Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Breakfast
In my attempt to make things as cheap as possible, I went for a slightly less convenient method this morning when I made my oatmeal. Instead of using a single serving package, I measured out ¼ cup of quick oats and heated them with water in the microwave. I added my normal toppings (1/4 cup of dried fruit, ½ cup of skim milk, and 11 (1/2 oz) sliced almonds). After tasting, I realized it needed a little something more, so I mixed in about a teaspoon of brown sugar. It was still very good, and saved me about $0.35 for the meal. It just doesn’t seem necessary to buy the packets anymore, because it is just as easy to prepare quick cooking oats. The only difference is that I had to measure the oats out, rather than open up a packet. It takes the same amount of time, and there is less trash. The environment will thank me :)
I also tried a lower cost version of orange juice. I bought the regular juice version instead of the kind with added calcium. It works out to about $0.10 less per glass, and I figure this will be an extra motivation for me to incorporate more milk products into my diet.

All together, this meal provided:
Grains: 1 oz whole (1/2 cup cooked oatmeal)
Fruits: 1 ½ cups (orange juice and dried fruit)
Vegetables: 0
Milk: ½ cup (skim milk)
Meats & beans: 1 oz
Oils: 0
The cost of this meal was approximately: $1.00

Lunch
I had a Boca “chicken” patty in the freezer, so I decided to make a fake chicken sandwich for lunch today. I like Boca products, but I will admit they are a bit of a luxury item at $3.69 for a package of four. I have come to realize that it can actually be cheaper to use real meat at times! Either way, it was right there in my freezer and I don’t like to let things go to waste. As directed, I baked the patty in the oven for about 15 minutes. I added a slice of mozzarella cheese and had it on a whole wheat bun. I also had the rest of the leftover lemon & herb broccoli from last night, and a 4 oz glass of apple juice.

All together, this meal provided:
Grains: 3 oz (2 whole from hamburger bun, 1 from breading on “chicken” patty)
Fruits: ½ cup (apple juice)
Vegetables: 1 ½ cups (broccoli)
Milk: ¾ cup (mozzarella cheese)
Meats & beans: 1 oz (“chicken” patty)
Oils: 1 tsp (smart balance on broccoli)
The cost of this meal was approximately: $1.86

Dinner
Tonight was date night! We went to Tei Too, a new Thai restaurant in Webster Groves. We’ve been there a few times and have really enjoyed the food (except we always get the same thing). Tonight, we got our usual: Tei’s chicken satay with peanut sauce and Drunken Noodles with tofu. The noodles were extra spicy tonight, but that was a good thing because I have had a bit of a stuffy sinus thing going on lately, due to the freezing cold weather. We always share both entrees, and I had about 2 cups of the noodles with vegetables and tofu, and 2 ounces of chicken satay, with a tablespoon of the peanut sauce. The sauce on the noodles tasted a little different tonight, possibly a different cook this time…still very good though. I didn’t have to pay, either-I love date night!

All together, this meal provided:
Grains: 2 oz (rice noodles)
Fruits: 0
Vegetables: ¾ cup (mixed vegetables)
Milk: 0
Meats & beans: 4 oz (chicken satay, peanut sauce, and tofu)
Oils: 3 tsp (peanut sauce + I’m assuming the drunken noodles are sautéed in oil)
The cost of this meal was approximately: $0.00 (actual cost=$6.28 for the portion I ate)

Snack
I love Thai food, but they rarely offer any dairy products on the menu. Because I realized that I was running short for the day, I decided to have a cup of yogurt as a snack later in the evening. I still came up short for the day, but a girl can only eat so much yogurt!

All together, this meal provided:
Grains: 0
Fruits: 0
Vegetables: 0
Milk: ¾ cup (6 oz cup of yogurt)
Meats & beans: 0
Oils: 0
The cost of this meal was approximately: $0.50

How did I do today?
Grains: 6 oz out of 6 oz (3 were whole)
Fruits: 2 cups out of 2 cups
Vegetables: 2 ¼ cups out of 2 ½ cups
Milk: 1 ¾ cups out of 3 cups
Meats & beans: 6 oz out of 5 ½ oz
Oils: 4 tsp out of 6 tspTotal cost for the day: $3.37