I am starting to feel the stress of getting ready for Christmas and got an additional ball thrown at me. At work we normally go to a restaurant for a holiday lunch gathering and we can just order whatever we want. Nothing had been said about it so I just assumed we were skipping it this year. Today we got an email telling us that instead of the lunch, we are having "Breakfast and Sweets" on Thursday. Everyone should bring either a breakfast dish or a sweet. The goal basically is to eat all day. To make things worse, this is being set up right outside of my office.
I am thrown for a couple of reasons:
1 - obviously the food and temptation
2- time! I have plans for Tues and Weds nights so I don't have time to cook
I tried to sign up for fruit but was told that someone else was bringing fruit but if I had to, I could. I want to be a team player but this is frustrating me. I actually considered taking annual leave but I don't have extra days. I am going blank on something to take that will give me something good to eat and that I have time to make or buy.
if you have one of those thermal tote thingys you could make an egg-white and veggie bake. I don't know how many eggs you'd go through, but you can add red & green peppers, onions, mushrooms, maybe spinach, low fat cheese on top, and my friend aaron swears by adding fresh diced tomatoes cold as soon as the eggs are off/out of the heat. protien, veggies, and i'm sure you can get some good fruit & a whole wheat english muffin (maybe bring some) for a very healthy brunch!
Yes! Hardboiled eggs, yogurt, low cal muffins! You could also make deviled eggs using low cal mayo and dijon mustard. Cut up veggies on a platter are always welcomed with dip and you could just skip the dip.
What about a quiche? You can put some fresh veggies in it like spinach, mushrooms, tomatoes, onions, green peppers, etc. You can get some of those things already chopped up for you at your grocery store, and it's pretty simple to make. You can use eggbeaters or just egg whites, but I actually prefer the whole egg myself.
I like to make single-serving quiches in a muffin pan. I coat the pan with some non-stick spray, and put some pie crust dough at the bottom of the cup, and up the sides a little (not all the way, the key is to not use very much of it). You can buy pre-made pie crust dough in the refrigerator section by all of the biscuits. Then, pour your filling evenly through all of the little pans. Bake them for 10 minutes or so and pop 'em out when they are cool. I sometimes make these and store them in the fridge/freezer and warm them up for breakfast, or take them for lunch.
The one time we had a breakfast buffet at my job someone brought individual Greek yogurt cups and they were a HUGE hit. This from people who have never met a baked good they didn't like. You can usually get 8-packs of Yoplait (light and regular) for around $4 at my grocery store, too, if you don't want to spring for organic Greek yogurt (and I would not blame you one bit).
Which is to say, I think yogurt is a great suggestion. People will be looking for something light when faced with that giant buffet. Good luck! It sounds like you'll need it.
I like the idea of yogurt cups. They make some cute little serving sizes these days. I bet they'd really get eaten. If you want to get fancier, you could bring along some toppings - various berries and diced fruits, chopped nuts, low fat/low sugar granola. You could put the yogurt in a big bowl that's been filled with ice. It would stay for hours and hours.
Another idea - you could bring individual instant various flavored oatmeal packages, assuming hot water is available.
I know you'll get through this just fine. I do lots of self talk prior to events like these. I tell myself over and over again, I'm going to do this, I'm going to stay on plan, I don't need that stuff - not now, not when I'm on SUCH a roll and have things that matter to me more. I then make a game of it. I challenge myself to conquer something new - to get past yet another difficult situation. I remind myself how WONDERFUL I will feel when the event is over and done with and I've gotten through it. This self talk, this little game, making it a challenge - REALLY helps me.
Thank you for all the suggestions. I am leaning towards the yogurt but may make a veggie egg casserole type of thing. Yogurt often gives me problems. I keep a box of the various flavored oatmeal packages in my stash at work and can pull that out if need be.
Robin, thank you for the self talking suggestion. You are right as usual. I just posted to a thread on the general support forum and it really got me thinking and put this in prospective. From that post - "Now I am going to be a happy, active senior citizen who walks and plays with my grandchildren. That is so much more important to me than eating any type of food! Why would I let Christmas food stop me from being that active person? It is so unimportant when considering the important things in life!"
Help! Need food suggestions for work
