United Way Hunger Challenge - Day 2

A whole roasted chicken

Today was the day of the United Way Hunger Challenge I was most looking forward to. Why? Because dinner tonight was a roasted chicken. Granted, we didn’t eat the whole thing, but a roast chicken is truly one of life’s great treasures, particularly when that chicken is from Stokesberry Sustainable Farm. The Stokesberry birds are so flavorful that we find we actively go out of our way to avoid seasonings other than salt and pepper.

Despite our mouthwatering dinner plans, I admit, we were a little hungry today. We had plenty of calories yesterday, but after my run I was craving a Coke in the worst way. Even the run was difficult. Normally, for runs over 4 miles, I have some shot bloks or Gu about 20 minutes before I leave to fuel me for the exercise. When I return, I have a recovery drink. Today I had neither. Before the run I had some rye berries. They were plain, and unfortunately rye berries are not really worth it plain. They’re great in soups and scrambles, but not plain. However, they did seem to work to fuel my run. I wasn’t fast, but I made it almost 6 miles.

Snacks are another thing we miss. We don’t snack a lot, but we’ll usually have a few bites of cheese and a couple of crackers while cooking dinner. After dinner, we usually have a single chocolate truffle (to split). That’s out too this week. So while we’re consuming plenty of calories to live on, what we’re really missing is the sensations of these snacks. I imagine that this is a bit like what people experience when they try to quit smoking. It’s nearly as much the habit as it is the chemical substance.

A simple roast chicken with vegetables

• A 3-4 pound whole chicken
• 1 pound potatoes or mixed root vegetables
• 3 whole carrots
• Salt and pepper

There’s literally almost nothing to this recipe. Just rinse the chicken inside and out and pat it dry. The dryer the skin, the crispier the skin will be when you’re done.

Salt and pepper the chicken all over.

Place the chicken in a glass roasting pan and arrange the vegetables around the bird.

Roast at 375 for an hour to an hour and a half, stirring the vegetables halfway through so they crisp on all sides.

Carve and serve the chicken with the roasted veggies.

Notes: You don’t actually need any oil or fat for the vegetables. The chicken will render enough fat to coat the vegetables and crisp them nicely. Though as a general rule, if I’m making this outside of the hunger challenge, I’ll toss the veggies in oil and some other spices before cooking.

So, how’d we do eating on our budget today?.

• Breakfast: 1 handheld frittata each. $1.22
• Lunch: 1 soft taco each. $1.70
• Coffee: $1.05
• Cream: $0.25
• Lots of water: free
• 1/2 a roast chicken, split between the two of us. Stokesberry Sustainable Farm: $8.50
• 1 lb potatoes. Olsen Farms: $1.67
• 2/3 cup cooked rye berries. Nash’s:$0.25
• 3 carrots. Nash’s: $1.50

Total cost for the day: $16.14

Total cost for the week: $25.19

We’re a little ahead of our spending for the week, but for the next two nights, we’ll be having a rich chicken noodle and white bean soup using the other half of the chicken. John cleaned the chicken bones tonight and we threw them in the slow cooker with an onion and lots of water. We’ll let that stew all night and most of the day tomorrow and then after work all we’ll have to do is add cabbage, kale, white beans, and some more potatoes for a delicious, healthy, and filling dinner.

Here’s our calorie breakdown for the day.

• Total Calories:1,322
• Total Protein: 70 grams
• Total Carbohydrates:153.9 grams
• Total Fat: 50.1 grams

That’s not bad. Better on fat than yesterday (with the leaner chicken as a protein source) and a nice balance of protein and carbs. Fewer calories than we’re used to, absolutely, but above the minimum daily requirements.