Wednesday August 18, 2010....

Yesterday was another really long day at work. In my efforts to get caught up, we worked until 7ish or so. I can get so much more done when we're closed and I can let the phone go to the machine and lock the front door!

I'm still working on getting used to the way money flows from an owner's perspective rather than from the perspective of an employee. We're crazy busy right now but the money for these jobs is not in yet. Sales tax is due on Tuesday, American Express is due in a few days after that....the bills to be paid are piling up and the receivables are still "out there" somewhere. I tell myself not to worry and for the most part I feel like I'm not.....but I kept waking up last night doing math in my head and paying bills in my dreams...or maybe it was just living with three nocturnal cats...lol.

So anyway....

I get a lot of comments about my food and how good it looks. It's funny because if I was asked to describe myself, being a good cook is not something I would ascribe to myself. But, I am a good organizer and that has affected my meal planning. I am also the QUEEN of the microwave...LOL.

Here's what I do...

First of all, I love to flip through cookbooks and recipes. I rarely ever make a recipe from a book but I get ideas on foods that go well together by flipping through recipe books.




Second, I subscribe to daily emails from Hungry Girl and I have 3 of her cookbooks. There is a wealth of information on "eat this, not that", and easy low calorie recipes in her e-mails, on her website, and in her cookbooks.

Lastly, I spend a little bit of time every couple of weeks or so cooking bulk batches of things like taco filling meat from lean ground turkey, poached and/or roasted chicken breast meat, spaghetti sauce with lean ground turkey, etc. I allow it to cool and then portion it out in single servings in zip lock bags, label it with weight and point value and freeze it. That way I always have something on hand to create a meal from in a hurry.

I also keep, Hebrew National 97% Fat Free Hot Dogs, Mango Chicken Sausages, and Carmelized Onion Chicken Patties, Boca Vegetarian Burger Patties, and Black Bean Chipotle Burgers,(all from Costco) on hand in the freezer.

I keep low fat lunch meat, fat free cheese slices, and Laughing Cow Cheese Wedges in the fridge.

I keep Bagel Thins and Sandwich Thins in the freezer. I go once a week or so and stock up on fresh fruits and vegetables. I buy most everything from Costco because it's packaged in such a way that it's already trimmed, and for the most part cleaned, so that I can grab it, rinse it and nuke it.

I keep several different kinds of canned beans in the pantry so that I can quickly throw them togther with other things to create a meal. I buy pinto beans by the case at Costco and I smoosh them up in a skillet to make "refried" beans. Black beans are also a favorite of mine. I buy popcorn kernels in bulk and pop it in a microwave popcorn bowl. I keep an olive oil sprayer on the counter and I have one with balsamic vinegar in it as well.

I also have a basket with measuring cups and spoons it out on the counter next to my Weight Watchers Food Scale.

So, because I have everything on hand and organized, I can come home from work and throw a meal together in about 10 minutes. I rarely spend more than a few minutes putting my meals together.

I do have a bit of an advantage because Vern is the junk food KING. He pretty much refuses to eat anything that isn't pure crap...(ok, I do sneak some real food in him occasionally)...for the most part he gets a huge crap meal at lunch time from whatever fast food place strikes his fancy that day and then just snacks on chips, candy, cheetos...whatever....at night. So, I don't have to fix a meal for both of us. But, if the day ever comes that he wants to eat what I eat it will be easy enough to nuke two portions and make a meal for us both.

OK...so that's probably way more information than anyone wants but there you go!


Finally...
My menu for yesterday...

Breakfast was 1/2 cup egg substitute cooked in a microwave "egg patty" maker, topped with a large apple, diced and cooked in the microwave with cinnamin then mixed with Walden Farms Pancake Syrup. I put a tablesppon of Brummel and Brown Spread. This was delicious, much like french toast topped with apples. I also had 3 cups of black coffee. Who knew that coffee registers as points if you drink 3 cups!?
4.5 points




Lunch was a sandwich made on a Sandwich Thin. Turkey breast lunch meat, fat free cheese slice, lettuce and tomato. I had some sugar snap peas, that I nuked for a minute or so, and a peach.
5 points



Dinner was a pizza made on LaTortilla Factory 100 calorie, multigrain tortilla. I used 1/2 cup of spaghetti sauce from a jar, some mushrooms, onions, turkey pepperoni, and reduced fat mozzarella. I also had an ear of corn.
7 points



After Dinner Snack was a Deep Chocolate Vitatop, topped with Fage Total 0 Greek Yogurt mixed with PB2 and sweetened with stevia. This is such a satisfying desert!
4 points




On Monday the most beautiful girl in the world started kindergarten. This child is my HEART!!! and she is growing up way too fast for this Grandma Honey...