hunger challenge: FAIL

This week has been a complete SNAFU. Our car broke down, I lost my job, and everything just went kerflooey. It was pouring rain all week and we had a really hard time getting to the grocery store. We didn't have much food in the house, we were rolling-pennies-for-bread broke, and we were all on edge from the pitiful cries of our children who didn't get to eat every twenty minutes as per usual.

As is typical in such a situation, I went a little crazy when we had money again. Whenever this happens, it's like some ancient switch gets flipped in my brain, and I start to think HOARD HOARD HOARD WHO KNOWS WHEN WE'LL HAVE ANOTHER CHANCE. Which is ridiculous. I mean, yeah, we didn't have a lot of food in the house, no fruit (which comprises three separate food groups for my kids) and very little produce, no bread, no almonds, no eggs, no olive oil -- no staples, essentially. But we had several jars full of lentils and beans, a refrigerator packed with preserved vegetables, and a freezer full of halibut (which my kids won't touch). Oh, and we had a bag full of candy "for the trick-or-treaters." Plus some eight years of body fat storage. So it's not like we were actually starving.

But you can't argue with biology, friends. So here's what happened.

Produce
4 cabbages (LC, OG), $10.00
2 bunches tatsoi (LC, OG), $3.00
4 lb. Jonathon apples (LC, OG), $6.00
3 lb. red onion (LC), $3.99
4 avocados (LC), $2.00
4 lb. strawberries (LC), $7.94
1 bunch celery (LC, OG), $1.99
1 bunch cilantro (LC), $0.50
3 heads garlic (LC), $1.50
fresh ginger, $1.41
2 lemons (LC), $1.58
2 limes (LC), $0.50
1 pineapple, $1.77
2 heads radicchio (LC), $1.60
2 heads romaine (LC, OG), $2.50
1 bunch spinach (LC, OG), $1.79
4 lb. sweet potatoes (LC, OG), $6.28
5 lb. russet potatoes (LC, OG), $2.99

Chilled
1 lb. pastured butter (OG, LC), $5.45
1/2-gallon whole-milk yogurt (OG, LC), $5.99
8 oz. Cheddar cheese (OG, LC), $3.95
2 lb. pastured sausage (LC, OG), $21.00
1 lb. pastured bacon (LC, OG), $11.00
2 pkgs. tempeh (OG), $6.18
2 pkgs. sprouted tofu (OG), $4.70
64 oz. orange juice, $3.00

Bulk
1.25 lb. peanut butter (OG), 3.43
1 lb. buckwheat (OG), 1.88
2 lb. rolled oats (OG), $1.82
1.25 lb. white beans (OG), 2.00
1.25 lb. black beans (OG), $2.15
1 lb. almonds (OG, LC), $6.86
1.15 lb. unrefined sea salt, $0.45

Dry Goods
9 oz. brown rice penne (LC, OG), $2.99
2 cans coconut milk (OG), $3.70
1 loaf whole-wheat bread (LC, OG), $4.45

Total
$148.34 (plus chicken feed, accoutrement [including straw, tarps, and hardware] for prepping the coop for two new chickens, and a liquid vitamin D supplement which broke my heart with its expensiveness)

I'm gonna chalk up this week to a FAIL. Lesson learned? It sucks to be without a car when you live in an area where a car is quite essential and the rain won't stop. It severely limits your accessibility and the opportunity to make good choices. It also sucks when you lose the job that might have paid for car repairs. And when your son demands a 2000-calorie breakfast. This situation is temporary for us, but for many people, this is just life.