Adventures in Parenting: Toddler Meal Prep.

Earlier this year, Lil' Man's daycare noted that they were going to be discontinuing serving meals in 2020.  We were a little frustrated in the moment, but eventually got on board--the director noted that it was the only way they could afford to give their teachers competitive wage increases to go along with state minimum wage increases without raising tuition.  And honestly, they're great teachers who deserve to be paid well, and the tuition cost is already competitive or lower than most of the other schools in the area.  So, we can deal with learning to pack lunches.

I got pretty good at family meal planning within the last year, and after talking with one of the moms in my church group (a single mom of two), realized that streamlining would be the best way to go.  Make a schedule and stick with it.

Can I just say...whoever out there who is in charge of coming up with a monthly menu for schools and daycares... y'all are rockstars.  This is NOT easy.  You want them to have variety, but also give them things they'll eat readily without prodding in a limited lunch period.  You want it to be balanced and hit the food groups, but not end up with food waste.  You want quick & convenient options, but not too processed.  

Then there's also the challenge of finding things they'll eat cold, when they've gotten used to hot lunches every day, without defaulting to a PB&J every day (even though it's REALLY tempting). I spent a bunch of time searching for things like "sneaking veggies into foods" and taking pics of pre-packaged foods at the store so I could compare prices.

Anyway, we came up with a plan.  We have yet to IMPLEMENT the plan, since it doesn't start until January 2, 2020, but I'll try to remember to follow up in a month or so and report back in as to whether it was a failure or success.

First, we made a list of things we know he'll eat, divided up by proteins, veggies, and fruits.  Fruits are no problem in our house, but he'll only eat 2 raw veggies:  carrots and broccoli.  Both ONLY with some sort of dip.  

Then, we came up with a schedule (the school will provide snacks for $1.50/day, but we have SO much snack stuff at home right now):

This might shift a bit over time, and depending on what things come home with him at the end of the day, but it's a starting point.

Next:  Lil' Man needs a lunchbox.  Thankfully, his Nana hooked him up for Christmas with this awesome dino box from Bentology.

Nana also loaded him down at Christmas with a poop-load of gummi snacks, rice krispy treats, crackers, and pouches...because she's a Nana, and that's her job. :)

Which is awesome...but it also means we have to find a place for it all in our tiny pantry and get organized.  So I guess it's a good thing the Hubs picked up a bunch of these plastic baskets at Menards over Black Friday (free after online rebate).  

We also picked up these plastic containers at Wal-Mart (Black Friday deal), which fit in his lunch box and also work for meal-prepping for myself and The Hubs' lunches as well.

I've been trying to lean toward Mediterranean diet-type options...more successful some days than others.

So we'll see how it goes. If you have any tips to share, please leave them in the comments!

21 Day Keto Diet: Day 1

Happy Ash Wednesday!  While my southern/Catholic friends are giving up things like booze, or sugar, or caffeine, or chocolate...

...I'll be busy giving up carbs.  Well, except for about 20-25g (~5%) net carbs per day.

I prepped over the weekend and made 6 ready-to-heat servings of this breakfast casserole, so that will take care of breakfast for the first work week.  I also prepped some of this chicken salad, and some deli roll-ups (because variety is important to me).  And of course, some baggies of fresh, lower-carb veggies.

I've been warned about things like the "keto flu" and "intestinal distress".  To avoid both of these, staying hydrated is key--so I'm going to do my best to keep my insulated mug full of ice water. Apparently one of the keys to help avoid keto flu is replacing sodium & electrolytes, so I brought some chicken bouillon to work, in case I need a boost. We'll also be keeping a stockpile of PowerAde Zeros around the house.  

Breakfast:
Coffee with 1 Tbsp heavy cream and 1/2 packet of Splenda
Breakfast Casserole
1/4 cup raspberries
water

Morning Snack: cheese stick and Earl Grey tea

Lunch: Chicken salad w/Cabbage roll ups, extra avocado & bacon
Mixed veggies (1/2 carrot, celery, radishes), more water

Afternoon Snack: hard boiled egg

After Work: I had a previously scheduled happy hour meeting with coworkers & clients, so I had to accommodate.  I did a little pre-research about keto-friendly cocktails (since alcohol is low carb, but most mixers aren't).  I'm generally a beer gal, but most craft beers are high on carbs.  I've been hearing good things about orange wines, and per my Google search, orange wines are typically dry (meaning less sugar, so lower carbs), so I decided to try a glass of the L'Orange (not my fave). 

