FAQs: If I participate...

... do I really need to eat ONLY rice and beans?

Good question. I guess the short answer is: "No, that's up to you."

However, our intent is to raise awareness and funds through doing something challenging together, and to experience the limited diet of many people in Nicaragua and other parts of the world. While this is supposed to be hard, it's up to you to determine how much you want to challenge yourself. You might decide to commit to eating eggs for breakfast, then having beans and rice for lunch and dinner. Or, you could decide to use what’s remaining in your fridge to add to the meals. To challenge ourselves, we plan on doing variations on only beans and rice, with basic sauces and seasonings (no meat) for every meal for 7 days, and we will also supplement our meals by taking vitamins. It’s possible we won’t last the whole week on the diet, but we will try, and we will share our struggles on this blog. 

So you might also ask, what level of "cheating" is acceptable? I'm not totally sure... Here are some of my thoughts: 

• spices already in your pantry (like garlic salt, onion powder, ground pepper) - these are OK;
• canned sauces already in your pantry (like tomato paste) - maybe, and possibly OK if they are basic and not fancy (no gourmet basil pesto);
• canned veggies already in your pantry (like corn)- maybe, but I'm not sure... and definitely no fresh veggies or even potatoes; 
• rice pudding for breakfast (needs sugar and milk) - maybe... variations of this are traditional in many Latin American and Asian countries - like Arroz con Leche or Filipino Champorado. I would say definitely no chocolate unless it is cocoa powder already in your pantry, but even that is probably bending the rules too much. Adding sugar, that might be OK.  

What level of flexibility would you be comfortable with on this diet?