One day left, and I plan on bowing out with pizza at Bennidito’s tomorrow night. I know I should try to make the full five days, but I haven’t finished a challenge yet. Why start now?

So here is what I ate today:

Breakfast: Granola cereal with milk.

Lunch: Pork and sweet potato hash, Cuban spiced pulled pork soup. Both from Main Market deli. Great food, but pricey.

Dinner: Sausage, tofu and egg scramble lettuce wraps. Lettuce from C&S Hydro-Huts. Focaccia from Bouzies Bakery.

Coffee: same as all week, DOMA with milk.

I’ve really enjoyed seeking out all the local food products that our area has to offer. I just wish I had tracked down more items (CDA Oil and Petit Chat butter). I’ll do a recap post this weekend. As much fun as the challenge has been, I can’t WAIT to have that pizza tomorrow.

Man, I need to think up more creative dishes. Here is day 3:

Breakfast: Pig in a blanket (Cascade Creek Farm sausage in a slice of Twisted Earth bread).

Lunch: Veggie Lasagna from Pilgrim’s Market deli

Snack: Bumble Bar

Coffee: DOMA with Spokane Family’s Farm milk (wish they had half and half)

Dinner: repeat of Day 2 dinner: Hamburger from Eaton Beef, S&P Homestead Farms eggs, toast

Side note: I found out that a person I know through LaunchPad, Gaia, is doing the challenge also.

Just a quick rundown of what I ate today. Maybe I’ll come up with a more interesting post tomorrow.

Breakfast: Breakfast sausage from Cascade Creek Farm, eggs from S&P Homestead Farms, Twisted Earth bread.

Lunch: Blackened tofu wrap from Huckleberry’s

Dinner: Hamburger from Eaton Beef, eggs, toast (lame dinner, I know).

Time for another food challenge. This one is being dubbed “Spokavore.” To summarize: regionally grown, raised or produced food only. There are exceptions, see Spokane Food Blog for the rules. On Sunday I stocked up at Main Market and Huckleberry’s. Have a look at the results.

Here is Day 1:

Breakfast: Lifestyle Granolas cereal with Spokane Family’s Farm milk, DOMA coffee with milk
Lunch: Main Market, winter squash salad, pulled pork sandwich (yummers)
Dinner: A.C. LaRocco garlic chicken parmesan pizza
Dessert: Almond Bumble Bar

The challenge is over, and as usual I didn’t make it all the way to the end. Coffee ended up being my “go out” item. That first sip was heaven. I learned a lot doing this challenge and will continue to practice many aspects of it.

The biggest thing I took away from the challenge was an appreciation for the vast array of choices that Americans have when shopping for food. Being able to get “fresh” fruits and vegetables year-round is a privilege many of us take for granted. Doing this challenge in late summer afforded us a much larger number of fresh food choices than if we had done it in the middle of winter. This challenge really got me thinking about the whole food production process and how easy we have it.

This challenge got me thinking about where EVERYTHING I eat comes from. The distance that a product travels to get to the supermarket is something I find myself considering with each selection I make. What about each ingredient that makes up the final product? And what impact does that internationally traveled banana have on the local economy (practically none)?

Moving forward, I plan to buy as much produce locally as the season will allow. Canning would be a good idea, but I don’t have the equipment. I also will buy most of my proteins (meats, dairy, eggs) locally. The local meats are MUCH better than their factory-farmed counterparts. I will do a lot more shopping at Fresh Abundance; I may even get one of their weekly deliveries. Once Main Market opens up I will be shopping there as well. Which reminds me that I need to become a member there.

Nearing the end of the second day of the challenge, I’m feeling pretty good about how I’m doing. Going without coffee has probably been the hardest part. But after two days I’m not missing it too terribly. Here is a run-down of what I have eaten for the past two days:

Monday
Breakfast: Egg scramble with hamburger and green pepper, whole milk
Lunch: String beans, milk over huckleberries and honey
Dinner: Pork chop, corn on the cob, cucumber
Snacks: Peaches

Tuesday
Breakfast: Hot emmer flakes, huckleberries, whole milk, honey
Lunch: Ground beef, onion, basil, lemon thyme, garlic. Peach, huckleberry, milk smoothy
Dinner: Lentil stew with zucchini, tomato, garlic, thyme, onion, steak
Snacks: cucumber, string beans, tomatoes

I was hoping to track down some butter to help with cooking but alas, there don’t seem to be any local producers. I’ve been eating way more meat than I normally do. Usually I substitute it with some type of soy product, but there isn’t any local soy either.

Seems like the rest of the group is doing well. I have a feeling that, like challenges past, we will have a big drop off on Thursday.

I’ll try to check in tomorrow. Maybe some pics too.

Time for another food challenge. Same kind of thing I did before, except this time around I can only eat food that was grown or raised within 100 miles of Spokane. The group doing it is much larger than before, 15 in total. Thankfully, with the local harvest in full swing, this is the perfect time of year to do this type of challenge.

