Beans and rice experiment - checking in at the midpoint

We made it this far (day 5) in our experiment week of eating only beans and rice, mangoes, so I thought I'd give you the highlights (and low points so far).

• It started getting hard yesterday. It's really hard today. Derek is "so over it" and I had to text a buddy for some encouragement when I came home from the pool hungry and tired and just wanting a snack. I'm pretty sure someone described needing to scrape the beans off the spoon at breakfast time.
• I'm realizing how rarely I feel hungry. Thanks to my usual, "the healthy snack", I normally just snack, beat the hunger and move on. This happens every day around 10 am and again around 4pm. I sure have missed those snacks!
• It's taken a few days to try to train myself to stop and pray when I feel hungry pains. My first reaction is grumpiness. My goodness, it is hard to be cheerful when you are hungry. How blessed I am to not be hungry on a regular basis and to not be truly hungry even now!
• I've enjoyed praying more for the children and people in Léogâne. Yesterday, my prayer thought I shared with Derek in the afternoon was this: "The Haitian Mamas in the orphan village have 8 to 10 kids each and eat 2 meals! I'm hungry on my 3 meals, tired from the heat and chasing my 3 kids, seeing much more work ahead of me this evening. And they do so much more! Lord, give me the strength to keep working hard and being a good wife and mom. Please help the village Mamas to do the same knowing they are working for you. 
• I'm not tired of the taste of the red beans and rice. Man, it's delicious! Especially when I make this recipe I found, substituting onion for shallot and cooking with half a fresh jalapeno floating in it.  I'm hungry enough by the time it's meal time again, I'm very thankful to have the beans and rice. (That being said, it's still a strange taste for breakfast).
• In 2004, Derek and I vacationed in Costa Rica, where they served black beans and rice alongside scrambled eggs every morning for breakfast. I joked then that black beans and rice is the only food I think I could eat every single day. How ironic! I'm pretty sure it's the only food I've ever said that about.

• I'm glad I included black coffee. I don't drink nearly as much coffee when I'm not loving the taste. But, I'm so thankful that caffeine detox headaches were not part of this program. I've felt pretty low on energy these last few days.Not sure if that's just busy summer + getting ready to move or if the reduction in calories is affecting me too.
• If I deprive myself of food this much, it's easy to find delight in a simple food once you get it back. Or in mangoes. I'm thankful for their sweet juiciness that is like a dessert at the end of my meal.
• Baby Mia is too funny. If I give her anything different to eat and then eat my rice and beans in front of her, she just grunts and complains until I give her beans and rice too. Same with mangoes. So, she was the only one not needing to participate, and she's had beans and rice and mangoes for well, uh, part of every meal so far.
• It has been really hard for Kaley but I also think it has really sunk in. She was not able to keep having it for breakfast (made it 2 days!) and she doesn't like mango so we subbed in bananas (which she didn't like but now she does, so that's a big win!) At dinner, Kaley listed what 7 food she would choose for a week: pizza, ice cream, pancakes, french toast, cookies, steak, and bacon I'm pretty sure were her list. Let's just say beans and rice didn't make the top 7.
• Amaris doesn't complain, she just eats slow. She really likes the mangoes too. She really likes to pray for the kids in Haiti and this has been a good reminder to do so more. She is counting down to pizza night, I must say! Each night Amaris will say "I can't believe the people in Haiti survive eating only this all the time"
• What a privilege to share this experience with our kids! I've been honest about our reactions overall, but I have to say I could not be more PROUD of them!

• Beans and rice is cheap! My grocery runs have been so EASY! Rice, beans, onion, jalapeno, milk. Check and done! Each batch of beans and rice costs me $2 to make and feeds our whole family 2 meals or lasts one day of the experiment (because we're eating different amounts at different times). Each mango is roughly $1 and we've gone through about 2 per day. Wow! Not sure yet the total amount we've saved to donate to Haiti yet but this is sure a way to make room in our budget.
• I've been so encouraged by the friends who have done a meal or meals along with me and shared their thoughts to encourage us. Thank you! I'm also thankful for my bible study group members who each did their own version of food-change fast this past week. If you haven't joined us yet, please consider it for a meal. It's such a tangible way to talk with your family about needy children in Haiti, carve out a little extra money that can go a long way in Haiti, and gain an increased appreciation for what we have!
• I'd like to find a way to incorporate the rice and beans in a more limited way into our regular diet. Not sure what that looks like yet. We may need some time off before we decide how. 
• This is going to end after only 6 days. We have a fridge, freezer, and pantry with too much perishable food to finish before we move. If I buy beans and rice for a 7th day but throw away other expensive food in the end, then I think I missed the point.