Day 4 > food consumption

Breakfast- two oranges, 5 bowls of honey almond granola, 2.5 cups milk, 2 cups coffee, 4 timbits

Lunch - 1 pizza pretzel, coleslaw salad, 1 cup shredded cheese, handful of cherry tomatoes

Dinner - giant shell pasta stuffed with chicken and ricotta cheese, french bread, wine

Day 3 > food consumption

Breakfast- 4 eggs, 4 slices of cheese, 7 pieces of bread, jam, butter, 2 bowls of cheerios, 1 cup milk, 2 cups of coffee, 1/2 litre of chocolate milk

snack- 1 litre chocolate milk

lunch - 1/4 litre chocolate milk, 5 pizza pretzels, 4 cookies, 2 oranges

Dinner- Teryiaki chicken (2 chicken breasts) 450 grams brown rice pasta, 1 cucumber 3 tomatoes

Snack- 3 slices cheese, handful of cashews and chocolate covered nuts, 4 slices of peperoni, 1 cup salsa, 3 handfuls chips, 2 glasses of wine, 1.5 liters apple juice

Day 3> Mom

Last night, I spent some time with some of my favorite people, sharing in great music, and partaking of some delicious brie cheese and calamari. It wasn't until later when Alex and I were documenting the food we ate all day, that I realized how decadent my evening was. I almost didn't write it down. After all, a friend ended up picking up my tab, so, really, it was a free meal. Except that I ordered it with the knowledge that I would pay for it. The very fact that I was tempted to brush it under the rug stings a little. It speaks to my very tangible understanding that it was decadence.

Six years ago we were lucky if we had good 'ol yellow cheese in the fridge on a regular basis. There were very few Friday night adventures or meals out. We just couldn't afford them. Yet it seems that we were more aware of how much we had. We felt less entitled to comfort and had a much clearer understanding of the difference between what we want and what we need. How did we get to a place where buying cool couches became more important than avoiding debt so we could have money available to help where we saw need. I don't even sit on the red couches very often! They just look cool and store more stuff we don't need.

There isn't really a moral to this story or anything, but before we have even gotten to the part were we change our habits, just being more aware of our current ones has caused us to have some difficult revelations and conversations. ouch.

Day 3 > Shiloh

Mom: What do you think you will learn from our experiment?

Shiloh: I think I will learn to eat my supper and be thankful for it even if I don't have very much.

Mom: Do you think it will be fun?

Shiloh: No. But it will still be good.

Mom: Do you think it will change how we do things? how?

Shiloh: Yes because we we get to so about eating other things that we haven't before.

Day 2 > food consumption

Breakfast - Six bowls of cereal, 2 Coffees

Snack - 3 cheese sticks, handful of dried mango, coffee

Lunch - hummus, 2 apples, 4 PB&J sandwiches, celery sticks, 2 granola bars, 3 oranges, 2 apples, 2 bratwurst

Snack - orange, 4 apples, 2 candies, coffee

Diner - Pot of beef veggie and lentil soup, 9 slices of bread

Nighttime snack - 2 bowls of ice cream, baked brie, calamari

Day one > food consumed

Breakfast- four eggs, six pieces of toast, three bowls of cheerios, 1 liter of milk, two cups of very yummy coffee

Snack- 1/2 cucumber, 6 baby carrots, an orange, 4 pieces of cheese, 1/2 cup strawberry smoothie

Lunch- four bowls of chicken soup, individual pizza, fries, granola bar, apple, 6 baby carrots, 1/4 cup hummus, four buns, 2 bratwurst, two cups of coffee

Snack- four cookies, some candy, small matcha smoothie, 1 piece of birthday cake

Dinner- 500grams of whole wheat spaghetti, 700ml of sauce, 1/2 cup shredded cheese

Day one > Mom

It was not easy crawling out of bed this morning after animated late night pillow talk about several more of my dear sweet husband's super fun ideas. Don't get me wrong, I love being married to a guy who is actively trying to teach his children to become adults who are aware and compassionate, I just need a little time (and sleep!) to catch up with him in the enthusiasm department.

As far as day one goes, it has suddenly hit me that in two weeks I may not be drinking coffee for awhile. My children have also become painfully aware that they won't be having timbits at church.

Lack of variety will also be an interesting mental hurtle for everyone. Our conversations before breakfast this morning included some complaining about not having enough to choose from. We have several different kinds of cereal, toast and several spreads, eggs, and fruit. There is definite variety to our cupboards. It is interesting what you can discover about your own attitude when you are paying deliberate attention. We are just getting out of the gate and already realizing how pampered we are.

SO pampered that my dear, sweet husband made me the yummy breakfast you see here.

Day one > Levi

I think that this is a good way to raise money especially since we don't need as much money as we think we do. We might get a little bit bored with our food but I think we will learn it is better to be grateful for what we have instead of wining for more stuff.

Levi

Eve of M family social experiment

I am pretty sure Alex is nuts. Four kids ranging from 4 to 10 not getting candy, cake, or even a PB&J sandwich for two weeks is a recipe for disaster. They all agreed to this hair-brained idea in theory, but once we get to putting into practice, I have a feeling they will get grumpy quick. Regardless, we are going to go ahead anyway.

Starting tomorrow, we will be documenting everything any of us eat for two weeks. By the end of two weeks we will have a more tangible understanding of how incredibly well provided for we are. During that two weeks, we will research some less fortunate countries and choose a country whose diet we will then adopt for the next two weeks after that. We will then donate any money we saved on groceries to a charity that works in that country. All of this being documented, I hope that at the end of the month, each of us will have gained some valuable understanding and hopefully expanded our gratitude. Regardless of the trepidation I have about certain parts of this, I am genuinely excited to see how this experiment shapes us as a family and individually.

I have a feeling that there is a lot of rice and beans in our future......

Sarah