1/3/09

Breakfast
I tried something different for breakfast today. In perusing CookingLight.com for recipes that call for yogurt (I’m trying to find a use for this huge tub of fat free plain that I bought), I came across a breakfast entrée that sounded good. As usual, I used what I had on hand to make this recipe: regular peanut butter, not reduced fat (Skippy Natural to be exact), the plain fat free yogurt, a whole wheat tortilla, and regular wheat germ (I wouldn’t even know where to look for honey-crunch wheat germ). I made just one tortilla, using 2 tablespoons of peanut butter mixed with 2 tablespoons of yogurt, and sprinkled about a teaspoon of orange juice and wheat germ over it with a little cinnamon. I used a whole medium banana cut into small slices and rolled it up. It was so good, and kept me going all morning without a snack! Overall, I would rate this as an easy, nutritious, great tasting and inexpensive breakfast-the best kind :)
The recipe isn’t really needed, but here it is anyway:

http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=549754

All together, this meal provided:
Grains: 1 ½ oz whole (tortilla)
Fruits: ¾ cup (banana)
Vegetables: 0
Milk: 0 (the yogurt wasn’t really enough to count toward anything)
Meats & beans: 2 oz (peanut butter)
Oils: 2 tsp (peanut butter)

The cost of this meal was approximately: $0.80

Lunch
I had leftover falafel for lunch today. I was out of the yogurt sauce (should have made more-it was too good) so I topped 2 chickpea patties with about 2 tablespoons of feta and a cup of spinach. Unfortunately, the patties were a little dry after heating in the microwave. It would have been nice to reheat them in the oven, but I didn’t have one available since I was at work today. The sandwich fell apart pretty badly, but it didn’t stop me from eating it-I just used a fork and knife! I also had about an ounce of Baked Lays potato chips on the side.

All together, this meal provided:
Grains: 2 oz whole (pita bread)
Fruits: 0
Vegetables: 1 ½ cups (spinach, chips, and counting one chickpea patty as ½ cup)
Milk: ¼ cup (feta cheese)
Meats & beans: 2 oz (chickpea patty)
Oils: 0

The cost of this meal was approximately: $1.78

Afternoon snack
The leftovers I had for lunch were good, but I had a feeling I would be hungry later in the day, since I was working today and would not get to eat dinner until after 8. I had another plan to get more milk products into my diet, which I was ready to execute today. I bought a large (16 oz) block of mozzarella cheese and cut it into 1-inch cubes. I had two cubes with 9 whole wheat (All Bran) crackers. Each cube counted as ½ cup of milk, for a whole cup total. What an easy (and delicious) way to get milk products in!

All together, this meal provided:
Grains: ½ oz whole (crackers)
Fruits: 0
Vegetables: 0
Milk: 1 cup (mozzarella cheese)
Meats & beans: 0
Oils: 0

The cost of this meal was approximately: $0.63

Dinner
Tonight I made a pizza for dinner. I got a pizza stone as a gift, and was eager to try it out for the first time. I made my whole wheat crust (recipe in an earlier entry) and topped it with pesto sauce, fresh steamed spinach, sautéed chicken, sundried tomatoes and mozzarella cheese. The pizza stone worked great and gave the pizza a much more evenly cooked, crispier crust. The only problem was that the pizza totally stuck! I guess I should have oiled up the stone a little better before I placed the pizza on it. With some effort (along with two knives and a spatula) I was able to retrieve the pizza, mostly intact. I had 3 slices, along with a large glass (10 oz) of 100% apple juice…it was very good!

All together, this meal provided:
Grains: 3 oz whole (pizza crust)
Fruits: 1 ¼ cups (apple juice)
Vegetables: 1 ½ cups (about 2 cups spinach and ¼ cup of dried tomatoes on my portion)
Milk: 1 ½ cups (about ½ cup of mozzarella cheese on my portion)
Meats & beans: 2 oz (chicken)
Oils: 2 tsp (pesto sauce)

The cost of this meal was approximately: $2.58

How did I do today?
Grains: 7 oz out of 6 oz (all were whole)
Fruits: 2 cups out of 2 cups
Vegetables: 3 cups out of 2 ½ cups
Milk: 2 ¾ cups out of 3 cups
Meats & beans: 6 oz out of 5 ½ oz
Oils: 4 tsp out of 6 tsp

Total cost for the day: $5.79