How much did your dinner cost?  The answer to that question may vary. Did you eat out, stay in or maybe ate leftovers? It could have been more then $10 or less.

Well can you imagine for a moment spending the grand total of $10 on your groceries for 5 days?  If you can then you may just get a taste of what it’s like to live below the poverty line.

There is an incredible organisation called Live Below the Line who are raising funds and creating awareness for those less fortunate then ourselves.  The idea is that you spend just $2 a day on food. Just $2. There are also other ideas to raise funds like a ‘dine below the line’ by which you host a dinner party at $2 a person and then have your guests donate what they would usually spend on a meal.

This sounded like a fun challenge and a worthy cause so that was my adventure last week.  I will admit from the outset that I cheated. Yep,  I did. I hope you can forgive me. Or maybe I should say that I adapted the rules… My version of the challenge was this:

• Spend $10 on groceries at the beginning of the week
• No eating out
• Use what ever I already had in the house in terms of seasoning etc.
• Steal chocolate from my parents
• Donate the rest of what I would usually spend on groceries

Here is what I bought with my precious ten:

Onion, pumpkin, bananas, broccoli, beans/ chickpea, rice, corn, oats, milk.

It was tricky to choose things that would be filling and nutritious. But after much deliberation I came up with this menu:

Breakfast- Peanut butter and banana oats

Lunch- Roast pumpkin, chickpea and feta couscous

Snack- carrot

Dinner- Soy and ginger broccoli with miso rice and fried egg

I would have put up photos of the end product but I’m afraid that the words sound better then the pictures look.

It’s amazing how little we actually need and forget in the abundance we have.  If you’re keen to try it out for yourself go to https://www.livebelowtheline.com.au/