It's no secret that I'm not great at boiling eggs. Years ago when we had a big Easter Egg hunt here, I had to call everyone and tell them not to eat the semi-boiled eggs I'd made and colored.
Now when I peel a boiled egg for my salad or an egg salad sandwich, this is costing me plenty. When the egg white comes off with the shell, I've actually dug it off. Hey, I need every bit of protein!
Day Three eating was oatmeal, salad and a chicken sandwich. The total cost was a whopping $3.99. This is the most expensive day yet, but still under budget. Calories were 1400, 66 grams of protein, 41 of fat and 210 of carbs. With this, I did my regular Zumba class then went to a Zumbathon for 2 hours. That minimally was 700 calories burned. I drank a lot of water. And I felt good.
Today, I wasn't super hungry until mid-morning. I've had the usual oatmeal for breakfast and an egg salad sandwich for lunch. I'll have a smoothie for a snack then tomato soup for dinner (with as many carrots as I want through the day). Today's total is $2.39 and I again was within the recommended range for calories, carbs, fat and protein. Another Zumba class tonight.
It's not great to feel like I don't have a lot of options of what to eat. On the other hand, it's still healthy food. I'm really looking forward to shopping for next week - the ad comes tomorrow and I'm ridiculously excited about it. A lot of what I bought this week I'll still have on hand next - milk, orange juice, carrots, oatmeal and raisins.
Variety is nice, even if it's just one meal. My cost average for the first four days of eating is $3. Variety is something I crave. But variety is not accessibility. Variety is not affordability. Variety is a luxury.
Variety as luxury - maybe that's the other stumbling block?
ReplyDeleteWe feel like we have to have it. "Eat a variety of foods, fruits and vegetables." But really, how much variety do we need on a weekly or monthly basis? Things go in and out of season to give us what we need - maybe the earth knows better than we do. (I tend to think so.)