Weekly Update #1

So, last week was not hard at all.  I had leftovers and 3 potluck dinners (which I did buy extra food to contribute to; I am trying my best not to be “cheap,” just frugal).  This week, though, I will only have one free dinner so it’s more of a challenge.  However, I was amazed at what I managed to buy at Kroger on Monday for a total of $20.27.

2 lb. ground turkey - $1.99 each

1 packet chili seasonings - $0.69

2 apples – $1.67

6 bananas – $0.87

1 lb. grapes - $2.01

2 bags frozen veggies - $1.00 each

1 can diced tomatoes - $0.67

½ gallon milk - $2.19

1 personal pizza (a Friday night treat!) - $1.34

1 can pasta sauce - $0.88

1 box whole grain noodles – $0.99

1 box granola bars (for breakfast) - $2.39

I’ll be using 1 lb. of the turkey to make chili (with all those beans I bought last week lol) and 1 lb. to make meatballs.

I am amazed because it seems like so much.  Safe, healthy food is so bountiful and cheap where I live.

This is not true for most places in the world.

I’ve been reading Kisses from Katie, the amazing story of a woman from Tennessee, about my age, who has become an adoptive mother of 13 girls in Uganda.  This book was highly recommended to me by a dear friend and fellow counselor from Camp Chestnut Ridge, and when I found out that another friend was reading it here in Athens, I asked to borrow it when she was finished.

Katie Davis inspires me, in the way she loves others and in the way she loves Jesus.  I don’t want my Lenten journey to just be for me: to just be about a feeling of solidarity and frugality.  I want to actually use my sacrifice (if you can call it that!) to help someone.  This week I’m going to donate the $20 I didn’t spend to her ministry, Amazima.  It’s not much, but in Uganda it can go far in feeding a hungry child.

Check out Katie's story!

http://kissesfromkatie.blogspot.com/

Food for thought in the stable of thoughts.

I’m doing something a little different for lent this year.  I’m not giving up chocolate or candy or coke.  Yet I may find myself eating these things very rarely in the next couple months.

Why?  Because I’m giving up my $40 plus-a-week grocery bill and all the luxuries that it entails.  Cutting my food purchases down to $20 a week, I hope to develop an appreciation and thankfulness for the simple feeling of having a full belly.

See, I have been a slave to tasty food for as long as I can remember.  While it certainly isn’t a sin to enjoy food, I depend on it for my happiness waaaaaay too much.  And because the US of A has bountiful food options and I have been blessed with the resources to acquire them, I often take for granted the expensive groceries I buy and justify their purchase as necessary objects to “get me through the week.”

How can I live without them?

Maybe I will live with more awareness of hunger, more empathy towards the poor and needy, more enjoyment on the rare occasions when I experience flavorful food.

Maybe I will live with less gluttony, less inclination to mindlessly stuff my face with calories to escape my problems.

Time can only tell.  I have already done my shopping for this week, and the receipt holds the evidence.  This is an “easy” week.  I still have lots of food stockpiled from last week, including Valentine’s Day candy.  Pray for my sanity as a start this journey!  It will not be easy for a food-lover like me.

Shopping List Week 1

1 lb black beans

1 lb red beans

1 bunch of spinach

6 apples

1 bunch of bananas

2 lb whole grain rice

1 orange pepper

1 gallon milk