UWKC Hunger Challenge – Day 4 $16.44

Today I finally made it the grocery store to re-supply on milk, bread, and a few other items to get us through tomorrow.  While grocery shopping I was pleasantly surprised to discover marinaded teriyaki chicken thighs in the butcher case were MUCH cheaper than plain thighs in the case next to it.

One type of food we haven’t been cooking around here is Asian food.  The way the Hunger Challenge is set up made it difficult to buy basic Asian food ingredients.  Had this been real life, buying items like soy sauce, sesame oil, chili sauce, etc would be doable because these types of condiments and sauces are stretched over a period of months, not 5 days.  Seeing marinaded teriyaki thighs made me very happy!  I purchased 6 pieces for $2.25 and pounded each one before grilling them – just like teriyaki restaurants do.  We also had our daughters’ friend stay over for dinner and managed quite nicely.

Part of being able to make a balanced meal tonight was buying only what I needed.  I avoided the ice cream and cookie sections of the store and stuck with dairy, produce, vegetables/fruits, and bread only buying just enough – no more and no less.

I had a conversation with my husband tonight about Hunger Challenge and I asked him what he thought about the purpose of participating this week. “It’s to help families who need the extra help”.  One part of this challenge I have appreciated is how I’m forced to be mindful of not wasting.

UWKC sent us more details of their current fundraiser.  “During this week, United Way of King County’s “Yes We Can! Project” is trying to raise $10,000 to help fund a project where we rent out space at a local cannery.  With this cannery space, we are able to preserve food (veggies and other good things) that normally would go bad and distribute them to food banks.  It’s a great project that will help tons of families, will save food, and will help people eat healthier!” This is a project which will help many families while reducing waste.  If you would like to make a donation, details can be found here.

Here’s a breakdown of our costs today.

{Grocery Shopping/Budget Totals So Far}

Breakfast= $2.01

2 bananas $.28

2 cup oatmeal $.26

1 cup orange juice $.20

1/2 cup yogurt $.31

2 cups milk $.36

2 cups Cheerios $.40

2 pieces of toasts $.20

Lunch= $4.63

2 granola bars = $.50

3 pbj’s $1.20

1 orange $.33

3 snack pack sized pretzels $.60

2 banana $.28

1/2 cup yogurt $.31

Coffee $.40

Half bag of Edamame $1.25

Goldfish Crackers $.50

Dinner= $7.06

Bulk Rice  $1.26

Pre-Marinaded Chicken Thighs 6 pieces $2.25

2 oranges $.66

broccoli $1.85

4 glasses of milk $.72

1 glass soy milk $.32

Related Posts:

• Hunger Action Grocery Budget Totals
• United Way Hunger Action Week Opening Thoughts
• Hunger Challenge Day 1 $20.03
• Hunger Challenge Day 2 $38.94
• Hunger Challenge Day 3 $8.15
• Hunger Challenge Day 4 $16.44