Sunday started with fresh from the oven breakfast. 

Cranberry Scones.  There's two in the photo but I was good and wrapped the other one to give to my administrative assistant when I go in. The rest get frozen and taken home to my husband. I served it with a small pat of Earth Balance spread and three pieces of bacon (I know, still falling off the "meat wagon" every once in a while).  The scones are from a Mix from "Sticky Fingers Bakery" and can be found at a number of specialty grocers, Fresh Market in Indy and at the Sticky Fingers Bakery website.  They make THE best scones and have no artificial flavors, colors, preservatives, trans-fats or saturated fats. They are as good as homemade, MUCH better than store bought, and you only add water and mix and bake.  I made them as a "round" cut into wedges so my calorie count was more than the "drop scone" directions on the box which is only 140 calories per scone.

Then it was time to shop for the week after church got out.

Here's the haul for the week.  This is just for me as I'm at the crash pad all week before a good stretch of days off. It's more "packaged" food than I use at home, but I put in long days and it's just me so often it's easier.

The Vitamin Waters (Zero type) are my replacement for the large glass of juice I was drinking on waking. I just couldn't start my day without the big glass of OJ.  I know the Vitamin C in juice is good for me, but the calories in fruit juice are WAY too high.  I think these will be a good substitute for that morning craving and the orange flavored one chilled, is quite good.

There was two bags of salad, some "veggie" chicken strips, raw almonds, fruit for snacking or smoothies, cranberries for salads or muffins, a few frozen foods including some veggie "burgers", jello pudding, and a large seasoned chicken breast which was on sale for just over a buck.  It will make a nice dinner or stir-fry, but I"ll freeze it for now as I have another dismantled chicken thawing for this week's crockpot dinner.   On hand I have flour and all the usual spices, coconut oil/milk, olive oil and salad dressing for burger topping (sweet onion dressing is great on a veggie burger) or salads   There's also almond butter and protein powders on hand. This was purchased at a more high-end grocers and ran me about $60 with sale items involved and not all of it will be polished off this week. I average $40 - $60 for groceries a week when on my own, including the occasional bottle of red wine and/or bar of dark chocolate.

Tips for healthier shopping.

(1)  Unless you are buying for a family with kids, get the small cart.  If it's full of fruits and veggies (the first stop in the store if you're wise) there's less room for the megapack of Cheese Doodles and the case of sugary Pop.

(2)  Don't shop when you are hungry.  You will be putting all kinds of junk in your cart because even food you'd normally turn away from looks great when you are starving (mmmmm - pickled herring).

(3)  Shop the outer part of the store first.  Avoid the center aisles with all the prepackaged and junk food. Note- stores are getting sneakier and putting some refrigerated cases in the middle of a dry goods aisle to lure you in.

Lunch today was the kale salad with three "Gardein" brand vegan crispy tenders with a slice of bread and some poppyseed dressing.  Yes I know, I had bacon for Breakfast, I'm a failed vegetarian, but I eat meat free most of the time. This is becoming one of my favorite salads and the "chicken" is better  tasting than most of the other veggie "chicken" brands with a LOT less in the way of chemical or artificial sounding ingredients.

Afternoon Snack - decaf coffee and an Alpsnack. A Dried fruit type bar made with almonds, coconut, mango, pineapples and chia seeds, this bar is vegan,wheat and  dairy free and has a TON of Omega 3 and 6's as well as essential amino acids. Gertrude, the President of the company, grew up in Switzerland where her Mom taught her how to nutritious nut and fruit bars. This is the one I bought, but there are other flavors with different fruits and some with bits of dark chocolate or espresso and chocolate.  I loved this bar and bought extra for field work, bike trips and afternoon snacks. This is favorite new find while eating healthier, found at Georgetown market in Indianapolis a week ago or you can buy online at http://www.alpsnackinc.com/

Dinner wasn't planned.  I made a batch of low fat oat bran muffins for my mornings and they smelled so good I had two of them with a glass of protein smoothie made with vanilla protein mix with some frozen  blueberries for dinner.

Total for the day (approximate)  Breakfast  360, Lunch, 420, snack 190, dinner 360.   A little more than 1300 calories

I did get in a half hour swim in the community pool and  20 minutes walking with Abby the Lab while it was cool this morning.  Better than yesterday but hope the pedometer arrives soon as I think it will help motivate me.