Mom and Pop Gotta Eat Too.

Many people who read and follow this blog know that my wife and I recently welcomed our newborn baby girl into the house about a month ago. 

The transition to parenthood has been a tough one to say the least, but we've gotten into a routine now.  A new normal as it were. 

As has become the case, my wife and I are finding the opportunities between the crying, changing, feeding, and bonding to accomplish the simple tasks, like washing dishes, doing the laundry, bathing and changing into real clothes, even eating seems to have taken second fiddle.






Tonight, I was able to squeeze in this little gem. 

It's not a masterpiece, but it's far better than boxed mac n'cheese.

I took pork loin and seasoned with lemon pepper, Lawry's seasoned salt, and dried basil.  Baked at 350 in the oven for approximately 15 minutes.  From a portion control stance, these pork loin are a great example of what 4 oz. of meat looks like.  Clinically, a dietitian would say your meat should be the size of a deck of cards.  Well, there you go.  Also, if calorie and fat reduction are your goals, baking is one of the best options instead of frying.

The salad is the remains of the pre chopped romaine lettuce we had in the fridge complemented by some kidney beans, black olives, grape tomatoes and topped with Gorgonzola cheese.

My wife steamed some rice earlier in the day.  Pre staging meals is going to be the standard for the next little while.

The orange is the remains of the leftover sweet potatoes from New Year's.

Altogether this meal took about 20 minutes to put together.  I did most of the plating while the pork was in the oven. 

Life's about seizing opportunities no matter the currency be it money, advancement, for us it's time.  I've got a saying that like to use concerning time and opportunity, "The best time to do anything is always now."

What opportunities are you taking advantage of? 

Extra, for the parents out there, how do/did you do it and survive?

I've got a theory that if you give 100% all of the time, somehow things will work out in the end.
Larry Bird, former NBA basketball player

In the Begining.

Today, I'm reminded why I started packing my own lunch over 6 years ago.  To ease the cost of having a full stomach. 

See, I'm a former sailor in the U.S. Navy and one of the perks, if you'd call it that, was having prepared food available at least 3 times daily if one was so inclined to eat on the mess decks.  It may not have been the best stuff ever, but it was free which raised its value for me.

My first job after the Navy presented a challenge for me and ultimately the template for the sandwich routine.  I now had to feed myself somehow. 

Back then I had nowhere near the cooking and food prep skills I have now.  That being the case I spent many lunch breaks at Subway, Quizno's, and that taqueria that opened later on.  Combined with that fast food dinner's and take out, my food bill per month was eating up (ha ha puns r' fun) a good chunk of my income. 

Solution: make your own lunch with the food you've already purchased.  But, what does a single, young adult male purchase in the way of food for lunch?  Bread, sliced cheese, processed meat, maybe, and a big maybe lettuce of some sort. 

Well, I saved myself some money and continue to save by brown bagging it. 

Consider if you were to eat at Subway for lunch all week.  We'll go the $5 for the foot long since that's pretty good value compared to $3.75 for a 6 inch.  That equates to $25 a week, go the whole month $100. A year's worth of Subway, $1200.   If you want to have some fun check out this sandwich calculator to get an idea of where I'm going.  On average a homemade sammie I make costs $1.70. In a year that's $400. 

What would you do with an extra $800?

In today's bag we have quinoa with broccoli, carrots, dried cranberries, and some of the leftover kidney beans.

 

Be sure to rinse your quinoa before cooking.  This removes the saponin that coats the seed.  Most commercial and packaged quinoa has already been rinsed at the manufacturer, but giving it one more go will ensure the removal of the saponin which acts as a laxative.  Use running water not standing water.  What I have here is a presoak.

 All my components in their individual forms.
This is how I steam my broccoli.  Two birds
One stone.

 

 

The final product.

 

 

Altogether 452 calories, 4g fat, 18g protein, 20g fiber (42% of my own recommended intake.) 96g carbohydrates.

 

So, what's your motivation to prepare your own foods, lunch or otherwise?

 

Comment away.

 

Do not fear going forward slowly; fear only to stand still.

     ~Chinese Proverb

Lunch #1 Triple Red Salad

Lunch #1 Triple Red Salad

On the morning of December 31st, 2012 I packed my lunch with a sandwich for the last time for a while.  Here's what that sandwich looked like.

 

 

 

Packaged ham, 2 slices muenster cheese, maybe 1/4 cup romaine lettuce, ketchup & mustard, all stuck between 100% whole wheat bread (as you can see, I used the hull.  All out of bread makes it easier to keep with this project.)

 

I've been packing my own lunch now for over 6 years and aside from the occasional leftovers from dinner, the sandwich with cold cuts has been my go to mid-day meal.  And why not?  The sandwich is easily portable, easy to put together, and easy to make, and easy made into a somewhat healthy meal if done right (No processed packaged meats, more veggies, etc.).

 

And that's the thing, the sandwich is easy and easy can breed laziness and routine.  Which is where I feel I'm at.  This little project of mine is more about reawakening my creativeness while gaining  more experience with meal planning.

 

You've probably heard the joke where three men working on a a high rise building were taking their lunch one afternoon.  The first man exclaims, "Lasagna again!  If I have lasagna in my lunch tomorrow, I'm jumping off this building."  The second guy has roast beef in his lunchbox and he also has had it with how his lunch is being packed and will join the first guy in jumping off the building.  The third man has a bologna sandwich in his lunchpail and he also says that he's jumping if he has bologna sandwich just one more time.  Sure enough, the next day all three men have lasagna, roast beef, and a bologna sandwich respectively and they all jump off the building.  Quite sad nowadays given all the resources available in the ways of counseling, but that's not how the joke goes. 

 

At the funeral, the wives who pack the lasagna and roast beef sob and sigh and say, "if I only know my husband wanted something else I would've made that instead."  Then they look over to the wife of the bologna sandwich man.  She's not showing a hint of sadness.  They ask her why she's not mourning. 

 

Her reply.  "He packs his own lunch."

 

Just like most things in life, if you're not happy with what you've put in front of you, change it!

 

And so it goes my first lunch outside the sandwich.  It's a salad I've dubbed Triple Red Salad on account that it has three ruby colored components: pomegranate seeds, kidney beans, and beets.

 Pomegranate Seeds

1/2 cup Kidney Beans.  From the can.Washed to further reduce sodium content.

Julienned Beets

 

 

 

I took these and added 1 cup of chopped romaine lettuce that I chopped the night before.

I use the salad spinner to make life just a little easier.

 

 

Throw it all together with some Dubuque Ham left over from the New Year and that's Triple Red Salad for you.

I used some Caesar salad dressing to round out this antioxidant and fiber rich salad.  Note the container I used for the dressing.  I got it from the taqueria my wife and I frequent.  It helps control the portion of dressing (2 Tbsp).

What is/are your go to lunch staples.  Any habits or tendencies you can think of?

Comment away.

Let thy food be thy medicine.
    ~Hippocrates