HMR Day 3 and 4

Day 3 went just fine.  I was "in the box."  :)  That means no confessions, no cheating.  I didn't take a bite of the kids' mac and cheese when I was making it and it was at that perfect, hot cheesy temperature.  I didn't even try a noodle to see if they were done cooking.  I did have canned peaches for my 2nd fruit serving and that might not be allowed, but I don't have any literature except that it says fruits and vegetables so for now I guess ignorance is bliss.

For lunch and dinner:

• Beef Stew with Vegetables:  Yum, I really liked this one.  There were big chunks of beef in it and they had a real meat texture.  The veggies were cut big and recognizable and it didn't taste like vitamins and it didn't need doctoring.  This will be a go-to meal for me.
• Pot Roast with Gravy:  The flavor of this one was good, similar to the stew: a very hearty beef gravy flavor.  The drawback was the pot roast was pretty processed and it wasn't visually appealing at all, just a flat, strangely shaped meat patty.  It's doable though.

In addition to the 2 daily entrees I'm supposed to have 3 "packet" meals.  The choices for these are way more limited than the MF meals.  All they have to choose from are Chocolate or Vanilla shakes, Chocolate pudding, 1 flavor of Oatmeal, and Chicken Soup (which looks in pics like MF's Cream of Chicken Soup).

Luckily for me I like the chocolate shakes!  I'm still working on the vanilla.  I tried adding diet rootbeer the first day and it was AWFUL.  Today I tried adding a tsp. of orange jello powder like a dreamsicle.  It was just okay.  I haven't tried the oatmeal or the soup yet, but as I mentioned before, I'm planning to substitute MF meals for some of the shakes for a while until they're gone.

Today for lunch I had:

• Turkey Chili:  It was really good!  I can totally imagine having it as a topping for a baked potato which, technically, I'm allowed to do.  Right now I'm trying to avoid starchy veggies, but who knows, maybe I'll get a little crazy one of these days.

I feel like I'm in a safe little food bubble right now though.  Being so extremely limited makes my choices so much easier.  If you've read my previous diet attempts at all you KNOW that I have daily confessions about the little liberties I take with modifying packet foods or having "just a bite," or something here and there.

Speaking of which, I do have 1 food confession today!  I don't own sugar free jello, but I have 10 boxes of regular jello we've never used, so I made my Dreamsicle shake today with that.  It is 20 calories of sugar, and if it helps me get through the 36 vanilla shakes then so be it.