Day 30 - The End is Nigh

Into the final hour as i type this last expenditure post. My month long challenge comes to an end.
I thought i would share some questions that were asked to me today.

So what are you going to do Warren? Are you going to splurge on a dinner out at Tetsuyas?
- No i'm not, i don't think my tastebuds are ready for it yet + last i heard from friends was that there is a 6 month waiting list

Are you glad it's over with?
- Absolutely positively Yes!!

So have you got anything out this little silly experiment?
- Most definitely yes! I'll post a reflective entry later to summarize my thoughts, learnings and the total expenditure on food.

Are you going to shout me lunch now for all those times i had to listen to you whine about not eating?
- Not unless you want some cheese with that whine!

Monday
Breakfast: Sweet Bun
Lunch: Wholemeal Buns with Baked Beans and Ricotta.
Dinner: Rice

Total Cost:$ 4.45

Day 27 / 28 / 29 - ... eat eat eat!!

A food whirlwind of a weekend, commencing with a charity lunch on Friday through to a Sunday birthday luncheon for my sister. Needless to say, it tore through the weekend leaving me with the final day.

Friday
Breakfast: Porridge
Lunch: Scotch Fillet with Potato Gratin, field mushrooms, broccolini and a red wine jus / A bottle of red (Work Charity Luncheon - $5 donation)
Dinner: None

Total Cost: $5

Saturday
Breakfast: Porridge
Lunch: Mediterranean Omlette (in exchange for Nick's moving of house duties performed)
Dinner: Potatoes and Peas


Total Cost: $3.1


Sunday
Breakfast: Soy Latte
Lunch: Singapore Noodles, Soy Chicken, Curried Beef, Green Salad, Birthday Cake, ...
Dinner: Fruit Salad


Total Cost: $2.5

Day 25 & 26 - Mummy, where does meat come from?

I was informed by my housemate that out at the Newtown Neighbourhood Centre on most evenings that Hari Krishna run a Food for Life program. Interested at the prospect of free vegan food i set out to explore further on Wednesday night. Much to my dismay, the guys there had wrapped up for the evening(Get there round 6 if you want a feed). Should time permit i will have to revisit them again. So i continued to trek down Enmore road and come across a Lebanese takeaway store Man^oosh.

They make tasty Zatar on the spot and for $2, you couldn't go wrong.

As stated earlier, my current reading is of "The Ethics of what We Eat" by Peter Singer and Jim Mason. I am still going through, but there are some really interesting points raised. The authors take on the task of identifying the chain from which the food that the consumer buys at the supermarket to the very source that it comes from. Aside from the inhumane treatment in which the livestock are handled and slaughtered, the authors additionally go about examining the resources expended to farm and produce for the population. The efforts to farm and produce commercial meat is by no means simplistic in nature.

In order to produce the meat you eat;

• vast areas of land and large quantities of fresh water are required to support the livestock and the feed that they eat.
• Antibiotic and growth enhancement drugs are needed to mitigate the risk of infection and accelerate production.
• The disposal of excrement/waste,
• transportation to abattoir
• and finally, packaging and delivery to the supermarkets to you the consumer.

What the authors impress upon the reader, is the demands that this has on our environment and the lack of foresight in understanding the ramifications. Climate change is the hot topic in recent years, yet clearly there are many underlying issues that are overlooked by the media and public. Clearance of forests to make way for farming, chemical and waste run off into rivers and lakes, contribution to air pollution in surrounding areas are just some examples that potentially should be brought to attention.
I have not been transformed into an overnight "greeny tree hugger vegan", but my interest has definitely been pricked in how i can contribute to eating sustainably.

Wednesday
Breakfast: Porridge
Lunch: Tomato and Pasta (leftover)
Dinner: Zatar - Oregon and Sesame, Bean Mix and Baby Spinach.

Total Cost: $4.05

Thursday
Breakfast: Porridge
Lunch: Bean Mix and Baby Spinach, 2 wholemeal buns
Dinner: Soup (last frozen pack from a few weeks ago)

Total Cost: $1.60

Photo Courtesy of flickr: agilitynut

Day 24 - Eating for Sustenance

Tuesday
Breakfast: Turkish Toast
Lunch: Roast Potatoes, Carrot, Cauliflower and Pumpkin (Leftovers)
Dinner: Tomato and Pasta. a schooner of beer (curse you Mr Webb)

Purchase: Diced Tomatoes $0.99

Total Cost: $0.99

A few friends have expressed concern over my current eating regimen, in particular, the lack of intake of vitamins and nutrients.It's a fair point, but in all honesty, what is an adequate amount that one needs to consume on a daily basis? What food type am i meant to eat? What are the required vitamins and nutrients? What do firemen have to with food?
I'll research this in the next post.

Thoughts?

The Facts - Dietary Guidelines

The Australian Institute of Health and Welfare(AIHW) released the publication Australia

Health 2008 this week. It's the nation's premier source of statistics and informed
commentary on: - patterns and determinants of health and illness - health across the life
stages - the supply and use of health services - expenditure and workforce - and health
sector performance.
Of interest to me and and my challenge is that of the dietary impacts on health. Chapter 4
covers such issues. An extract from the chapter

The NHMRC dietary guidelines for children, adults and older Australians (2003a, 2003b,1999) recommend consuming a wide variety of nutritious foods, including a high intake of plant foods such as cereals, fruit, vegetables, legumes and nuts; choosing foods low in salt; and limiting alcohol intake. The guidelines also highlight the value of breastfeeding, and of preparing and storing food safely. Moderating sugar and fat intake—especially saturated fat—is also a key component of Australian dietary guidelines.

