OUSA

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Food For Thought: Day 9

So, I slept in really late today; I think I’m just exhausted from everything that has been going on in life of late.  I was supposed to get up at 8:00 to head to campus by 9:00, but I didn’t claw my way out of bed until around 11:15.  As such, my whole day’s food intake was kind of thrown off-kilter; there was no real breakfast/lunch divide.  I ate a nice brunch of sorts, and then headed off to campus for a meeting at 12:30.
Today was another fortunate day for me, because I had another free dinner courtesy of our student council.  This was the third (and final) portion of our Annual General Meeting, and we had a brief awards banquet, which included speeches by our outgoing executive members and the presentation of the “key to the USC” to those of us who have served three or more years as a member of the USC.  It was all very nice, and dinner was quite good – we even had some delicious deserts.  This is just another one of those days that I was fortunate enough to score some free food, and I must say that it’s helping me to keep on budget with some ease.  Of course, not every student on OSAP will be fortunate enough to score as many free meals as I have, which is perhaps some Food For Thought in and of itself.
I decided not to do a break-down of meals and estimate on food guide today, simply because my meals were so all over the place, and estimating what I ate for that dinner would be extremely difficult.  I’ll try to get back on board tomorrow or the day after.

Andrew

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Blog 11:

I finished my first performance tonight for the annual charity dance and fashion show called Fashion N Motion. It was a great night and it was great to see a great turnout from the crowd including my parents and brother and sister who came from my hometown 2.5 hours away. What was also great is the fact that they brought me some homemade/baked food (muffins!) which will help me during the course of these few days with my performances, events and meetings all crammed into 4 days. Tomorrow I will also be able to do a quick grocery shop since they will be able to drive me to the local Zehrs. Today was a rather busy day. First, I got up and starting doing my final editting of a paper due today, then I had to get my hair cut for the show (free–since I am a model in the show), then I finished off the paper and handed it in, went home and did some more work, had a quick power nap, visited with my family a bit, got ready for the show, went to the show, performed, and finally I went out to the on-campus restaurant to hang with my cast-mates (did not buy anything). It was a very busy day! My diet worked out like this: cereal (the streak stays alive–Cal Ripken Jr. comparisons anyone? haha), pasta with pork and beans in the sauce (good for you: has high protein and fibre but high sodium–its cheap too), and then had a cheeseburger and icecream at McDonalds after the show ($2.92), followed by a bit of food at the campus restaurant that others just gave to me because they weren’t going to eat it and I hadn’t ordered anything because I did not have enough money. I still am missing veggies and I think it has contributed to the cold I have right now, but I think I have been able to keep it from totalling wiping out my energy by staying active, staying hydrated, and getting a good amount of sleep. Hopefully tomorrow I will get a chance to get some vegetables and fruits to finally get in my diet again. I will break down the costs with you tomorrow.

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Food for Thought – Day 11

Today, I woke up just in time to purchase Brock student early bird special from The Early Bird Restaurant.  $5 (which included a 1st serving of 5to10)

After breakfast, I did some work and prepared for some upcoming meetings. I also managed to pack a lunch before heading to campus. Deli (short for Delicious, no doubt) smoked turkey meat, cucumbers (2nd) and honey mustard on a pita. $1.25

Just as I was debating whether or not to head over budget and purchase a snack to hold me over, my coworkers treated us to humus and baby carrots (3rd) at our weekly debrief.

For dinner, Cous Cous with a medley of peppers, green onions and olives  (4th.. 5th.. 6th? There were a lot of veggies). $1.75

TOTAL for Day 11 = $8

Rach

–
Rachel Crane
Bachelor of Business Administration, Brock University

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Food for Thought – Day 10

Top O’ the mornin to ye.

Mmmm Mmm… at a cost of about .40 per unit, I think  I’ll kick off the day with some potato pancakes. ( x 3 + an orange and to fulfill my 1st of 5to10 = about $2.20)

Bangers and Mash for lunch, anyone?

FOR THE BANGERS

2 tbsp EVOO
4 thick sausages (beef, pork, or flavoured as you wish)
FOR THE MASH

2 lb peeled potatoes, quartered
6 tbsp milk
1/2 stick of butter, cubed
Salt and ground black pepper
Invite some broccoli to join us for and save half for dinner (at least 3 more servings of vege) to equal about $5.75
TOTAL for Day 10 = $7.95
Yikes. I went a little over budget again.
Merry St. Patty’s Day!

Rach

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Blog Day 10: Man I am looking forward to having my family over tomorrow. Hopefully it will mean that I will eat something other than KD and pizza. Today I had cereal (and a snack bar), pizza, and KD (with veggies). I read through my recipe book today and narrowed down a few recipes I want to try asap. However, Im missing some ingredients and do not have the time for a grocery shop until at least next week (unless my family helps out on that front). Since I am still feeling a bit under the weather, and I had a paper to complete, I did not go out today to participate in any St. Patty’s day festivities (of which there were several things to do!). However, even if I was feeling 100% and I did not have the paper to do, I would have been very limited as to what I could get to eat or buy in general. I do not drink–that helps on the money front. However, most meals at any typical restaurant will exceed $7.50 easily (or leave only pennies for the rest of the day); even many appetizers cost this much! The $7.50 budget simply does not allow you to go out once in a while without sacrificing your diet at other times during the day or for a few days after. For example, a plate of fries at a restaurant near campus that are called “all-dressed fries” (sauce, cheese, chives, and bacon) costs $7.39 without tax. That may be a bit of an extreme example because I think that is rather expensive but it does not differ that dramatically from other similar items at other restaurants (the on-campus restaurant offers that deal for $6.99 plus tax). The student should not be dining out at restaurants several times per week unless they can afford it, but they should have the ability to treat themselves once in a while. Clearly, $7.50 does not allow that to happen.

