Food Challenge Day 2

Mario Batali was right: “I’m fucking starving.” After crunching the numbers on yesterday’s meal using the super tracker I had only consumed 1200 calories. I set my goal of 2000 per day so I’m trying to tweak a few things but it isn’t easy. The only way I could see me getting close to that is by doubling my carbohydrate portion of the whole wheat pasta. It’s a tradeoff between getting the right proportion of nutrients I set for myself via the Harvard Plate or simply having enough to eat.

It’s a bitch to choose and I can’t imagine having anyone with a family and real responsibilities choosing any other option that satiety. If you’re struggling to pay rent, can’t buy your kid a new toy let alone new clothes I sure as hell would make sure he/she had a full belly. I opted to increase my whole wheat flour intake by a third to stave off some of the hunger pangs. I honestly don’t see a way to ensure 100% compliance with Harvard’s Plate. Vegetables are expensive and there are only so many times you can eat frozen peas, spinach or broccoli before you punch Popeye in the face and defenestrate the Green Giant.

 A Clarification and Public Service Announcement:

As a surprising number of people (more than 2) have read this blog, and have commented and assumed that I am some sort of hippie. I would like to clear this up.

I am not, nor ever will be some unshaven, unwashed, bleeding heart, tree-hugging, vegan, kumbaya singing, save the world acting, morally superior hippie. Hippies don’t contribute to the economy (no job or purchasing power) take up valuable real estate, and spend time bitching about something instead of finding realistic solutions to problems.

I am doing this project:

1. Out of selfishness to earn extra credit in class.
2. To satisfy my own curiosity.

I don’t realistically believe this blog is going to contribute greatly to the issue. At best I hope I, and some of my close friends will read and remark on the challenge casting a tiny light of awareness about food insecurity and the difficulty of living off food stamps.

Back to the blog:           

Besides the hunger thing, I ran into another pain in the ass issue with living off a food stamp budget: social life. After work I was with some of my good friends when they decided to go out to eat at Vapiano’s. I couldn’t join them simply because I couldn’t afford it. Honestly, it made me angry. Not at them (for being inconsiderate and not sensitive to my needs… some friends) but at me and my situation. I’m doing this by choice. I can only imagine the shame and anger one would feel if this was daily life at not being able to enjoy the company of others just because one can’t afford to eat out. Even such a simple thing like grabbing a beer was out of the question. (Large alcohol-related rant to come in future post)

Instead, I came home and made dinner. Even eating the same breakfast and lunch as the day before was becoming monotonous so I opted to make pea soup. I made chicken stock last night with ¾ of the chicken I had for this week. “Stock” or even “broth” is a pretty generous description of what was actually made. Chicken-ish water is probably closer to the truth.

Now, making stock is one of the simple joys of my life. There is something heartwarming and elegant about simmering mirepoix, chicken bones, and herb sachet for hours, lovingly skimming the fat and impurities off, until the entire house smells comfort and peace. When I have the time, I take it a step further to clarify, skim and refine the stock into a rich, lip-smacking consommé. It takes a ridiculous amount of time but it’s worth it.

PROTIP– Use the more gelatinous parts of the animal when making stock. I.E. chicken feet, knuckle bones etc… The higher the collagen content, the more of that lip smacking, tongue sticking to the roof of your mouth goodness you will get.

What I had to work with was nothing like that. Using “techniques” that any decent chef would scoff at and many of my former mentors would beat me for, I browned the chicken legs whole and then filled the pot with water. For this sin, I expect to walk down to street in the near future and be smacked in the head by a cast iron frying pan courtesy of my old stock-master Chef Lousourd.(The French are a touchy lot.) Once the chicken was cooked, I took it out, pulled the meat and stored it in the fridge for future use. No mirepoix, no herbs, no fun. But at least I had some semblance of stock and chicken meat to incorporate into my dishes. (Double Kill)

*Oh the shame.

I took some of the aqua pullus (Chicken water just sounded sad) and defrosted some frozen peas directly into the liquid. I then pureed the boiled peas in a blender to make pea soup. It was surprisingly flavorful and peas truly stand up well to flash freezing. Normally I would strain the pea soup to remove the shell and be left with a velvety smooth pea veloute but I left it all in. Why? Because all the bits were fiber and fiber keeps you full.

That these types of considerations have become necessary, that I’m even considering them is a shocking testament to the stress and consideration that must go into living off a food stamp budget. I’m racking my brain every meal, 2-3 meals ahead planning and optimizing the preparation and exaction of my dishes. It takes up a larger than normal amount of time and if I was a single parent living off foods stamps I wouldn’t have the energy let alone the time to do this even if I had all the culinary and nutrition knowledge in the world.