Pallet for Home

Who Is Going Hungry?

Thursday, December 31, 2009

I just read a great article by Wayne Greene, Editorial Writer for the Tulsa World.  While I usually don't endorse most editorials printed by the "Tulsa WorldLY" as we call them, this one had some rather interesting facts considering I'm doing the Pantry challenge.

Greene writes:

"One in five Oklahoma children is at risk of going to bed hungry tonight.

In November the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Economic Research Service said that 14 percent of Oklahoma residents are "food insecure," meaning they lack consistent access to adequate amounts of nutritious food. Of those, 5.9 percent are in the agency's most severe level, "very low food secure."

That means Oklahoma is the fourth hungriest state in the nation. " 

I really had no idea it was that bad here. And we have such an abundance, even with a limited grocery budget for the next few weeks!  So, I've decided that a portion of my savings from the Challenge will go to the Community Food Bank of Eastern Oklahoma, who according to the article cited above, used a large donation of wonton wrappers to make lasagna, which I had no idea could be done.  Talk about creative! (Here's a recipe link to a similar dish that sounds great, minus the pork.)

The menu here for the last few days has been:
Breakfasts of cereal with milk and fresh juice, or homemade pancakes with milk and fresh juice
Snacks of leftover Cranberry Orange muffins or oranges
Lunches of nachos or green salads with turkey
Dinners of homemade cheese/veggie pizza with salads and homemade beef stew with crackers.

We'll have homemade sausage balls tonight along with a cheese ball and crackers I picked up last week, plus fresh salsa (free w/ coupons) and chips and whatever the other partygoers bring. 

Have a safe and merry New Year's Eve!  I'm looking forward to seeing how everyone did this week with the wrap-up posts coming on Saturday!

Labels: the encouraging word, the Pantry Challenge