Make sure you read the introduction prior to reading this post.
For Week 2, I maintained some of the same basic principles I used during Week 1. I first searched my pantry, freezer and fridge to see what was in there. Then I pulled out some of my favorite cookbooks and poured over them, trying to match up as many recipes with the food I had on hand (disclosure: I really wanted to save more than $10 this week and using up food that was already in my house was a good way to do that). Here’s what I came up with:
Breakfast: Cereal, mini-bagels, yogurt, oatmeal, the remaining banana muffins, pancakes or waffles, eggs. Drinks are OJ, milk, tea and water. Not too much of a change from Week 1. I expect these choices to remain pretty static for the duration of the experiment.
Lunch: Soup (chicken noodle, noodle and minestrone), leftovers, cheese sandwiches and peanut butter sandwiches. There is also fruit, carrots and an assortment of snacks to add to our lunches.
Dinner: Chicken chow mein, vegetable stir fry with rice, spinach, rice and black bean burritos, pasta primavera, Mediterranean pasta with zucchini, chili bacon burgers with fries and pizza (we succeeded in making proper pizza crust this week). My parents are coming for a visit this weekend so we may wind up going out to dinner but I’m pretty sure that they’ll pay, enabling us to stick to the plan.
Snacks: Pretzels, popcorn, rice cakes, 100 calorie chocolate bars, s’mores flavored cookies-type things, cheese sticks, crackers and fruit. There is also pudding and ice cream.
Drinks: Milk, OJ, iced tea, water, apple juice for my daughter and hot chocolate.