Again, I knew this was coming, so I budgeted for it in my FitBit meal plan. (And had a couple glasses of water on the side.)  We also ordered a charcuterie board--so I got to have some prosciutto & cheese.

Dinner: Sesame Chopped Chicken Salad (marinated the chicken the night before), & unsweet iced tea

Daily Totals: 1557 kcal, 113g fat, 21g net carbs, 88g protein

Bobbi's Day 1 Thoughts:  I had to pick up bagels for a meeting this morning...I wasn't really tempted by them until about 10am (because they were RIGHT THERE)...so I just moved them from our meeting room into the office break room, and ate my cheese stick, which helped. In general, feel fine, don't feel deprived or sluggish.  Everything was tasty and satisfying, and I even got to have some wine.  Overall, a good day.

The Hubs' Day 1: 

DK is out of town all week for work. So he's presented with some different challenges, like hotel breakfast, having to bring food with him in the car, and dining out for meals.

Breakfast (before leaving the house): breakfast casserole & black coffee w/ 1 Splenda
Lunch: Southwest Avocado Chicken Salad from Wendy's (tomatoes & croutons removed, 1 salad dressing packet) & Powerade Zero (they had a Coke Freestyle machine)
Dinner: 1 oz cheese, 1/4 cup almonds, decaf coffee

His Thoughts:  Overall, it was an OK day.  The breakfast casserole stuck with me for a long time--I ate it at 7:30a, but didn't get lunch until 2:30p because I was still full.  But it's hard to keep track of the macros, even with eating out (where nutrition info is known).  I'm thinking about the food I'm going to eat all the time, and feel like I need to double check everything--like with my salad for lunch, I kept thinking "there's no way this is only *however many* carbs" and I'd re-check the website.  Had a bit of brain fog this afternoon/evening, and started forgetting things. Got a little dizzy right before I decided to eat the cheese & almonds.  My energy is a little down, but not horrible--I feel like I could go down and jog on the treadmill (if I wanted to...I don't.)

21 Day Keto: Day 0 (Prep)

The Hubs convinced me to do a 21 Day Keto Diet with him.  We've got a trip to Cancun coming up next month, so we thought it might help us get "beach ready" (well, as ready as two almost-40 year old white people can).  We did a fair bit of reading before deciding to do it, because in general I'm not a fan of "diets"--and most nutritionists agree.  The "diet" that most nutritionists recommend is simply "eat less, move more" and have a moderate balanced diet with none of the "can't have *insert food*" restrictions.  That being said, we both know folks who have lost a lot of weight doing keto, so we were interested to see if it lives up to the hype.

As with any diet, the first step is PREP.  So I created a Pinterest board with recipes that sounded good, especially leaning toward anything that starts with the word "easy".  Because life is chaotic.  We also brainstormed some of our existing favorite recipes to see what meals we already like could fit into the keto diet--like our Zuppa Toscana (but with turnips in place of potatoes and heavy cream instead of half & half) and my favorite balsamic glazed chicken with onions & mushrooms.

Then I hopped on PepperPlate, my handy-dandy meal-planning website, and started planning for the first week (note: my one request was that we wouldn't start until after Mardi Gras).

In order to track macros (70% fat, 25% protein, 5% carbs), I front-loaded each of these days' meal plans into my FitBit tracker, to make sure we'd be hitting the target ratios.  

Then I headed to the store and stocked up on supplies:

(Ignore the potato salad.  That's for a Mardi Gras Potluck at work. And is sadly not keto-friendly.)

Our shopping list included:

Heavy cream

Butter

Sour Cream

Pork Sausage

Cabbage (green and red)

Olive Oil Mayo

Deli Meat (pepperoni & salami) & Smoked Provolone for roll ups

Broccoli Slaw (for this sesame Asian chicken salad)

Pepperoncinis & Pickled Okra

Meatballs (which may or may not be eaten during this keto thing--they're 5g carbs in a serving, but I had 2 coupons that were getting ready to expire)

Steamable cauliflower rice

Avocados

Cucumber

Cauliflower

Bell Peppers (for these pepper "sandwiches")

Frozen tuna steaks

Spaghetti Squash

(Note: we already had 2 dozen eggs at home, and 8 packs of bacon, which is why we didn't need to buy any of those things.)

