Spent the night dreaming of rescuing food. Smells of souring pork and the feel of slightly sticky meat filled my senses and it was just gross! I think it’s because I had roasted the turkey bones before I went to bed. I had stored them in the freezer along with the pork I’m saving for Friday.

My mind wandered and I was thinking about how hard it is to keep meat without refrigeration.  How all the meat I bought would have had to have been eaten, or at least cooked, in the first 2-3 days if I didn’t have a freezer. Without a fridge, they would have had to have been cooked off immediately. Nothing else I have needs refrigeration but raw meat really really does!

This particular challenge is one I face often since there is no refrigeration on the island except in winter. And then it’s just called “outside”.  Luckily we live in a relatively cold climate.

Food costs for day 4 =  $2.75 ($1.38/person)

and fairly healthy eating.

Successes

2 cooking successes.

First, I’d been building a vegetable stock from all the vegetable trimmings all week.  Worked perfectly as braising liquid for the Turkey bones.

Second, the Turkey Back was a steal for 93¢ when I bought it and turned into a hearty and flavourful soup.

Failures

2 business / social failures.

There was a big food conference on today that I would have liked to have, should have, gone to.  But while I might have been able to go and not eat or drink anything, it would be hell watching everyone else tuck into things.

There was also a Canadian Beef google hangout talking Steaks that I missed because I feel asleep early.

Working in the food industry as a communicator and doing Live Below The Line has caused it’s own set of challenges.

Day 4 Menu

Breakfast

Lex – Giant Raisin Scone with Apple Compote 51¢ ($1.01/2 servings)

(Gerry because of some last-minute changes to his schedule had some off-menu items and we set aside food to offset that.)

Lunch

Pasta with Garlic and Beans 24¢  (47¢/2 servings)

This is turning into a great go-to dish which I expect we’ll be making again, though maybe with rice, high fibre or gluten-free pasta since the amount of wheat I’ve eaten this week is starting to wear me down.  Since December, we’ve drastically reduced the amount of wheat in our diet and until this challenge, it was working well for both of us.  More clarity, less gas, less bloating, more energy.  We are both feeling the negative effects of all the wheat we’ve been eating this week on top of the hunger.

Note: I over-priced this dish by a penny. Rather than free pouring, I measure exactly this time and it turns out the dish is better with less oil. That’s okay.

Dinner

Turkey Soup with Potatoes & Beet Greens 64¢ ($1.27/2 servings)

Finally used that Turkey back which really was a steal!  It was packed with meat and created an very meaty soup.  I braised it the night before in the stock I made from the vegetable trimmings all week.  Braised it until the stock was roasted down and the turkey bones were dark and dry. Then in the morning put all that into a pot and built it up.  Then I strained out all the bones, picked off all the meat, and added more water.  About 30 minutes before serving I added potatoes, and when it was done brought it to a boil added the remaining beet greens (the stalks had gone in earlier) and served it up.

Note: this cost would have been closer to $1.76 if I had not gotten the beet greens for free, but still got them for $1 at a deep discount.

In summary

Best day so far.

Note: this post is part of my Live Below The Line series where I will be on a $1.75 food & drink budget from April 29th-May 3rd. This is a game for me but a serious reality for 1.4 billion people in our world today.  Help support me by donating, or supporting Second Harvest and Daily Bread Food Bank.  

If you want to know more about what I’m involved in, you can read my disclosure statement here.