Day 40: Chocolate Zucchini Muffins

Day 40 Vitals:

Weight:  270 lbs.
Mood:  Exhausted
Water Consumed:  2 Nalgenes
Breakfast: 2 Hard Boiled Eggs, Chocolate Zuccini Muffin
Lunch: Orange, Peanut Butter Sandwich
Dinner: Chicken wings, sweet potato, green beans
Hangry Thought of the Day: Whoever stole my wife's phone, you can go f#$% yourself!

All right, day 40 is here!  We are quickly approaching the mid-point of the project.  Today we will be looking at another recipe from Leanne Brown's Good and Cheap.  Today we will be making a batch of Chocolate Zucchini Muffins!

Ingredients:

• butter or vegetable oil, for the muffin tin 
• 2 cups grated zucchini (start with 1 large or 2 small zucchinis) 
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour 
• 1½ cups rolled oats 
• 1½ cups sugar 
• ½ cup cocoa powder 
• 2 teaspoons baking soda (I used 6 teaspoons of Baking Powder)
• 1 teaspoon salt 
• 4 eggs 
• 1 cup plain yogurt

Instructions:

Pre-heat the oven at 350 F

Oil 24 count muffin tins, or line with paper liners

Grate the Zucchini

Combine flour, oats, sugar, cocoa powder, and baking soda in a large bowl.

Mix the grated zuuchini, yogurt, and eggs.  Slowly add the dry ingredients.

Poor into prepared muffin tin

Bake in over for 25 minutes, or until a toothpick can be inserted and come out clean.

So if you are on a restricted budget and need your chocolate fix, this is the perfect recipe to try.  They have a nice texture, and make for a GREAT breakfast treat!

Don't forget, if you like this blog please help us in trying to end Childhood Hunger here in the Twin Cities.  Click the link the FINNEGANS logo in the right hand panel, and donate what you can.  Every dollar helps to reach our goal of $2,500 for this GREAT cause where 98% of your dollar will go back to the community!  Thanks for you help!

You can find us on the web at the following places:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/tableforoneMN/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/TableForOneMN?lang=en

Day 30: Childhood Poverty Statistics

Day 30 Vitals:

Weight:  269 lbs.
Mood:  Awesome it's game night
Water Consumed:  2 Nalgenes
Breakfast:Peanut Butter/Jelly Granola Bar
Lunch: Orange, Pasta with Broccoli
Dinner: Taco Salad
Hangry Thought of the Day: My YouTube queue is getting to big...

Part of Table for One's mission is to raise awareness about Childhood Poverty in Minnesota.  Childhood Poverty is one of those issues we should all be uniting together on.  Whether you are a liberal or a conservative, an atheist, agnostic, or theist.  The fact that there are Children that have to worry about food, instead of playing and being happy, is something we can work on together to end.  We might disagree on how to get there, but we should all WANT to come to the table to talk about it!

Before we get into the statistics, there is something you can do about it today!  Join the fight and donate to the FINNEGANS Community Fund, and help support our project.  It's a 501(c)(3) organization, and your donation is a tax write off!

My statistics today come from the website of the Minnesota Department of Health.  The most up to date statistics is 2011.  Over the last decade these metrics have been trending up, so there is a good likelihood they are even worse today.

First off let's talk a little bit about why you should care.  Even if you are the most self centered person, you should still care about children in poverty, because you are paying for them, and more then just SNAP benefits.  Children in poverty are more likely to need hospitalization for asthma, lead poisoning, and heart disease.  YOU end up paying for those visits by increased health premiums and bills from when you need to visit the doctor.  

Poverty has been increasing in Minnesota.  As of 2011 it was up to 12% for all ages, which is up five percentage points from 2000.  In comparison, we are still well below the national average which sits at 15.5% for 2011.

Poverty is highest among children.  18% of children under the age of five live in poverty, children under the age of 18 are at about 15%.

Childhood poverty is centered around Central Minnesota, north of the cities.

Thanks for supporting our blog, we hope that these numbers help shed some light on children living right here in our home state.  Please help out, and let's put an end to childhood poverty!

Don't forget, if you like this blog please help us in trying to end Childhood Hunger here in the Twin Cities.  Click the link the FINNEGANS logo in the right hand panel, and donate what you can.  Every dollar helps to reach our goal of $2,500 for this GREAT cause where 98% of your dollar will go back to the community!  Thanks for you help!

You can find us on the web at the following places:

Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/tableforoneMN/

Twitter:  https://twitter.com/TableForOneMN?lang=en

Please help spread the word of this project!