Microwave Dinners

I know this is going to come as a shock to some of you, but I don’t always want to cook or bake.  I know!  Shocking, isn’t it?!  Some days I just want food to magically appear, and I want it to be magically delicious, healthy, AND something everyone in my family would like to eat.  Yeah, I know… FAT chance, but a girl can dream can’t she???  Today was one of those days.

I don’t know what it is about Monday’s lately, but they have really sucked.  I know that Monday’s usually suck for people with day jobs, but they shouldn’t suck for a stay at home mom like me.  Monday should be like every other day for me, so it must just be my attitude.  And I’m sure that the fact that it is the day I weigh in for the stupid lose2win contest doesn’t help either.  Today I know it had a great deal to do with the fact that I got 1 hour of sleep last night. 

Anyway… I’ve been waiting for food to magically appear all day today and it never did.  Go figure.  The most cooking I did involved melting down some adorable, purple, bunny shaped marshmallows so I could make my adorable little girl a peanut butter/marshmallow fluff sandwich for lunch.  I decided that tonight would be a good night to have a “choose your own dinner at the grocery store” kind of night.  I also thought it would be a good chance to try out a weight watchers frozen meal.

My feelings towards microwave dinners aren’t fantastic.  They are expensive, usually taste nasty, and have enough sodium to kill the entire slug population of Juneau- possibly Alaska. This said, I do have to admit that every once in a while I break down and buy one in hopes that THIS time it will taste good.  THIS time it will even slightly resemble the gorgeous picture on the box.  THIS time it will be satisfying.  THIS time it will be different.  THIS… was not one entirely one of those times. 

After collecting the taquitos for the boy, hot dogs for the girl, and the half pound of jalapeño cheddar (for grilled cheese) for the hubby, I carefully maneuvered the massive, cumbersome, yellow race car cart down the freezer isle.  I stood dumbfounded as I stared through the glass at the choices.  I had intended to try one of Weight Watchers SmartOnes but found myself drawn towards the HealthyChoice meals instead.  I think that the SmartOnes pictures didn’t look good to me, and if the pictures don’t even look good, the chances of the food being good are even less.  

Freezer meals are the only things that I justify judging by the cover.

I went with the Healthy Choice Oven Roasted Chicken, with 15g of Protein, 5g of Fiber, 230 calories, and 7pointsplus.  “Chicken Tenderloins in Homestyle Gravy, Vegetables, Whipped Potatoes & Peach Multigrain Crisp.”  Okay, so I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised by this meal.  It was good, it kinda resembled the picture, and didn’t totally disappoint.  My biggest complaint was that when it was gone, I was thinking I probably could easily eat about 3 of them.  What can you expect for 7pointsplus?  It would make a good snack or light lunch, but didn’t cut it for dinner.  I had Ken make me a 7point grilled cheese in addition.  I guess I could have made myself a salad, but it didn’t magically appear so… you get my drift.  Any of you have healthy alternative microwave meals that you like?

On a different note, last weeks weigh in was a bust with a 2.4 pound gain that I wasn’t the slightest bit surprised about.  Today’s weigh in was much better with a 5.2 pound loss.  Those are the kind I like.  I think the difference was the food choices I made.  I never eat more than my daily/weekly allowance of points, but this week I made even more effort, choosing smarter choices to use up points, and eating a lot more zero point values fruits and veggies. That 6 pointsplus bowl of peanut butter cap’n crunch (3/4cup cereal and 1 cup 2% milk) is a relatively low point choice as far as cereal is concerned(and a tasty one at that), but the higher point value raisin bran or grape nuts is probably better for me and keeps me satisfied longer, so I’ve been eating that instead.

I am finding myself more and more excited to get below 300 pounds.  I haven’t been in the 200 pound range since before my eldest was born over 5 years ago and it’s time.  I am aiming to get there in the next 10 weeks, but if I can do it before that, even better as I have a trip to San Francisco in May and would like to be able to get around better than I am today.  That would mean losing more than 2 pounds a week, but I can give it my best try.  I also desperately need new clothes, and REFUSE to get new clothes in my current size.  I am also still waiting for my wedding ring to fit again, but nothing new there. 

Here’s to the upcoming weeks full of healthy food choices and bumping up the exercise!