Wednesday 19 June 2019

Ration Challenge - Day Four


Yay ... I'm over the halfway mark  😀

I won't lie this is hard.   It's hard to remember what your next meal is going to be unless you have a meal plan written down.  I've already had to alter mine once as I didn't make everything I should have made at the start, then I didn't have enough chickpeas or onions to make the chickpea curry I had promised myself.


Now the meal plan looks like this, not hugely dissimilar ...  how could it be with such limited ingredients ... but there's a couple of omissions and an addition, a spoonful of dhal added to the morning rice.  It's amazing the difference just a little bit of dhal stirred through the rice makes, and of course it adds a smidge more protein. 


I rinsed the chickpeas I'd remembered to soak overnight, and then brought them to the boil before leaving them to simmer away for an hour.  Next to them enough rice for three meals cooked away nicely while I went and had a shower. 


Once the rice was ready I added a spoonful of yesterday's prepared Dhal to my breakfast bowl and left the other two bowls of rice to cool down while I ate it.


Once I had walked Suky along the river and through the village I came back home and got stuck into preparing my 'ready meals'.

Falafels 

85g Chickpeas
20g finely chopped Onion
1 dessertspoon of Plain Flour

Whizz everything together.  I used my Nutribullet.   There was just enough water left on the Chickpeas to make it a relatively damp mix ... 


... which I then rolled into 6 little Falafels.

These will be cooked in a little oil.  Three falafels to be added to each of two evening meals of Rice and Dhal.



Using the remaining cooked chickpeas I quickly whizzed up some hummus.

Hummus

85g Cooked Chickpeas
1 large tbs Peanut Butter 
Water
Pinch of Salt

Oil
Cumin

Simply whizz them altogether, adding as much water as you need to get to the texture you like.  Scrape down the sides of the processor at least once to make sure everything is incorporated. 

Put into a fridge tub and pour over a drizzle of oil and add a sprinkle of Cumin.


  I won't lie this really needs a bit of garlic as do the falafels ... but of course I don't have any.   I'm finding out that the only way to get any real flavour into the foods I'm making and eating this week is to use quite a bit of salt.  No wonder I'm drinking so much water!!


Sue xx




9 comments:

  1. I love your inventiveness. A shame about the garlic but when you've finished you can reproduce these with some garlic and still have a very frugal meal.
    xx

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  2. I was wondering about the energy or lack there of, a person could be having following the challenge. You seem to have that covered by adding some protein to your morning bowl of rice.

    God bless.

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  3. You are doing very well. Will you let us know what weight loss this brings?

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  4. Well done. You're on the home run now!
    I'll think of you on Saturday evening.
    Are you allowed to indulge then or do you have to wait until Sunday?
    Sue

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    1. We have to wait until Sunday breakfast time ... no snacking just after midnight 🤣🤣

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  5. This has been a real eye opener Sue - and I think you are doing an amazing job. My Church sponsored a Syrian Refugee family almost 2 years ago now and three of their relatives who have been stuck in Turkey will be joining them any day now - we are just waiting to hear when their plane will arrive so this is something that I am very aware of. The mom and the oldest daughter often come to volunteer at the church (and yes, they are Muslims) and while they have spoken a bit about what they have been through they are happy to be able to now get on with their lives in safety.
    I am shocked at how limited and bland this food is and how the little things that we take for granted can make such a difference when preparing a meal. I do not think that I could do it.
    I am happy to say that I did manage to make a donation this time round - not quite sure what the issue was the last time but at least now I can feel as though I'm in this with you (even a wee bit).

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    1. Thank you so much Margie, and how nice to hear that you have met and been involved with welcoming some refugees through your church. Again thank you for your donation ♥️

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  6. One thing that’s occurred to me while reading your refugee challenge posts is, how do real refugees coping with this type of rationing deal with the food prep side of it? Presumably they would have very little access to kitchen facilities and equipment? It must make eating adequately even harder....

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    1. Definitely. There are kitchens set up at some of the camps, but a lot of the cooking is done in the homes and tents over open fires. This is the reason kidney beans are given in the ration packs in cans rather than dried so there is no need to boil them excessively to neutralise the toxins in them, so much safer.

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