My whole life I watched Paul Newman films. His cool blue eyes and often nonchalant, cool, distinctly American persona is imprinted on my brain from watching films like Cool Hand Luke, Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid,The Verdict,The Sting, The Hudsucker Proxy and Nobody's Fool. But more than that, I've long admired his charitable efforts.

While he could have kicked back, or used his fame for personal profit as so many stars do, he instead chose "shameless exploitation in the pursuit of the common good." The "common good" meant progressive social causes of all kinds--helping children, looking out for the well-being of animals, protecting First Amendment rights and more.

The Newman's Own product line started with salad dressing and every time you turned around it seemed there was another product--pasta sauce, lemonade, popcorn, salsa and more. Today there are over 150 different products offered by Newman's Own and according to the company, the profits from sales have raised over 250 million dollars for thousands of charities.

Not long ago I received some Newman's Own samples of organic products including pretzels and cookies. The one that impressed me the most were the Ginger-O's, spicy little sandwich cookies with a creamy filling. Crunchy and crisp and not too sweet, they are not only organic, but made without any artificial ingredients. For a store-bought cookie, they're pretty darn good.

More than just a handsome movie star, Paul Newman was a man who made a difference.

Going into the challenge I thought breakfast would be a breeze. I figured I might even save money on breakfast that I could then use on lunch or dinner. Fat chance! If you want to buy premium products, like cage free organic eggs, jam with no corn sweeteners or real butter, you'll be over budget in no time. Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but forget about fresh orange juice and coffee most days, on this budget.


Lunch was just plain boring. Only a couple of days did I have enough to eat of leftovers. It was hard to come up with interesting recipes on such a tight budget. My experiments with cottage cheese were not very successful. My most creative effort was green pea pesto. I like it so much, I would make it again.

This is my last Hunger Challenge post. I hope you have found my insights and recipes to be enlightening and interesting and maybe even helpful if you are on a limited budget. If you are not on a limited budget, please consider donating to the food bank. Your $1 donation allows the food bank to distribute $9 worth of food. The food that the San Francisco Food Bank offers is often fresh produce and not just canned foods or government surplus cheese. It is also a lifeline for those who depend upon it. As an added incentive, I've donated some cookbooks for top donors.

BREAKFAST

Eggs & Toast

Two slices of toast, 32�
1 Tablespoon Smart Balance 9�
2 eggs, 48�
1 Tablespoon organic, no corn syrup jam, 18�
Total--$1.07

Oatmeal

1/2 cup quick oats, 13�
1/2 cup organic milk, 56�
1 Tablespoon raisins, 4.5�
Total--73.5�

Ways to shake things up:

Organic peanut butter, 7� per Tablespoon
- Use on toast
- Swirl into oatmeal (tip courtesy of Alanna at Veggie Venture)

Cottage cheese 31� per 1/4 cup (but often available from the Food Bank)
- Use on toast, top with banana slices
- Add to scrambled eggs, serve on toast
- Make a banana smoothie with cottage cheese, milk and banana

LUNCH

Peanut Butter & Jelly Sandwiches

Two slices of toast, 32�
1 Tablespoon organic, no corn syrup jam, 18�
2 Tablespoon organic peanut butter, 14�
Total--64�

Pasta with Green Pea Pesto

1 cup frozen organic green peas, 75�
2 cloves garlic, 5�
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 36�
2 Tablespoons parmesan cheese, 42�
Total--about 32� per 2 Tablespoon serving

1 cup/2 ounces penne pasta 24�
Total--56� per serving

As the challenge progressed I experienced some of the same things my fellow bloggers have:

Genie of The Inadvertent Gardener lost weight on the challenge. While I didn't weigh myself at the beginning of the challenge, I do know I lost some weight on it because of the way my clothes are fitting. While this might be a good thing one week, I'm not sure it would be good week after week for everyone. Luckily I didn't suffer the same caffeine withdrawal that Genie did because I'm not a regular coffee drinker.

Faith at Blog Appetit used her calculator a lot. My calculator and my digital scale were in constant use this week to discover the true costs of my meals.

Gayle of the Been There Ate That blog was inspired to adapt a recipe she found in a magazine, and so did I.

