12/29/08

Breakfast
My family is coming over tomorrow, and I have so much to do to get ready for their visit. I needed to start the day off with something comforting that would give me lots of energy, so I chose oatmeal (still using up the packets) with skim milk, ¼ cup of raisins and about 2 tablespoons of walnuts. I also made a sugar free caramel cappuccino (I finally figured out how to use the steamer) with about ½ cup of milk. It turned out pretty good, although the froth kind of got out of hand! Hopefully my steaming skills will improve with time.

All together, this meal provided:
Grains: 1 oz whole (oatmeal)
Fruits: ½ cup (raisins)
Vegetables: 0
Milk: 1 cup (1/2 cup of skim milk in both oatmeal and cappuccino)
Meats & beans: 1 oz (walnuts)
Oils: 1 tsp (walnuts)

The cost of this meal was approximately: $0.94

Lunch
I had a lot to do before I had to be at work this afternoon-I still had to plan what I would be serving my family for dinner tomorrow night, plus go shopping for everything I needed. My Dad is very picky (I wonder where I got it from all those years!) so my main goal was to plan something that he would eat. This is no easy feat!
After I got back from the store, I had some whole wheat rotini pasta (about 1 ½ cups) with ¾ cup of marinara sauce (Prego brand, from the jar) and ¼ cup of shredded mozzarella cheese (reduced fat store brand). I also steamed about ½ cup of frozen spinach in the microwave and added a teaspoon of Smart Balance Light.

All together, this meal provided:
Grains: 3 oz whole (pasta)
Fruits: 0
Vegetables: 1 ¼ cups (pasta sauce and spinach)
Milk: ¾ cup (mozzarella cheese)
Meats & beans: 0
Oils: 1 tsp (Smart Balance)

The cost of this meal was approximately: $1.08

Snack
I grabbed another freebee bag of Baked Ruffles potato chips tonight, because I was starving at work and didn't have any snacks with me. I forgot to take a picture, but it was a small bag (about an ounce) and counted as 1/2 cup of vegetables.

Dinner
We had Indian style food for dinner tonight, inspired by a girl I work with whose mother makes amazing samosas. She brought some in a couple days ago and, unable to resist these spicy veggie filled pockets, I took a few home with me. Matt picked up some pre-made masala sauce from Trader Joes (I wouldn’t dare try and prepare this myself after my last failed attempt at making Indian food), which I served with chicken over brown (whole grain) rice. I also had half of a sweet potato, baked in the microwave with Smart Balance and a few shakes of cinnamon. The cinnamon was a very nice touch-I had never thought to add it, but someone suggested it to me and I’m glad I tried it. My portion was about 4 ounces of chicken with ½ cup of sauce, ½ cup of rice and half of a large sweet potato. I also had a glass of Blueberry Pomegranate 100% juice and, of course, the yummy samosas! Thanks Yash’s Mom!!

All together, this meal provided:
Grains: 1 ½ oz (brown rice=1 whole, samosa dough= ½ oz)
Fruits: 1 cup (juice)
Vegetables: 1 ½ cups (sweet potato and vegetables in samosa)
Milk: 0
Meats & beans: 4 oz (chicken breast)
Oils: 2 tsp (fried samosas)

The cost of this meal was approximately: $1.86

How did I do today?
Grains: 5 ½ oz out of 6 oz (5 were whole)
Fruits: 1 1/2 cups out of 2 cups
Vegetables: 2 1/2 cups out of 2 1/2 cups
Milk: 1 3/4 cups out of 3 cups
Meats & beans: 5 oz out of 5 1/2 oz
Oils: 4 tsp out of 6 tsp
Total cost for the day: $4.21

It was a good day for everything but milk...I guess I should have made a bigger cappucino!