Bizzaro Lunch

Due to gloom regarding my pending unemployment, I may have gotten a little martyr-y when making last week's grocery list. I might have said (to myself) "Fine. Whatever. I'll just have PB&J. And chips." It's possible I let my need for comfort food affect my menu planning in a negative way.

OK. I did, I did, and it is. Sue me, I'm unemployed and a return to childhood makes me feel better. However. This is how I've gained 8 1/2 pounds in the last month and while I'm not feeling FAT per se, it would be a shame to throw away all the hard work I put in for the last year and a half leading up to the wedding. So when it came time to make lunch today, I wanted something with a few more food groups and a few less preservatives than a PB&J and chips could offer. But alas, I didn't buy anything else. So I turned to one of my favorite food divas for an answer: Hungry Girl.

OK listen. Hungry Girl is not lighting the culinary world on fire. That's not what she's trying to do. What she's trying to do is provide healthy recipes to regular people. It's not fine food, it's helping to satisfy the cravings that derail dieters. And it gives great ideas of how to combine foods in ways you wouldn't necessarily think of. Which is how I end up eating the bizarro lunch pictured above.

Like I say. I didn't have a whole lot of ingredients to work with. But I did have a tortilla, a 97% fat free hot dog, and some cheddar cheese, which is how I ended up eating a Cheesy Dog Tortilla Rollup. Not insanely groundbreaking, but not something I would have thought of and a good way to combine some healthy ingredients I already had in a tasty and satisfying way. Serve alongside some grapes from the bottom of the fruit drawer that miraculously hadn't turned and a little greek yogurt with sugarfree pancake syrup (an HG serving suggestion) and you have the delightfully bizarre and cost-effective meal I had that is keeping me a lot more full than yesterday's PB&J and chips lunch.

Now, the Hungry Girl philosophy works a lot better when you keep a lot of her recommended ingredients on hand, but even without them, I managed to find something to throw together in my kitchen. I expect with a little more careful planning and smart shopping, I'll be having a lot more healthy, fun lunches in the future, so stay tuned.