Finally, because I know I have a busy week, I went ahead and started some meal prep:  bagging up veggies for lunches, making deli roll-ups, this breakfast casserole, and this chicken salad (cooked the chicken in the Instant Pot, and added avocado and dill pickles).

I'm planning to try to post each day--the first week will be interesting, because The Hubs is also traveling for work.  So I'll try to make sure each post represents both of our challenges/thoughts on the program, so we have both a  male and female opinion.

Have you done a Keto diet? I'd love to hear about it!  Please leave a comment below, or on Facebook or Instagram!  Thanks!

Meal Planning - A Busy Mom's BFF

I debated over making a post about this, because the Interwebs are already littered with meal planning articles.  But this is more of a "praise in favor of", rather than a "how-to" type post.  Because we all have different lives, and what works for me might not work for you.  But y'all--meal planning has been a lifesaver for us, so I just wanted to sing its praises, and then give a few tips for how to make it work for you.

Why I Like It:

- Less Waste:  By preparing a meal plan around what needs to be used up in our fridge/freezer, we sacrifice less food to the trash can in the name of Moldy Mush and Freezer Burn.  And it can feel a little bit like Chopped: "What can I make that uses cauliflower, cilantro, red onion, mushrooms, and avocado? (Answer: this guy.)

- Less stress:  Y'all, I am BUSY.  I work 8a-5p, with a break 3 days a week to go to class, have to coordinate with the Hubs about pick up/drop off of Lil' Man, and in theory, get my lazy butt to the gym.  The less I have to think about what I'm putting together for dinner, the better. Also, by cooking big batches of stuff as part of my meal plan, we have tons of leftovers, which takes care of lunches all week and in-between dinners, so I don't even have to cook every night.  With already having a tight schedule during the work-week, I generally can't afford to leave the office for lunch anyway, so having leftovers I can eat at my desk also helps me be more efficient with my work time.

- Lower Cost:  By planning around what I already have (rather than living off whims), we make fewer trips to the store, and can stock up on foods when they're on sale, and have them in the freezer for when a whim strikes. For example: It's winter right now, and I noticed that one of the stores has potato salad on sale for 99 cents. Well, I don't know about you, but when I see potato salad, all I want is gumbo.  Thankfully, I already have andouille, okra, chicken and shrimp in the freezer (bought while on sale), so I can go buy my cheap potato salad and then make whatever type of gumbo sounds tasty.

Tips For Success: 

Have a Frame:  This could be a chalkboard in your kitchen, an Excel spreadsheet, whatever works for you. I use Pepperplate.com, because it's simple, and I can access it from work, my phone, or home on my laptop.  Pepperplate is designed for 1 week at a time, but you can plan out further than that.  Once I have a week planned, I print out the page and hang it on the fridge for reference.

Have a Method:  For me, I have a mission of ACTUALLY cooking all the things I pin on Pinterest, because I love to try new recipes.  That means I have to be realistic and go through my Pinterest a few times a year and have a heart-to-heart with my mind and stomach: "OK guys, I know that picture of the rosette apple pie looks REALLY pretty, but are we ACTUALLY ever going to bake it?  No."

Seriously...it is GORGEOUS though.

I saw a recommendation on another blog for folks who don't like to experiment--make a list of the meals you and your family really love (and that you like/don't mind cooking).  Ideally it's about 20-30 dishes.  Then, you just divvy those dishes up across a 1-month calendar, and then you plan your shopping each week around those dishes.

Have some Forgiveness:  Things are going to happen that will screw up your plan.  Maybe family make a surprise visit and you go out to eat with them, rather than making the dish that was going to be your leftovers for lunch the next day.  Or maybe everyone gets sick.  Or maybe you just have a crap day and don't feel like cooking.  It's OK.  Our meal plan almost always ends up covered in little cross-offs or arrows where we moved something to a later day.  

Have a Backup:  We almost always have at least one frozen pizza in the freezer, for emergency situations where no one feels like cooking.  I also buy pot pies and microwave meals when we can get them cheap and keep 4-5 in the freezer. So if we do run into a situation where there's no leftovers to take for lunch, I still have something I can grab and take with me to the office in the morning.  

We are not normally this fancy with our microwave meals, but between a sale at Target and an Ibotta deal, got these for $1.50 each.

