The SNAP Challenge - Day One

I was excited to start this morning, because I had done so much preparation.  My lunch box was easy to pack because I already had a plan!

This is my meal plan for today:

• Breakfast: Oatmeal with strawberries and two hard boiled eggs.
• Snack: Banana
• Lunch: Peanut butter and jelly sandwich, applesauce, and cucumber slices.
• Snack: Baby carrots.
• Dinner: Brown rice with diced tomatoes and black beans.

Breakfast:

Maple and brown sugar oatmeal with diced strawberries and hard boiled eggs.

I eat 2 hard boiled eggs as part of my breakfast almost everyday, today they are white instead of brown.  I really like the oatmeal and strawberry combination.  The oatmeal did include added sugar though.  Cost: $.79.  Calories: 304.

Snack: 

Banana. Cost: $.22. Calories: 100.

Lunch:

Peanut butter and jelly sandwich with applesauce and sliced cucumber.

 I like that I was able to incorporate a vegetable and a fruit serving.  I would usually use a jam or jelly with no added sugar (I am really trying to cut back on sugar).  The main downside to this was the bread was not very tasty and a little dry, now I am locked in for the week.  You can see some of prep work in this picture, I used a lot of those little containers.  Cost: $.90. Calories: 388.

Snack:

Baby carrots (and me).

Baby carrots. Cost: $.13. Calories: 35.

Dinner:

Brown rice with black beans and diced tomatoes with basil, garlic, and oregano.

The main difficulty about dinner was plans to go out and I still did, but I ate beforehand and went and hung out with everyone afterwards, sans chips and salsa and other delicious Mexican delicacies.  What I ended up making for dinner was a large portion, so that was quite nice because I was definitely hungry when dinnertime rolled around.  Brown rice takes 45 minutes to simmer if you make it on the stove, so I had to be quite patient.  It did give me time to open and rinse the beans (and watch some Downton Abbey on my DVR).  I am glad I purchased the diced tomatoes with basil, oregano, and garlic because the spices gave the dish some flavor, since I didn't purchase spices with my weekly allowance, only allowing myself the use of salt and pepper. It filled me up and I was not all that tempted by other people's food at the restaurant.  Cost: $.73. Calories: 422.

I feel like I had a successful day one, I stuck to the plan, which for me is the hardest part.  I am locked in to the groceries I bought for the week and I can't change, even if I want to.  I have enough to eat to keep my body going and not a lot more.  I would say that I am not always eating what I want to eat, but these are the options I have and like those actually benefited by the SNAP program they are limited.

Daily Totals -
Cost: $2.77
Calories: 1,255

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