While getting produce that is grown locally is pretty easy to do, things like flour and cheese are more difficult than expected. Also, staples like spices and salt are off the table. Coffee is off the list as well. I was told that there are some loose teas that would be OK, but none have any caffeine. Doing a strict 100-mile diet seems to be next to impossible unless one severely limits all of the little things we take for granted (sugar, oils, just about any baking aid).

So I ventured out to farmers markets and natural food stores over that past few days to get stocked up for the coming five days (as opposed to the usual seven). Some of the growers and ranchers I have purchased from include Olsen Farms, Anderson Produce, Rocky Ridge Ranch, Front Porch Produce and Cascade Creek Farm. I also have a small garden in my apartment courtyard to draw from. The two items I would really like to be able to find within 100 miles are butter and cheese. I’m pretty sure I can track down some cheese but from what I hear local butter is next to non-existent.

I may do posts about my progress over the next five days, but the bulk of the content I put out will be on Twitter using the tag #7vs7.

Good luck to all the contestants. Maybe we will even get some coverage by the local media.

I went out on Thursday night, exactly as long as I lasted on the last challenge. I had to work late unexpectedly and had run out of natural foods to keep me going until I got home. So a gyro and fries welcomed me back into the land of quick and convenient foods. While I’m glad that I made it as far as I did, I was hoping to make it at least one more day. Oh well.

Fast forward to Friday night; I’m enjoying some pizza and beers with some good friends. As I am reveling in the greasy goodness of the fine food that Bennidito’s has to offer, who do I see walking in the door but my fellow contestant Andrew. He immediately gives me the “shhh” gesture followed by an evil grin. Andrew disappears into the crowd only to emerge moments later with a pizza box that I can only assume isn’t filled with assorted produce. I quickly texted Remi to appraise him of the situation. Moments later the results of Andrew’s would-be covert operation were confirmed online. If you are going to go out, Bennindito’s pizza is one of the better ways to go. Well played Andrew, well played.

So it looks like the other Mark is the final participant. Looks like he is going to have no problem making it till the end. Congrats Mark.

And to all my supporters over the past week, I thank you. Now excuse me while I tear into a bag of potato chips. Hey, they’re Tim’s; so it’s kinda non-processed, right?

Its the end of the third day of the challenge and I’m feeling pretty good. On Monday I hadn’t taken the time to prepare a proper lunch to take to work. So I ended up throwing a bunch of fruits and vegetables into a sack and heading out the door. What seemed like a healthy idea at the time turned me into a ravenous beast later in the day. Not getting any protein for the better part of a day really threw me for a loop. Adding insult to injury, when I got home I had to take the time to MAKE a meal instead of just shoving some food down my throat. I ended up making a stir fry with zucchini, mushrooms, garlic, grated ginger and cilantro over rice. Pretty tasty.

That night I decided to hard boil some eggs to take to work on Tuesday. The eggs really helped me get through the day. My earlier prediction that I would be grazing all day long is pretty spot on at this point. Tonight I had a “gently” raised piece of steak with some veggies on the side. Not quite the plating job that Andrew did for his dinner, but it turned out very tasty. After that I got to work making a stew that will last me the rest of the week. Then I juiced some oranges (is that right?) to use for banana-blueberry-oj smoothies that I intend to have for breakfast the next couple of days. Whew!

I hope the rest of the group is doing well up to this point. Becky, I know you can defeat your nemesis. Geneva, I don’t know if you realize how hard coconut milk is to extract. Remi, I am amazed that you are playing nice still. Good luck to the rest.

This challenge has got me thinking quite a bit about the trade-offs a lot of us struggle with between convenience and nutrition.

Some of you may remember the food challenge I did last year. Myself, and seven others, were only allowed to eat seven different things for seven days. It was a grueling challenge and I only lasted five days.

This time we have challenged ourselves to only eat non-processed foods for a week. I think things will be easier since the variety of choices is much greater. The hard part for this challenge is the sheer amount of preparation involved in making a meal. I think I may end up doing lots of small meals or even revert to grazing continually.

I forgot that we were getting started until yesterday and as such had hardly any of the correct kinds of foods on hand. I quick trip to the grocery store this morning got me going until I could make a big trip to secure a good portion of the products I would be consuming for the week. Same as last time, I got a box of oranges, a whole bunch of spinach and a dozen eggs. In addition I bought a wide range of fruits and veggies and will be using more of the brown rice I had from the last challenge. In keeping with the theme this time, I can only get animal products that are naturally raised. As I put it to a friend, only meat that has been well taken care of and read bedtime stories.

In the end, I think this challenge is one that I may be able to continue (to a degree) long after the week is up. Here is a list of the other contestants this time around:

Andrew
Becky
Mark G
Jordy
Remi
Geneva

Wish me luck!

UPDATE: I left out Paul from DTE, another contestant from last year. Sorry about that Paul.

Who cares what I ate today, I’m out!  The thought of a three-day weekend eating the same old crap was too much for me, so I threw in the towel.  You can see me going out in style.  Ryan, you are a scoundrel.  Four days was long enough.  I get it…it’s hard!

While I thought it was soy that I would tire of, it turned out to be eggs that I am averse to (for the time being anyway).  I consumed 2 dozen eggs over the course of 4 days!  My cholesterol can’t be doing too good right now.

