Day 1: Food

What did we eat today? For breakfast, Nora had cereal and milk, and the rest of us had oatmeal with a little cinnamon sugar sprinkled on top. I make ours with1/3 cup of rolled oats and water, heated in the microwave.  I "sweeten" mine with banana and a teaspoon of brown sugar, but the kids like some cinnamon sugar.

For lunch, the girls had school lunch.  A little note about that - I took advantage of the fact that children in a household with a single mother* who qualifies for SNAP benefits probably would also get free lunch at school.  While I normally pack their lunches, to ease up on the grocery burden, I asked the girls to buy their lunches this week.  My oldest immediately melted down crying from the injustice of it all, and the middle daughter pulled out the menu to plan out what she'd eat for the week.  Very characteristic of both girls. 

I had the chance to go to lunch with both girls and took pictures of their lunch trays.  Nora had pizza crunchers, mixed salad with ranch dressing, pineapple, and chocolate milk.

Clare had pizza crunchers with marinara sauce, mixed salad with ranch dressing, peaches, and chocolate milk.

They both ate everything on their lunch trays.  I went home afterwards and had a peanut butter sandwich (on homemade bread) and an apple.

After school, Nora stayed at school for her running group (they provide a snack), and Clare and James had a snack of peanut butter balls (peanut butter, powdered milk, and honey) and half of an apple.  I made myself some microwave popcorn in a lunch bag for a snack.

For dinner, we had Baked Mac & Cheese (click on the link for the recipe).  It was yummy.  Below are all the ingredients:

• Whole wheat elbow macaroni
• Flour
• Organic milk
• Low-fat cottage cheese
• Extra Sharp Cheddar Cheese
• Frozen spinach
• Bread Crumbs
• Paprika
• Nutmeg
• Salt/Pepper
• Olive Oil

Finished product!

Clare thought it was tasty:

Nora thought it was super tasty:

And James was pretty sure I was trying to kill him:

The spinach was very suspect to him.  He is not so big on change, and it is not usual for me to put spinach in his macaroni and cheese.  Our rule is that you have to have at least 3 bites of dinner, and then you're free to leave the table (with the understanding that you will not be offered other food after dinner except your reheated leftovers).  He had his 3 bites and went on his way.

There was half a tray of mac and cheese left over for another night this week. I did not use all the elbow macaroni, so while I generally have a rule against making special food for the kids, when I offer the baked mac and cheese again, I may let James have some plain macaroni on the side.

All in all, the first day went well.  I did not eat as much as I normally do:  I usually have baked tostitos and salsa with my peanut butter sandwich and I have some yogurt with mixed nuts for dessert after dinner.  I felt hungry when I went to bed, but I also found myself being very worried about having enough food to last us through the week.  I could have had some yogurt and peanuts, but it seemed better to hold off.  I slept perfectly fine and wasn't even that hungry when I woke up.


*I'm not really a single mother, but I'm pretending I am while Josh is in Michigan during the work week.  Most houses after all who receive SNAP benefits have a single parent.