Trying some new things...

Breakfast

This morning I had 1 1/4 cups of Raisin Bran (Market Pantry) with a cup of skim milk, and an 8 ounce glass of orange juice. I decided to try something new with my orange juice: I bought the Old Orchard frozen concentrate and reconstituted it with water. It's still 100% juice, and the taste was still great-plus, I saved about $0.10 per 8 ounce serving compared to the Schnucks brand in the carton that I usually buy. The variety I bought even had calcium added, so in my quest to spend the least amount of money without sacrificing nutrition, this was definitely a good buy!
A little later in the morning, I had a blueberry muffin at work along with another cup of coffee. I usually have the bran muffin, but the blueberry wasn't bad!

All together, this meal provided:
Grains: 3 oz (1 1/2 whole from cereal, and 1 1/2 from muffin)
Fruits: 1 1/4 cup (1 from OJ and 1/4 from raisins in cereal)
Vegetables: 0
Milk: 1 cup (skim milk)
Meats & beans: 0
Oils: 0

The cost of this meal was approximately: $0.95

Lunch

I decided to try a few new things at the store last time. I read an article about budget foods (wonder why I was drawn to that one!) and was glad to see that I am already eating many of the things it suggests (spinach, sweet potatoes, beans, yogurt and carrots).
http://www.livingstondaily.com/article/20090119/NEWS01/301190017
The article also gave me some new ideas, which was nice because I feel like I am starting to repeat meals a little too much. One of my goals is to not eat the same thing for breakfast two days in a row-which I am achieving-but I am starting to go with an every other day pattern for certain things, such as oatmeal. This article also reminded me that I need to be including fish in my diet-especially fatty fish like tuna and salmon, which contains omega-3 fatty acids. Omega-3's are extremely important for heart health, and as a nutrition student I should know better than to leave them out! I decided that tuna would be a good, simple place to start. I almost bought the canned kind, but then saw that the single serving (2 oz) packets were on sale, and the price difference was negligible, so I went for it. Today I had the whole 2 oz package of tuna (in water, not oil) on 6 Triscuit crackers (low sodium variety). I also had a 6 oz cup of Schnucks fat free cherry yogurt and an Empire apple.

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

The cost of this meal was approximately: $2.53

Dinner
Tonight I made another deliciously simple recipe from The Vegetarian 5-Ingredient Gourmet cookbook: Chickpeas with Tomatoes and Brown Rice. I have made this one once before and was very impressed by its simplicity and great taste. I only made about half of the rice that the recipe calls for, because I was only cooking for two and also because I wanted more of the other ingredients in each serving. First, I boiled 1 1/2 cups of water and added about 3/4 cup of brown rice (Uncle Ben's-not the instant kind). I reduced the heat and allowed the rice to absorb the water for about 30 minutes, then added a 15.5 oz can of rinsed S&W low sodium chickpeas and a 15.5 oz can of Schnucks no salt added diced tomatoes (undrained). After mixing well, I added cumin, salt and pepper to taste. I probably used about 2 teaspoons of the cumin, and maybe 1/8 teaspoon each of the salt and pepper (I'd hate to ruin the "low sodium" aspect I was trying to achieve here). The actual recipe calls for sliced green onions, but I left them out as I did not have them on hand, and didn't think they'd be missed. Instead, I added a little dried cilantro to the top of the dish before I served it. I also made a spinach salad with walnuts, feta cheese, and low-fat raspberry vinaigrette dressing. My portion was about 1 3/4 cups of the chickpea, tomato and rice mixture and 2 cups of spinach salad with 2 tablespoons of walnuts, about 1/4 cup of feta cheese, and a tablespoon of dressing. I am off tomorrow (no work, AND no practicum!), so I decided to pick up a bottle of wine from World Market to have with dinner tonight. From the Mediterranean region, this mix of Tempranillo and Merlot was the perfect compliment to the meal...I even made sure by having a second glass!

All together, this meal provided:
Grains: 1 1/2 oz whole (brown rice)
Fruits: 0
Vegetables: 1 1/2 cups (1 from spinach and 1/2 from tomatoes)
Milk: 3/4 cup (feta cheese)
Meats & beans: 3 oz (1 from walnuts and 2 from chickpeas)
Oils: 2 teaspoons (1 from walnuts and 1 from dressing)

The cost of this meal was approximately: $1.77 (does not include the wine-although it was only 5.99 for the bottle...a great value for the quality!)

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

Total cost for the day: $5.24