Common knowledge you would think right? It's something that you hear during your Phys Ed
class or from your health conscious parents. Chapter 6 of the Aust. Health
2008 provides a health assessment on the 25-64 year old range.

Health risk and protective factors vary across the 25–64 years age group by sex (Table6.12). In 2004–05, levels of excess body weight for this group were high. Almost two-thirds(64%) of males in this group were overweight or obese and for females this proportion was 42%. One quarter (25%) were current smokers. Alcohol intake at risky or high-risk levels Australia’s health 2008 was relatively uncommon, but still a concern—in the 2004–05 NHS, 17%
of males and 13% of females reported consuming alcohol at levels that are considered risky
to health.Dietary patterns are also of concern: less than 15% in this group eat the recommended daily serves of vegetables. Fruit consumption estimates are more positive, with 46% of males and 60% of females eating the recommended two or more serves per day. The majority of people in the age group (67.5%) undertook some form of exercise for sport, recreation or fitness in the 2 week period before the survey, and one-third reported exercising at low levels or being sedentary.

Shocked? We are becoming a nation of fatty fat fats!!! Compounded with this article from
SMH, Australia pips US as world's fattest nation, it does make you wonder when the country is going to go belly up!
So in relation to food consumption, what should we be eating you ask. As a guide, the National Health and Medical Research Council provides a pamphlet outlining a dietary recommendation.

If i was to compare what i have been eating this past month, i could easily tell you that i have not been consuming my daily dietary recommendation. The food groups that i have included are; cereal, vegetables and extra foods with maybe 2 - 3 serves of each. So whilst i do feel full by eating most meals, I am still not getting the required nutritional supplements that can be found from having a diverse food palette.
Should a person be constrained by financial limits, its evident that it can be more difficult to incorporate a healthier diet. An example can be seen through the bread selection. For $1.11 you can pick up a generic white loaf of bread. Having white bread is great and all, but when compared to the more wholesome Burgen Rye bread which has a significant portion of fibre and less sugars, it becomes apparent that there are better choices. At $4.76 for a loaf it does get a tad expensive. But what is the cost of good health? Its immeasurable! Being in good health means that you can avoid sick days off work, getting out to explore the great outdoors, physical activities with the children and having greater self confidence of your image.

So have you considered what you eat? Do you come close to the dietary standards? Have a think over what you have eaten this past couple of days and how it stacks up.

Day 23 - 1 week left .. hold on to your forks and cowboy hats!

So i only have one week left of this challenge and i am in a rush to fit as much as possible. I feel that i have only scratched the surface with some topics and there are plenty more that can be included.
It's now a race against time!!!

Monday
Breakfast: Porridge
Lunch: Tuna on Turkish Focaccia
Dinner: Steamed and Baked Cauliflower, Pumpkin, Carrot, Potatoes

Purchase: Tuna, Cauliflower, Pumpkin, Carrot, Potatoes

Total Cost: $4.62

The dinner purchases of Cauliflower, Pumpkin, Carrot and Potatos were of exceptional value! They are your typical seasonal winter vegetables. With a total cost of $2.97, maybe i should consider being a vegetarian? Looking at the list from the link above, there is an abundance of choice and incorporating different cooking methods would yield even more of a smorgasboard!
Who knows, this could be another challenge...

Day 21 & 22 - A weekend of living as a King!

What a weekend! With the Good Food and Wine Expo on for some endless sampling of foods/wine and also being invited over for a great gourmet dinner with friends, i felt like a king with a vast array of foods to eat.
The GFW Expo is an event that i have been attending over the past 3 years and its interesting to see how its grown and evolved. This year's main attraction of Gordon Ramsey definitely drew a strong crowd compare to previous years. He puts on a decent show, although why women turn all gooey around him.. i'm not too sure; honestly, his not that attractive and his married!
Another point of contention at was the prescence of the "Indomie - Mi Goreng" stall. Now, don't get me wrong, i am a big fan of these tasty snacks. However, how can this food be classified as "good food"? Especially a food type that should be limited in consumption due to its high salt amount and artificial ingredients!
Being on the $5 dollar budget meant that i was unable to make a purchase of any food (most products on sale average around $7

Saturday
Brunch: Coffee
Good Food and Wine Show - Numerous tastings of food(cookies, duck, meats, olives, chutneys, ...) and wine.
Dinner: Wendy's 3 Course Bonanza Meal (Thanks Wendy, you rock!)
Total Cost: $2.50



As much as there were plenty of tastings, it really was an insignificant amount to even classify as as meal. Thankfully, my fab friend Wendy came to the rescue. She cooked up an awesome chicken roast. Thanks also to Kirsti, for the psychdelic trippy Philly Puff Pastries. It's amazing at how sharing a meal with friends can bring so much enjoyment.



Sunday
Brunch: Eggs on Toast
Dinner: Leather Jacket Fish, Rice, Melon Soup (Courtesy of Mum)
Total Cost: $3

Whilst living at home, family meals were a daily affair that my Mother placed great emphasis upon. It required that all members of the family were present and seated at the table upon dining. I guess i never really truly appreciated nor understood the significance of this event until i moved out.
Now it's an opportunity to catch up on the latest events and occurences. Input and advice can be sought for the issues pressing upon each individual. The face to face contact further reinforces the family ties and association that i have with the family. Its an occasion that i do really do value, no matter how trivial the topics in conversation. So when possible i'll make an effort to attend the family dinner on Sundays.