Vanessa of Vanessa Barrington blog thought and wrote about transportation costs that affect those on a limited budget and that also factored in to my shopping choices.

Rude awakenings:
* Even though it seems more luxurious, the egg breakfast was not nearly as filling as the oatmeal. I found myself getting hungry after a few hours

* I would have preferred to buy organic or local eggs, but there is no way I could on the budget.

*Fresh fruit? Practically impossible to manage. The best I could do was a banana for 19� or raisins which are a good source of iron.

*Buying products like bread on sale was a necessity not a choice

*Finding jam without corn syrup was a real challenge and bumped the price way up

* To get the most nutritional value, I choose a whole wheat, high fiber bread, cheaper bread=less healthy bread

Have you donated online yet? It's free and easy!

As I mentioned yesterday, after reading one of my "tweets" on Twitter about the Hunger Challenge, Tyson Foods offered to send up to 200,000 pounds of high-quality, protein-rich foods (chicken, meatballs, lunchmeat, etc.) to the six Bay Area food banks! That's six tractor-trailerloads of the most hard-to-come-by foods desperately needed by food banks!

Tyson will donate 100 pounds of food for every comment posted on a special web page, so please go, make a comment and then help spread the word!

1) Go to the Tyson Hunger Relief in the Bay Area post.

2) Read the post and leave a comment. (NOTE: the format asks for an email address to prevent spam, but Tyson guarantees they will not harvest emails or use them for any other purpose whatsoever.)

3) Tyson adds another 100 pounds of high-quality, protein-rich foods (chicken, meatballs, lunchmeat, etc.) to trucks heading for 6 Bay Area food banks!

4) Tell your friends and family, anyone and everyone!


GET INVOLVED!

? Learn more about the San Francisco Food Bank

? Donate and a receive a thank you special thank you gift!

1. Click on donate to go to the donation page.
2. Fill out the necessary info and make a donation of $50 or more.
3. About 2/3 of the way down the form, look for a header that says, �Food Drive/Event Information (not required)�
4. Use the drop-down box to select �Bloggers Hunger Challenge,� so we�ll know you are participating.
5. Be one of the first 12 people to donate $50 or more and you�ll receive a brand new free cookbook as a thank-you.

Frozen organic green peas seemed like a bargain. But what could I do with them? I had hoped to come up with a kind of sandwich filling but ended up with a creamy sauce for pasta. It's actually pretty tasty and is perfect for those times when the cupboard is bare, because it uses mostly pantry staples. Surprisingly this ended up being my easiest, fastest and cheapest meal, and one I know I will make again.

Green Pea Pesto with Pasta
56� per serving

Ingredients

1 cup frozen organic green peas, 75�
2 cloves garlic, 5�
2 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, 36�
2 Tablespoons parmesan cheese, 42�
(note: recipe makes 5 servings of sauce)

1 cup, about 2 ounces penne pasta 24�

Instructions

Roughly chop the garlic. In a small saucepan combine the garlic and green peas with just enough water to cover. Bring to a boil over medium heat then lower the heat to simmer and cover the pan. Cook for 3 minutes or until peas are cooked through and garlic is no longer raw. Drain the peas, reserving the water. Place the peas and olive oil in the blender and blend, adding just enough water to make a smooth paste, about 1 tablespoon. Combine mixture with parmesan cheese. Serve 2 tablespoons of sauce over each serving of penne pasta.

NEWSFLASH!

After reading one of my "tweets" on Twitter about the Hunger Challenge, Tyson Foods offered to send up to 200,000 pounds of high-quality, protein-rich foods (chicken, meatballs, lunchmeat, etc.) to the six Bay Area food banks! That's six tractor-trailerloads of the most hard-to-come-by foods desperately needed by food banks!

Tyson will donate 100 pounds of food for every comment posted on a special web page, so please go, make a comment and then help spread the word!

1) Go to the Tyson Hunger Relief in the Bay Area post.

2) Read the post and leave a comment. (NOTE: the format asks for an email address to prevent spam, but Tyson guarantees they will not harvest emails or use them for any other purpose whatsoever.)

3) Tyson adds another 100 pounds of high-quality, protein-rich foods (chicken, meatballs, lunchmeat, etc.) to trucks heading for 6 Bay Area food banks!

