Live Below the Line: Day 5, Final Day

I have made it through Day 5 of the Live Below the Line challenge!! I was in much better spirits today than yesterday, it must be because I could see the light at the end of the tunnel and my coffee headache was pretty much gone today. The day started off again by taking a banana and 2 boiled eggs into work to have as breakfast and for 2 snacks throughout the day, these 3 things cost me 28p. I love bananas but I have eaten so many eggs this week that I did not enjoy but they kept me from being hungry. It also didn't help that Krispy Kreme doughnuts were delivered in the office... everyone else was enjoying a nice doughnut and there I was with a stinky egg! They did save me some though and I will enjoy it tomorrow. I am sticking to the challenge... I made it this far I can wait 1 more day to enjoy the yummy doughnut. For lunch I made an attempt at egg drop soup and it cost me 15p to make... it didn't come out exactly like it would at a Chinese restaurant but it actually tasted pretty good. I prepared my soup last night and had a nice little surprise when I counted up how many sausages I had left and found that there was 1 extra in the pack and decided to add it in to my soup.  The soup definitely didn't look pretty and the pasta soaked up a lot of the broth but colleagues said it smelled nice. It was a lot better than the pasta veg soup that I couldn't finish earlier in the week and kept me full for the rest of the day. For dinner I saved the best for last, my version of a full English breakfast while living below the line and only cost me 53p to make, my most expensive meal of the week! I roasted my 2 small potatoes with 4 sausages in the oven and fried up 2 eggs and served with what was left of my beans. I don't think the tin of beans was really 420g but I didn't weigh out tonight's beans so I will never know. I'm glad I saved this meal for my last dinner of living below the line and it was pretty good. Total spent today for my food came in at 96p! So now that the challenge is complete it will be weird to go back above the line tomorrow and be able to have choice again, something I never really valued but I do now. I love that I have taken part in this challenge and it has given me a glimpse of what people in extreme poverty living below the line have to deal with on a daily basis.  I hope that by blogging my experience of living below the line that it has raised awareness for those 1.4 billion people living in extreme poverty conditions. Today has been my best day for sponsorships but I hope people keep giving, you can donate up to the end of June.  I want to thank every one that has sponsored me... you are helping to make a difference.

Sponsorship total today: £115!! :)

Sponsorship total so far: £233!

Please sponsor me if you can! :)

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Live Below the Line: Day 4

Day 4 of living below the line is now complete and I am ready to be back ABOVE the line! I am tired of the same ingredients everyday and overall just don't feel like I have much energy... no run for me today. I started off the day again by taking a banana and 2 boiled eggs into work to have as breakfast and for 2 snacks throughout the day, these 3 things cost me 28p. For lunch I made 2 roast small potatoes mixed with baked beans and mixed vegetables with a chicken stock cube sprinkled over. It was so much better than yesterday's soup. I was able to roast my potatoes better by using the oil that came out of the sausages from last night's dinner, all about being resourceful. Lunch came in at a 26p to make and I was pretty happy with it... again! Towards the end of the day, I was really craving something sweet but I knew what was waiting for me when I got home.  For dinner I made Sausage Carbonara... well my version of it with the limited ingredients I have and it cost 45p to make. It was actually pretty tasty and I enjoyed having it. Today's grand total came in at 99p! Overall, I am feeling ok just really bored with my ingredients and ready to have choice again. I think this has been the hardest part of the challenge. I didn't receive any donations today to boost my spirits... hopefully tomorrow I will receive some sponsors.

Sponsorship total today: £0 :(

Sponsorship total so far: £118!

