We got the call from Deanne Lane at KSDK, and they want to do a cover story about the Hunger Challenge (to air on Monday Sept 29 at 10PM.) Here’s the catch…  as part of the story, they wanted to ‘film’ me actually fixing dinner.  I decided to make it easy and boil some eggs.  So there I am, tv cameras rolling, watching the pot boil (was fascinated), carefully putting the eggs in the pot and waiting for them to ‘get firm.’  Well who knew that it takes 10 minutes?  I certainly didn’t.  Okay, I feel a little bit like an idiot, but hey we all have our talents and mine aren’t in the kitchen.  I normally would have thrown them out, but eggs are now precious and needless to say that I had 2 semi-hard boiled eggs for dinner and a handful of baby carrots.   

I tell this story because I think of our clients who may not know how to cook or don’t have the energy to make dinner because they are wiped out from the chemo they had that day.  Luckily, they are able to toss our frozen meals into the microwave, and sit down to a nutritious meal in 3 minutes.

I also feel like an outsider in an ‘eating’ world.  Food all of a sudden is always around me.  Food can be a connector but when you don’t have it or on a strict diet, you naturally limit your socialization—or I have. Gone are the days…at least for now…when I can eat lunch with the staff since they are heating up leftovers (man, they smelled good) or ordering BBQ takeout.  That’s it…rub it in—just kidding.   I had my second PB and J sandwich, and wonder if I am smearing more PB than I should to make it last through the challenge.

Don’t know if the headaches I am having are due to caffeine withdrawal or not having a full belly.  Close friends will tell you that I can get irritable if I don’t eat.  I am trying to ‘play nice.’  I tend to watch the clock, counting down the hours and minutes when I can have my next ‘meal.’  And decided to have a stash of oatmeal at the ready just in case, and a microwave—one of the perks of working at Food Outreach, but I’d be hosed if I didn’t.   Are microwaves a luxury?  They are for some of our clients who barely have a pot in their kitchens.

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