posted by Jennifer on a day in the life of me!, breakfast, pasta, recipe make over, sauces

I love macaroni and cheese – and I make it at least a few times a month. It’s quick and easy and my whole family loves it – especially my daughter Claire . One morning last week when I was thinking about what to make for breakfast to bring to work, I got an idea in my head to make macaroni and cheese, but just in 1 serving portion. I had another idea instead of using elbow macaroni, I would use pearl barley and it would make like a cheesy yummy dish. I measured out 1/4 cup of the pearl barley, added the water to a small pan and started cooking that. I thought I would make that first, then start my sauce, so I continued to get ready for work. I came back in the kitchen, opened the pot and was sad that my pearl barley was burnt and stuck to the bottom of the pan.

It was 8:05, I have to be at work at 8:30 about 1.5 miles from my house – I knew I could still make it happen! I measured out 2 oz. of elbow macaroni, put that in a microwave safe plastic bowl, filled it with water and cooked that in the microwave for 6 minutes.

In a small saucepan I added 1 tablespoon of flour with 1 cup of skim milk, salt and pepper, a dash of oregano, a squirt of brown mustard and stirred that on medium heat until it starts to thicken. I weighed out 1 oz. of cheddar cheese and added it to the sauce and stirred until the cheese melted. I took about .5 oz. of ham out of my freezer and diced that up small to add as well.

I drained the pasta and added it to the cheese sauce. By the time I got to work it was perfect. It kept me full until well after noon. Do you like to eat non-traditional things for breakfast?.

One side I had with my lunch that same day was pea pods. I love them! I took a big handful, drizzled it with a new favorite dressing Fit & Active Brand (from Aldi) poppyseed dressing. It’s only 35 calories per tablespoon. And I threw in a few sunflower seeds on top too. So good!



So, I’m concentrating again on my weight loss, I have a new weight loss buddy – someone I met through a weight loss group on Linked In. I’m not going to say who this person is, but they’ve lost 100 pounds 4 times in their life and has gained a bunch back again, so we’ve made a pact to check in with each other every Friday. Day One was this past Friday, so I’ll let you know how I do next week. Sometimes just knowing another person is doing the same thing as you helps.

Kudo’s to my twin Biz who has lost 14 pounds doing Weight Watchers, she’s in the 150′s now – so I have 30 pounds to catch up with her – so that’s my other goal. I can’t even remember the last time we weighed the same, its been many years!!

Have a great weekend!