Thursday 20 October 2011

R12 a day: Day 4

This is my last day of doing the challenge because we fly out to Cape Town this evening (woo hoo!) and we'll miss the final day of R12 a day tomorrow.

Last night's dinner with our small group went well. They all brought their R4 and we served soup with bread and then jelly for dessert.

For the soup, I bought a sachet of Creamy Chicken Soup powder. I fried up the one and a half big onions we had left in a bit of marge until they were tender, then added the two remaining punnets of patty pans, diced, with the soup powder mixed with a litre of water and half a packet of cooked spaghetti. I let this simmer for about half an hour, added a bit more water and then blitzed it with a hand blender to make a thick, rich soup.

We bought one packet of low-Gi brown seed bread, which meant that there was enough for two slices for each boy and one and a half for each girl. We had jugs of tap water with ice on the table. Everyone had enough! In fact, we even had a piece of bread left over, which I put into TSC's lunchbox today with his soup.

Nobody was expecting dessert, so the jelly went down a treat. I'm not really a fan of jelly, but I had a few bites, just because I was craving something sweet and I couldn't pass up the chance for a little variety :-)

Tonight, seeing we still have a little bit of the maize meal, I think I'll make grilled pap toasts and serve them with poached eggs and spinach, instead of just having the spinach omelettes. This has worked out well, seeing a friend is giving us a lift to the airport and I've offered to give her supper too. The eggs I have left won't make enough omelettes for three people, but with the pap toasts and the spinach, we'll have enough to poach eggs for three.

I hope you've enjoyed reading about the R12 a day challenge. I've found it hugely beneficial in gaining perspective, realising just how blessed we are and experiencing new compassion for the poor.

Will check in when I'm back from CT. Have a good one.

11 comments:

Shayne said...

Thanks so much for sharing this last week with us. I've found it very interesting and it just shows how much we take for granted.

Enjoy your time in Cape Town - hope the weather is divine x

I'm so not a blogger said...

Really enjoyed reading this, it was v interesting. I was telling The Man about it and he suggested that we start doing that! (living on R12) so, we may not do that, but will def make more of an effort with the poor.

Fiona said...

Well done on doing the R12 Challenge. It must have taken alot of strength but it must have also been a huge eye opener!

What church do you go to if you don't mind me asking? Our church was doing something similar but with my dad being here from the UK the last 3 weeks we've missed it.

Gill said...

Well done for doing this challenge! And thanks for sharing with us. It's really got me thinking.

Have a lovely time in CT :-)

Hayley said...

Well done...and thanks for sharing!!!!

Spear The Mighty said...

Much respect to you for doing this challenge!

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cat said...

Wow, I have new respect for all who did this. And much sympathy for those who regular;y have to.

Enjoy Cape Town

Louisa said...

Thanks so much for writing about it - it's certainly not a perspective we see every day. And well done on sticking to it!

AngelConradie said...

Waaaait a second! Pap toasts!??

Marcia (123 blog) said...

Hi, over here from Julia's blog where she linked to your posts.

I'm amazed.

And inspired.

I have a passion for appreciating how blessed we all are and I'm really appreciating variety at this moment.

I'd love your view on my post along similar lines I wrote last week

http://www.the123blog.com/2011/10/perspective-1st-world-problems-and.html