Thanks to all of you who offered support.  To those of you who think this is easy, it ain’t.  It really makes me appreciate how lucky we are in the Western world to have the variety of food choices that we do.

Today has been hard.  I am getting bored with the same stuff every day.  I think part of it is adjusting to not having as much carbs are I normally would.  I think this type of diet would be ok as long as I had more variety.  I’m ok with cutting out processed foods.  I do miss the speed with which I am normally able to have as meal; just pop it in the microwave and go.  It has made me late for work every day.  Oh well, on to my meals:

Breakfast

• Eggs, rice and cheese mixed together
• Glass of orange juice

Lunch

• See Day Two…or Day One

I really need to come up with something different for lunches.  We had a BBQ at work today.  Man, that was hard to resist.

Snacks

• Edamame

Dinner

• Spinach and rice quiche
• Glass of orange juice

Yeah, the quiche didn’t turn out so well.  I tried using soft tofu to bulk it up but the tofu ended up just making the whole thing a bit runny.

Breakfast (almost the same as yesterday)

• Scrambled eggs with cheese
• Orange juice

Lunch (same as yesterday)

• Cheese and rice
• Orange
• Edamame
• Hard-boiled egg

I need to start mixing it up for breakfast and lunch.  Otherwise, this could get boring REALLY soon.

Dinner

• It’s blender night!

Actually I plan on having something before I head over to Remi’s for the blend-off.  More info on what I am talking about later.  Although, I think if you think about it for a bit you will figure out what we have planned.

Update: For dinner I had rice with scrambled eggs and spinach.  Washed it down with a glass of oj.  Later I headed over to Remi’s for the blend-off.  We all paired off and took turns blending ALL of our ingredients together then drinking/eating them.  Some of the blends where horid looking and smelling.  God only knows what they tasted like.  Mine blended quite well.  Well enough that I felt compelled to drink it all!  Everyone else had only had a martini glass full and then quickly dumped the rest before going into convulsions.  I wish I had followed their lead.  My mixture went down fine but after a few minutes I wasn’t feeling 100%.  I’m doing ok as I write this, but I have this feeling in my throat like all seven ingredients could come back up if I don’t take it easy.

I’m really looking forward to the video of all of us doing this!

Update: Here are the first two face-offs

Breakfast:

• Eggs, spinach, cheese scrambled
• Orange juice

Steamed rice for lunch. Need to allow a LOT more time in the morning for food preparation.

Lunch:

• Cheese and rice
• Orange
• Edamame
• Hard-boiled egg

I haven’t hard-boiled eggs in a LONG time. They turned out perfect! Cheese and rice is pretty tasty, I think.

Dinner:

• Spinach salad with a soy sauce vinaigrette. Sprinkled with shredded cheddar cheese.
• Fried tofu with a orange soy sauce reduction over brown rice

How you like me now?

T-Minus 3 hours and change until the contest begins!

This afternoon all of the contestants met to do some last minute grocery shopping at Huckleberry’s. I had already purchased the bulk of my items at Costco, so the main item left for me was tofu. Just like the planning meeting, all the men promptly arrived at the designated time. Come on Mariah, you live 2 blocks from the place; no excuses! I was feeling like being a good sport and pointed out some avocado oil to Bart (you can thank me by dropping out on day one). I also scored on some rice-derived items; rice bran oil, rice wine vinegar and wheat-free soy sauce (didn’t know it had wheat in it to start with). This week is starting to look a little better already.

After each of us went down our lists on video and all had a quick photo opp, it was off to Picabu Bistro for our “last supper.” The conversation as a bit light at times during dinner. I think each of us was sizing up the other opponents, looking for any weaknesses. Remi admitted to caving if someone delivered a Bennidito’s pizza to his place. What time do they open on Monday?

Last stop before we all hunkered down to prepare for the coming battle was ice cream at The Scoop.

I’m really excited to start tomorrow but I have to admit; looking at my shopping cart at Costco and saying to myself “This is ALL I get to eat for the next week” was a bit of a reality check. Don’t worry Stefan, I won’t let you down.

On a whim, I decided to join up with a group of friends that were undertaking the inaugural 7vs.7: Spokane challenge. Here it is in a nutshell (ironic word choice, you’ll get it, keep reading):

Seven ingredients
Seven days

The challenge starts Monday, June 30th. Here are my seven:

coffee
eggs
[cheddar] cheese
spinach
oranges
white brown rice
soy

The only other things I can consume that aren’t on the list are water, salt and pepper. Personally, I think I should be able to swap out salt and pepper for other spices of my choosing. We’ll see if that flies with the group.

There are 8 people doing the challenge; Bart, Mariah, Andrew, Geneva, Remi, Paul, Becky and myself. All of us have our own blogs, but the best place to go to see how this all unfolds is the definitive Spokane site; Hip as Fuck. There will be some additional challenges later on in the week for whoever is left.

I am a bit nervous about doing this over the 4th, but I think it will make the challenge all the more valid.
Now that Stefan is out the field of contestants is pretty strong.

If anyone has ideas about creative uses of these ingredients please offer them up in the comments.