Thursday, June 4, 2015

A break in covering Schreiner's Iris Gardens to show you how I'm dealing with my lunch and break food, now that I'm back at work



I'm trying to eat in small amounts at my two 15-minute breaks and lunch hour, small amounts of fruits, vegetables, cheese, nuts, boiled eggs, Ritz crackers, etc. I'd been eating like that while off from work recovering from surgery on April 24. So, on the day before I returned to work on June 1, I shopped at the Dollar Tree and found a package of 10 round containers with lids and another package of 10 rectangular containers with lids. These are small containers--a Ritz cracker fits perfectly in the round container while three grape tomatoes fit nicely into the rectangular container. I need to lose weight, so I decided that if I'm thinking about what I'm eating, I'll pay more attention to how much I'm eating. Also, I decided that if I'm opening lots of containers, I'll eat slower. However, I knew that I needed an organized way to get those containers back and forth, so I went to Joanne's Fabrics and bought two craft storage containers. I'm using the blog and Facebook and Instagram as ways to keep up with how it's going, to reinforce my efforts. Thanks for indulging my efforts. Here's my food for Wednesday, June 3.

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One of the craft storage containers, the Art Bin. I have a small plastic bowl with a lid that fits in there, plus several of those small containers.

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The contents of the Art Bin: I already had a small bowl; in it I've got the last of my cooked vegetables: carrots, turnips, new potatoes, and somewhere in there, bits of zucchini. Three small containers hold slices of strawberries. One has a hard-boiled egg in it, one contains four Ritz crackers, and the last one has mixed nuts, a quarter cup.

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The other craft storage container--two of the trays are full size, one is split into two equal sections.

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Top left, a slice of fresh strawberry. The other three containers hold small pieces of a wonderful sheep cheese from Italy--I can't remember the name of it, but my older son knows, so I'm A-OK for getting more of it.

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This section is all cherries. So delicious!

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The split section holds grape tomatoes on one side and a combo of blueberries and raspberries on the other.

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My frig and microwave, both important in the scheme of things.

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My morning break, along with some cold water. I always get the cheese out in time for it to get to room temperature--that makes it taste even better, makes the texture more enjoyable.

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My lunch. I heated the veggies in the microwave and enjoyed the rest of it cold, along with a glass of cold water.

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I almost ate the entire afternoon break's portions without taking a photo. More room temp cheese and cherries. Yummy!

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I did eat everything for supper without taking a photo. I had one Hebrew National beef hot dog cut in half with each half placed in a King Hawaiian hot dog bun with a bit of mayo on each bun, plus a few Juanita tortilla chips, and the leftover blueberries, raspberries, and cherries. For dessert, one Popsicle stick's worth of sugar free Fudgsicle. Afterwards, I wondered about a small container of leftover cheese which I hadn't opened at supper time. Had I eaten it earlier and forgot about it? Hmmmm. I planned to leave some of the nuts for the next time.

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When I went into the kitchen to wash and dry the lunch containers, I discovered those last two bits of cheese. I enjoyed eating them with strawberries as I packed the next day's lunch and break goodies. There will be variety, but there will be repetition until I've finished an item, then I'll have an equally good substitute.

3 comments:

Juliet said...

Well done. Good thinking and planning. Ideas which help at least this one reader.

William Kendall said...

That comes in handy!

And now I'm hungry!

Randy said...

Fabulous looking lunch.