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Wow, I’m thrilled that you guys are as into this “project” as I am. I wasn’t sure if it would interest you, but it is fascinating to me and I’m so glad I can share it all with you! Thank you for the cheap snack and meal ideas (I’m looking forward to grilled cheese and popcorn)!

I’ve been feeling like I made a lot of mistakes on my first shopping trip, despite all of the planning, and feel I could have made some “healthier, less processed” choices. However, I’ve always been realistic when it comes to food and nutrition and I don’t think its feasible to eat brown rice and beans for every meal. Would it be healthier than ramen noodles or packaged rice mixtures? Of course! But there are times when dinner needs to be on the table in minutes and when you simply can’t stomach more beans.

With that said, I’m about halfway through the week and there are a few things I plan on doing differently. One  is having eggs every day, for one meal or snacks. I think it would help me feel more satisfied throughout the day. (I’m not sure if I would get sick of having eggs every day after a few weeks…something to consider but I’m going to try it for the rest of the week.) Here we go – day 3!

Workout: this is the first day I’ve been able to get in a formal workout. I took a 45 minute spin class.

Beverages: coffee + milk at work! (2 cups today, I needed it!)

Breakfast: that same pb sandwich. It could be worse, but I’ll be adding some eggs and fruit to the mix the rest of the week.

Lunch: that same bowl of rice, beans, frozen spinach, tofu, and onion sauce. Delicious but not as filling as it should be.

After work, I stopped by the Korean market on the hunt for cheap produce. I left with fresh veggies, two pieces of fruit and a treat! I’ll break all of my groceries down at the end – how much I spent, what I got for it, etc. Side note: the Korean market has an entire aisle of frozen dumplings. I’ll be heading back after the SNAP Challenge for kimchee dumplings. 🙂

Snack: 1 oz cheese + 2 carrots

Dinner: was a nice hearty meal that was also delicious and probably Richie’s favorite so far. I browned our second package of (99 cent!) ground bison with onion, one bunch of spinach and a can of diced tomatoes served over spaghetti. I wished I could have used more sauce over my pasta, but it needed to be portioned into 4 servings right away. I think normally, we would have eaten 3/4 (or maybe more?) of the sauce mixture but it is hard to say as we usually eat the amount we want, not the amount we can have.

 Dessert: Was kind of an impulse buy at the market…I probably shouldn’t have bought them but I needed a little something sweet! (They reminded me of Pokey sticks and totally hit the spot.)

Nutrition Stats: About 1,980 calories, 70 grams of fat, 260 grams of carbohydrates, 86 grams protein)