July 8: Make It A Little Healthier

Mac and cheese is one of my biggest weaknesses. I run a site full of recipes for it. I buy boxes of it from Amazon by the case. If I could just give up mac and cheese it'd probably knock pounds off my waistline and add years to my life. But that would be a drastic change and, as we've discussed before, I'm not convinced of my ability to maintain drastic change over the long haul.

What I can do, however, is make it a little healthier.

Everyone once in a while Laura gets a phone call as she's getting ready for work to let her know she can come in late if she wants. That happened today, meaning she was unexpectedly home for lunch. I dug into the pantry and pulled out a box of the mac and cheese above. I supplemented it, though, with all of the following:

• 1/4 cup milk, 2 tbsp butter, a handful of shredded cheese and black and red pepper (as usual)
• A leftover venison hamburger, crumbled.
• One zucchini, sliced, basted with olive oil, garlic powder, salt and pepper, grilled and chopped
• A good-sized fistful of snow pea pods, steamed and cut into bite-sized pieces.

I served this with half a peach so the meal was a serving of fruit, a serving or two of vegetables and a serving of lean meat in addition to the usual carbs and dairy. It wasn't my most visually appealing meal ever, but I thought it tasted pretty good. And adding everything above stretched the meal into two large servings, an added bonus.

Did I exercise today? Yes, I ran 1.4 miles. First run outside in over a week.