This week has probably been the longest week of my life. I’m so bored of rice. And eggs. And passata with the same old selection of vegetables day in, day out.
Thursday was day 4 of my Live Below The Line challenge…meaning that Friday is the final day. I’m still trying to decide how to celebrate getting back to normality when the clock strikes midnight – but the celebrations certainly won’t include any of the things that I’ve been eating this week.
I skipped breakfast again this morning (I know, I know) – mainly because I didn’t have the energy to make any more flatbreads, and didn’t want any more eggs. Rice for breakfast would just have seemed wrong, so I kept myself topped up with tap water till lunch.
A friend of mine asked on Twitter earlier whether tap water was actually allowed, bearing in mind that I pay for it, and he has a point. I can complain as much as I like about how horrible the water from my kitchen tap tastes without the addition of squash (or tea, or coffee…), but I’m lucky that I have clean tap water that is safe to drink in the first place. This week has really made me stop and think in so many ways.
Lunch today was rice, passata and vegetables. Yes, I know, it’s exactly what I had yesterday – but today was different. Yesterday’s lunch was a bowl of rice with the passata/veg combination sitting on top. Today was a bowl of passata/veg with cooked rice mixed in. A bit like a soup or a stew – I was trying to add a bit of variety. It tasted exactly the same.
“That’s a huge bowl of food for lunch”, I hear you say…well, actually, I had half of it for lunch and the other half for dinner. I’m really not enjoying how uninspiring my meals are – I’m definitely someone who eats for pleasure, rather than just to live! Once again, though, I realise that I’m lucky to have that option.
There was a little more excitement than I’ve had for the rest of the week when, on Thursday evening, I realised that flour + eggs + milk = pancakes. I bought all three of those at the start of the week! As a special treat I whipped myself up a batch of batter, made one pancake (which I had with a spoonful of cheap and horrible jam) and put the rest of the batter in the fridge to be used tomorrow. It’s quite a challenge trying to make pancakes without greasing the frying pan first, but my budget didn’t allow for butter or oil!
With my stomach vaguely full – although not satisfied – I decided to treat myself to a night out this evening. As soon as I’ve posted this, I’m heading off to my local for a game of pool – it’s free pool on Thursday nights! Not sure how I’ll cope, watching other people enjoying their drinks and cigarettes, but I can’t stay cooped up and thinking about food all week!
Friday will be the last day of my Live Below The Line challenge, and I honestly can’t wait for it to be over. I don’t regret the experience at all, and I’m so glad that I’ve managed to raise a fantastic amount (£461 at the time of writing) for Health Poverty Action – thank you so much to everyone who’s sponsored me and left words of encouragement so far!
(And if you haven’t sponsored…why not? 🙂 There’s still time if you click on this link…)