Menu planning

I'm planning out my menu for the week (and wishing now that I maybe hadn't bought so much rice). I realized that I do tend to think of most of my food in terms of portions. I've been a little fanatical about portion control for a while now because most people know that it's the best way to a healthy weight and it's also the best way to a healthy budget.

When I say that I care about portion control, I mean that I do things like count out 22 almonds (1 oz) into a container or bowl, I measure out my grains with a measuring cup, I portion out things like green as soon as I bring them home so I know how many meals they will be. I never, ever just grab a handful of pasta or pour it out of the box into the water.

There is still always the surprise of finding out that you had more or less than you thought but I like to keep that to a minimum if I can.

I was thinking that I'm almost out of caffeinated tea but I actually have 5 bags left so that will get me through the week without a problem. I've decided not to buy any this week because I also have some coffee still in the freezer so I'll drink that over the weekend. My housemate bought a large block of cheese for about $5 so my plan is to buy half of that from him to round out my dairy consumption some.

My early menu planning is going something like this:

breakfast- oatmeal with milk and dried fruits

toast in the mid morning

Lunch will be veggies and rice (yeah all week, kind of dull but I can use different spice combinations to perk it up)

Dinner will include a frittata one night, tacos for probably two nights, beans and rice for a night or two, probably some kind of sandwich and some kind of pizza other nights.

I didn't get lettuce this week because I was so tired of it after having so much the last couple of weeks but I'm already looking forward to getting some next week!