Day 3: Work with what you've got

To sum up the aim of our "Children's Hope Centers" here's a "before" picture I shot on my last visit--children in the slums of Hyderabad, India--victims of child labor. Her faded shirt says, "LOVE IS THE MESSAGE." That pretty much sums it up!

And, essentially, here's the "after" picture--girls who came out of child labor, now happy to be enrolled at our Children's Hope Center in Hyderabad, India. All because someone cared enough to help pitch in toward their scholarships!

My goal for this 30 day challenge is to raise enough funds to rescue 20 more kids from child labor, with scholarships that will put them through a year of school, tutoring and nutrition. We're at $25 of my $10,000 goal.

It's just $500 per scholarship--that takes care of their shoes, hygiene items, uniforms, tutoring, computer classes, school supplies and nutritious meals served at the centers for an entire year! Come on, we can do better than this! Let's get to that first scholarship today! $475 to go! If you can spare anything, even $5, please donate here.

On to what I was able to cook up with just a dollar's worth of food today... like a lot of things in life, it's all about working with what you've got and making the best of it...

Breakfast. As usual, on the run, so I had to settle for a quick cup of oatmeal. I "bought" a pinch of sugar and cinnamon from my existing stock, using my seasonings "allowance" along with a few raisins from my raisin ration, and boom, I had a decent breakfast that probably cost about 20 cents. It held me over to lunch pretty well. ▼

Lunch. A ramen noodle stew of sorts. Delicious and very hearty! A lot of ingredients here--ramen noodles, 2/3 cup brown rice, 1/3 cup pinto beans, potatoes, carrots, cabbage, and one egg prepared egg-drop style. 1/3 of a spicy ramen seasoning packet along with a few dashes of season-all. It really hit the spot! ▼

Dinner. Rice, bean and carrot taquitos! These are amazingly simple and delicious. Used about 2/3 cup of cooked pinto beans to make re-fried beans, 1/3 cup of brown rice, and a few slices of carrot. Microwave 3 corn tortillas in damp paper towels to make them pliant. Baste the tortillas with canola oil. Then fill the tortillas with the ingredients, wrap and flip, placing onto cookie sheet. Bake in the oven at 500F/260C for 8 minutes. Presto! Add pasta sauce sparingly and season with season-all. Absolutely delicious meal, for about 30-40 cents total. ▼

Dessert. Remember my frozen banana slices? Took a couple of those out, added raisins on top and sprinkled with a few dashes of cinnamon from my seasonings allowance, and, dang, these were little bursts of paradise in my mouth! Like ice cream or Japanese mochi! Seriously a major treat! ▼

I really appreciate your support. The blog is getting a lot of attention already--thank you for helping to raise awareness! I'm drinking tons of water and staying busy to keep my mind off of the hunger and cravings. The food looks great and is tasty, but the overall calories are pretty scarce. However, so far I'm doing great.

Take Action!

1) Please consider giving toward scholarships for children of the slums. Our goal is to cover a scholarship for 20 kids to get an education this next year. Every little bit helps! Currently at $25 of my $10,000 goal! First step: let's get to one scholarship: just $475 to go!

2) Please visit my unofficial sponsor, Amazon.com through this link. 7% of your purchases made through the link are given to Peace Gospel. If you're in the UK, use this link.

3) If you're compelled by my effort here, please share it with friends. One of the main goals is awareness. So if you can help with that, huge.

4) Leave me feedback. Please comment on this post, especially if you have any ideas about what I should try to cook with these ingredients I have available. I love hearing from you! It really helps!