4) Tell your friends and family, anyone and everyone!

Have you been enjoying these Hunger Challenge posts and recipes? Here are more ways to GET INVOLVED

? Learn more about the San Francisco Food Bank

? Donate and a receive a thank you special thank you gift!

1. Click on donate to go to the donation page.
2. Fill out the necessary info and make a donation of $50 or more.
3. About 2/3 of the way down the form, look for a header that says, �Food Drive/Event Information (not required)�
4. Use the drop-down box to select �Bloggers Hunger Challenge,� so we�ll know you are participating.
5. Be one of the first 12 people to donate $50 or more and you�ll receive a brand new free cookbook as a thank-you.

This is a recipe I originally made for a friend who was allergic to just about everything. It's an adaptation of a Bon Appetit recipe. She liked it a lot and so it became a regular addition to my repertoire. It tastes a bit like mushroom barley soup and makes a great vegetarian meal with a salad and a glass of wine, but none of those extras fit on the Hunger Challenge budget!





Mushroom Barley Risotto
$2.00 for 2 servings

Ingredients

1 bouillon cube 14�
1 teaspoon Smart Balance 3� (substitute butter or oil, as desired)
1/2 cup finely chopped onion 13�
2 cups water, or more as needed
1/2 cup pearl barley, 25�
1/4 lb pound mushrooms, sliced $1
1 garlic clove, minced 2.5�
2 Tablespoons grated parmesan, 42�

Instructions

Melt Smart Balance in large nonstick pot over low heat. Add onion and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add mushroom and garlic and cook for another 3 minutes. Add barley and toast in the pan for 1-2 minutes, then add water and bouillon; bring mixture to boil. Reduce heat to very low and simmer until most of liquid is absorbed, stirring frequently. Cook until barley is tender but still "al dente", about 45 minutes adding more water as necessary. Serve with parmesan cheese sprinkled on top of each serving.

Observations:
I really enjoyed this meal, so many budget meals are soup or pasta, this was chewy and meaty and satisfying. While the original recipe calls for fresh thyme, it was flavorful without it. A smaller serving would make a nice side dish for a grilled pork chop. I was pleased that it came in right on budget.

GET INVOLVED!

? Learn about the San Francisco Food Bank

? Join the Hunger Challenge

? Donate and a receive a thank you special thank you gift!

1. Click on donate to go to the donation page.
2. Fill out the necessary info and make a donation of $50 or more.
3. About 2/3 of the way down the form, look for a header that says, �Food Drive/Event Information (not required)�
4. Use the drop-down box to select �Bloggers Hunger Challenge,� so we�ll know you are participating.
5. Be one of the first 12 people to donate $50 or more and you�ll receive a brand new free cookbook as a thank-you.

No question, I learned what frugal cooking was all about in Italy the land of "la cucina povera." Soups and salads made from stale bread, beans, pasta with nothing but olive oil, garlic and parmesan cheese and the most microscopic portions of meat were all part of my Tuscan diet. But I ate extremely well. I also learned many ways to cook beans. They don't call the Florentines "mangiafagioli" or bean eaters, for nothing. Could this dish be made with heirloom beans from Rancho Gordo and bacon from the Fatted Calf? Absolutely and it would still be a very cheap meal, though not quite $1 per person cheap.

Pasta Fagioli
$1.98 for 2 healthy servings

Ingredients

1 cup pinto beans, 50�
2 slices bacon 30�
1/2 onion 17�
2 cloves garlic 5�
1 cup macaroni, 11�
1 bouillon cube 14�
7 ounces canned diced tomatoes, 50�
1 Tablespoon grated parmesan cheese 21�

Instructions

Soak the beans in 3 cups of water in a saucepan overnight (or boil for 2 minutes, cover then allow to soak for one hour). Drain the water then add 3 more cups of fresh water. Bring water to a boil then lower heat simmer beans, covered, for 1 1/2 hours or until almost tender and set aside. Chop the bacon, onions and finely mince the garlic. In a large saucepan cook the bacon over medium heat until almost crisp. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes or until golden. Add the garlic, tomatoes and bouillon. Stir to combine, add the beans, their liquid, adding more water if necessary, and simmer for 30 minutes. Add the macaroni and cook until pasta is done, about 10-15 minutes. Taste and add salt to your taste. Ladle into bowls and top with parmesan cheese.

