Daily Menu for June 6

We had an impromptu dinner out with friends tonight at The Olive Garden. This was my first dinner out on Core and I think I did pretty well, although of course the meal was not local. I left satisfied but not stuffed, and I was proud of myself for not going overboard and eating half a basket (or more) of the breadsticks! Dinner cost 8 Points. I exercised today and gained 4 Activity Points, so I took 4 Points out of my Weekly Points Allowance.

I had about a cup of the Capellini Pomodoro, a tomato, garlic, basil, and olive oil sauce over whole wheat pasta (I guessed 2 PTS for the sauce.) I also had a side salad with 1 T lowfat dressing (.5 PT) and about five croutons (1.5 PTS) and one breadstick (4 PTS).

I'm babysitting all day and will be out of the house tomorrow, so here's the daily menu for June 6.

Today's yogurt comes from Straus Family Creamery in Marin County, and milk is from Clover Stornetta Farms, in Sonoma, Marin, and Mendocino Counties. Both are organic, sustainable dairies and the cows are allowed to feed on pastures rather than spending their lives penned indoors like conventional dairies.

The cherries are from a roadside stand near my parents' house. We went up to Vacaville to visit with them on Sunday, and for about a mile and a half there were signs urging us to take the next exit for fresh cherries. One sign said, "Last chance, get off here!" and another said "Cherries, MMMM!" So we pulled over and bought the sweetest, juiciest cherries you could imagine. Yummy!

The eggs come from a stall at the Menlo Park farmer's market, from the man who sells mushrooms. He has a few laying hens and the eggs are ENORMOUS! The egg cartons, reused from week to week, have to be rubber banded shut since the lid won't clasp over the round brown shells. This morning I had one egg with two dark yellow yolks, and the one egg kept me satisfied until lunch.

I bought the bulgur from the bulk bins at The Country Sun, our local natural foods store. (This is where I bought the turkey for yesterday's turkey chili as well.)

Breakfast
Summer Muesli - 1/4 c. steel cut oats, 1 c. fat free plain yogurt, 1 c. cherries, vanilla and almond extract, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and 1 t. honey (.5)

Snack
Fruit

Lunch
leftovers 1 c. whole wheat pasta and 1/2 c. pasta sauce (2)
1 c. zucchini

Dinner
Egg curry
Bulgur
Swiss chard
Fat free milk
Watermelon

WPA (Weekly Points Allowance) points used today: 2.5
WPA points available: 21.5
Activity points today: 4
Activity points this week: 12
Daily 8 - the 8 Healthy Guidelines
1. Fruits and veggies - 8
2. Whole grains - steel cut oats for breakfast, whole wheat pasta for lunch, bulgur for dinner
3. Milk - 2
4. Healthy oil - yes
5. Protein - yes
6. Limit sugar and alcohol - yes
7. Water - 8+
8. Multivitamin - yes