$74.94 is what I spent at the grocery store, pretty much on a whim. A few chocolate bars and heavy cream for a cake, 2 loaves of freshly baked bread, coffee, fruits and vegetables, deli meat, and a few other things. For $7 a day per person, or $22 a day for a family of four, a $74.94 purchase is very close to what such family gets to spend on four days’ worth of breakfast, lunch, and dinner, when using food stamps. What I bought would have hardly been enough for us to eat for 4 days. I’d probably have to leave behind the chocolate and cream and buy chicken instead and put the $4.99 organic blueberries back in exchange for something more substantial. I wouldn’t have the freedom to buy whatever I wanted.

Last year I took the hunger challenge and blogged about it for a week. The week ended, the challenge was over, I was relieved. But it felt like an unfinished business. I’ve been thinking about it a lot in the past year. There were some loose ends. This is why this year I’m going to blog about the hunger challenge again but without budgeting $110 for food for the whole week. I felt like such a phony doing it then because even though we only ate what I bought, or had at home but calculated into the budget, it felt like a game we play. We still had our well-stocked pantry, fridge, and freezer and they made me feel safe and secure throughout the week. When the 2 shelves I have allocated in the fridge for the challenge food got emptier and emptier, I knew that in 1-2 days it will be over. Hopefully, for good. I was able to keep the challenge and eat the same good food the way I planned to. For a week.

I don’t want to “play” again. I can choose not to. Unlike 855,000 people in Washington state alone who are needing food stamps, according to The Seattle Times. They have no choice.

I don’t pretend to understand how or why people got to that spot where they need food stamps. I’m sure everyone has their own story. Going back in time to last April when the challenge launched, my approach was this line of thought:

- Ever since I left home I always spent money on food without thinking too much about it. Food was always one of my biggest expenses. (I’ve been that way starting at age 16 when I worked as a waitress in a cafe, later as a student working 3-4 temp jobs at a time, so… I’ve got issues… I’m a gatherer, a collector of food.)

- I like to shop at specialty food stores and farmer markets. These places are not cheap.

- I make it a point to buy local, organic, sustainable, seasonal, fair trade, and fresh food. It costs more. (I see it as my ongoing donation to support the farmers who try to do it right.)

But! Once faced with a strict budget, I asked myself: if my life situation changed and money for food was tight, would I be able to shop, cook, and eat the same way? Could I maintain this food life style? Or will reality hit me in the face and I will be forced to make dramatic changes?

To be able to eat within the challenge’s rules, I spent a lot of time on formulating a plan which, surprisingly, worked. However, it consumed many hours of my time. I can only imagine how exhausting this would have been if I had to do this every week for months or years. Not to mention the stress and fear that my family might be hungry with no food in sight. Especially the children. How do you explain to young children there’s no more food? I sometimes talk to my 6 years old about hunger – for example, when there are food drives at his school – but kids, kids who don’t live like this cannot comprehend it. Their young brains protect them from accepting that such a thing is possible.

Because of this fear, I had to plan a menu ahead, I calculated the costs ahead, wrote a detailed groceries list, and went to the store with a small calculator in my pocket. I am an ahead- planner but more than that, I didn’t want to to go to the store and cause a traffic jam at the cashier’s line in case I went over budget, needing to take things out of the bags and leave them behind. I thought I’d be embarrassed.

We’re going to eat this week with costs in mind. Yesterday’s lunch was filling and satisfying. Good enough to keep us full until dinner. We made grilled lamb tortilla wraps, estimated cost $3-$3.50 each. With 2 little children, one at a very picky eating stage, we had leftovers; 1 lamb skewer, 1/2 avocado, corn, and beans.

I wonder, do children who know what hunger is exercise their freedom to be picky eaters?

