Last day! Thank goodness! This last couple of days has been HARD.

I woke up this morning feeling bloated and uncomfortable and not at all hungry. Very glad it’s the last day!

I did a slightly more vigorous workout this morning to try and feel a bit better, and then S and I had rice and lentil soup for brekkie. Forgot to take a picture though.

Neither of us were very hungry at lunch so we just ate a bit of hummous and flatbreads.

The afternoon was busy – we went swimming and the girls had playdates.

S did incredibly well and held out almost to the end of her 2 days. She did all of Saturday and most of Sunday but ended up giving in at dinnertime as she had 2 friends over and they were having pizza for dinner so it was fair enough really. She felt bad but I think she tried really hard and has done really well overall.

I wasn’t very hungry in the evening either so I had a mini bowl of lentil soup and the last few empanada type things with the rest of the bean dip and leftover hummous.

In the evening I polished off the fruit tea and had my last mini glass of wine. I had a litlte more rice and soup later on as a snack.

There is LOADS of rice left in the fridge this time around (partly because I cooked S’s rations too) so will be eating a fair bit of rice next week too.

Overall it was a hard week but not as hard as I found it last year.

I think next year I would definitely make my little samosa/pasty/empanadas again, and I would also spread out some of my non-ricey meals a bit more evenly throughout the week. Chicken stock was a game-changer too.

Overall, S and I have jointly raised $2,822 AUD for refugees, and we are pretty proud of our achievement. That’s another ration challenge finished and over until next year….

Today I woke up HUNGRY. And grumpy. Not a great combo as a single parent…. I’m never my best in the morning and being hangry as well as not ideal.

S and I both had a bowl of rice with lentil soup (soupy rice really) and a cup of tea.

Then S had football so we headed off for that with some snacks for the little one to eat, and came home RAVENOUS so we made flatbreads with hummous and a couple more little samosa things, with a little beany sauce to dip them in.

I am so pleased I saved the best meals to the end – the hummous and flatbreads were AMAZING and such a nice change from rice both in terms of flavour AND texture. Much-needed at this stage in the week.

Dinner was more soupy rice, but the lentil soup is actually lovely and very filling and comforting to eat too. S has raised enough money for a vegetable so she had sweetcorn with hers and I had chorizo and spring onion with mine.

In the evening we made some more rice crackers as we were both still a bit hungry. And I had another glass of fruit tea and another 100ml of wine!

We are both already planning our meals next week and choosing things we really fancy to eat (FRUIT! Vegetables! Pizza! Pasta!) so I need to do a shop tomorrow. Only one more day to go.

As with last year, this challenge really makes me reflect on how hard it is for refugees.

Doing just a week is hard, imagine 5 years of this?

Also realising I am so lucky I can prep my meals in advance, store them in a fridge, reheat in the microwave later, use my blender to make the mixture for rice cakes, and bake them crunchy and crispy in my oven.

But imagine doing this challenge with no fridge, no oven, no blender, no microwave, just a tent and a single camping stove / hob burner to cook on. How much harder would it be to only cook what you need for each meal without being able to prep or store cooked food?

Food for thought indeed….

Tiny bit sluggish again this morning but I slept really well and had really vivid dreams!

Had a bit more of my sugar ration (half a teaspoon) in my tea this morning as well as some milk so I had a really nice cuppa to start off my day! I’ve got enough milk and sugar for a proper cup of tea on Saturday and Sunday too.

Managed a bit of a workout, nothing too energetic, and have lost 1kg so far on this challenge. Suspect it’ll be 2kgs by the end of the week but we’ll see.

Had a late brekkie of rice and water. I cooked my rice last night with both chicken stock and turmeric so it’s a lovely bright yellow and very cheerful. The colour (and flavour) helps with the monotony of rice! Tiny drizzle of beannaise sauce on it but trying to save the rest if I can.

Then I prepped our hummous for the weekend! Soaked mine and S’s chickpeas overnight, (as she is doing the challenge with me over the weekend so she has the same ration of chickpeas), then boiled them for an hour and whizzed in the blender with some oil and water and garlic powder etc.

And here is our finished tubs – two for me for Sat and Sunday and two for S.

For lunch I stir-fried some more of my cheerful bright yellow rice with some oil, chorizo, spring onions and spices. And a glass of cold fruit tea.

I also ate some of my fruit ration – a tiny bit of pomelo! 50g of fruit really isn’t much at all!

I ate the same for dinner (fried yellow rice) but forgot to take a picture!

I have also earned another treat – a hot or cold drink of my choice up to 330ml, so as it’s Friday night I’ve chosen wine and decided to have 110ml for the next 3 nights as a treat. I also made some more rice crackers – definitely need to perfect my recipe though!

This evening I did some more cooking and made up a double rice portion and a double portion of lentil soup for me and S over the weekend. She has football tomorrow morning so I wanted to make sure there was plenty cooked and ready for her to eat before her match and after we get home! She is doing really well and has raised over $500 AUD so she has also earned a vegetable as well as milk and spices etc. She’s chosen sweetcorn as her veg.

This year, just like last year, I am surprised that I haven’t cheated at all. Last year I felt sure at some point in the week I would crack and eat a tiny piece of chocolate or something, but I never did, and this year I had the same thought in my head. I obviously want to try and do the challenge properly, having raised all those funds, but part of me never really thinks I will succeed. And just like last year I am pleasantly surprised that I have not yet slipped up or caved in!

It’s sobering watching all my prepped rations in the fridge and little bags of rice and flour in the cupboard slowly dwindle and diminish. I know I will have enough to get through til Sunday night, and of course I can eat what I like on Monday too, but I imagine it must be so frightening to have to stretch your rations for a month and getting to the last week, wondering if you’ll have to go without for a couple of days if you run out before the next food distribution. Or what if the NGO is late with the distribution? I know first hand that these things happen, trucks break down or bridges are impassable, but to be a refugee waiting on food that doesn’t arrive must be unbearable.

Day 4 started off well.

Had a nice cup of tea with milk (no sugar today) and did my pilates workout. I’ve lost a kilo so far this week.

We harvested our first strawberries from the garden today, which of course I couldn’t eat but the girls informed me they were delicious! I also picked some tiny ripe chillis from my chilli plant.

Then I had a small bowl of rice with some beannaise sauce mixed in and a cup of black tea for my breakfast.

Lunch was another stir-fry with spring onion and chorizo but I used a bit more oil this time so it was a bit greasy but still good – lots more spices added to make it taste nice! I also tried a little experiment – I made a tiny pasty/samosa with a bit of my bean burger mixture and some spices, beannaise sauce and some leftover flatbread dough – it was DELICIOUS!!

I definitely want to make that again soon!!! Will make a smaller burger tonight so I have some leftover mixture to use. Mmmmm

Dinner was another lentil and bean burger with flatbreads and ketchup – very delicious!

In the evening I was bit hungry so I had some more fruit tea in a wine glass and a little rice.

One way I have found to help get through the day without snacking is to drink lots of water and tea. I feel VERY well hydrated! But then I think about refugees with rations who also have limited access to water and how much harder it is for them.

Act for Peace, the charity I am raising money for, have released a video of some Syrian refugees showing how long THEY have been eating rations for and it’s powerful to see. For me I only have 3 days left but for them it’s indefinite.