Take an Inventory:  Like I mentioned, we like to stock up on things while they're on sale, so we have a lot of food in our freezer.  But if we don't actively try to use things up, we end up with random 2 year old freezer-burnt pork chops.  This is particularly important if you have a chest freezer rather than an upright, where it's easier for things to get buried and forgotten about.  I like to do this 1-2 times a year, and then search through my Pinterest recipes to see how we can use up some of the older items.

Yes, that says "9 Bacons".

Take the Shortcuts:  I could spend my weekend meal prepping for the next week...or I could play with my kid.  I could make meatballs from scratch and have dinner on the table at 7pm...or I could buy the frozen meatballs (on sale, of course) and have dinner done in 30 minutes.  Using shortcuts doesn't make you a bad person.  One of my current favorite shortcuts?  Bagged salad kits.  I decided last year I want to eat more delicious salads--you know the ones, with all the different stuff in them?  But I am WAYYYYYYY too lazy to prep a fancy salad at home myself. So, I can either go to the deli or a restaurant and spend $7-8 (or more) on a salad, OR, I can spend $3 on a salad kit that has enough for 2 big salads (so two days' worth of lunches for a buck-fiddy each), and just add grilled chicken breast (prepped the night before or over the weekend) or a tuna pouch from home.  

...and last but not least:

SHARE THE DUTIES:  Y'all, I would be lost without my husband.  He is an amazing life partner, and any time I have to juggle everything myself, it's a mess.  I do really enjoy cooking, but sometimes I just don't have the energy, or I'm running behind.  It's really helpful if I call him on my way home from work and say, "hey, I can get the kiddo if you can start the prep work for dinner, I'll text you the recipe".  And then when I get home, all the chopping and measuring stuff is done, so I can jump right in and start cooking. Or he may just hop in and cook it all himself.  By having a meal plan on the fridge, there's no mystery about what we're having--all he needs is to know where the recipe is.

If you have a great meal planning tip, please share it in the comments!  

Breakfast Oatmeal Bars

This has become one of my go-to staples for breakfast. I can make a 9x13 pan of baked oatmeal bars over the weekend, cut & wrap them in wax paper, and have ready to grab-n-go breakfasts for almost the whole week.

They're also really easy to change up.  The base of the recipe is solid, so you can use raisins & pecans one time, the next time add dried cherries & chocolate chips...sky's the limit.

INGREDIENTS: (makes approx 10-12 bars)
Base:
2 cups rolled oats
1/3 cup brown sugar
1.5 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 cup milk
2 eggs
2 Tbsp coconut oil
1 tsp vanilla

Add-in ideas:
- shredded coconut
- chopped nuts
- raisins or other dried fruit
- candied ginger
- chocolate chips
- flaxseed
- chia seeds

DIRECTIONS:
Heat oven to 350F, and then lightly grease a 9 x 13 pan.

Combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, and then add in the wet ingredients.  Stir until well combined, and then cover and place in the fridge for about 20 minutes (VERY IMPORTANT STEP--don't skip this.  Otherwise your oats will be crunchy and not chewy & moist.)

Then transfer the mixture into the greased baking dish, and bake under golden brown and the edges are pulling away from the pan (about 30 minutes).  Let cool completely and then cut into bars, wrap in wax paper or cling wrap, and store in the fridge.

Freezer Meals & Nesting (18.5 weeks & counting)

As noted in previous posts, The Hubs & I are expecting our first little one (well, if you don’t count the dog) later this year.  I’m solidly into my 2nd trimester, and have much more energy than the first 14 weeks or so.  Energy which should probably be used cleaning house and productive things of that nature, but with as pretty as it’s been, most of that energy is getting channeled into weekend canoe trips and hikes at the Nature Center.

Earlier this week we found out gender:

 

Funny how this is the only situation when this sort of photo isn’t considered pornography…

We’ve picked up & been gifted a few items for Baby Boy, but haven’t been going too crazy.  A lot of time has been put toward the effort of “where to put the nursery” and “what to do with the giant king size bed that’s in our guest room”.  We’ve got a 3 bedroom house which is plenty of space for a small family, but since my husband works from home, that means we have a) a master, b) a guest room, and c) an office occupying those rooms.  So, now begins the effort of trying to figure out how to combine the office & guest rooms so they can both function appropriately…which is not a possibility with the giant king bed that we have in the spare room.  I suggested just not getting a crib and just laying the baby in the middle of the king bed (I mean really…it’s huge, he’ll be tiny—where can he go?), but apparently that’s frowned upon.  :)  We also don’t want to co-sleep or have a basinet in our room for very long because it just makes sleep training them later on that much harder.  Then of course there’s the option of moving…but buying a new house just so you don’t have to sell your guest bed seems a little silly, no matter how comfy it is (NOTE: It is VERY comfy…but too soft for The Hubs’ back.)

