Ken's leftovers from last night's snack

Supper

• Ken is in charge ... surprise dinner!

Recipe - Tuna Cakes

• 1 baked potato (with skin)
• 1 can tuna (drained)
• 1/2 can peas (rinsed and drained)
• Directions: mix all ingredients (mashing peas well). Form into patties and bake (350F, 20 minutes) or pan-sear on (medium heat, 4-5 minutes per side). 

Until next time, the House of Zen is resting.

Update: Easy-eats

Update : Team Easy-eats

So far ...things are going great. I am missing coffee, Curtis is missing ice-cream already – but it’s not the end of the world.  So far the meals are good, the biggest adjustment is the planning required too not run out of food before the week is finished.  Meaning, we have to plan the milk, egg, etc. usage for the week – could quickly run out.  

  

Notable meals we’ve had so far:

Smoothies, our breakfast of choice:

• Oatmeal
• Peanut butter
• Banana
• Milk
• Blueberries (pantry item)
• (sounds like an odd mixture but very delicious and filing!)

Chilli and cheese with baked potatoes (Curtis said he would eat this again for sure):

• 1 can of chilli
• Sautéed carrots, mushrooms, and onions
• Baked potatoes
• Grated cheese (pantry item)

Breakfast omelette

•  Mushrooms,
• Onions,
• Cheese (pantry item)
• Garlic
• Half a bagel

Good old grilled cheese (with onion) and tomato soup

·         (We had to use olive oil for the sandwich but still good, kind of burnt )

Thats all for now!  We will check in soon ...Happy Eating.

Team Inverary, Mary, Rick & Kayla (17-sports jock)

Rick and Mary are normally a family of 2, however, while their friends are exploring New Zealand for the month of March, their daughter has moved in and is educating them on the finer points of living with a very active sports-oriented teenager. It's really great actually - most teenagers don't help out much at home, right, but when they are visiting with friends, it's amazing how helpful and involved they can be. And Kayla loves to cook!! Are we lucky or what?! During March break Kayla chose to spend some time getting reacquainted some family members who live in the Toronto area and will be arriving back on Sunday. What a sport she is to accept this culinary adventure with her friends.

Mary is the Food Educator, and Good Food Box Coordinator at Kingston Community Health Centres. Food is her passion along with teaching time-honoured traditions around food preparation, and preservation techniques. Gardening, growing fresh foods, eating seasonally and supporting local farmers, food producers and community is very important to her and her family. She purchases whole grains, nuts and seeds (spelt, buckwheat, oats, quinoa, rice, almonds, pecans, walnuts, etc) in bulk from local farms, where possible and the local feed and farm store. From these she presses or mills these grains, nuts and seeds for use as cereal flakes, meals or flour. Soaking, sprouting and dehydrating are common practice in her household. It doesn't take that much extra time to do these things, but it is important to plan ahead and be organized where food prep is concerned.

Rick is an avid hunter and fisherman and their freezer commonly has a variety of wild meats (venison, duck, pike, trout, etc) stocked for their enjoyment. That's really helpful with food prices on the rise.

ood items for this week are from the Food Bank (hamper for 2 or more people), the March Good Food Box, and 5 items from our pantry. See lists of items below.

As a side note, on Saturday we're having another couple over for dinner (which was planned a while ago) so we will likely run out of food a little earlier as a result. But it will be interesting to see how far we get.

In our Food Bank Hamper (for 2 or more people)

1 sleeve of chocolate chip cookies

1 pkg of 4 Honey Buns

5 small candy bars

6 bagels - Cinnamon Raisin (whole wheat)

2 bags milk

1 dozen eggs

2 1/4-lbs Peameal bacon (frozen)

7 cans Campbell's tomato soup (reduced sodium)

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 can Roasted Chicken with Grilled Vegetable Soup

2 sleeves whole wheat crackers

1 box whole wheat Triscuits

750 g Natural Peanut butter

2 x 500g Linguine pasta

2 x 206g boxes Mac and Cheese

1 28oz can diced tomatoes

1 can tomato sauce (used day 1)

1 pkg Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry Mix

1 can corn

2 cans chunk tuna

2 cans mandarin orange segments

8 pkgs Sweet n'Low (at this point - NO idea of what to do with this item)

1 kit Caesar Salad dressing, with croutons, & parmesan

1 cup sugar

2 1/2 cups oatmeal

3 cups instant white rice

2 x 200ml Apple Juice

3 x 200ml Strawberry & Banana Juice

1 x 200ml Peach & Clementine Juice

1 can beef chilli

1 can beans in tomato sauce

1 white cake mix

2 boxes vanilla pudding

1 box butterscotch pudding

Large Good Food Box

10 lb bag potatoes

1.5 lb rainbow carrots

2-lb bag onions

1 head leaf lettuce

1 bunch broccoli

1/2-lb mushrooms

1 head garlic

2-lb bananas

2 oranges

2 royal gala apples

2 pears

2 red grapefruit

5 Pantry Items

1) local maple syrup

2) wild meat (provided by hunter-gatherer-husband - none of this comes from a store, but from nature)

3) spelt berries (these come from a local farmer, and are a staple in our pantry).

