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Can you feed yourself on $24 for a week? I’m gonna try. I’m taking the @OperationComeHo $24 challenge. Watch here to see my progress. 1/
Operation Come Home has been preventing homeless youth from becoming homeless adults for 50 years in Ottawa. One of their recent clients had on $24 to spend on food after all bills were paid each week. 2/
I have a goal of reaching $500 by the end of the week. Please consider supporting this important work and donating to my $24 week. https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/operation-come-home/p2p/24Challenge/page/kevin-kent/
I went shopping today. I spent $19.64 and lucked out getting two chickens for beer $9. The $1 instant coffee will not be a treat. I also bought salt so things will at least taste good. 4/
Here what you can get if you spend $20 very carefully.
I’ll be posting about my adventure here this week. Tomorrow breakfast is a can of baked beans and instant coffee. Ok post a full report.
I will not have access to my fancy pantry. If I want to eat or drink it I have to buy it with the $24.
Sadly fresh vegetables are expensive and didn’t make the cut other than onions. /7
I’ve been eyeballing the plentiful white tail hares in my neighbourhood. Ive cooked many hares and rabbits over the years and quite like them. Will there be midnight back alley snares? Who knows. 
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Being a chef means I can cook food and stretch ingredients better than most which is an advantage. Being a chef also means I have high standards about how my food should taste which is not an advantage this week.
Using a car for shopping would be cheating in my mind so any food buying trips must be done on foot, bike, or bus.
I’m digging into my remaining $4 for a cabbage and some beans. I’ve seen the light. I have a real plan.
I poached one chicken this morning with onions, water, can of tomato sauce and salt. It will turn into a 6-8 meals. For lunch I’ll use the stock for a batch of cabbage bean soup. For dinner it will be poached chicken with cabbage and macaroni noodles cooked in some of the broth.
Breakfast will either be baked beans or ramen. Wednesday or Thursday will be the start of the second chicken. I reckon I’ll poach it in water, onions and half of the ramen flavour packets. Again soup lunch and chicken dinners.
I didn’t have any instant coffee yet. I opted for hot water in a coffee cup. It was a better substitute for my morning tea than you’d think.
I forgot to mention that I will be doubling the amount I raise for the @OperationComeHo $24 Challenge if I cheat or overspend. I’m getting worried now that I’ve raised over $3400. I assumed I might raise $800, so this is tremendous. Thank you everyone for your generosity.
BTW, baked beans are remarkably comforting in the morning.
Hello sexy. Poached chicken with tomato, onion, cabbage, and elbow macaroni. My dinner tonight, Tues, Wed, and Thurs. #$24
Breakfast. I used half of the seasoning packet so I can use the rest later in the week.
I’ve still avoided the instant coffee. Maybe I’ll get the courage the this afternoon. Now I’m off for a 30-40km ride. I think the hill coming home might be a challenge considering my breakfast.
Ok, the ride was a disaster. My breakfast of instant noodles ran out a long time ago. The ride was so difficult I’ve actually jumped on the train to get home. Only 20km completed.
Hello lunch. Cabbage lentil soup.
Oh, BTW my fund raising goal for this challenge is $5,000 (not the erroneous $500 I put in an earlier tweet). So far I’m at $3,600 and I might even reach the goal. Please consider donating. https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/operation-come-home/p2p/24Challenge/page/kevin-kent/
The cabbage and lentils were so delicious especially when you’re hungry. I was really struggling when I got gone from my ride to work. I was depleted of food, shaky, sweaty and struggling to think. I was a challenge just to assemble my lunch.
So, I’m 1.5 days thru the one week challenge. I’m already struggling with a lack of energy and fuzzy thinking. Food insecurity and poverty should be erased in a country as rich as Canada.
Side bets on how much weight I’ll lose this week. I’m a pretty big dude and I imagine 10-12lbs might just fall off me this week.
Hello dinner. Chicken, macaroni, cabbage, and lentils in broth.
I’m tired of this challenge. I want some cashew nuts and a beer to go with this hockey game. But Ive raised over $4,200 of my $5,000 goal. Thank you for all the support!
Watch out A&W. I’m coming to collect my free coffee on Thursday.
New day. New attitude. Last night this limited diet was getting me down but a good sleep, a cup of that dreaded instant coffee and some loud PJ Harvey has me fired up for the day.
Last nights left over noodle, chicken glory fried with some of the saved chicken fat. A breakfast for champions. Also a lot of snow last night.
Not bad flavour actually, but there are a couple burnt bits that are really nasty. I’ll pretend it part of this dish’s charm.
Lunch. Chicken lentil soup made with one of the instant ramen flavour packages. Pretty good in fact. Tonight I’m looking forward to cabbage, lentils, macaroni noodles, and a bit of chicken. I wonder how I will combine them for gustatory pleasure.
Onion soup for tomorrow and Friday lunch. Woohoo.
I poached a chicken on Monday with a bit of tomato sauce and have been using the broth for dishes since. Today I took the rest of the meat from the bones and now making a stronger stock with the once cooked bones and the broth. Trying to squeeze every once from this chicken.
Dinner tonight I will call Chicken Wiggle. Cabbage, chicken and noodle fry up with ramen seasoning packet.
Holy bananas. I’m just $127 away from the funding goal of $5000. https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/operation-come-home/p2p/24Challenge/page/kevin-kent/
Well, that was quick. What should the new goal be? Thank you everyone. I’m blown away.
Gathered humans, I present you with Chicken Wiggle. An old staple of mine if you sub chicken for a can of tuna.
Onion soup with lentils. Breakfast of champions.
Here we go. Poached chicken and the broth are the building blocks for This weekends meals.
Tonight we have instant ramen deluxe. Ramen with the whole pa key this time, a bit of chicken, cabbage and left over macaroni noodles. I’m excited.
Uh oh. I think I just over spent.
My food for the next two days. I won’t be hungry but it’s not striking the heights of healthy eating. Please consider donating. https://www.canadahelps.org/en/charities/operation-come-home/p2p/24Challenge/page/kevin-kent/