I found a pretty cool site online called HomeStyler that allows you to drag & drop room plans with tons of options on furniture, so that we could match up sizes appropriately.  It’s been a lot of fun to play with and I think we’re getting close to having some good options:

A pullout loveseat is also an option, if we can find one that’s relatively comfortable.

With grandparents who’ll want to visit the baby (and hopefully stay a while to help out), NOT having some sort of guest bed isn’t an option.

I’ve also decided to get a jump start on prepping freezer meals. I figure it makes sense to start working on it now, a little at a time, while I have energy, and it’s not the crazy hot outside, and I don’t have a B.O.B. (big ol’ belly) in the way.  Thankfully we bought a small chest freezer last year, so it’s a perfect place to stow away meal prep!

This is the stockpile I’ve accumulated over the last few weekends of work, just prepping 3-4 meals at a time.  Most are Pinterest finds, though some are recommendations for friends. I’ve got a good stockpile of recipes ready to make, but have been prepping up whatever’s on sale that week to save some $$$.  Only a couple of these are ready-made, pop in the oven to heat up—the rest are Crock Pot meals, with all the ingredients in a bag to be thrown into the pot overnight or at the start of the day.

Recipes Made So Far:

Crockpot Beef Fajitas

Crockpot Chicken Teriyaki (I added some sriracha & green onions as well)

Crockpot Chicken Chili (chicken was on sale, if you haven’t guessed) :)

Crockpot Honey Dijon Pork & Green Beans (I used Creole Mustard in place of Dijon)

Crockpot Hot Pepper Pork & Butternut Squash (with Tabasco Red Pepper Jelly, of course!)

Ginger Peach Chicken (with added sriracha) [Note: this is a great link—there’s several others I’ll be making later on.]

Sausage Mac & Cheese (no actual recipe for this one—we made cheese fondue the night before and had a ton left over, so I boiled some rotini, tossed it in with the cheese sauce, & added about 1/2 lb of smoked sausage) 

…and my tater tot casserole.  I think tater tot casserole is one of those things everyone has a slightly different recipe for, but here’s mine.

 

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb lean ground beef

1 onion, diced

1 tsp olive oil

salt & pepper to taste

1/2 tbsp Tony Chacheres Instant Roux Powder

1 tsp Worcestershire sauce

(1) 15 oz can corn, drained (or frozen)

(1) 15 oz can peas, drained (or frozen)

(1) 8 oz can mushroom pieces, drained (or you can chop up some fresh ones & cook in with your meat—just whatever’s more convenient for you

1 tsp cornstarch or arrowroot powder

6 slices 2% American cheese (or 1 cup shredded cheddar if you prefer—I use whatever I have on hand at the time)

most of 1 bag of tater tots

 

DIRECTIONS:

In a large skillet or pot, saute the onions in the olive oil with a dash of salt, until they start to get tender.  Then add the ground beef, cook until browned.

Add the roux powder (this helps turn any fat into a nice sauce & binder) & Worcestershire sauce, stir well, and then add salt & pepper to taste.  If it’s a little salty, don’t worry, since you’ll be adding veggies as well.

Mix in the veggies and cornstarch and toss until well combined.

Transfer into a 9x13 pan (aluminum if you’re going to be freezing for a while, so you’re not tying up one of your pans for a few months), spread evenly, and then top with the cheese.

Then, add the tater tots.  (NOTE: You do not have to be as OCD as me about arranging your tots---I just do it because it makes it easier to portion, and because I have the time.  If you don’t, don’t worry about it.  Haphazard tots still taste awesome.)

When it’s time, cook for 30-40 minutes at 400F.  If you’re going to be freezing for a while, I recommend topping with aluminum foil first, and then wrapping in a couple layers of plastic wrap as insurance against freezer burn.

If you’re interested in some additional freezer meal recipes, here’s another post I made last year when we were prepping for the opening of our seasonal business.

If you’ve got a freezer meal you love, please share a recipe link with me in the comments section!

A Week in the Meals of Feaux – Day 7, and End-of-Week Tally!

SUNDAY.  We slept in til 8am (magical, I tell you) and then woke up & got ready for church.