4) plain Balkan style yogurt

5) oil

Day 1 - Friday March 18th

Mary has the day off and Rick is working

8:00 am Slept in - not much time to spend on breakfast preparation

Put kettle on for tea. While water heats up, popped 1 1/2 cinnamon raisin bagels in the toaster. R normally has 2 bagel slices, M 1.

While bagels toast make fresh orange marmalade. To make fresh marmalade, wash and dry one orange - zest 1/2 of the orange- put zest into a baggie press out air and place into the freezer for later use.

Roughly chop all of the remaining orange (seedless) and add to food processor. Pulse adding 1 tsp maple syrup at a time (up to 3) to get desired sweetness and texture (you can also use honey - depending on the kind of honey used, this can provide a thicker end-product). Not as thick as regular marmalade, but very tasty. Spread a little peanut butter on bagel for Mary and spoon fresh orange marmalade over the top. Yum! Rick doesn't like peanut butter so has his bagel with fresh orange marmalade. A big hit!

When kettle boiled, realized that coffee and tea are not included in list of foods above. So hot water it is... I like hot water and warm drinks. R on the other hand will not give up his coffee, so he'll be picking up one of those on his way to work.

11:30 am and I remember that I promised to meet a friend for lunch at the New Garden Restaurant. Haven't seen her in a very long time and I really don't want to cancel. So lunch out it is... wanting to stay as close to the foods available to me in the good food box and the food hamper this week, I opt to have the mushroom and egg-drop soup. When I get home I'll remove 3 mushrooms and 1 egg from my groceries to stay within the spirit of the exercise.

Had a banana (from the Good Food Box) this afternoon for a snack before making dinner.

For dinner cooked up one package of linguine and make pasta sauce using the can of tomato sauce, garlic, onion, grated carrot and ground venison (panty item). Excellent. Enough left-over pasta and sauce for another meal for two. Pressed cold pasta into a glass pie plate for the next reincarnation of this meal and refrigerate. Likely spaghetti pie cooked a bit like a frittata with eggs, sautéed mushrooms, and onions, poured throughout the noodles and topped with the left-over sauce. Baked in the oven to cook the eggs and come out of the oven nice and hot.

As much as I like drinking hot water, it's after dinner and I am really missing my tea. So I venture into the back yard to find some white cedar leaf tips (they are actually green - see picture above) - not in my pantry, true but very abundant in the great outdoors, so it's something I never have to go out and purchase.  Makes a very nice tea and is chock-full of Vitamin C. Learned about this natural resource from a couple of First Nations friends. It's one of the more common "bush" teas. You don't need much, just a little bit around the size of a toonie for a cup of tea that you can refresh with hot water as needed. If you are not used to it though, a little goes a long way. If you think it tastes too bitter, just add a little more hot water to dilute it.

So at this point Team Inverary is down 1 1/2 bagels, one orange, one egg, 3 mushrooms, one banana, 2 cloves garlic, 2 onions, 1 carrot, 1 can tomato sauce.

However we do have just a little more than 1/2 cup of fresh orange marmalade in the fridge that can be used again on bagels or as a topper for the oatmeal pancakes I plan on having for breakfast tomorrow morning. Also remaining from the first orange is about 1 1/2 tsp of orange zest in the freezer. Plan to use this later for extra flavour in "something" and will figure that out as I go. And from tonight's dinner I have the basis for making a spaghetti pie for lunch tomorrow.

Oat Pancake Recipe - this needs to be started the night before - very easy. 

One full recipe makes 12 - 16 pancakes, so for Rick and I we'll make half of the recipe.

Here is the full recipe:

2 cup rolled oats

1 1/2 cups plain yogurt

Mix oats and yogurt, scrape down sides of the bowl, cover with a plate and leave on the counter or other warm place over night

2 - 3 eggs

2 Tbsp oil (or melted butter)

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

2 - 4 Tbsp flour (pulsing a couple of tablespoons of oats in food processor makes oat flour)

Preheat griddle, heavy stainless steel or cast iron pan to 350 F.

Break eggs over soaked oats, adding oil and salt (If using) and mix well with spatula.

Sprinkle with flour and baking soda and mix well.

Place a small amount of oil on griddle or in pan and cook pancakes a few minutes per side. Use 1/4 cup measure to portion out pancake mix.

Enjoy with fruit salad, yogurt, maple syrup, or left-over fresh marmalade if you have it handy in the fridge. These are really great pancakes! Any not eaten right away can be frozen and reheated in the toaster oven. Just as good as the day you first made them.