SNAP Challenge Day Three: Supplies Dwindle, Awareness Grows

After three days of five, out of the $50 John and I had to spend, we have almost $10 left.

In three days, I have eaten a lot of celery with peanut butter.

Tonight my husband John had the leftover brown rice with black beans and chicken thighs casserole. He also had a salad of iceberg lettuce, and some cranberry sauce.

I had celery with peanut butter, which I love.

We were getting low on the brown rice casserole that I made Monday.  I had imagined it would last indefinitely – or at least all week — but I underestimated how many extra helpings we would want.

In addition, I failed to mention this earlier but an unplanned guest dropped by for dinner Monday night.

As for iceberg lettuce – we had lots on hand but I don’t eat it. I believe the experts who say, “iceberg lettuce has no nutritional value.”

John is from the other camp. He likes iceberg lettuce and believes it is nutritious. I purchased iceberg because it was cheap, and there was no  lettuce that I enjoy at Bottom Dollar Grocery Store when I shopped there.

Since Monday (today is Wednesday), I have lost two pounds. When I was younger, my metabolism was such that I could imagine losing weight – and a couple of pounds would melt off. Today I am 58 and my metabolism retired a couple of years ago. Maintaining a healthy weight has been a struggle.

I know I lost weight because of the SNAP Challenge.  We do not have ice cream. We do not have chocolate. We do not have Muenster cheese and woven wheat crackers.

I am a freelance writer with an office in my home. I realize now how much snacking has been going on during the day when I am “at work.”

We have celery. We have a bag of small Gala apples. We have oatmeal, eggs, coffee, a box of brownie mix and some milk. We have a bag of frozen corn and a box of scalloped potatoes mix.

Never before, have I been able to name all the foodstuffs available to us in our home. For our next dinner, I will buy some hamburger with our remaining funds to go with the potatoes and corn. I will mix the burger with some oatmeal, spices and an egg, and bake it.

I’m hungry thinking about it.
And my awareness about the struggles of others is growing.

About Karen O'Keefe

Karen O’Keefe has been a freelance writer in Atlanta, GA and Montgomery County, MD, since 1984. Prior to that time, she worked for a committee in the U.S. House, a public relations firm and as a Congressional press secretary. Since 2003, O’Keefe has been a regular news reporter and columnist for The Town Courier, an independent biweekly newspaper based in Gaithersburg. Her blog, “On Second Glance,” explores everyday life and current events with insight, grace and humor.

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