 

Breakfast (8:30am):

Not surprisingly, after the Tailgating Gluttony of yesterday, I was not terribly hungry.

8 oz coffee w/Splenda & fat free vanilla creamer – 20 cal

1 bacon cookie – 91 cal, 2 g fat, 2.3 g protein

 

 

Lunch (11:30am):

Grilled Romaine Salad w/parmesan, Walden Farms Calorie Free Bacon Ranch, and 1/2 piece crumbled bacon (recipe coming soon) – 74 calories, 6 g fat, 3 g protein

Diet Root Beer – 0/0/0

1/4 cup homemade salsa (recipe also coming soon!) – 36 calories, 0 fat/protein

5 tortilla chips – 78 calories, 3 g fat, 1.2 g protein

 

We spent most of the early afternoon cleaning the house: mowing the lawn, laundry, dishes, cleaning the bathrooms, vacuuming, mopping the kitchen, etc.  I only did half of these things, because my Hubs is an amazing man & we split all the chores.  I am very blessed, I know!

 

Afternoon snacks (1:30p, 3:30p)

1 bacon cookie (I promise, they’re nearly gone) - 91 cal, 2 g fat, 2.3 g protein

1 Fun Size Reese’s PB cup – 80 cal, 4.5 g fat, 1 g protein

1/2 light beer (shared with The Hubs) – 55 cal

 

 

Dinner (6pm)

Homemade white bean chili (recipe soon!) – 223 calories, 4.7 g fat, 15 g protein

Diet Sierra Mist – 0/0/0

 

Dessert (9pm)

1 bacon cookie (the last one for me…until I try another batch) - 91 cal, 2 g fat, 2.3 g protein

1/2 cup red grapes – 52 calories, 0 fat/protein

Unsweet tea

Total for day: 891 calories, 24.2 g fat, 27.1 g protein

 

WAY under target.  I really just WASN’T that hungry after tailgating the day before.  However, I was also feeling pretty sluggish & lazy, aside from the cleaning we did.  I’m sure part of that was from being tired (Saturday was a really long day—we got up at 5:40am & didn’t get home until 11pm), but part was also probably from not eating much.  Like I said earlier in the week—gotta put fuel in the car for it to go. 

 

So at the end of the week, what’s the general overview of this experiment?

						Calories (1400)*	Fat (47g)*	Protein (53g)*
	Calories In	Fat In	Protein In	Est. Calories Burned	Caloric Deficit	Over/Under Target	Over/Under Target	Over/Under Target
Monday	1478	31	76	1900	-422	78	-16	23
Tuesday	1240	36	59	1900	-660	-160	-11	6
Wednesday	1836	66.4	105	1900	-64	436	19.4	52
Thursday	1383	29	67	1900	-517	-17	-18	14
Friday	1713	55.7	73.9	1900	-187	313	8.7	20.9
Saturday	2203	75.5	84.4	1900	303	803	28.5	31.4
Sunday	891	24.4	27.1	1900	-1009	-509	-22.6	-25.9
				Total Deficit/Week	-2556	+944

(*Targets provided by MyFitnessPal.com for a 31 year old female, 5’6” with lightly active lifestyle.)

For the week, I ate a total of 900+ calories more than the target…but my caloric deficit was about 2500, so I didn’t gain any weight…and if the estimated calories burned is accurate, I should actually be down about 0.75 lb from where I started.  (I don’t regularly weigh myself, so I can neither confirm nor deny this.)

I came in Under Target for Fat grams four of the seven days, but ate more than the “goal” for Protein every day except the last.  I’m not terribly concerned about that since I prefer a protein-heavy diet, as protein is a more efficient energy source than carbs.

My conclusions?  Eating out is my weak area.  On days when I cooked all my meals (Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Sunday) there were no major issues.  In fact, those are the same four days that I was significantly below the Fat Target.

Under normal circumstances, if I know I’m going out, I typically look at a restaurant’s nutritional info BEFORE I go, so that I can make a reasonable choice.  However, for the sake of this experiment, I DIDN’T do that as a control, and tried to operate based purely on reading the descriptions of menu items.

 

So there you go.  A peek into the life (and diet) of me.  Hopefully you got something out of it, and even if you didn’t, it was an educational experience for me!

We can now resume with the delicious (and healthy) recipe posts. ;-D

A Week in the Meals of Feaux: Day Six

HELLOOOOOO SATURDAY!!!  I’m so happy to see you again!  How’s ya mom ‘n them?

