I have a big confession to make, and I hope my big brother does not see this. Before I wrote this blog I never knew how much I spent on shopping. I prepare a menu for the week, list the ingredients and Jake and I wander around Alosra getting them. I read out the items, he puts them in the trolley and then I pay while he packs the bags and takes the food to the car. In Awali where I cooked more, it was usually 60 to 100 Bd a week. Here in Juffair it is a bit less- 40 to 80 bd. So when Chester challenged me to live for the last week of Ramadan on 20 bd I said it could not be done.
Chester's family is a little unusual- he stays at home in Marikina ( near Manila) and cooks. His mum is an Overseas Filipino Worker ( OFW) working in a Hair Salon in Arad in Bahrain. Chester works for me on Graphic design and creative and marketing ideas for the blog and I give the money he earns to his mum! ( For those who do not know the Phillipino Culture usually the mum stays at home, the son is the OFW and he sends money back home to his mum!)
So when I said its not possible to live on 20 bd for a week he reminded me that at the start of the COV 19 crisis in Bahrain when all the hair salons were shut, his mum had to live on 20 bd A MONTH!. Then I felt really bad, and realised that many of my OFW friends here, and around the world do the same. They earn 100 bd a month, send half home, pay 30 bd a month for rent and live on 20 bd a month.
Now I can hear Mr. Gregory saying - "How much is 20 Bd? I am English , old Boy!"
So , with the help of Mr. Google, here is the currency conversion
20 Bd is 2,568.85 Philippine peso or 38.22 Pound sterling
So for the final week of Ramadan I tried a new approach. I took my last Alosra receipt, worked out what I really needed and the cost, and then made a menu and shopping list from what I could afford for 20 bd.
Then on Saturday I went to Alosra and got what I needed- the bill came to 15 bd!
Challenge completed- 15 .155 BD after my discount for being a suki
I will tell you whether I managed to survive on so little food later in this Blog but first I want to dedicate this Blog to Chester's lovely mum , Elizabeth. She works so hard here to support her family ( Chester, his older Architect Brother and his sister) back home and lives, like many OFW on 20 Bd a month. She is always so welcoming when I take her Chester's money ( and I always make sure I take flowers and Chocolates because I don't have a mum any more) . She has even invited me to dinner with the family in the Philippines when she eventually returns home and I can get a Visa to enter the Philippines. Chester grudgingly admits she is a better cook than him!
When she saw the draft of this blog, which made her day, she asked Chester to give me some tips on how to survive on 20 bd which Chester translated for those who do not speak Tagalog:
"Neil is very pleasant, he even added our photos. How did you put him up to a 20BD challenge? I'm afraid he might be on a crash diet as 20BD is not an easy budget to play around. (Breaks Down her monthly spending, eggs, sausages, instant noodles, etc.) The few BDs left will be for water, gas, toiletries and if lucky with some customer tips, I get to buy myself a treat at the end of the month. It was really tough budget management."
As many of my readers will know my own dear mother died 21 years ago so Chester had to remind me that this 9th May is Mothers day so this blog is also dedicated to my dear mother . It's also for all the other mothers out there who are OFW and work so hard for so little and live away from their kids back home. It breaks my heart every time I see photos of them chatting on line to their kids back home on Facebook, and missing all their birthday's and special events so to you all....
HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!
Some of Chester's cooking!
The first time we went to visit her I took my then houseboy, Patrick, as I had no idea where the Salon was. Patrick , or Mrs. Garmen, knows everyone and everywhere in Bahrain , and of course it turned out that he used to be Elizabeth's dancing partner in years gone by. What a small world we live in.
So what can you get for 20 BD- well this was the menu I put together for the last week of Ramadan:
Menu Ramadan- week 4- 20 bd plus 1 day fast
B L D
Tues 04 Museli and Banana
S and S Chicken Soup
Weds 05 Fast Fast Fast
Thurs 06 Museli and Banana Pasta alfredo Fruit
Friday 07 Scrambled
egg Tuna Rice Soup
Sat 08 Boiled egg S and S Chicken Fruit
Sun 09 All bran and Banana Quinoa salad Soup
Mon 10 HBE sandwich Tuna rice Tony Roma
This week I decided to fast again on Wednesday and Celebrate my achievements with a dinner out on Monday ( not included in the 20 bd!) . I decided to eat my main meal in the day and then just have a light snack at night as I sleep after I eat.
