And So It Begins

Egg Cups

My numbers are not coming down as I had hoped they would after being off the antibiotic.  So, this past week I have researched, checked out recipes, looked at several suggested menus, and brainstormed with my family.  I think I've come up with several great ideas, and spent part of the morning preparing my make-ahead meals.  Breakfast is really tough for me.  I am usually rushed and grab whatever is handy.  Daughter Mary suggested that I make "egg cups", and have them ready to reheat in the microwave.  I sprayed my muffin tin with butter flavored Pam, and added a slice of wheat bread with the crusts removed.  This was baked at 350 degrees for about 5 minutes, until the toast was just starting to brown.  I removed the tin from the oven and then added some shredded cheese to each cup followed by an egg.  These were returned to the oven and baked until the eggs were done to my satisfaction.  And voila, 6 breakfasts.

Lunch was another problem.  After I fix lunch for the kids, again, I grab whatever is handy.  Hopefully, some pre-planning and make ahead ideas will fix this problem.  I had purchased the EasyLunchboxes, and didn't really used them.  But now they make a lot of sense.  I boiled some small seashell pasta and divided it into 1 cup portions.  I kicked up my "macaroni salad" by adding sliced celery, shredded carrots, chopped dill pickle and sliced black olives in addition to 1/2 hard boiled egg to each box.  To the salad in this box, I added diced lean ham and accompanied it with fresh strawberries.

To the salad in this box, I added nearly 3 oz. of tuna packed in water, which I drained.  After putting most of the tuna in my salad, I gave the rest to the cat.  Ok, so I'm a softie.  I added fresh watermelon to this box.

I took a full bone-in chicken breast, sprayed it with Olive Oil Pam, added salt and pepper, and roasted it in the oven at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.  After it cooled, I removed it from the bones and added two ounces to this box of pasta salad.  Fresh canteloupe was added here.

I took another three ounces of the roasted chicken and added shredded carrots, peas, and dried cranberries. I also added a little Lawry's Seasoning Salt and will add some sunflower seeds or cashews just before eating.  And with this lunch, I will have the honeydew.  Crackers will add the necessary carbs.

All this prep work only took about two hours, with Rod's help.  Hopefully it will make sticking to my meal plan easier.  Wish me luck.