***

Mexican inspired grilled lamb tortilla wraps

Makes 4 adult servings

1 lb. leg of lamb, cut to cubes, seasoned with salt, pepper, a splash of olive oil. Chopped rosemary and balsamic vinegar – optional. Grilled.
1/2 bag frozen corn, cooked in the microwave with salt and pepper
1 can pinto beans, rinsed and drained. Sauté in olive oil with 1 minced garlic clove and 1/4 onion, small chopped. Season with salt and pepper
Avocado
Cilantro
1/2 cup sour cream
4 flour tortillas, warmed

***

For dinner, French toasts. Estimated cost $1.1 per person. A modest meal, not because we couldn’t afford something else but because we chose to.

4 slices Challa bread soaked in a mix of 3 eggs, milk, and salt beaten together. Sauté in butter over medium heat on both sides until golden.
1/2 small watermelon, cut to cubes/slices
Greek Yogurt

It’s winter. Well, you know it. But this one seems to be not just any winter, but a looooong winterrrrrrrr. And I love grilled meat! And I can’t wait ‘till the global colding that’s been going on here in the past few weeks will end. Snow in March? Com’on… I have already done some“ grilling in the rain”… And now it comes to this, grilling in the dark.

I’m tired of indoors grilling. So out I went.

But I find that the main problem with grilling in winter is… no, not the rain, no, not the snow. It is so dark outside. It’s March, and by now I don’t care anymore if it rains or snows. However, not being able to see if the food is properly grilled is a different story. I find it very disturbing.

Yes, we have an outside light, but apparently it’s not enough. Maybe I should get a big mean street light machine into our backyard. I guess we were lucky to get a nicely done grilled lamb kebabs albeit the darkness. And I want to share it with you.

You see, I just bought this cookbook which I wanted to put my hands on for a long long time. It is called Ottolenghi: The Cookbook. Ottolenghi is a very successful restaurant in London, with several locations (because it so successful – could you guess?), which I read about in several magazines in the past 2 years. Oh, how I wish I could visit London now. Well, maybe not right now, better wait for summer. What a gorgeous city it is. I’ve visited there once a few years ago (prior to kids) and loved it! But for now, it’ll have to be only a recipe from there…

Marinated Lamb Kebabs with Cilantro and Honey

Adapted from Ottolenghi: The Cookbook
Makes 4 servings
 
1 – 1 1/2 lbs. boneless leg of lamb, cubed
a handful of parsley
a handful of mint
a handful of cilantro
3 garlic cloves, chopped small
1 teaspoon fresh ginger, grated
3 chilies, seeded and chopped – optional 
1/2 teaspoons salt
1/2 lemon, juiced
3 tabelspoon soy
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
1-3 tablespoons water
1/2 plain (goat) yogurt, optional

Blend all the ingredients, besides lamb, in a food processor.

Place lamb in a large Ziploc bag, or in a bowl. Pour half the marinade over and mix well. Let marinate for a few hours and up to overnight.

If using wooden skewers, let them soak in water for half an hour (to prevent them from burning on the grill). Remove lamb cubes from the marinate and skewer them. Let sit at room temperature for half an hour (to lose some of the chill).

Meanwhile, preheat your grill to medium-high.

Grill the lamb to your liking of doneness.

While the lamb is cooking, take the other half of the marinade and mix together with the yogurt to make a dressing, or use it as is.

Serve the grilled lamb with the dressing.

Fresh Vegetables Couscous Salad with Feta

If you got to know me a little bit by now, you know I have no rules when it comes to a salad (see here, for example: Crunchy Cabbage Salad).

Really, use whatever you want or have in a the pantry in fridge. For the one in the photo I used:

1 cup (whole wheat) couscous/Israeli couscous/bulgur
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
1 cup cherry tomatoes
1/2 red bell pepper
1/2 cucumber
a few radishes
a handful of pine nuts, toasted
feta and goat cheese, crumbled
1/2 lemon, juiced
mint/cilantro/parsley – optional
 
Boil 1 1/2 cups of water. Put couscous in a bowl with salt and of extra virgin olive oil. Add the boiled water and mix. Cover with plate/plastic wrap and let sit at least 5 minutes. Fulff with a fork.

Meanwhile, chop your vegetables.

Mix couscous with the rest of the ingredients and serve.

Makes 4-6 servings

On the table tonight: Balsamic marinated lamb kebabs, Tomato and mint orzo salad, Hummus.

