always prepared!

Call me retentive, but I like to have everything planned and at least partially completed well in advance to ensure proper execution and to leave little room for failure. I know that on a weekend day, it is very easy for the day to get away from me and for me to skip the gym so I like to get up early and exercise first thing before I start my day (then subsequently sleep half of it away, but that’s a different story). Enter Dan. It all started this morning, I set the alarm to get up and head over to Grapevine to walk/run 8miles. First, the dogs were against me and wouldn’t let me out of bed; then Dan promised he wouldn’t let me sleep past 10am so that I could still make it to BodyPump at the gym if I’d just turn the tv off and fall back asleep already. Around 11/1130ish, some annoying roofer/salesman came a ringing and stirred the dogs into a barking frenzy which finally awakened me. I swear Dan would’ve let me sleep past noon had that man not rang our bell. I immediately gave up on my morning exercise plan and hope to go this afternoon/evening before dinner.

After the requisite trip to Dunkin Donuts for my coffee, I sat down and planned out our week ensuring we are both within our daily point targets. Side note: I figured out Dan’s points so I don’t starve him as I go through this; he lost almost 30lbs just eating what I was eating over the past few months and I don’t think he can spare another pound. Yes, that was – three effing zero – three times my goal, without trying, while I lost and regained the same 4lbs each month … DISLIKE! Back to my point, I’ve written out my plan for all meals and most snacks for the coming week, cross referenced my list against what I already have in the fridge/freezer and pantry and am about to run to the store to pick up the fresh veggies and other random items.

I’m going to make an egg & bacon casserole for each morning’s breakfasts (add fresh fruit & toast for Dan), lunches will be a mix between leftovers and soups for me (sandwiches, baked chips, fruit and something dessertish for Dan), dinners will be fresh, new and fabulous each night so I don’t get any complaints from the peanut gallery, err um, I mean Dan. One thing I’ve learned is that if I don’t have a good variety of dinners planned and goshforbid Dan has to eat the same thing twice within a 30-day cycle, he will sabotage me with pizza and/or cheeseburgers (or worse, Bueno). We will both have low-fat, low-cal, pro-biotic yogurt for our morning snacks but our afternoon snacks have yet to be nailed down; it’ll depend on what I find at the store that looks good (suggestions welcome!). Dan will also get a serving of dried fruit and nuts each day … seriously, he gets SO many more points than me each day and it is entirely unfair!!

Eggs & Bacon Casserole / Southwestern Style!
8 servings / 4 pointsplus
6 eggs
1 cup Southwestern Egg Beaters
¼ cup skim milk
3 slices whole grain sandwich bread
6 slices turkey bacon, cooked & crumbled
1 cup Mexican cheese blend (or cheddar)
Salt & Pepper (optional)
Olive oil cooking spray

- Spray casserole dish with olive oil cooking spray
- Break bread into bite-sized pieces & layer over bottom of casserole dish
- Top bread with bacon and cheese
- Whisk eggs, egg beaters and skim milk together until well blended and you can’t see any egg white floating around; it might get a little foamy but that’s ok (add salt & pepper if desired)
- Pour egg mix over everything in the casserole dish and bake 40-45min at 350 until browned and the center is set
- Cool completely before portioning out into individual containers to refrigerate or freeze for the week

Enjoy!!

Tonight’s dinner is 11 points plus: Dijon Pork Chops with baked red potatoes and broccoli in a low-fat/low-cal cheese sauce; I’ve never made the pork chops before so I’m going to wait until I test out the recipe before I post it. I’ll only post it if it’s good!