Damper and soft boiled egg - the best meal EVER!

When you haven't eaten much for almost three days you start to go a little mad. Doing the Live Below the Line challenge has been just that - a challenge. Day 1 wasn't so bad, day 2 the caffeine withdrawals kicked in and day 3 the taste fatigue kicked in... Please no more oats or potato curry!

One of the things we did was buy flour, milk and marg so we could make damper and oh how yummy it is! Fresh out of the oven with a soft boiled egg- on day 3 of minimal food nothing could beat it! (except maybe a big block of Lindt chocolate...)

So you can try it at home here's the recipe (it really is easy I promise):

2 cups self-raising flour

1 tbsp margarine

3/4 cup milk (I used light)

              Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Place the flour into a large bowl then as the margarine and blend with your fingers. Pour in the milk and stir u til a dough has formed.

               Kneed for a few minutes until you have a nice round ball (you may need to add a little more milk or flour to get the consistency right).

              Place on a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for about 40 minutes or until golden and hollow sounding when you tap the bottom.

That's it!

Thank you to all of you who have donated to our cause so far. The fitness adventures team has already raised $1200! If you haven't yet, but would like to support us go to https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/zoewilsonapd or https://www.livebelowtheline.com/team/fitness-adventures

Until next time,
Zoe

My delicious damper!

Day 1 of Live Below the Line

Today is the day - the first day in a very long time that I haven't had any coffee (or anything sweet for that matter) by now... The headache is a little annoying but otherwise it's not so bad! I say that now, but I'm sure after my 20th bowl of lentil soup I won't be feeling quite so positive...

Yesterday I did the shop and cooked up a storm. We had $30 to spend to feed 3 people for 5 days. I managed to use $29.82 so I was quite proud of myself... It takes a little planning and investigating and shopping around but its do-able. I found that Coles or Aldi were the best for staples like flour, margarine, pasta, spices and milk and Harris Farm did a fab job at supplying the pumpkin, potatoes, eggs, lentils and cauliflower.

Our food for the week (the eggs are hiding underneath...)

Our menu for the week looks like this:
Breakfast - either porridge or eggs and damper
Lunch & Dinner - a choice between a pumpkin and lentil soup, a potato & cauliflower curry & a pumpkin & (tiny bit of) chicken pasta
Snacks - a little more of either eggs, damper or porridge
So far the damper fresh out of the oven is the winner... I'll post you a picture and a recipe in my next post - it really is so easy!

Pasta making in the process... 

The Fitness Adventures Live Below the Line team - Andy, me and Rene - with some of our goodies! 

You can still sponsor us until the end of the week - we're getting much closer to our target but could still do with a hand... Head to https://www.livebelowtheline.com/me/zoewilsonapd or https://www.livebelowtheline.com/team/fitness-adventures to help us on our way and make the caffeine-free days a little more bearable... 

Zoe

Is your food worth it or not? The concept of Food Value

Since I have signed up to do the Live Below the Line challenge of living on $2 per day for 5 days, I've been in the supermarkets checking prices and starting to work out a meal plan. With only $10 for the week - staying reasonably full and getting what I need nutritionally is going to be tricky. During one of these trips to the supermarket I started thinking about the cost of food vs the benefits gained nutritionally. Are we really getting what we pay for? Is the burden of those protein bars, fancy restaurant meals or even chocolate bars on our wallet worth it to our bodies? Or should we be heading back to simple staples that pack a punch nutritionally but don't cost the earth?

I was inspired by an article written by Brendan Leonard on Adventure Journal (see here for the full article) that was based on an interview with a "Dirtbag Gourmet" - someone that had spent a lot of time thinking about how to get the most food for his money. His definition of food value was:

“Food Value is a complex, algorithmically derived formula, principally accounting for one’s satiety, nutritional benefits, and money spent in order to ascertain said food items.”

In a nutshell - if a food is packed full of nutrients, fills you up and costs you nothing then it has the highest food value. On the otherhand, something that costs a bomb, doesn't deliver your body many nutrients and leaves you wanting more has the lowest food value.

I've done my own little cost-benefit analysis (see below) purely based on nutritional benefit and cost of certain foods (generally speaking - there has not been any tough mathematical calculations to get to this point). My analysis of nutritional benefit has included things like the amount of protein, fat, sugar, fibre, and vitamins and minerals and also taken into account how much you get to eat (the hunger-killing factor).

I love this idea because you can apply it to everything - it works well for food value but what about "activity value" or "fashion value"? Take going a walk and watching the TV for example - you might enjoy them both equally but which do you think your body likes more? Or those trusty pair of jeans vs a fancy dress for much more that you don't get as much wear out of?

So what's the moral to the story that I've learnt? I think the biggest take-out is that those foods that are best for you ("superfoods" if you will) don't necessarily have to cost you the earth. Hooray for that! You can forget about Goji's and Coconut Water and protein shakes and bars... Back to basics is definitely the best way to go! And next week, what I will be living on? Oats, lentils, eggs, in season veg, rice and a bit of dairy... I'll keep you posted on how it goes!

PS - To support the cause you can donate at www.livebelowtheline.com/team/fitness-adventures or to join  the challenge yourself visit www.livebelowtheline.com.au - I dare you!