Live Below the Line. Day two and a curry of sorts.

This week I am participating in Live Below the Line, surviving on meals costing no more than $2 a day to help fight extreme poverty.

Day two of Live Below the Line was a pretty easy one. Having said that I can hear my belly grumble whilst writing this prose. I awoke from my slumber periodically between lunch time and 3:30 pm after only having fallen asleep at about 9:30 am after a wonderful night of working. I went to sleep just past midnight so it wasn't a massive day of eating.

Yesterday, I looked in my fridge at all the wonderful things I couldn't eat. The olives, capers, broccoli... Le sigh. It felt as if I were looking in a shop window at the things I wish I could afford but were just out of reach.

I'm certainly feeling very grateful for all I have right now.

With my selected ingredients, I made a simple curry. It would have been great with some rice. I did, however eat it with rocket. Oh, how I do miss a nice, fresh salad. I almost feel like I'm on some crazy diet that doesn't include fresh foods. It's a bit nuts but this whole process has certainly made me re-evaluate how I eat. As if going vegan wasn't enough.

I also had more donations yesterday from the wonderful Janey Mac, Beck Callahan and Andreas Murphy. Thank you all for supporting me on this little journey and raising much needed funds to educate and assist with the issues surrounding extreme poverty. You too can donate here. Even if you can only spare $1, every little bit counts.

Split pea and Potato Curry. 
A very similar recipe to the soup. Surprisingly, I had housemates say it smelled amazing and my lover even said it tasted delicious. I told him he could have it with rice if he wanted and he said no. How sweet.

Time: 5 minutes prep, 20 minutes to cook in a pressure cooker, 40 minutes on a stove.
Serves: 4.


Ingredients:

• 4 Potatoes, peeled and diced.
• One sliced onion.
• Two cups of split peas.
• 2 T of curry powder.
• 2 T of tomato paste.
• 3 cups of water.
• A few shakes of salt and pepper. 

Method:

Pressure cooker: Place all of the ingredients in the cooker and place the lid on. Bring the pot to pressure. Reduce heat and cook for 20 minutes. Reduce the pressure. Take the lid off. Stir and serve.

Stove top: Place all of the ingredients in a pot and stir. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about forty minutes, or until the split peas are cooked and the sauce has reduced. 

Day 2 Meal Plan.

Breakfast: Split pea Soup.

Lunch: Split pea and Potato Curry with Rocket.

DInner: Lentil and Mushroom Stew.

Live Below the Line- Split pea soup.

Split Pea Soup

I have taken this years "Live Below the Line" challenge. This means that just like all of the world's people who live in extreme poverty, I will be spending no more than $2 on my daily food. This event runs from the 7th of May until the 11th of May. You can donate here. Massive thanks to Nina who made the first donation! Thank you so much! :)

Today was day one.

To last the week I have bought versatile foods: Ones that can be cooked a number of ways.

• One bag of onions.        $1.
• Lentils.                          $1. Originally $2, but I swapped half for split peas.
• Split peas.                     $1.
• Mushrooms.                 $0.69.
• Potatoes.                      $2.
• Curry Powder.             $0.50.
• Tomato paste.              $1.
• Salt and pepper.           $0.30.
• Rocket.                        $1. Originally I was going to get $2, but I swapped half for...
• Tea.                             $1.

I woke up feeling edgy. Eating like this reminded me so much of being in my late teens, living out of home with not the nicest person and starting uni, making meals from a carrot and a stock cube. I used to eat plain rice with sweet chilli sauce as a regular thing. One week I survived on microwaved pumpkin with salt. We once made a curry out of onions, oil and curry powder. We couldn't afford the rice to go with it. I must say those times did make me imaginative but I never want to go back.

These ingredients I had all in the cupboard. It seemed silly to go out and buy a whole bunch of new stuff. I calculated what they all cost and worked out at least three main dishes. A soup, a curry and a stew with roast potato will be my mains. The rocket and onion will be my salad and the popcorn my go-to snack.
You may be wondering what I'm going to eat for breakfast. I personally like soup for breakfast.
The hardest thing is not being allowed to nip into the backyard and grab a bay leaf or a bunch of parsley. The cost of every item needs to be factored in. We also can't accept food donations.

Today, I'm going to share the soup with you. It actually tastes pretty good- hearty even. It's amazing how simple food can be. This type of thing makes me realise how much we complicate things. I did cook it in my pressure cooker, admittedly. I'm sure with more time it would taste just as good on the stove.

Time: 2 Minutes prep, 25 minutes in a pressure cooker, Maybe 1 hour on the stove.
Serves: 4.

Ingredients:

• One onion, sliced.
• One cup of split peas.
• Two tablespoons of tomato paste.
• Four cups of water.
• One diced potato.
• A good pinch of salt.
• A few shakes of salt.

Method:

Pressure cooker: Place all of the ingredients in a pressure cooker and bring to pressure. Lower the heat and cook for 20 minutes. Reduce the pressure and it's ready to go.
Stove top: Place the ingredients in a saucepan and place over high heat. Bring to the boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for about an hour or until the lentils are cooked. Serve.

Todays food intake:
Breakfast: Soup.
Snack: Plain popcorn.
Lunch: Soup with Rocket and onion salad.
Snack: Plain popcorn.
Dinner: Roast potato and lentil stew. More about that tomorrow.