“This past week, I got the chance to do something really different. This experience allowed me to stand in the shoes of the people we serve everyday at the Liberty Church Drive Thru. On Friday I got to take home a food box to live out of for a week. I decided to make this experience a little fun. I am doing a food blog for it.
Contents of Box: Chicken kabobs, canned corn, canned diced tomatoes, Chicago hard rolls, creamy peanut butter, chicken thighs, dried fruit and nut mix, raisins, and a beautiful bouquet of hydrangeas. This week’s box also came with an additional produce box.
Contents of Produce Box: Gallon of milk, strawberry Yoplait, diced chicken, shredded cheese, onions, sweet potatoes, and apples.
This was my chance to live out my dream, have a food blog and to be on Chopped. Here I had this wonderful mixture of ingredients, how could I make tasty meals out of it? I buckled down and started thinking about what I could do. Here are some highlights of what my husband and I ate throughout the week.
Breakfast: Strawberry Yogurt Shake.
Ingredients: Milk, and strawberry yogurt.
Directions: Place a serving of yogurt (2/3 cups), and milk (1 cup) into a blender. Blend until smooth.
Lunch: Peanut Butter Sandwich
Ingredients: Chicago hard roll and peanut butter.
Directions: Self explanatory; spread that peanut butter on the bread. Serve with dried fruit and nut mix, and apples.
Dinner #1: Mexican Stew
Ingredients: Chicken kabob, canned corn (drained), canned tomatoes (not drained), shredded cheese, cumin, and garlic powder.
Directions: Cook Chicken in medium heated pan, add bell peppers and onions from kabob, add corn and tomatoes and spices, bring to a boil. Add cheese and enjoy!
Dinner #2: BBQ Chicken Thighs
Ingredients: Chicken thighs, BBQ seasoning, sweet potatoes, and onions
Directions: Preheat oven to 400. Thoroughly rub chicken thighs with BBQ Seasoning, Put on a sheet pan and cook for 25 minutes (or until internal temperature reaches 165). I roasted the onion with my chicken for 20 minutes, and then I sautéed it. I also cooked the sweet potato in the microwave for about 10 minutes to create a pseudo baked potato.
My Take Away
This was a hard experiment for me to do. I have never experienced food insecurity, and have never had to worry about not choosing my food. I tried to make this as fun as I could, and I really enjoyed what I made. I’ve missed cooking.
One disclaimer from this experiment is that I am displaced due to COVID. My husband and I moved from New Orleans to Birmingham after I was furloughed from my job. We are currently living with my parents, so that we can raise money to get back out on our own. Because of this, we don’t have to buy groceries, nor do we have a lot of bills to pay. However, when we were in New Orleans, we would spend $50 a week on groceries. If we were to save that $50 for the week we ate from our box we would have almost enough money for our internet bill, enough for a winter power bill, and more than enough for a minimum credit card payment. Because I don’t have any of those bills to pay, I am donating $50 to my personal fundraiser to put a Jesus Storybook Bible in every child’s Christmas present that Grace Klein Community will be giving out.” – Hilary Hammack, Samford MSW Intern