Oh my goodness my children were feral this morning. Not entirely sure why but some days are just like that - character building and challenging - this afternoon wasn't much better.
We used up most of the rest of our porridge oats this morning, there is one serving left which I used in an unplanned pudding. More on that later. We'll be having toast for breakfast tomorrow and Friday with banana or rhubarb compote on top. I have baked the bread this evening ready for tomorrow morning.
Lunches are still going down well. The kids miss having yoghurt and being able to snack on fruit whenever they like. Day three has been when reality has hit and the next two days will be more challenging than the mostly whinge free time we have had so far.
After school was certainly a challenge. They had their snacks then staged a protest at the lack of more snacks. Going for a walk was not a distraction they were willing to fall for this time. I ended up getting out some crafting activities and they watched telly and spent time crafting which finally settled them all down.
My husband is also very grumpy due to his lack of chocolate and confectionery this week. He normally has chocolate or sweets at morning tea, afternoon tea, on the way home from work and sometimes after pudding. It is not unheard of for him to devour half a chocolate orange or half a packet of fruit jellies in one sitting. I have no idea where he puts it all as he's slim and always has been. The lack of chocolate and sugar is making him cross and irritable. He is counting down the days until Saturday when he can indulge in his treats once again.
Dinner was another family favourite, Pearl Barley Risotto, and we're having leftovers tomorrow night. Portion control is a challenge because the amount you actually need differs from what you think you need. We tend to serve ourselves portions that are too big because we are used to seeing large portions. Weeks like this one are good to redress the balance and rewire our thinking when it comes to how much food we actually need to eat and adjusting portion sizes accordingly.
Due to us having a small amount of oats left I decided to make a rhubarb crumble. I used a little butter which we had left and some wholemeal flour, oats and sugar. We have so much rhubarb in our back garden and at the allotments we have been giving it away to friends. The pudding was welcome after not having had a proper pudding for a few days. Hopefully it will boost our spirits and get us through the final two days of the challenge ahead.
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This is really interesting! Thank you for sharing. I very much admire what you and your family are doing.
ReplyDeleteI would echo Anon's comment. I have been thinking, how much we would struggle with the challenge and as well as still having soft fruit in the freezer from the allotment last year we also have honey from my bees which we certainly couldn't afford living below the line.
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