The Disappointing Orange

On Day 3 I had beans on toast for breakfast with a dash of water in the beans to make them stretch further. Lovely. Lunch was near-dry pasta due to strict rationing of the tin of tomatoes. My daily biscuit allowance is pretty much the only thing that is keeping me on the fringes of hunger right now.

The one thing I have desperately craved so far is a bowl of cereal but generally I’m teaching myself to overcome my cravings pretty quickly. It’s making me realise how much I unnecessarily snack due to boredom when I’m doing uni work, hopefully this is time for a change. One snack I was very excited to have today though was one of my pieces of fruit (the first since the challenge began), until I peeled the orange and discovered that half of it was mouldy. It is genuinely disheartening when the only source of vitamin c and fresh fruit you're getting in a while is caked in a green crust. Oh well, I wasn’t letting the other half go to waste. My day was redeemed, however, by a banging destitute dinner: hotdog with fried onion and homemade chips. Not the healthiest grub but damn tasty.

Thanks to everyone for your positive response, it’s great to know we’ve sparked such interest!

Today’s Fun Fact: In 2011, 71% of asylum seekers in the UK were refused asylum in their first application.

Source: Asylum Statistics (Refugee Council)

Hangovers and Hotdogs

My destitution challenge began at 1am due to forgetting the time and continuing to drink after midnight. I necked a Chinese takeout box just before the hour, it was some last supper. My Saturday morning stomach was expecting the usual fry-up but it had to settle with a quarter tin of beans with hotdogs from a tin. I struggled to overcome the smell of dogfood as the tin clicked open and I had forgotten that these little limp sausages are cooked through boiling. Yes, I had to boil my sausages. I banged them in the frying pan after to make them feel a little more authentic. The overall result, however, was pretty tasty.

For dinner I had pasta, tuna, onion and a spoonful of tinned tomatoes. It wasn’t great so next time I’m going to try to make a thicker, more flavoursome sauce by cooking the tomatoes down with onion and sugar. So far destitution doesn’t feel too bad. I am dreading the next couple of days though where I’ll be in the house doing uni work, the one time that I want to snack through boredom. I’d better look forward to plain bread and the odd oaty biscuit.

Friday’s Answer: Less than 1% of the UK population are refugees:

Refugees: 0.4%

Supported asylum seekers: 0.7%

Today’s Fun Fact: Many Brits believe that asylum seekers get a cushy ride and choose to come to the UK to exploit benefits. In fact, most asylum seekers have no idea which country they are heading to and certainly have no idea about the ins and outs of our welfare system (they’re not given a how-to guide on the way!) When they do arrive, they receive 40% less benefits than the average Brit, until they are refused asylum – at that point they are cut off completely.

Source: Mobiles, Money and Mayhem: The Facts and Fibs About Asylum (Refugee Action)