Monday's Breakfast

The goal is to make it to the gym every morning these days, therefore I need a packed breakfast. My reasoning is sound: the only way to get ready in the morning is to take baby Ashni to daycare first, go to gym, workout, and have an unhurried shower. The only problem is that it is equidistant from daycare to my home as it is from daycare to the gym. So, because Ashni decided to sleep very badly last night, I took her in and promptly went home to sleep for another 45 minutes, shower, dress, and then went to work. So I still needed the pre-packed breakfast, just not for the same reason. :) It is very hard to workout on less than 5 hours of sleep.

Anyway, today's bento (and my breakfast bento for the rest of the week) comes to 5 points:

This bento contains:
2 'Oat'-nigiri (1 cup oatmeal, 1 tsp raisins, 1 tsp craisins) (2 points)
1 Morningstar Farms sausage patty (2 points)
1/2 cup of grapes (.5 points)
1 Tbsp. Lite syrup (.5 points)

Breakfast Bento for the Week

So this week's breakfast bento (meaning all breakfast bentos for the week are going to be exactly the same...not that this one bento will be my breakfast all week) ;) is very similar to last week's, except there is a different kind of muffin in it. I tried another Weight Watcher's muffin recipe, this time a Maple Bran muffin from thier Complete Cookbook. I was pleased with these results and I think this is a winner. This breakfast bento comes to 3 Weight Watcher's points:

This bento contains:
2 Maple Bran mini muffins (2 points)
1/2 cup grapes (.5 points)
1 Morningstar Breakfast Link (.5 points)
1/2 tbsp. reduced calorie syrup (0 points)

By the way, the whole reason I make breakfast bentos is because the idea is that I am supposed to be going to the gym before work and then I eat my breakfast at my desk in the morning. Yeah, that hasn't been happening. These last few pounds are a pain to lose, and exercise is crucial is helping that process along (it's crucial anyway, I've just been lazy). My goal was to get back on the gym-wagon this week, but when my alarm went off this morning, I just felt so tired. I will be going after work, but I do prefer to workout in the morning. Here's to getting up tomorrow morning!

Wednesday's Breakfast Bento

I tried a new recipe for my breakfast bento this week: Weight Watchers Glazed Pear Muffins. The results were okay, but I probably will look for another muffin recipe. This morning's breakfast comes to 2.5 points:

This bento contains:
2/3 serving Glazed Pear Muffins (w/o glaze) (1.5 points)
1 Morningstar Breakfast Link (.5 points)
1/2 tbsp. Reduced Calorie Syrup in the strawberry (0 points)
1/2 cup grapes (.5 points)

This is going to be my breakfast for the next few days, so I won't be posting the same thing everyday this week. But next week should have something different!

Breakfast Bento for Tuesday

Pretty much the same old, same old. I mixed it up with raspberries this time. I make breakfast bentos almost everyday, I just don't post them because they all look the same. :) This breakfast bento comes to 3.5 points.

This bento contains:
2 oat-nigiri [1 cup oatmeal, 1 tsp dried cranberries, & 1 tsp golden raisins] (2 points)
2 Morningstar Breakfast Links (1 point)
1 tbsp. Lite Syrup (.5 points)
1/2 cup raspberries (0 points)

Tuesday's Breakfast Bento

I usually bring the Fruit-Filled Wontons for breakfast with a grapefruit. But, that isn't always filling, and I can't make a bento out of that. So, I made the wontons smaller this time so they would fit in a bento and threw in some veggie links. For more information about the wontons, see the bottom of this previous post. This morning's bento comes to 4 points.

This bento contains:
2 Fruit-Filled Breakfast Wontons (2 points)
2 Morningstar Farms Breakfast Links (1 point)
1/2 cup grapes (.5 points)
1 tbsp Lite Syrup in the birdy (.5 points)

More Oat-nigiri!

I made the 'oat'-nigiri again for breakfast today! And they were delicious! I bought a new can of oats, so they didn't taste funny this time. :) This morning's bento comes to 4 Weight Watchers points.

This bento contains:
1 cup oatmeal (2 points)
1 tsp golden raisins (0 points)
1 tsp dried cranberries (0 points)
2 Morningstar Farms Breakfast Links (1 point)
1 tbsp. Lite syrup in the birdy (.5 points)
1/2 cup grapes in the sidecar (.5 points)
(I didn't count the lettuce since it's just there for looks.)

First Attempt at a 'Real' Breakfast Bento

While I bring my breakfast to work every day, I have never bothered to actually make it into a bento. I was inspired by mushmo over at Livejournal to attempt to make one. She said in her comments that she has made fake onigiri out of oatmeal for breakfast before, and I decided to give it a try. I think they turned out pretty well. I filled them with a couple of dried cranberries, and they held their shape even when I had to move them into a different box. I didn't try to hold them and eat them though...I just used a fork. :) They did taste a little funny and I'm not sure if it's because the oats are probably pretty old, or if they just took on a weird taste from the bento box. Either way, once I figure it out, these will definitely become a regular staple in my breakfast bentos! This bento comes to 4 Weight Watchers points.

This bento contains:
2 oatmeal onigiri = 1 cup of oatmeal (2 points)
1 tsp. dried cranberries (0 points)
2 Morningstar Breakfast Links (1 point)
1/4 cup grapes (.5 points)
1 tbsp. Lite Syrup in the blue strawberry (.5 points)

Bento Backlog

I have been making bentos everyday, I just haven't had time lately to post them. So over the next few days I will be posting them with recipes. There has been a somewhat major in Weight Watchers lately -- they introduced the Momentum plan. I guess a lot of people expressed confusion over some of the changes, but I personally like them. You can now track your hunger signals, before and after you eat. I appreciate this because by forcing me to pay attention to how full I'm feeling has helped me know when to stop eating.

I am also enjoying their 'filling foods' list. This is a list of foods that are more likely to fill you up and keep you full for awhile. Now, before I go shopping for the week, I plan my snacks around filling foods. This has kept me from eating things like the Hershey 100 calorie bars as snacks. There's nothing wrong with those bars, but I never really feel satisfied after eating them. The filling foods have really helped me stay on plan.

So, without further ado, here is the first in my bento backlog:

Contents of Breakfast Bento:

2 Fruit-Filled Breakfast Wontons (2 points)
1 cup grapes (1 point)

I am loving these breakfast wontons. They are so easy to make and very nice bento additions. The recipe is from Weight Watchers, but you can easily adapt it and put anything you want inside it. I don't want to post the recipe here because I'm sure there are some copyright issues with doing that. But if you know how to make wontons anyway, all you do is put a teaspoon or so of a couple ingredients (raisins & walnuts, cream cheese & cherry preserves, etc...). Seal up the wonton and boil it for about 1 minute. Then put them on a baking sheet, sprinkle with brown sugar and cinnamon and bake at 400 F for 6-8 minutes until golden brown and crispy. They keep for about 3-4 days in the fridge. So I make about 8 or 10 on Sunday for my breakfasts during the week.

Salmon Wraps Breakfast Bento

Since I've begun going to the gym in the morning before work, I now need to pack a breakfast bento as well. I try to keep my breakfasts between 3 and 4 points, and this one comes to 3.5 points -- right on target! Every morning will probably be the same thing for awhile, so I won't post these every day. This week we have:

This bento contains:
1 cup red grapes (1 point)
1 piece of Italian Herb Flatbread (1 point)
1 tbsp Fat Free Cream Cheese (.5 points)
1 oz Applewood Smoked Lox (1 point)