Many of us live on tight budgets but few of those reading this will be at the extreme poverty level, having to subsist on the equivalent of $2.25 a day as 1.2 billion people in the world do.
The ''Live Below the Line'' challenge, from September 23 to 27, aims to raise awareness of the plight of world poverty and raise money for one of several charities.
Those taking the challenge, organised by the Global Poverty Project with eight major charity partners, are asked to spend no more than $2.25 a day on food and drink for five days - that's a total of $11.25 a person for the period.
This is the New Zealand equivalent of the sum the World Bank calculates is what 1.2 billion of the world's poorest people live on each day - but for them it has to cover everything, not only food.
One of the charities involved in the Live Below the Line challenge, Tear Fund, has asked food writers around the country for recipes that feed four people to fit within budget. Their contributions will be free on the website www.livebelowtheline.com/nz-tearfund from September 2.
People living below the line would be unlikely to have kitchens with much equipment - if they are lucky enough to have a house at all. They probably would not have a garden or land to grow their own vegetables or money or equipment to do so, nor the transport to shop around for the cheapest food.
I've worked on recipes that can be made with minimal equipment and just a source of heat for cooking.
Meat is mostly too expensive on an extreme poverty diet, although if you can find a bone to add to soup, it will improve the flavour and nutrition.
A staple carbohydrate like rice, pasta, or barley with a few vegetables, eggs or lentils for flavouring can also be filling.
On such an extreme budget, flavourings such as soy sauce, stock cubes, herbs, chilli, spices or tomato sauce, are mostly too expensive and have to be used sparingly, if at all. However, canned tomatoes at about 89c a tin can be affordable if spread over several portions.
Those who have taken the challenge in previous years say the food is necessarily bland and there's not enough of it so they are often hungry. To make the most of every last morsel of what you do have, it's a good idea to scrub rather than peel vegetables such as potatoes and carrots, as not only do you get the extra nutritional benefits of the skin, you don't waste anything.
Use the green tops and outside leaves of a leek, carrot tops if you have them, the stalks of cauliflower or broccoli, or outside cabbage leaves and celery leaves in soup where the long cooking will soften them and extract flavour.
Save vegetable cooking water to use for stock in soups or to cook rice in to add more flavour and nutrients.
It's also worth making larger portions of things like soup or pasta - you'll be able to afford a bit more and eat the dish over a couple of days (if you have a fridge to keep it safely).
Of course, you have to be careful to put aside tomorrow's portion before eating today's or you might be tempted to tuck into that too because the portions are necessarily small.
Brown rice is the same price as white so it make sense to use it for the extra nutrients.
But when it comes to eggs, there's an ethical dilemma - caged eggs are about $3.15 a dozen but free range or barn-laid eggs are significantly more expensive. Although I certainly don't recommend buying caged eggs, I've priced these recipes on them. As they say, beggars can't be choosers.
To drink, there's water. You can't even afford tea or instant coffee on $2.25 a day, but at least in New Zealand tap water, if not river water, is potable, unlike in some countries.
This is ultimate comfort food - it's what millions of poor Indians living on the street will eat, perhaps with roti or flatbread if they are lucky. It's satisfying and nutritious and if you can afford a little cumin and chilli it lifts the flavour. A couple of cloves of garlic cooked with the onion and lentils are a nice addition if you can afford it. It does, however, take more than one pan.
Ingredients
Serves 4 (about 74c each)
2 cups rice (preferably brown)
150g lentils (red or brown)
1 onion finely chopped
1 tsp turmeric (optional)
salt
1 Tbsp soy oil
1 tsp cumin seeds (optional)
a pinch of chilli flakes or powder (or to taste)
Method
Put the rice and four cups of water in a pot with a lid, bring to the boil, turn down to a simmer and leave to cook for about 20 minutes or until the water has been absorbed. Turn off the heat and leave to rest for at least 5 minutes.
Rinse any dust off the lentils and put in a pot with the onion and turmeric and season with salt. Cover with enough water to come about 3cm above the lentils. Put on the lid, bring to the boil and simmer for about 20 minutes until the lentils are soft.
Heat the oil in a pan, add the cumin seeds and chilli and allow to bubble until fragrant. Pour over the lentils.
This hearty soup is not only a filling meal in itself, but also a good way to use up bits of vegetables that you can't use in other ways. If you can find a cheap bone, add this as it will help flavour the soup. The barley swells and fills the pot so you can extend the soup to feed more people if needed. You could substitute rice if you like.
Ingredients
Serves 4 (About 70c each, depending on what you put in)
1 Tbsp oil
1 onion, finely sliced
4 carrots (scrubbed and finely chopped or grated)
outer leaves and green part of a leek, washed and finely sliced
any other vegetables or vegetable scraps you happen to have - pumpkin, outside cabbage leaves, potatoes, silverbeet, celery leaves, cauliflower or broccoli stalks
a bone if you have one
200g barley
1 stock cube (optional)
salt to taste
Method
Heat the oil in a large pot. Add the finely chopped onion, carrot and leek.Allow to soften and colour slightly, about five minutes.
Add barley, any other vegetables, lots of water, and the crumbled stock cube or bone if using.
Bring to the boil then lower the heat and simmer for 30-40 minutes until the barley is soft and chewy and the vegetables well-cooked.
Season with salt to taste, remembering the stock cube, if you are using one, will be salty.
This is nice with a salad and chutney, but an extreme poverty budget won't allow that.
Ingredients
Serves 4 (about 80c each)
1-2 Tbsp oil or butter
1 onion, finely chopped
500g potatoes, scrubbed and chopped into -1cm cubes
6 eggs
salt to taste
Method
Heat half the oil in a pan, add the onion and potatoes and cook slowly, stirring from time to time until the potatoes are cooked and slightly browned.
Whisk the eggs in a bowl with a fork. Tip the cooked onion and potatoes into the eggs, stir and add salt to taste. Wipe out the pan and put back on the heat with the rest of the oil.
Pour in the egg and vegetable mixture and spread it out. Cook over very low heat for about 5-8 minutes until the bottom of the frittata is nicely brown.
Place a plate over the frying pan and turn it over so the frittata is upside down on the plate. Slide it back into the pan and cook the other side.
Cut into wedges and serve hot or cold.