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Wednesday, March 17, 2010

So today started off again with miniwheats and milk. Then for the rest of the morning I was running around like a chicken with its head chopped off, doing a million things (including picking up a couple things at the grocery store) and then got home and immediately started working on an assignment.  I was so into my assignment that my thought process went something like this:  work, work, check calculations, work, work, check map, work, done!!  YAY!!!!! Save.  Print. *sense of relief*  I’m starving.  Oh crap!  It is 3:38 and I am going to be late for rehearsal. So needless to say I did not get lunch (which was my own fault) but ate a couple granola bars and a banana on the way to rehearsal in the hopes that I would be alright.  After rehearsal I went straight to work and ate a muffin before I started, again in hopes that I would not get sick.  Due to the massive amount of people that called in sick on St. Patty’s Day (go figure) and the crazy amount of drunk people we had to deal with I did not eat dinner until about 9pm, at which point I had been ready to pass out for about an hour. But I ate and felt better.  I had a pasta with broccoli and tomatoes and a tomato sauce.  So this was not a good day food wise, because I was not paying attention and lost track of time.  So I spent a total of $2.31 which covers the cereal, milk, banana and granola bars.  I got 3 servings of vegetables, 5 servings of grains, 1 serving of milk and 1 serving of meat.  Today was not a healthy day at all.

Sarah Baker

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Nick's Week 1 Video Blog

Blog 9:

So I restarted the pizza train today. It actually was a very good pizza which I had bought on sale. I made sure that I slowed down when I ate to ensure I did not eat the entire pizza (and had some for tomorrow). I was also lucky today that I ran into a deal at KFC for which my buddies were going to during our break in our dress rehearsal: toonie Tuesday. Healthy? Absolutely not. Yet, mannnnn KFC fries are good!!! And really, its not a bad thing to have it here and there (I dont recall the last time I did have it prior to yesterday, so thats a good thing). The cereal breakfast train remains though (I do not see an end in sight there). I had cereal (with a snack bar), KFC (chicken and fries), and pizza which once again was under $7.50 (approximately $7.30, so just barely). I am noticing just how hungry I get in between meals sometimes and how it almost becomes painful. It is frustrating sometimes when you know that there is a relatively healthy option not too far away on campus to eat, and its even relatively inexpensive but you are not able to do it because of your budget. All the time you have to put into planning for food and what you can or cannot afford takes away from the time you should be focusing on your studies. Great life lessons during your undergrad are important but undue stress is not the balance we should be seeking to attain.

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Rachel's Video Blog on Student Poverty

Food for Thought – Student Poverty

$5,000+ on tuition per year
$1,000+ on books
$4,000+ on rent per year
$3,000+++ on living expenses, transportation, and etc. etc. etc.

Do I even need to say it? Being a university student = tough times financially.

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Food for Thought – Day 9

They say that an apple a day keeps the doctor away… well my body has recently turned its back on apples. I have recently developed allergies to cherries and apples (sad story), so I’ll need to somehow revise my plan keep that M.D. away!

I wanted to make sure I am indeed eating healthily, so I looked into  the “5-to-10-a-day” philosophy. It’s simple. Incorporating 5 to 10 servings of fruits and veggies per day will initiate a solid regimen for healthy eating. 5-to-10-a-day keeps the doctor away… sort of rolls of the tongue, right?

CANADA’S FOOD GUIDE RECOMMENDS

Eat at least one dark green and one orange vegetable each day.

Go for dark green vegetables such as broccoli, romaine lettuce, and spinach.

Go for orange vegetables such as carrots, sweet potatoes, and winter squash.

Choose vegetables and fruit prepared with little or no added fat, sugar or salt.

Enjoy vegetables steamed, baked or stir-fried instead of deep fried.

Have vegetables and fruit more often than juice.
http://www.5to10aday.com/

For breakfast, one cup of tea, a banana (1st of 5to10), a cup of yogurt, and a bowl of oatmeal with brown sugar. 94 cents.

For lunch, chicken noodle soup and an orange (2nd). $2.

For a snack: All Bran bar (…so good and good for you… love those bars) and mini carrots (3rd) $1.20
Dinner: Panini al Prosciutto, as my Italian professoressa would say, with roasted red pepps (4th) and cucumber (5th). $5

TOTAL for Day 9 = $9.14

Over budget but healthy,

Rach

Brock Press News Article

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Food for Thought – Day 8

So, in week 1  I spent $50.43.

I was fortunate to have family and friends spot me some dinners and snacks throughout the week. Otherwise, this total would have been greater.

I have to admit, I am a little worried about budgeting for this coming week. In addition to groceries and prepping bagged lunches, I have a birthday dinner, a “farewell” dinner for my Europe-bound best friend and trip to London planned. I don’t want to have to sacrifice these important social commitments, so I will have to really, really watch my food expenditures this week.

I decided to seek help from my friend Sameer at the Brock University Student’s Union. He told me that after a formal conversation between himself, the Vice President Finance Administration, and myself, an undergraduate student at Brock University in need of financial assistance, I would be able to receive a $25 grocery voucher for Sobey’s in St. Catharines.

Thank you BUSU for providing emergency student loans and food vouchers for students if and when they find that their OSAP loan just won’t cut it.

Rach Crane over and out