Rude awakening:

* I had to be very stingy with the parmesan cheese to stay within the budget

* This soup is simple, but can be made richer with additions like celery, carrots, and herbs such as rosemary but not for $1 per serving

GET INVOLVED!

? Learn about the San Francisco Food Bank

? Join the Hunger Challenge

? Donate and a receive a thank you special thank you gift!

1. Click on donate to go to the donation page.
2. Fill out the necessary info and make a donation of $50 or more.
3. About 2/3 of the way down the form, look for a header that says, �Food Drive/Event Information (not required)�
4. Use the drop-down box to select �Bloggers Hunger Challenge,� so we�ll know you are participating.
5. Be one of the first 12 people to donate $50 or more and you�ll receive a brand new free cookbook as a thank-you.

I was really optimistic that I could make a successful lentil soup on a budget. I was pretty sure it would be tasty and it took very little time to make. It was filling and healthy and comforting. Lee said it was delicious. I used 2 bouillon cubes to try and get flavor into the soup, but what it really needed was spices and a bit of lemon juice. Some aromatics like carrots and celery would have been good too, but I was afraid it would push me over budget.



Lentil & Mustard Greens Soup
Total: $1.81 for 2 servings

Ingredients

8 ounces lentils 62.5�
2 bouillon cube 28�
1/2 organic onion 17�
1 clove garlic 2.5�
5 cups water
1 Tablespoon Smart Balance 9� (you could use butter or oil)
5 ounces, frozen mustard greens 62�

Instructions

Chop the onions and garlic. Heat a large saucepan and add the Smart Balance. When melted, add the onions and cook stirring for 5 minutes over medium heat. Add the garlic, water, bouillon cube and lentils. Bring to a boil then reduce and simmer until lentils are tender but not mushy, about 25 minutes. Take the pot off the heat and mash some of the lentils using a potato masher, add more water if necessary and the mustard greens. Heat through and serve.

Rude awakening:
* I stayed just under budget, but there was no money for salad or a glass of wine, let alone dessert.

GET INVOLVED!

? Learn about the San Francisco Food Bank

? Join the Hunger Challenge

? Donate and a receive a thank you special thank you gift!

1. Click on donate to go to the donation page.
2. Fill out the necessary info and make a donation of $50 or more.
3. About 2/3 of the way down the form, look for a header that says, �Food Drive/Event Information (not required)�
4. Use the drop-down box to select �Bloggers Hunger Challenge,� so we�ll know you are participating.
5. Be one of the first 12 people to donate $50 or more and you�ll receive a brand new free cookbook as a thank-you.

In the 1970's my dad was out of work for a year. For as long as I can remember, my mother tended an organic garden and baked bread from scratch and during that year my dad fished for salmon and went clamming for geoduck. We ate lots of eggs from our chickens and sold the rest for $1 a dozen. But the truth is there was also a lot of dumpster diving.

Actually the guys in the produce department at our nearby Co-op supermarket would set aside the ripest fruit and vegetables that they couldn't sell, for people like my mom and her friends who would stop by and scavenge. I don't remember ever going hungry. My parents used to say we never ate better. We certainly ate healthy food and made the best of whatever we had.

With the exception of that year during the recession, the closest I've ever come to living on a limited budget was eating my dinners at a homeless shelter where I worked. There was a lot of cheap food--macaroni and cheese, red beans and rice, tuna noodle casserole. Some of it was good, most of it wasn't. I'm awfully lucky. I've never had to cut corners when it comes to shopping. I may choose not to spend $10 for a pound of shelled English peas at the farmer's market but I have been known to spend $4 for a pound of peaches and many times that amount for fine cheese.

The Hunger Challenge is a chance to try and walk a mile in someone else's shoes, to see what the experience of eating on a limited budget is all about. In this case that means spending no more than $1 per meal, per person. Succeed or fail, I know I will learn a lot from this experience and the recipes I develop will go to the San Francisco Food Bank as a resource for their clients. My goal is to come up with recipes that are easy, delicious, nutritious and fit the budget. If they are quick to prepare, so much the better.

