Day Four

Today was one of those crazy days that makes you grateful for the convenience of fast food.....but since that doesn't quite fit into this new plan, we improvise. I'd like to say I improvised by bringing a snack in the car as I ran from appointment to appointment, or that I got a salad at McD's....but dang it, I caved. I got something for Tony and Tanner and then ordered myself a southern style chicken. ARGGG!! It's not even a grilled chicken. The one good thing is that it's small, has no mayo or bacon or anything, and I didn't even get fries.
So, I had 2 options at that point. Beat myself up and say 'screw it' to the rest of the day.....or stand up, brush myself off (remember that I'm human) and make the rest of the day great. I chose option 2.
For a snack, I opted for some cheese and crackers. I found these really yummy crackers that are sesame and wheat. I love sesame anything.

Here's the thing, they are only 115 calories for a serving of FIVE crackers....and the crackers are huge.

Five of these is probably the same as at least 10-12 Ritz, plus they fill you up more because they're more hearty. So, I only had 3 crackers, and then 2 wedges of Skinny Cow cheese (only 35 calories each and 1 point).
For the boys snack, I did something a little more exciting. I let them make their own fruit and cheese kabobs. I cut up apples, cantaloupe, strawberries, cheddar and pepper jack cheese and let them put it on their own skewers.

They thought that was pretty fun, and of course, yummy.

For dinner, I made something I've never made before...chicken parmesan. It was great and the boys loved it. I did a side of whole wheat pasta with a little sauce over the top and some broccoli. A perfect meal.

I think I'm getting the hang of this. I used to wake up and think about what sort of garbage I would eat today...now, I wake up and start planning out my whole day of healthy choices. YAY!

Day One

I started my first day with a great breakfast of homeade peanut butter cookies...two. Hmmm....not exactly heading into this on the right foot. But, I made several dozen on Friday and they're just sitting there. They are almost done (thanks to me downing some before bed last night too) and I'm doling them out to the boys so they can be 'outta sight, outta mind'.
Lunch was better. I set up the table in a "make your own sandwhich" sort of style. I had a wrap with turkey, cheese, tomato, pickle, and some avacado. Yum! The boys made their own and we sat and ate.....and we talked. I told them the plan for our new healthy lifestyle. They laughed at the thought......just kidding. They think it sounds fun because of all the neat, new ideas mom found online last night.

Snack time was kinda fun. I took the time to slice some fresh strawberries and put them on crackers with a touch of light cream cheese. For myself, I used a hearty wheat crisp. These were really good and a refreshing summer snack. The boys loved them. We had the idea to try it next time with peanut butter and bananas.


For dinner I tried something from a cookbook that I would have earmarked in an instant cuz it was just thing that the family would like....a taco casserole. Today, however....I read it with the eagle eye of a health conscience mom and lemmetellya, it suddenly wasn't so appealing. But, as the daughter of someone who, long ago, mastered the art of substitutions, I improvised. And, actually, I think I did pretty darn good. The original recipe was 540 calories and 30 grams of fat for 1/6th of a 8 inch pan. I doubled the recipe to fit a 9x13 pan and got the calories to 440 and fat grams to 17....and this was with a serving size 50% larger than the original recipe. Yay!

Here is the finished product....


...and here is the recipe if you're interested. Enjoy!

Day one....check.