I was planning to try a new recipe for dinner – North African Lamb Kebabs by Emeril Lagasse that has the following ingredients:

(Tip: Read quickly. No need to memorize the list. Just get the general idea. Point to come.)

1 1/2 cups finely chopped onion
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley leaves
1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro leaves
3 tablespoons chopped fresh mint leaves
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 cup olive oil
2 to 2 1/2 pounds boneless leg or shoulder of lamb, cut into 1-inch cubes with…

But as reality stroke… (IT is always doing that), the following had happened:
I took the lamb and cubed it.
Started with the easy ingredients: salt, pepper, paprika, cumin, olive oil. Then, I was going to wash and chop the herbs…. And then… I was looking at the baby.

She was playing in the family room and giving me that cute little baby innocent but scary look that says “stay in the kitchen and cook if you want, just know that I am going to poop any second now, and this one will end with a bath”.

So, I have found myself reaching frantically for the balsamic vinegar while thinking – “but I never saw a recipe that uses balsamic vinegar with lamb, especially not with paprika and cumin! Does this combination work?????” I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and gave the lamb a big splash of vinegar, and hoped for the best.

2 hours later.

Husband returned home from work. I was making the hummus and orzo salad, and it was time to grill the lamb. Now, I’m not a fool. It was dark and cold outside, so I asked my husband if he doesn’t mind grilling the lamb in our outdoor grill, outside. “Sure”, he said. But as reality hit AGAIN, he got busy helping one kid with homework while entertaining the other one, so I found myself having to do the grilling myself.

And then it rained.

So there you have it.

Grilling in the rain balsamic marinated lamb
Makes 6 servings

2 pounds boneless leg of lamb, cut into 2-bite-size cubes
Salt, freshly ground black pepper
Cumin
Paprika
Evoo (extra virgin olive oil)
Balsamic vinegar
3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
½ red onion, diced big
Wooden*/metal skewers

Put cubed lamb in a bowl. Generously sprinkle with spices and drizzle evoo and balsamic vinegar. Mix well, cover with plastic wrap and marinate 1-2 hours in the fridge.
* If using wooden skewers, soak them in water so they don’t burn on the grill.
Prepare the kebabs: thread the lamb cubes and diced onion onto the skewers and grill over medium-high heat, turning once, about 5 minutes for each side.

Tomato and mint orzo salad
Makes 4-6 servings

½ box orzo pasta
Salt
Black pepper, ground
Extra virgin olive oil (evoo)1 big flavorful tomato, diced
Feta cheese, crumbled/diced small1 handful pine nuts, toasted*
½ lemon, juiced
Mint leaves, chopped

Cook pasta according to the instructions on the box.
Drain and season with salt, black pepper, and a splash of a good fruity evoo. Add all the other ingredients, and combine gently.

* toast the pine nuts in a 350F oven for a few minutes or in a skillet over low heat. Don’t burn them! Use a timer.

Hummus recipes are to be found all over the place and everyone likes it differently, so no recipe for hummus. Just combine your favorite ingredients in your preferred amounts.

I finally got it right for my husband’s taste (I knew he’d like it), although I personally would have preferred to add more lemon, garlic, and cumin. Oh, well, life is all about compromises, isn’t it?!

More recipes for orzo and lamb:
Orzo salad

Lamb with chickpeas, yogurt and pan-roasted veg

Grilled potatoes, corn, and lamb with yogurt-mint sauce

My friend T. brought me this cookbook for my birthday. I cooked Oliver’s recipes in the past and didn’t go crazy for them because of their simplicity – they don’t call him The Naked Chef for nothing (In case you don’t know, no, he doesn’t cook naked). Back then I was into a more elaborate style of cooking, with many steps, long list of ingredients, etc… The more complicated the recipe, the better.

But that has changed.

I changed my style of cooking after realizing two things: 1) I cook for hours and the food is gone in 20 minutes, and 2) I spend hours in the kitchen instead of spending time with my precious husband and kids. So I have done some serious rethinking. Then I started watching Jamie Oliver’s and Ina Garten’s shows on the Food Network channel and learned how I can prepare fabulous meals with less effort.

