Day 1 Live Below the Line – 96p

Well yesterday was the first day today of trying to live on less than £1 a day to raise money for ChildHope and show empathy for those living below the poverty line.  I had to avoid going into the kitchen in the office as cakes and fruit were available and temptation nearly got the better of me at 10pm when I was still working on a proposal for DFID funding and needed a can of coke for an energy boost.  But I resisted temptation……  the good news is that I lost 1lb……

…… this was my food consumption yesterday – only drinks were glasses of tap water:

Breakfast – Porridge (16p)

50g of Asda Oats– (1kg = 75p , so 4p)

200ml of milk (99p for two litres – so 10p)

2 Teaspoons of sugar – 2p

Method: Place the oats, sugar and milk in a bowl, mix and microwave for 4 mins, stirring half way through. If it’s too thick, add some boiling water.

Lunch – Large bowl of Potato, Carrot and Lentil soup (37p)

1 potato (8p)

1 carrot (6p)

1/2 onion (3p)

50g portion of lentils (£3 for 2kg – so 8p)

Stock cube (Asda’s own 12 for 40p so 3p)

2 cloves of garlic (23p per bulb, so 2p per clove =4p)

Tablespoon of Oil (3p)

Green Chilli, salt and pepper (2p)

350ml of boiling water

Method:

Chop potato, carrot, onion and garlic into small pieces

Dissolve stock cube in 350ml of boiling water to make the stock

Fry onion, garlic and green chilli, until the onion and garlic turn pale brown

Add chopped potato and carrot

Stir in lentils

Add the stock, season with salt and pepper, and boil for 30 minutes or until lentils are cooked and vegetables are tender (alternatively use the pressure cooker for 5mins).

It looks a bit like baby food, but was tasty 🙂  I made double the quantity so will have the rest for lunch today.

 

Dinner – Egg curry with 2 chapattis (43p)

2 Eggs (£1.75 for 30 eggs – so 12p)

1cm of Ginger (5p)

1 clove of garlic (23p per bulb, so 2p per clove = 2p)

1/2 Tomato (6p)

1 Onion (6p)

Oil (3p)

Green chilli (1p)

½ teaspoon Turmeric, ½ teaspoon chilli powder, 2 teaspoon coriander powder, 1 teaspoon cumin seeds  and salt to taste (4p)

2 tablespoons of wholemeal flour (2 x 2p =4p)

Water

Method – Egg curry:

Boil the eggs, leave to cool and peel off the shell.

Peel 1cm of ginger and clove of garlic; chop the green chilli, tomato and onion; mix with the ginger and garlic and liquidise to make a paste.

Heat the oil and add the cumin seeds when they crackle add the tomato, onion, ginger, chilli and garlic paste; add the salt and cook for 5-6 minutes

Add the spices and cook for a further 3-4 minutes, stirring regularly until the oil starts to separate from the masala.

Add 1 cup of warm water and bring to boil on a medium heat.

Add the egg and cook until the gravy thickens.

Method – Chapattis:

Mix the flour and water to make soft dough, divide into small balls, roll flat and cook on a dry tawa. Wrap in a clean tea towel to keep soft.

So it is possible!  But means no treats……

So what can you do to help?

• If you want to know more about my experiences and the recipes I am using then follow this blog.
• If you want to have a brief glimpse about what poverty is like then join me in the challenge and sign up to the ‘Live below the line’ challenge at https://www.livebelowtheline.com/uk/challenge
• If you want to help children in poverty then sponsor me at http://www.justgiving.com/Sian-Arulanantham1 to raise funds for the work of ChildHope or
• Donate to another charity that works with the poorest of the poor, such as The Leprosy Mission www.leprosymission.org.uk