Yesterday was one of those wonderful days where the planets all fell in alignment, the winds were favorable and everything just flowed. We got in a session of boxing with the Wii, Yoga with Bob Harper, school done, house cleaned AND I got three spare minutes together with 100 extra brain cells. The last part I think I can blame/thank
Marissa at Trim The Fat for. I see someone kissing their coffee cup in appreciation and I grab myself a second cup. Then a third. Coffee- it's not just a beverage. It is a necessity of motherhood ! Anyway , in my spare time I decided to start on a project that will ultimately save me time, sanity and more. I wanted to create a master menu plan- something that had 15-20 menus for different breakfasts, lunches, dinners and snacks- all with calorie counts, all utilizing the majority of items from our lowest cost stores, all that are winners in regards to taste preferences and all healthy options. I have made a habit of making my menus on the computer in an editable word document ( a simple grid form in Word works nicely, and you can get one at
Donna Young's grid page. So I decided to start assembling , based on the forms from this week and next, and before I knew it I had 12 different options for each meal /snack in about a minute ( cut and paste, you rule !). Then I opened up my recipe program Mastercook , and was able to fill in the remaining holes. Mastercook calculates the calories, fat, fiber and such for a recipe, and is a very useful program. In about 30-45 minutes, I had my dream master menu plan assembled. I will never again have to devote 8 hours to planning a menu for the week ! Plus, limiting the menu to 20 different options it helps me to know what will be the best things to buy in bulk and keep stocked in the cabinets. I am so happy !
Yesterday's breakfast was 1/2 cup egg beaters with onion, mushroom, 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese , 2 oz of turkey ham , a Thomases lite better choice english muffin and Promise lite with coffee and cream- 390 calories
Lunch - a roast beef and cheddar roll up on Aldi's Original wrap with carrots, celery, broccoli and an apple. A Crystal Lite accompanied- 410 calories
My afternoon favorite for 290 calories. I am thinking I need to start using some Mr Potatohead face things to dress up my apples for pictures !
Dinner was another late one because of hubby's meeting and people were too hungry for me to let the sauce in this reduce. Chicken caccitore ( hey, I struggle spelling English words many days- DON'T expect me to spell Italian ones any better !) over Heartland Pasta (190 calories per serving with omega 3's) and spinach-472 calories
evening snack, enjoyed sometime between Dancing with The Stars and Glee-320 calories. It is frustrating- Wednesday nights now have way too many TV options ! I am gong to have to catch up on a lot of things I want to see on Hulu or On Demand.
Good day of accomplishments, and 1862 calories !
Yesterday's breakfast was 1/2 cup egg beaters with onion, mushroom, 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese , 2 oz of turkey ham , a Thomases lite better choice english muffin and Promise lite with coffee and cream- 390 calories
Lunch - a roast beef and cheddar roll up on Aldi's Original wrap with carrots, celery, broccoli and an apple. A Crystal Lite accompanied- 410 calories
My afternoon favorite for 290 calories. I am thinking I need to start using some Mr Potatohead face things to dress up my apples for pictures !
Dinner was another late one because of hubby's meeting and people were too hungry for me to let the sauce in this reduce. Chicken caccitore ( hey, I struggle spelling English words many days- DON'T expect me to spell Italian ones any better !) over Heartland Pasta (190 calories per serving with omega 3's) and spinach-472 calories
evening snack, enjoyed sometime between Dancing with The Stars and Glee-320 calories. It is frustrating- Wednesday nights now have way too many TV options ! I am gong to have to catch up on a lot of things I want to see on Hulu or On Demand.
3 comments:
I love Donna Young's site too! What a great idea to use her grids and that awesome computer program together. You have just saved yourself a lot of time and energy. I'm so impressed. I love numbers, and organizational tools!
Today, my goal is to go through my pictures, both those printed out already, and those on the computer that I need to have printed. That will be a task.
LOL!!! Sorry for implanting the coffee idea!! Loved your comment about "prying it out of your cold, dead hands"!
Great job with the organizing menus - I've wanted to do that for years!
Diane- good luck ! However it will be a very pleasant task. And Marissa, feel no guilt. I tried giving up coffee at different times, went for about 6 weeks without and then just broke down, gave in, and I could have easily been found kissing the coffee cup. It just cracked me up .
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