There are lots of ways to help, build awareness and make a difference. Donate to the food bank, try living on $1 a meal, volunteer at the food bank, write a letter to your government representative--find a way to support those who are struggling. Won't you join me?

GET INVOLVED!

? Learn about the San Francisco Food Bank

? Join the Hunger Challenge

? Donate to the San Francisco and a receive a thank you special thank you gift! Your $1 donation allows the food bank to distribute $9 worth of groceries to local folks living on the edge.

1. Click on donate to go to the donation page.
2. Fill out the necessary info and make a donation of $50 or more.
3. About 2/3 of the way down the form, look for a header that says, �Food Drive/Event Information (not required)�
4. Use the drop-down box to select �Bloggers Hunger Challenge,� so we�ll know you are participating.
5. Be one of the first 12 people to donate $50 or more and you�ll receive a brand new free cookbook as a thank-you.

I had a hard time deciding where to shop for a week of meals that were limited to $1 per person. I chose a big supermarket to try and buy a week's worth of food at one time. I don't know if someone on a budget would have the time and transportation resources to go from store to store for the best bargains.







Oatmeal
Barley
Pinto beans
Lentils
Macaroni
Spaghetti
Chicken bouillon
Organic raspberry jam
Organic peanut butter
Eggs
Cottage cheese
Mustard greens (frozen)
Organic green peas (frozen)
Smart Balance spread
Organic milk
High fiber bread
Cremini mushrooms
Organic celery
Raisins
Carrots
Organic romaine lettuce
Organic onions
Grated parmesan cheese

Total bill $55.02. Did I succeed or fail? Hard to say. A family on food stamps might not have $55 to spend at one time on food. But to get the best deals on products I usually had to buy in larger sizes. Some products were inexpensive but many really cost a lot.

Rude awakenings:
* Frozen vegetables are often a much better deal than fresh

* Bread is really expensive these days. I've gotten used to making my own and had no idea

* Some basic items like potatoes were very expensive and had to be left behind

* I tried to buy organic when I could, but it wasn't always feasible. Sometimes though, organic was cheaper than conventional

* The only meat I bought was bacon, which I will use as a flavoring, not a main dish

* Getting enough nutrients is hard! Some tasty foods are just not nutritious enough to make the cut

* Someone on a budget probably wouldn't have several types of olive oils, nut oils, and three kinds of butter. I chose Smart Balance because it is a healthier fat and can be used for cooking or on toast.

The Hunger Challenge kicks off on Monday I'll tell you more about it then, but for now, head to Blog Appetit and The Inadvertent Gardener to hear how my friends and fellow bloggers Genie and Faith are doing with the challenge.

GET INVOLVED!

? Join the Hunger Challenge

"I just returned from Lisbon and only have one thing to say - Belem Pasteis de Nata"


Thanks to a reader for reminding me of what is the can't miss taste of Lisbon. While there are wonderful wines, tasty sausages, perfect cups of espresso and crispy salt cod fritters that all deserve your attention, you haven't truly experienced Lisbon until you have made it through the winding labyrinth of the cafe and bakery, Pasteis de Belem, in a pretty waterfront neighborhood of Lisbon and had a few fresh warm pastries.

Belem is a lovely area, right near the river Tagus, with views of the 25 de Abril bridge which looks amazingly similar to the Golden Gate bridge. It's green and spacious and filled with elegant architectural wonders; there are museums, monasteries, gardens and an outdoor market to explore. But one bite of the pastry, and all that is forgotten.

Known as Pastel de Belem, Pastel de Nata, (pasteis is plural of pastel) this little egg tart is the original version of the one you might find in a dim sum parlor. The crust is layers of crisp flaky pastry and the custard is eggy and sweet and melts in your mouth. Originally they were made by nuns with the eggs that were given to them as offerings. While the pastries can be found all over, I even had good ones at the airport, they are most famous here, the first place they were sold outside of the convent. The blue and white tiled cafe also serves excellent coffee, and other things to nibble, such as salt cod fritters, but the pastries are what have people lining up and jockeying for tables. Dust them with cinnamon and powdered sugar, check out the production behind a glass window and enjoy a treat loved by tourists and locals alike.

