CWJ Food Bank Challenge: Day 5

If you're just joining us, you can read all about what's happening HERE. Today we also officially ran out of milk when we had our morning coffees, so I'll have to make a run to the store to purchase some more at some point.  I still have a little over $30, so we are still mainlining our leftover budget really well!  

Breakfast (10 am) Toast and Eggs  w/ coffee, milk, and brown sugar Total Cost: $0.80
Since Marc made homemade bread yesterday (this morning we took advantage and made toast and eggs for breakfast. Again, neither of us really have huge appetites in the morning, so 1 egg, and 2 pieces of toast each was just the right amount of food for us.  I missed having a glass of orange juice to wash breakfast down with, and even debating using some of my oranges to make freshly squeezed orange juice, but I wanted to save them for snacks since I knew my fruit supply would be waning soon. 

Lunch (2 pm) Baby Shower Food Total Cost: $0
While I didn't eat anything at Christmas in November even though it would be free for me to do so, I thought that a baby shower was something that was realistic enough for the average person to have as part of their day. My good friend Morgan threw the shower (seriously, she is AMAZING at throwing parties) so I ended up noshing on caprice salad, fruit, lemonade, and a couple of pieces of spinach dip.  She had glorious looking cupcakes there as well, I just wasn't feeling the sugar that day (a pretty crazy feat if you know me). Hmm… maybe this $4 diet is starting to eliminate my sugar cravings… score! 

Dinner (5 pm) Chicken Fried Rice Total Cost: $2.27
Ingredients - 1/4 chicken from Day 1 - 2 cups cooked rice from Day 2 - 2 tbsp olive oil - 1 onion, diced - 1 cup peas - 1 egg Directions 
Preheat a large frying pan or wok over medium heat.  Add olive oil, onions, and cook until translucent.  Add cooked rice, chicken, and peas.  Once rice is through ally heated, make a well in the centre exposing the frying pan and crack an egg into it.  As the egg scrambles, incorporate it into the rice, and fry rice for 8-10 more minutes until it's nice and crispy. 
I made this entire meal on Day 2 using leftovers from Day 1.  I cooked extra rice when I made rice cereal, and saved 1/4 of the chicken for our Roasted Chicken Dinner.  Normally I would make this recipe for chicken fried rice, but the truth of the matter was that I didn't have soya sauce, worcestershire sauce or sesame oil.  Sure, I could have stocked up on all 3 items for little over $5, however I have plans for the rest of my budget and since these items didn't really work into the rest of my monthly food plan, it didn't make sense to purchase them.  
This is a reality that low income families in Canada face every single day.
 Even small, inexpensive items that we all take for granted can really add up, and the reality is, not everyone can afford a $1 bottle of soya sauce.  You can help by donating these items to your local food bank.   Find out where your local food bank is here Snack (10 pm) 1 Orange  Total Cost: $0.28
Total time spent preparing food today:  5 minutes Prepping food ahead of time really cuts down on the total time each day.  On a busy workday, when you literally only have 5 minutes - this menu could work. 
Total Daily Meal Cost: $1.67/person ($3.35 total)
Under Budget: $2.33/person ($4.65 total)
Enjoy!