Wednesday, March 12, 2014

What my weekly food choices look like

I thought I'd sum up what was it that I was eating for a whole work week. My work weeks of course vary with my part time job, but since I always seem to be working, it mostly consists of 5 lunches (M-F) and 4 dinners (M-Th). Friday I was at work at my PT job, and if I wasn't working, I was at my parents, so I'd eat whatever they had around... which wasn't much. If there wasn't any food there, I'd nag my dad and we would either buy some food to cook (at my expense) or buy some premade stuff, like fried chicken or Chinese.

A 'normal' work week's worth of food was made of:

Breakfast: (none) Ahem. I'm working on that. -$0

Lunch: 2 bags of pre-packaged salads divided in 5 containers, 4-5 roma tomatoes, cheese (feta, shredded cheddar or block cheese cubed) and some sort of meats (ham, deli ham, bacon or leftover chicken) OR 1 packet of spinach and 2 romaine heart bundles with tomatoes, cucumber, cheese and meats. And one or two dressings open at the same time (olive oil/vinegar based) -$5~$10/wk

Snacks: Handful of almonds and a cube or three of cheese. -$0.50~$1.00/wk

Dinners: 1 packet of family-size meat (either chix thighs (10), chix breasts (4), porkchops (4-6) or 1lb pack of ground beef, 1 medium pack of sweet Italian sausages), stirfried or baked, and 2-3 packets of frozen vegetables. If not that, then I could get by with sandwiches (10 rolls, half a pound of cheese and deli ham, ketchup, mustard) and chips. Or 1 packet of hamburger patties (8) with 2 bags of frozen veggies. -$15~$20/wk

Dessert: one or two pieces of candy/chocolate leftover from Halloween sales, or generic sandwich cookies. $0~$2

Drinks: water and crystal light -$1

Sadly, that sums up most of my dinners. I avoided carbs, even though I wasn't low carb'ing. I wasn't always good, however. At least once a month I'd just order Chinese (1 serving of orange chicken and 10 wontons, ~$12.50) that would last me for 4 dinners. Or an 8 piece chicken meal (~$7), and that too would be stretched to 4 dinners accompanied by either buns or frozen vegetables ($2~4).

Now that I'm back to full avoidance of carbs, candy is out, sweets are out, so are buns and breaded meats. Most of my food will be some sort of meat stirfried or baked with half a bag of frozen veggies. Why frozen? Because they last me a long time and can be had ahead of time on sale. I guess eventually I could make my own steamed vegetables... but frozen works for me.

7 comments:

  1. I would be starving all day if I only ate that. I eat at least twice as much as you. I really like cooking everyday. For breakfast, I will often just have a piece of bread with peanut butter on it. Easy and cheap and a little protein.

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    1. I've always eaten little. Bread may be out for low carb, but I sure like cream cheese and bagels. Maybe I'll get creative with cream cheese and conjure some breakfast item that doesnt include carbs. Right now I'm eating eggs and sausage or bacon for breakfast, and going from there.

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    2. How about boiled eggs, banana and/or apples? All healthy, cheap and portable.

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  2. Ok and water right? Tell me you drink water. But now I want you to come to my house for roast and potatos and salad and veggies and all that stuff. Sigh its the mom in me..I worry

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    1. Oh, and water, yes. But water's free, so I dont count it. I only drink water, and that's about 10 glasses a day. Had to reduce it from 12 glasses a while back. Potatoes are so not low-carb, haha. No worries, I am not starving by any means... otherwise I wouldnt have to lose weight.

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    2. I know your not starving we would never let that happen :) But I may have to bring you over to the crock pot side. I miss soda so much so its mostly water with lemon or lime in it for me all day. Yeah with a 45 year old bladder and three kids those bathroom trips are frequent. Remember just stock up when you can. Before you know if you will be in your own place and able to do everything you want the way you want! And I am Irish so potatoes are a fact of life even with the carbs..I think its in our genes :)

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  3. I admire how often you eat at home! I'm a sucker for eating out *sigh*

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