400 Calorie meals

I saw a book the other day, as I was doing a little shopping for Yule. It was called "EatingWell 500 Calorie Dinners Cookbook" and I though that, while it did not quite meet my needs, it was well done. I find that if I am eating on 1200-1500 calories a day, then my typical meals run closer to 200 calories for breakfast and 400 for lunch and dinner, leaving some room for 2 snacks of around 100 calories each.

Some of the things that appealed to me about the book is that it had meals made out of food. There is little or no "fat free", "sugar free" or pseudo food products. Secondly, the meals did not focus on dessert. There are a number of "500 calorie meals" that involve a diet shake and a diet cookie. The meals looked appetizing - they had some color, some veggies, and more than one thing on the plate. For instance it might be chicken with sweetpotatoes and green beans with a little side salad.

However, I think that with a little thought, I can do better than that. Instead of posting a photo of my CRON data, I will start posting my day in menu form, with the daily calories, vitamins and minerals at the top. If I manage to get around to it, I will start taking pictures of some of my meals, although I understand that food photography is quite a bit harder than it might look.

December 21

Calories 1145

Vitamins 100%

Minerals 100%

Breakfast 118 Calories

Yogurt with strawberries

Coffee w/ half and half

Snack 67 Calories

20 Red Grapes

Lunch 441 Calories

Eggs Florentine w/ tomatoes on homemade bread

Dinner 321 Calories

Braised Asparagus and mushrooms with crab

Spinach Salad with mustard/ume dressing

Dessert 195 Calories

Hot Cocoa w/ Ghirardelli's Chocolate