I know that a food blog is probably one of the most self indulgent, irrelevant things I could occupy my time with. Especially with a third of the world under-fed and another third starving. We are the lucky third that are fed.
So, I have signed up with hundreds of other kiwis to participate in the Live Below The Line Challenge next month. As a food blogger, I would like to give back by taking part in this campaign and I’ll take every grain of support offered. Currently seeking cheerleading, donations, kind words, advice and encouragement.
The challenge takes place over 5 days from Monday 24th September to Friday 28th September allocating just $2.25NZ ($1.80US) per day for food and drink. I would love for you to join me in the challenge or to sponsor me by making a donation. I have pledged a target of $500NZ.
Where is the money going?
I have nominated for all donations to go to the World Vision and World Food Programme (WFP) partnership. WFP to delivers life-saving food aid to families facing extreme hunger around the world. The food is provided by WFP, but World Vision needs to raise money to cover distribution costs, which include transportation, warehouse storage and staffing. Because of this partnership, every $1 you donate to a World Vision-WFP appeal enables World Vision to deliver $6 worth food aid and other relief essentials. Sadly while there may be enough food in the world, distribution is a major issue.
Donate
My profile page where you can find out more about this campaign and or make a donation is www.livebelowtheline.com/me/genie. Make a donation via the PayPal link there. There is no amount too small. Every cent counts. Donors can choose to be named or remain anonymous and tax receipts will be emailed to all sponsors.
Recipes
Now, what’s the smartest and the most delicious way to spend $11.25NZ ($9.05US) for 5 days of food? If you have any suggestions of food items or recipes that cost between 50 cents and $1 per serve, please, please, please share them with me.
Bunny Eats Design 
All the best on the challenge Genie! Looking forward to your recipes and updates. The cheapest food I can think of is juk, – except my favourite flavour of pork and century egg might blow the budget.
lol. Yes, I think those additions will blow the budget. I am seriously considering juk with chicken bones though. Even a tiny bit of ginger to give it some pep.
I’m going to recommend making dahl. It’s cheap, filling and makes your guts happy. 🙂 I am so proud of you!
Thanks Cass! I better give dahl another whirl before committing to 5 days of it. I’ve only had it once and while I enjoyed it, I need to consider if I’ll enjoy it for 5 days 😀
Sounds interesting, might have a talk to the wife and see what she thinks about doing this for the family as well…. good onya!
Wow. I’m not sure if a family has ever done it together before. That would be very inspiring. You could even make it an international food tour. I’m sure there are many exotic recipes that can be made for very little cost.
Haha… I’m thinking lots of rice…. not sure we could quite do it internationally though… I’ve mentioned it… now I think I’m gonna have to sell it up a bit more…
Hey, even if you just did 1 day of family meals for $2.25 x 4 = $9 to raise awareness of extreme poverty, it would be impressive. I think it would feel too mean to put the boys through a whole 5 days.
There’s 5 of us – even though he’s only 2 and a half, little Ethan gets us a whole $2.25 more…. $11.25 I think we’ll give it a go…
I love your blog name 😀
Thank you Uma 🙂
I wouldn’t want to eat the same thing for 5 days, so I guess doing it with a family or group of friends would give you some room for variety. I’m not sure how you could do it without resorting to lots of carbs though – unless you could harvest fresh vegies from your garden, perhaps. If you were going to have eggs at all, it would certainly be very tempting to eat non-free-range… Good on you for taking on the challenge! Looking forward to hearing what ideas you come up with.
You’re right, I don’t think I could afford to go free-range. It will be hard enough to feel full on non-free range groceries. I just saw that Jonah Lomu is going to Live Below The Line too. If that big hunk of man can do it, then I’m sure a little asian girl like me will be ok. Every time I feel hungry during the challenge, I’m going to think about how hungry Jonah must be.
Beans are a great staple plus they are so versatile. I would love to do the challenge Genie, but we will be in Europe during that time.
Remind me not to look at your blog while I’m doing the challenge! I think the delicious treats you will be feasting on will drive me batty! I’ll have to catchup afterwards. Look forward to reading all about it.
This sounds like fun to do, and try, and being a student living on student loans my bank account would be happy if I spent less money on pre-fabricated food and snacks. Just have to talk the boyfriend into doing it with me… I’ve got a feeling there’ll be a lot of potatoes and onions, maybe an egg, and no meat.
Good luck with getting your boyfriend to play along. When I told The Koala, the first thing he said was, “Do I have to do it?”. Not so keen. I don’t think I’ll be having meat either. But considering chicken bones to make a broth to flavour meals with. Not sure how gourmet I can go.