As I mentioned yesterday, we’d be driving up to Kansas City to watch the Cardinals (ahem) stop the Royals.  It was a 1:10p game, and we planned to tailgate before the game…and we live 3 hours away…which means we had to wake up at 5:40am.  UGH.  I know some of you readers are moms and have to get up at the butt-crack o’ dawn on a regular basis and have no sympathy for me, but I typically sleep in until at LEAST 8am on weekends. 

 

Breakfast (6am)

We ate light, since we knew there would be gluttony later in the day.

1 bacon cookie (they’ve got to disappear somehow) –91 calories 2.2 g fat, 2.3 g protein

2 oz leftover pork tenderloin – 60 calories, 2 g fat, 9 g protein

8 oz coffee w/Splenda & fat free creamer – 20 cal, 0 fat/protein

 

MidMorning Snack (9am)

1/2 Great Value chocolate chip chewy granola bar – 45 calories, 1 g fat, 0.5 g protein

 

Lunch – TAILGATING! (10:30a-12:30p)

Everyone brought something to contribute, so we had quite the spread:  Nathan’s hot dogs, pre-made hamburger patties, pasta salad, baked beans, chips, garden fresh tomatoes & cucumbers, cookies, condiments…and of course, rum-soaked pineapple chunks.

 

(I apparently suck at taking pics sometimes, so these were taken by my cousins.)

Over the course of the two hour period before the game, we all munched & snacked & chowed down & snacked some more.  This represents the dent I put in our stockpile:

1 Nathan dog w/ ketchup & mustard – 300 cal, 10 g fat, 10.6 g protein
1/2 fresh tomato – 12 calories, 0 fat/protein
8 cucumber slices – 7 calories, 0 fat/protein
1/2 cup pasta salad – 102 calories, 1 g fat, 3 g protein
1/2 cup baked beans – 140 calories ,  1g fat,  6g protein
3 pineapple chunks w/rum – 70 calories, 0 fat/protein
3 mini choc chip cookies – 90 calories, 4.2 g fat, 0.6 g fat
1 3 oz burger w/ketchup & mustard (I probably didn’t need this burger, but the BBQ sauce on it was beckoning me) on high-fiber whole wheat bun w/ketchup & mustard – 343 calories, 17 g fat, 16 g protein
2 light beers – 220 calories
1 bottle water – 0 calories

1 Pepsi Max – 0 calories

Tailgating Total: 1284 calories, 33.2 g fat, 36.2 g protein (OUCH.)

 

Dinner (7pm) – Buffalo Wild Wings

We had originally intended to go to Stroud’s post-game; however, there was an hour wait & I don’t think any of us had enough room in our stomachs for the onslaught of foods at Stroud’s (a family style restaurant w/fried chicken and all the sides).  BWW was convenient & quick.

1 fried pickle slice (stolen from my cousin) – 25 cal, 0.6 g fat, 0.4 g protein

6 traditional wings w/Honey BBQ sauce & ranch – 528 calories, 36 g fat, 36 g protein

16 oz Leinenkugel Summer Shandy – 150 calories

16 oz water – 0 cal

 

Total for Day: 2203 calories, 75 g fat, 84.4 g protein

UGH.  Yeah.  I overdid it.  But I knew that I had, & I felt it.  As you may have noticed from my previous posts, I typically eat about 5-6 times a day, small portions.  I technically wasn’t even hungry when we went to BWW, and probably would have been better off not eating.  Normally a midday meal would not carry with me that long.  Could I have made smarter decisions?  Absolutely.  If I had a do-over, I wouldn’t have eaten that burger during tailgating (that I didn’t even need) and I wouldn’t have ordered that beer with dinner.  Those two small changes alone would have saved me about 500 calories.  And since I wasn’t really all that hungry at dinner, I could have also skipped the wings altogether & just ordered a side of chips & salsa or potato wedges (about 280 calories, which would have been a savings of another 250 calories).

 

However, all in all I had a great day with family, and of course, the Cards demolished the Royals, so it was still a great day.

 

Tomorrow’s Day 7…let’s see how this experiment wraps up, shall we?

 

To Be Continued…

A Week in The Meals of Feaux – Day Five

Hooray for almost the freakin’ weekend!

 

Day Five: Friday!