It was a very helpful lesson as a personal chef too. Cooking in other people’s home the way I did before, I would have had to move in with them. Not sure they would have liked that so much.

So this book is the right kind of book for me now. I tried these recipes below and they were so easy to make–a no brainer. It’s a great book for the home cook (ooh, a rhyme!) who doesn’t have much time (another rhyme!).

Here is the recipe to the chicken in the photo above, taken from Jamie Oliver’s web site. It’s a put everything in a dish and cook it ‘till it’s done kind of recipe.

Tender and crisp chicken legs with sweet tomatoes

This recipe takes literally minutes to put together and then requires slow, gentle cooking. In return for your patience, what happens in the pan from just a couple of ingredients is an absolute joy and never fails, so it’s a good one to serve if you have guests.

Serves 4

4 chicken legs, preferably free-range or organic, jointed
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
a big bunch of fresh basil, leaves picked, stalks finely chopped
2 big handfuls of red and yellow cherry tomatoes, halved, and ripe plum tomatoes, quartered
1 whole bulb of garlic, broken up into cloves
1 fresh red chilli, finely chopped• olive oil

optional:
1 x 14 oz. can of cannellini beans, drained
2 handfuls of new potatoes, scrubbed

Preheat your oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Season your chicken pieces all over and put them into a snug-fitting pan in one layer. Throw in all the basil leaves and stalks, then chuck in your tomatoes. Scatter the garlic cloves into the pan with the chopped chili and drizzle over some olive oil. Mix around a bit, pushing the tomatoes underneath. Place in the oven for 1½ hours, turning the tomatoes halfway through (I didn’t touch the pan until it was done – N.), until the chicken skin is crisp and the meat falls off the bone.

If you fancy, you can add some drained cannellini beans or some sliced new potatoes to the pan and cook them with the chicken. Or you can serve the chicken with some simple mashed potato. Squeeze the garlic out of the skins before serving. You could even make it part of a pasta dish – remove the chicken meat from the bone and shred it, then toss into a bowl of linguini or spaghetti and serve at once.

***

Lamb with chickpeas, yogurt and pan-roasted veg

serves 4 – 6 (even 8-10, perfect for a holiday meal, or a big dinner party – N.)

1 leg of lamb, butterflied and opened up like a book
2 teaspoons coriander seeds
3 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely choppeda large bunch of fresh cilantro, chopped
a large bunch of fresh mint, chopped
1 x 14 oz. can of chickpeas, drained
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
juice of 1/2 a lemon
1 x 500ml tub of natural yogurt (I used goat yogurt – N.)
12 baby turnips, scrubbed
a bunch of baby carrots, scrubbed, tops left on
1 butternut squash, unpeeled, cut into 8 wedges
2 red onions, peeled and quartered
1 whole bulb of garlic, broken into cloves
2 teaspoons ground cumin
extra virgin olive oil

Score the lamb on both sides. Using either a pestle and mortar or a food processor, grind or whizz up the coriander seeds with the garlic, fresh coriander, mint and half the chickpeas until you have a paste. Season the paste or “marinade” with salt and freshly ground black pepper, then add the lemon juice and yogurt. Place half of this flavored yogurt in a large plastic bag and add the lamb. Put the other half of the flavored yogurt in the fridge. Tie the bag up to seal it and turn it around to allow the yogurt to coat all the lamb. Leave to marinate for at least an hour, but up to 24 hours in the fridge.

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6. Place the turnips and carrots in a roasting tray with the squash, onions, garlic and remaining chickpeas, then sprinkle with the cumin, salt and pepper. Drizzle with olive oil and toss together to coat. Remove the lamb from the marinade, then place the meat directly on the oven rack with the tray of vegetables on the shelf below. Cook for about 1 hour, tossing the vegetables halfway through. Serve the lamb well cooked with the vegetables and flavored yogurt on the side.

I am a fan.
Have an easy and fun time cooking!

To buy the book, click here.

Nurit