On the road (again)...

Breakfast
Because I don't like to pass up free food, I at least had to go and check out the free continental breakfast offered by the hotel. They were offering a few different cereals (most looked colorful and sugary), donuts, bagels (not whole grain), muffins, and breads that could be toasted if desired. They also had coffee, tea and juice that comes from a machine. After perusing the small selection, I decided that I would make my own breakfast in the room with the foods I had brought with me. I left with only a (very weak) coffee in hand. I suppose you get what you pay for! Using the supplies I brought along, I made my own breakfast of granola cereal mixed with fat free vanilla yogurt, along with a glass of orange juice (which came from my container at home-so I know it's 100% juice!).
The coffee was definitely awful-I have been totally spoiled by making coffee and espresso at home lately. Luckily, I had a gift card to Starbucks that was given to me for Christmas, so I stopped by the closest one on the way back from my meeting (which I'm lucky I stayed awake through due to lack of caffeine). I got a tall skinny cinnamon dolche latte. This is my favorite sugar free flavoring that they offer. Since there are only a few calories in the syrup and the coffee, you are really just drinking a cup of skim milk...which I got to count toward my daily recommendation! Yea for Starbucks-and giftcards that help you pay for it (thanks, Mom!)

All together, this meal provided:
Grains: 1 oz whole (granola cereal)
Fruits: 3/4 cup (OJ)
Vegetables: 0
Milk: 1 1/2 cups (yogurt and latte)
Meats & beans: 0
Oils: 0

The cost of this meal was approximately: $1.03

Lunch
We headed out after checkout, so I had lunch on the road again. Again, I had half of a bagel with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of peanut butter (no jelly this time). I also snacked on about 1/4 cup of dried apricots and 1 1/2 ounces of Baked Lays potato chips during the drive.

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

The cost of this meal was approximately: $1.13

Dinner
We got in early enough to have dinner at home, and I was ready for some comfort food after the long drive. I decided to make a lentil stew, which I have tried before (no experiments today). It's another gem from CookingLight.com, with a few substitutions. First, I used fresh spinach instead of chard. I like chard just fine, but the selection they had at the store tonight looked a little wilted. I also substituted dried parsley and onions for fresh. I didn't use much, as I figured the dried would go a long way. I actually just forgot to buy the onion at the store, but it wasn't missed..the dried onions provided just enough flavor.
I did top with plain, fat free yogurt. This really makes it extra yummy! At first, I was intimidated by the dried lentils, but this is actually a very simple recipe. Once it's in the pot, you just let it simmer and it practically cooks itself. This soup could be a meal in itself, but I decided to make a grilled cheese to serve on the side (gotta get those milk products). I sliced up about 2 oz worth of the block mozzarella and grilled it on whole wheat bread with about 2 teaspoons of Smart Balance Light. I had about 2 cups of the soup, along with my grilled cheese sandwich and a cup of blueberry pomegranate juice (Old Orchard).

Recipe:
http://find.myrecipes.com/recipes/recipefinder.dyn?action=displayRecipe&recipe_id=549829

All together, this meal provided:
Grains: 2 oz whole (bread)
Fruits: 1 cup (juice)
Vegetables: 1 3/4 cups (carrots and spinach in soup, along with 1 cup of the lentils counted toward vegetables)
Milk: 1 cup (mozzarella cheese)
Meats & beans: 2 oz (1/2 cup lentils counted toward meats & beans)
Oils: 1 tsp (smart balance light)

The cost of this meal was approximately: $1.17

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

Total cost for the day: $3.33