So firstly I collected all my ingredients....
Then I set about preparing each day what I needed. Following in from last weeks low carb challenge I avoided the rice but i did have Muesli and Banana ( 100 fills) on the first day of the challenge. Ramadan started on a Tuesday so each challenge runs from Tuesday to Monday, but I will upload the blog on Friday for Mothers day.
Sweet and sour red cabbage and Sweet and sour Chicken
For Lunch on Tuesday I had a breast of chicken ( 500 fills) and a quarter of the Sweet and sour sauce ( 350 fills) with some sweet and sour red cabbage left over from last week. In the evening I just had a bowl of soup and bread (150 fills) . My biggest expenditure for the day was 1.5 liters sparking water ( 1.2 bd) . So my day 1 expenditure was 2.3 bd.
On day 2 I was meant to be fasting from Sunrise to sunset but around noon I had a blinding headache ( coffee withdrawal) so had some Panadol and water. Later I ate some plums and then I had sweet and sour chicken after sunset with some sweet and sour red cabbage left over from last week. Let us call it 4 bd . As usual I missed my coffee when I woke at 6 am but then I kept busy and went for a medical for my Flexi Visa at 9 am. However I was told I had come 24 hrs. early and they could not see me so I went to rest under a tree in my car until 3 pm after doing some shopping and chores. It was then I succumbed to the fresh plums! While I was in Riffa I went to weigh myself- back to 121 Kg!
Breakfast on day 3- Muesli, Banana and Milk and my second mug of coffee
Day 3 started much better with my coffee fix at 6 am and Muesli and Banana at 7 am and then I went back for my medical at 9 am . They weighed me and I was 119 kg so the scales in the pharmacy were wrong!
Calorie free Alfredo sauce
I made Pasta Alfredo for lunch. I bought the jar of Alfredo sauce the week before and had some pasta in the cupboard so I am not sure how much it cost. In the evening I finished the sweet and sour chicken and left over carrots - so I guess with some sparkling water and plums for Merianda that's about 5 bd today- opps! Ohh and I just remembered I had some cheesecake and chocolate topped choux pastry balls filled with custard to celebrate the end of my fast last night !!Day 4 Jake and I did the shopping for next week and it was nice to be able to spend freely again. This living on 20 bd really does not suit me and my heart and admiration goes out to all those OFW who manage to live on 20 bd a MONTH , month after month!
We had scrambled egg for breakfast, just like the old days in Awali and then I made one of Patrick's favourite dishes- Tuna rice for lunch.
Here is the recipe for the Tuna rice- cheap , easy to make and very tasty.
The original recipe from 1976 - Calligraphy by Annie
Chef Neil’s Tuna Rice- Serves four
Ingredients:
4
cups cold cooked rice
1
small can tuna ( fresh tuna has more Omega 3 if you can get it)
3
to 4 eggs (not 34 as it says
in an unfortunate typo in my printed 20i4 recipe book!)
2
onions sliced
1-
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2
tablespoons cooked green peas or green pepper
2
tablespoons soy sauce
Salt and Pepper to taste
Method: ( or procedure as they call it in the Philippines!)
Remove the bones from the tuna and separate the meat. Beat the eggs. Cook the onions in the oil in the wok until transparent. Remove. Cook the rice in the wok, turning frequently. Add the salt and fry for 5 minutes and then mix in the onion. Make a well in the rice and add more oil and add the eggs. Stir eggs until almost scrambled and then mix together with the rice and continue frying for a few more minutes. Add the tuna, peas and soy sauce. Continue frying and mixing in all the ingredients. Correct the seasoning and serve
Easy eh!
Best wishes and I hope you like it.
The original Chef Neil Apron made by Corleen in 2014
Chef Neil ( aka The British Kabayan)
So with a litre of water, half a dozen special value eggs, two cans tuna , a green pepper that was 3.5 bd
So that's 14.8 bd in just 4 days! However the food for the rest of the week is in the fridge- the second servings of tuna rice and sweet and sour chicken and pasta Arbieta so i just need 3 liters of Perrier water which is 2bd making a grand total of
16.8 Bd for the week-- Hurray- challenge completed- but Never again!
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Hello, I am The British Kabayan! Feel free to read my stories.
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