Day One

As we contemplated what type of food we wanted to eat for a dollar a day, we felt strongly about eating healthy, organic food. So many of the inexpensive foods at the market are processed and may provide calories, but certainly no nutrition. We want as much nutrition as possible. So, we went with the basics....rice, rice, and more rice! Brown rice, of course. We are topping the rice with a bit of wheat free tamari. We also decided to add some miso soup for it's vitamins and nutrient absorption properties. After hard consideration we are also allowing ourselves some green tea (1 teabag for both of us a day). The amounts we've chosen work out to about 800 calories a day. That isn't much, but they are packed full of the good things our bodies need. I think I'll take fewer calories over the empty ones.

The rice seemed like an obvious choice. Not only is it healthy, but the vast majority of people in the world eat rice on a daily basis. Brown rice is an excellent source of magnesium, iron, selenium, manganese, and the vitamins B1, B2, B3, and B6. Brown rice is a good source of dietary fiber, protein, and gamma-oryzanol. Not to mention, Calcium and Iron.

Miso helps absorbs nutrients into the body and balances ph. It is full of nutrients, beneficial bacteria and enzymes. Miso provides: protein, vitamin B12, vitamin B2, vitamin E, vitamin K, tryptophan, choline, dietary fiber, linoleic acid and lecithin.

We've been cutting down on caffeine drastically the last couple of weeks to prepare ourselves to go caffeine free, but at the last minute, the healthy properties of green tea persuaded us and we decided to keep it. We aren't drinking much (as our caffeine headaches can attest), but it's a nice comfort.

As far as the Apple Cider Vinegar goes (Braggs, of course). Don't even get me started on all the things it can do for you - here's a good link: www.bragg.com.

So, these are the basic components of our diet. We bought all of these items in bulk for the whole month and have spent $50.31. That works out to about $1.67 per day for both of us. We have $9.69 left over and we will probably use it to work some beans in at points. Right now, we are planning to save it for a while to see if we run into any emergency must haves.

We have felt pretty good today. We have the general haziness that comes from detoxing and eating less. We've experienced some hunger, yet at the same time, we feel very blessed to have these healthy foods in our cabinet.

We have been surprised how many times each of us has thought about food, restaurants, and coffee shops throughout the day. I for one, realize how much I take those things for granted now that I can't have them.

Day one down, twenty-nine to go. I'm looking forward to it!

Kelly