On the road to Chicago (suburbs)...

Breakfast
Today we leave for Chicago. It's only for a day-just one night, really, as we will be driving back tomorrow afternoon. Travel can be expensive, and I wanted to make this trip as cheap as possible. I booked the cheapest hotel I could find, but I think the real expense with traveling can be the food. For that reason, I packed a cooler with ice and brought along some yogurt, juice and cheese. I also brought a bag full of portable pantry items: peanut butter, jelly, bread, bagels, chips, dried fruit, cereal and crackers. This would serve as "food for the road" on the way there and back, as well as breakfast in the morning. I figured we could go out for dinner, as it would be a shame to miss the cuisine this city has to offer. I had breakfast at home before we hit the road this morning, but I still wanted minimal effort (and minimal dishes), so I made a toasted bagel with 2 tablespoons of cream cheese with a 6 ounce cup of fat free yogurt. Now it's time to get moving!

All together, this meal provided:
Grains: 2 1/2 oz whole (bagel)
Fruits: 0
Vegetables: 0
Milk: 3/4 cup (yogurt)
Meats & beans: 0
Oils: 0

The cost of this meal was approximately: $0.94

Lunch-on the road
When we stopped for a driving break, I made half a bagel with a tablespoon of peanut butter and a little grape jelly. I also had a banana. A very "driving friendly" meal!

All together, this meal provided:
Grains: 1 1/2 oz whole (bagel)
Fruits: 3/4 cup (banana)
Vegetables: 0
Milk: 0
Meats & beans: 1 oz (peanut butter)
Oils: 1 tsp (peanut butter)

The cost of this meal was approximately: $0.50

Snack
We got to the hotel in the late afternoon, and decided to rest for awhile before going out for dinner. Besides, I needed to find the best place in the area to eat so I needed to do some research via the Internet! I had brought my mozzarella cheese cubes along, so I had about 1 1/2 of them with 9 All-Bran crackers (my new favorite snack!). I also had a 6 oz glass of orange juice, using the lovely plastic cup provided by the hotel.

All together, this meal provided:
Grains: 1/2 oz whole (crackers)
Fruits: 3/4 cup (OJ)
Vegetables: 0
Milk: 3/4 cup (mozzarella cheese)
Meats & beans: 0
Oils: 0

The cost of this meal was approximately: $0.77

Dinner
I haven't had Indian food in awhile, and this place right down the street from where we were staying got really good reviews. I looked at their menu, and their prices weren't too high so we decided to go there. To my surprise, they had a dinner buffet! I love buffets when it comes to Indian food, because that way I get to try some of everything. I am not that well versed when it comes to the names of the dishes for this type of cuisine, so it really helps to be able to try a little at a time so it doesn't get wasted. All of the Indian restaurants I usually go to in St. Louis only offer a buffet during lunch. I definitely did try a little of everything-about 1/2 cup of rice with 1/2 cup each of three different vegetarian entrees, 2 different vegetable samosas, a little of each meat entree, and a couple pieces of naan. It was awesome-a bit on the pricey side but Matt took care of the check (such a gentleman). There was dessert too-rice pudding with what looked like blended up carrot cake. I did sample a little-but it was gone too quick to take a picture!

All together, this meal provided:
Grains: 3 oz (naan, rice and wrappers for samosas)
Fruits: 0
Vegetables: 2 cups (vegetable entrees plus veggies in samosas)
Milk: 0
Meats & beans: 5 oz (chicken entrees)
Oils: 2 tsp (fried samosas)

The cost of this meal was approximately: $0.00 (I think the buffet was about $12.00 per person)

How did I do today?
Grains: 7 1/2 oz out of 6 oz (3 1/2 were whole)
Fruits: 1 3/4 cups out of 2 cups
Vegetables: 2 cups out of 2 ½ cups
Milk: 1 1/4 cups out of 3 cups
Meats & beans: 6 1/2 oz out of 5 ½ oz
Oils: 3 tsp out of 6 tsp

Total cost for the day: $2.21