Please sponsor me if you can! :)

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Live Below the Line: Day 3

Day 3 of living below the line is now complete! Today was just an ok day... I think living below the line is getting to me. I see all these yummy things around me and I can't have any of it... and I want it all. I can't stop thinking about food! I started off the day again by taking a banana and 2 boiled eggs into work to have as breakfast and for 2 snacks throughout the day. These 3 things cost me 28p and were ok, I think it is mainly the hard boiled eggs that are boring me. I eat a banana everyday but stinky eggs... no... and they are ok to fill me up for a little bit but not really finding them satisfying, I'm just eating them to keep food in me. So on to lunch and I made a pasta soup with mixed vegetables and beans which cost 24p to make. It was so BLAND and boring that I couldn't even finish it all. I really tried to finish it but I just couldn't, it was the low point of my day and because I didn't finish it all I was hungry by the end of the work day and couldn't wait to eat dinner. This opened my eyes to the people living below the line everyday that don't care how bland something is but eat it to keep them going another day. On Friday, I am making another version of soup and will make sure I eat it all so I don't feel hungry later on in the day. As soon as I got home today, I started preparing my dinner, Sausage Stew, which cost me 47p to make and actually tasted pretty good. It might have been because I felt really hungry but I ate dinner very quickly and all of it! Today's grand total came in at 99p! 3 days into the challenge and I feel ok, the coffee headache wasn't as bad today and the yummy dinner made up for the bland soup earlier. I am going to stay positive and try to be creative with the little amount of ingredients I have left for the week. I will just have to dream about eating cake tonight!

Sponsorship total today: £10!

Sponsorship total so far: £118!

Please sponsor me if you can! :)

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Live Below the Line: Day 2

Day 2 of living below the line is now complete and I am feeling pretty good except for this headache I can not shift... coffee withdrawals! I started off the day with taking a banana and 2 boiled eggs into work to have as breakfast and for 2 snacks throughout the day. These 3 things cost me 28p and they kept me pretty satisfied today. I usually snack throughout the day but didn't really notice not being able to. I brought my lunch into to work so I could show my colleagues what kind of meals I was having and get their reactions. For lunch I made 2 roast small potatoes mixed with baked beans and mixed vegetables with a chicken stock cube sprinkled over. It was actually pretty tasty but most of the reactions I got didn't think much of my meal except for that it smelled nice. Lunch came in at a 26p to make and I was pretty happy with it. I made it though the work day just fine and even went for a run after work. Dinner was actually pretty tasty as well. It consisted of 4 sausages, mixed vegetables, pasta, and chicken stock and came to a total of 45p. The idea was to make a sausage pasta veg soup but the stock reduced down quite a bit so I'm not sure what to really call it... maybe a stew? Overall, it was pretty good food day and I was happy with what I was able to make for a grand total of 99p! It was nice to be able to talk to my colleagues about the challenge and even picked up a few more donations!

Sponsorship total today: £58!

Sponsorship total so far: £108!
 

Please sponsor me if you can! :)

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Live Below the Line: Day 1

Day 1 of living below the line is now complete! I feel like I have eaten more food today then I do on a normal day. Although on a normal day, I always start it off with a cup of coffee but not today, I couldn't afford it in my £1 budget. I am definitely having coffee withdrawals and this headache won't go away, oh well all for a good cause. My breakfast this morning consisted of 2 sunny side up fried eggs seasoned with mix herbs and 2 small potatoes chopped and baked. It was actually pretty satisfying! All I would have done different was use a little oil for the potatoes and eggs and then season with some salt and pepper. Overall, it was a very nice breakfast and cost 26p to make. On to lunch, I made a pasta vegetable soup. This was my least favourite meal today. It was ok, a bit bland, but it was very filling and cost 16p to make. Dinner was my favourite meal today. It consisted of 4 sausages, 3 small potatoes, and vegetables. I seasoned the meal by crumbling a stock cube in the last 5 minutes of cooking. I had to be creative with what I bought and thought the stock cube could serve 2 purposes, make a stock or season dishes, as I couldn't afford salt and pepper. The sausages weren't as good as ones that have more meat in it but it was good enough for my budget. I just finished eating dinner and I feel so full and it only cost me 50p. I also made a hard boiled egg for a snack today but I haven't eaten it as I really didn't feel hungry for it but I have to put that towards today's budget and the egg was 8p. I used 7 out of 9 ingredients that I bought for the week. I don't think I will run out of food this week but might be bored with what I make... but that is part of this challenge to realise that some people don't have a lot of food choices and do the best they can with what they have. The hardest part I found about today was not being able to have coffee or any other flavoured drink as I could only afford the free water. Other then that I feel pretty good about today and sticking to my budget with my total coming in today at £1 spent!