Last work day of the week.  Since I cooked last night, I was able to bring leftovers for lunch.  Tonight, I have a Girls Night planned to meet my friends for tapas & cocktails, and then we’re headed to watch Rock of Ages, which we really hope doesn’t completely suck.  We are a bandy gang of former theater & choir gals, so musicals have a big appeal.

 

Breakfast (9am)

1 cup coffee w/ 1 Splenda packet & 1 tbsp Peppermint Mocha creamer – 35 calories

1 oatmeal, chocolate chip, & bacon cookie (WHAT???  Bacon…oatmeal…it’s pretty well a breakfast cookie.)– 91 calories, 2.2 g fat, 2.3 g protein

1 serving Oikos Key Lime Greek yogurt – 160 calories, 4.5 g fat, 11 g protein

 

No Mid-Morning Snack – I was in a meeting.

 

Lunch (1pm)

20 oz unsweet tea – 0/0/0

1 serving homemade pasta w/turkey meat marinara – 378 calories, 4 g fat, 19 g protein

1 small cucumber, raw, sliced – 35 calories, 0 fat, 2 g protein

 

Afternoon Snack (4pm)

1 oz Frigo light string cheese – 60 calories, 2.5 g fat, 8 g protein

1/2 cup red grapes – 52 calories 0 fat, .5 g protein

 

Dinner w/Friends  (6:30pm)

Somehow I managed to NOT take a photo of our awesome spread of food.  My apologies. So here’s a photo of someone else’s delicious spread of tapas.

In case you’re not familiar, tapas are “small plates” or snacks—small orders of appetizers or finger foods.  They’re intended for sharing, or so that you can order small bits of many different things to try.  We ordered a small cheese & meat tray, a variety of dips & spreads w/crackers, a grilled cheese & pesto sandwich, and one of their daily specials.  There were five of us, so I’m estimating 1/5 of each item for the most part, except for the items I know I had a larger portion of.  For the spreads/dips, we were given about 1/2 cup of each and I took about a tablespoon of each of them.

As I’ve mentioned before, I love Ophelia’s infused vodkas.  So for my cocktail, I ordered the citrus version this time.

Cocktail – 150 calories

1/4 cup Garbanzos Fritos (chickpeas, chorizo, and tomatoes) – 94 cal, 6 g fat, 3.2 g protein

1/2 pita – 83 calories, 0.4 g fat, 2.7 g protein

1/5 oz parmesan (22 cal, 1.5 g fat, 2 g protein), cheddar (24/2/1.2), gouda (22/1.8/1.4), & salami (104/8/6.3)
1/4 grilled cheese – 130 cal, 6.5 fat, 3 g protein

1 oz artichoke dip - 50 cal,  4.5 g fat, 2 g protein
1/4 oz boursin – 24 calories, 2.4 g fat, 0.4 g protein
1/4 smoked trout dip – 79 cal / 5.5 g fat / 5 g protein

1/5 hummus – 15 cal, 1.2 g fat, 1.4 g protein
1/5 red pepper spread - 15 cal, 1.2 g fat, 0.2 g protein
7 water crackers – 90 cal, 1.5 g fat, 2.3 g protein

Dinner Total – 902 cal, 42.5 g fat, 31.1 g protein

 

Total for Day: 1713 calories, 55.7 g fat, 73.9 g protein

Another overage from the “target”, but still under the typical caloric requirement for my day, so not horrible.  Girls’ Nights are not a regular occurrence; we’re lucky if we can arrange to get together once a month.  However, Friday nights are typically Date Night for me & The Hubs, so I would normally be eating out on Friday night anyway…though it likely wouldn’t be quite the onslaught of calories we see here.

This is also a good example of how a “little” of a lot of things still adds up to a lot.  Because you’re only taking a small portion of each thing, it FEELS like it’s not a lot of food, and you FEEL like you’re being fairly good.  But it all adds up to quite a bit, especially when cheese is involved. :D

So tomorrow is Saturday! Hooray for the weekend!  However, tomorrow I’ll be out of town, as we’re taking my dad to see a St. Louis Cardinals game* as a belated Father’s Day gift.  I’m really looking forward to it because we’ll be meeting my cousins and my aunt up there as well.  And we’ll be tailgating, which could spell utter disaster for this experiment!  Let’s see how it turns out!!!!

 

…to be continued…

 

(*Bloggers Note: if you haven’t realized, this “week in the meals” is actually the foods I ate LAST week, so that I could post in a timely manner each morning.  And The Cards crushed the Royals.  Go Redbirds!!!)