While I finish catching up, feel free to check out a few of my favorite photos from Portugal.

Andrew Dornenburg and Karen Page have done it again. They've written yet another book that is sure to be a classic kitchen reference guide for years to come. The Flavor Bible lists thousands of ingredients and what other ingredients complement them. A typical listing? Grits are compatible with cheese--cheddar and parmesan, corn, cream, garlic, mascarpone, nutmeg, black pepper, salt, andouille sausage, shrimp and Southern cuisine. These days I need ideas more than I need recipes so the format is perfect for me. The Flavor Bible helps solve the "what else can I do with brussels sprouts?" question and expands your culinary horizons with entries for unusual ingredients such as quince (which has an astounding 51 ingredients associated with it), or lavender.

The ingredient lists came about by reviewing menus, restaurant reviews and cookbooks from all across the country. Some ingredients also have a season, weight, volume, and technique(s) indicated. But there is more to the book than just that. Top chefs from Jose Andres to Vikram Vij share their philosophy about using specific ingredients and techniques and there are also lists of intriguing dishes and "flavor affinities" such as butternut squash, risotto and sage or mango, almonds and lime. The book is very similar in format to their earlier award-winning book, What to Drink with What you Eat.

My only nitpicks are that the list of chef experts are mostly from the East Coast and tend to be focused on European cuisines. There are no chef experts representing the cuisines of Asia (with the exception of India), South America or Africa, that said, the book does include quite a wide range of ingredients such as fish sauce, yuzu, plantain and achiote. Also, since even a book such as this cannot be comprehensive a little more room in the margins would have been nice so that notes could be added. Still I recommend this book wholeheartedly. I am already finding it an endless source of recipe inspiration and impossible to put back on the shelf.

A few years ago I wrote WinePassport:Portugal. It was a great project, and I learned a lot about Portuguese wines, but there was no budget for a trip to Portugal. Ever since then I've been very eager to visit. I was in Portugal once, 20 years ago and now I am going back!

I will be in Lisbon, Porto and the Douro Valley for one week. I may or may not be posting from the road. I will have lots to share upon my return, I'm sure. I don't think I'll have much free time, but if you'd like to share your top tips for Portugal, please feel free to leave a comment.

What do you consider a good beach read? Something entertaining? Light and fluffy? What about a bedside book? I like a vacation read that I can completely lose myself in, but next to my bed I need something I can pick up and put down endlessly. Right now I have a few of those books.

The first is How to Be a Better Foodie and it's subtitled "a bulging little book for the truly epicurious." Can I just say if there is anything more irritating than someone using the word foodie, it has to be someone using the brand name epicurious as if they made it up. It's a website, ok? Despite the annoying title, the book is a lot of fun. It's filled with little tidbits of information that you will either find essential or completely trivial but either way it is equal parts entertaining and informative. Do you know how mustard got its name? What to savor in Franche-Comte? What and who inspired the famous blue Le Creuset? What season to eat fresh lotus flower root? It's all in there and then some. It's not a book to read cover to cover but it it enjoyable nonetheless.


Another book I dare say you won't read cover to cover is A Food Lover's Treasury. The tidbits in this book are all literary. Browse through bon mots or longer passages. You might find the perfect tagline, I rather like "one can say everything best over a meal." The book is organized in a pleasantly idiosyncratic way, again, it's perfect for picking at, like a plate of tapas or mezze. The book favors authors from England and English speaking countries with a few exceptions. Authors from Jane Austen to Emile Zola are included in the book so you're sure to find something to enlighten, enchant or just to while away the time until you fall asleep.



My final pick is The Food Snob's Dictionary. It's the kind of book that can make you feel smug for knowing who Gilbert Le Coze is, the difference between Wagyu and Kobe and how to correctly pronounce Grant Achatz. Of course, my esteemed local bloggers may take great offense to the definition of the Ferry Plaza Marketplace as a "one-stop San Francisco mecca for Food Snobs" then again, maybe not. The recent popularity of the Omnivore's 100 is an indication that we like showing off what we know and what we've tasted. This book falls in that category and the definitions are sometimes witty, sometimes snide and sometimes up for debate.