Sponsorship total today: £50!

Please sponsor me if you can! :)

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Live Below the Line: Shopping Day

I can't believe the Live Below the Line challenge that I signed up for in March is finally here and starting tomorrow. I did my shopping today and really wish I would have created meal plans but never got around to it and so I looked at some sample ones online and popped over to the store hoping for some good deals. To the right and below is everything I bought for the week to feed me! My grand total for Live Below the Line week is £4.93... I might see if I can find something for 7p tomorrow. I have now planned all my meals for the week and hope it works as I think it will in my head. Each day comes in at £1 or less which really was a challenge and follows the official rules! Some people have spent more then £5 for the week but overall are not spending more then a £1 day by working out the cost of each ingredient portion and are able to come up with some nice recipes. I wanted to really make this a challenge so what my budget allows for is a limited amount of ingredients and some ok recipes! I will blog my experience of living below the line every day this week.  I would love if you could sponsor me as I take on this challenge. :) It will have an affect for people living below the line everyday.

Please sponsor me as I take on this challenge this week! :)

Thank you!

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Cheesy Garlic Drop Biscuits

Our friend was having us over for dinner and she was making a Chicken Stew to fit this cold front that we are having at the moment. I decided I would make some kind of bread roll to accompany the meal. Then I came across a biscuit recipe which would accompany the stew perfectly. I haven't had what the US calls a biscuit in a long time! In the UK, a biscuit is a cookie which would not go well with stew at all. A US biscuit is closely related to a UK scone, but the US biscuit has more of a fluffy texture and typically served with a savory meal. I had no idea that making the biscuits from scratch was so easy! I see a lot more drop biscuits in my future. This recipe turned out great and you can really adjust the flavors to what you would like. Try this one out!

Recipe inspired by The Cooking Photographer

Ingredients:
2 cups plain flour
1 tbsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tbsp crispy onions
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried basil flakes
3/4 shredded strong cheddar cheese

2/3 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil

For brushing on the baked biscuits:
2 tbsp butter, melted
1/2 tsp dried basil flakes
1/2 tsp garlic powder

2.

Steps:
Preheat oven to 240C/475F and line a baking tray with parchment paper. In a medium bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, salt, crispy onions, garlic powder, dried basil, and cheese until all ingredients are thoroughly mixed up. Add in the milk and vegetable oil into the powder mix and combine until the dough readily leaves the sides of the bowl. Scoop the dough with a 1/4 cup size cookie scoop and drop 2 inches apart on your prepared baking tray. Bake for 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly golden brown on top. Once out of the oven, immediately brush the melted butter mixture over the biscuits. Serve hot.

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Bailey's Cream Soda Float

So, after making the root beer float cupcakes I was in the mood to make an actual root beer float. I wanted a nice little treat that I would usually enjoy around this time when it is nice and hot... but in reality it is cold and rainy but that didn't stop me from making one! I decided to try something a bit different though. I bought some Bailey's ice cream at the weekend and made some cream soda (love sodastream!). I have made something similar with the same flavours but not a float drink. I couldn't wait to try it out and it was a perfect little treat that reminded me of when I was a kid and would make root beer floats. Try this easy 2 step recipe out, try out your own variation, or make the classic root beer float!

Recipe
Ingredients:
1 to 2 scoops of Bailey's ice cream
Cream soda

Steps:

1. Scoop 1 or 2 scoops of Bailey's ice cream into a medium size cup.
2. Pour cream soda into the cup slowly until the bubbles are a little higher then the rim of the cup.

Enjoy!!

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