Working Like a Dog But at Least I'm Eating Well!

Tonight will mark the forth day in a row since Monday that I've worked fifteen hours plus. Between a full set of project drawings due tomorrow and two surprise issues on jobsites that required my immediate attention, I've barely had time to sleep let alone feed the cat! At least on Tuesday night, instead of having to cancel my personal training session with C, the Queen of Pumpkin Bread recipes, she was able to squeeze me in late in the evening for a rather good but tiring workout.

Since there hasn't been a whole lotta baking going on in my house, I thought I'd share with you two of my go to convenience foods, Laughing Cows and Ready-pac Bistro Salads!

I always have a pack of Laughing Cow Lights in my fridge. I eat them every day as a mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack instead of making a run for the vending machine. A wedge will provide enough cheese to spread on two Wasa light rye crackers but only packs 70 calories for the crackers and the cheese together! On Monday night, after getting home after 9pm from one of my projects, I was too lazy to even heat up a Lean Cuisine. So, I sliced a piece of bread from my weekend loaf, spread a Laughing Cow Light French Onion on it, topped it with a slice of tomato and put it under the broiler for 2 minutes. I had instant comfort food that was light but tasty.

Now, I have a love/hate relationship with lettuce salads. I love them but frankly with my schedule lately, I don't have enough time to make a salad for lunch from scratch most days. I'm either out the door and at the gym by 5:30am or at work by 6:30am.

I discovered the Ready-pac Bistro salads when I was living in Fairfield, CT this past spring. They were exactly the right size that I could keep two of them in my tiny fridge in the room I was renting there at the time. Now, I keep two or three of them on hand for weeks just like this one. The salads come in several varieties and each contains all the lettuce, toppings, dressing to make a complete salad and best of all, there is a little fork that comes in the pack too! I like the Chef Salad the best. It has the lowest calories and sodium content of all the varieties and it is easiest to dress up with a few grape tomatoes, a slice mushroom, or some kidney beans. If you don't use the ranch dressing that comes with it and sprinkle some lemon pepper on top instead, you can have a really filling meal and consume less than 400 calories! And if you are worried about all the packaging, it all can go into the recycling bin.

Toss a piece of fruit into the mix and you have a really good tasting and good for you dinner!

Like the one I'm getting to have at my desk right now...