Fat Tuesday

I had no idea what to make for dinner so I swung through Target after a long shift...

I grabbed steaks, vegetables, strawberries and creme brûlée for my Fat Tuesday celebration.

My total bill came to $25.92.

- 4 small Angus steaks, $10, regularly $15.98
- fresh express iceberg garden salad, $1.47
- Green Giant fresh asparagus $2.49, regularly $3.49 (and was not in as good of condition as I thought when I bought it... Sad face)
- fresh strawberries, 1 quart, on sale for $2.49
- archer farm steam-in-bag broccoli, on sale for $1.89
- 2 boxes of Archer Farm creme brûlée (each with two servings), $5.99 each

Subtotal: $30.32
Team member discount: - 3.04
REDcard savings: - 1.36

What did I do with it?

When I got home, I touched off my enormous pépé mug with chai, and washed the asparagus. While my husband cooked the steaks with just a little garlic pepper and Italian seasoning, I cut some slits into the asparagus and spread some extra virgin olive oil and garlic pepper on them on the cookie sheet. I preheated the oven to 450 and really roasted that asparagus to a golden brown.

Then I split two raspberry Chobani "bites" with dark chocolate into three bowls and garnished with fresh strawberry slices.

That was the first course. The second course was a big old plate of salad. Third course was the asparagus.

Husband prepared the fourth course, the steam-in-bag broccoli drizzled with sesame oil and the steaks.

Dessert is the creme brûlée prepared by the child.

The wine is local apple wine from Stroudsburg.

Sweet potato fry snack

Child has a 2-hour delay today and like mom's everywhere I'm screaming "My routine is off!" And it's Monday, which makes it even more difficult. Honestly, I'd rather keep her home for the day!

So at 10:20 a.m., they have a healthy snack from home.

For own snack I made sweet potato fries, sprinkled them with cinnamon and serving with a dipping sauce of 1 part blackstrap molasses to 3 parts pure maple syrup.

Best. Snack. Ever.

Blizzard of 2013 "Nemo"

So, it's snowing but we haven't hit "blizzard" yet and Nemo is kicking my tush.

I'm PMSing, daughter had big projects due at school, I think I have a cold, and this storm is making my leg hurt so bad I can hardly stand.

So, I took a Zyrtec, a half dose of DayQuil, 2 Aleve, an echinacea capsule, and 500 mg of vitamin C while drinking 32 ounces of earl grey with local raw honey.

I'm making Campbell's 100% Natural Italian Wedding soup with leftover snow peas and a garden salad wrap for lunch.

Dinner will be pizza. I coped with the blizzard by ordering 3 large pizzas but 2 orders of dessert sticks from Pizza Hut last night.

Comfort food.

Crazy Food

I love food. This is a phenomenon that occurred during my transition to adult life. I was a picky eater as a child and grew up on junk food.

I'm known now as the nutrition Nazi mom
who packs weird snacks and lunches. I'm the one who loves to cook and loves to grocery shop.

I love vegan cooking. I love gluten free cooking. I love cooking with local ingredients. I love harvesting my gardening. I love canning.

And Oh My Goodness! I can't wait to open that last can of spiced apples I made from local apples.

But I also love Doritos, Girl Scout Cookies and brownies. I have a soft spot for froo-froo coffee drinks. And I love a good cheesesteak or a hot baguette with butter and jam.

My point is: food is personal. Food is individual. Every family has a different relationship with food. Every body has different responses to food.

So, whatever you eat: savor it.
Whatever you eat: eat it with loved ones.

And every once in a while have ice cream for dinner or a crazy concoction like this (delicious by the way):
- 2 eggs, fried in coconut oil
- one tortilla shell
- horseradish sauce
- lots of raspberry salsa
- 2 jalapeño poppers

And maybe someday, I'll feed the world.

Sandwich of Awesomeness

I'm a big fan of breakfast but I also don't like to eat until I'm hungry. Since I ate most of a box of Caramel DeLites before heading to bed last night, I didn't get hungry until 10 a.m. (I blame PMS for this binge. I am grateful it wasn't the whole box plus others. I am trying my best.)

I got busy applying for jobs and doing stuff for my in-laws. I thought I'd clean some scattered paper and before you know it, it was 11. My husband gets home at 12:15.

Do I eat something small? Do I make my lunch?

I made a delightful lunch that, yes, contained too many processed foods. But for processed foods, they are foods I am okay with.

I made a sandwich of MaraNatha extra crunchy almond butter and Smuckers Old Orchard Triple Berry Preseves (no high fructose corn syrup and has whole blueberries in it, as a preserve should!) on Archer Farm Blueberry Breakfast bread (an occasional treat as this is very processed). I gave myself a side of veggie Pirate's Booty. The lunch would have been vegan if not for the small amount of milk product in the bread.

All foods came from Target.

Hello, Monday

After plenty of coffee and some baguette with various toppings (butter, almond butter, peanut butter or triple berry preserves), my morning got food productive.

I mixed child a serving of mango Noosa yogurt and mixed in some frozen blueberries for her school snack.

Then I read her the school menu and got, "Mommy, can I pack?"

Which is exactly what I was not prepared to hear.

But she didn't want to eat hot dog, turkey sandwich with cheese or PB&J and really I don't want her eating that. But it's cheap and easy. Which makes me ashamed that my family relies on it so much and I'm disturbed that our country doesn't put more effort into school lunch.

So I reheated last night's spaghetti and meat balls, dumped it into a thermal bowl and gave her a side of calamata olives that can go into the spaghetti or be eaten alone. Threw in a small tropical fruit cup too.

While the water was still hot (from heating the lid to the thermal bowl), I tossed an egg into it for the tortoise. Must have hit too hard because it cracked. But I salvaged enough quasi-cooked egg for our Blue. Egg (with shell for calcium), romaine lettuce and sliced pears.

Charlie's

Today was a special day. I took my daughter and my friend Gayle to see the dinosaurs in Alpha, N.J. I figured no visit to Alpha was complete without a trip to Charlie's Pool Room for hot dog's with Grandma Fencz's secret sauce (since 1925!)

Charlie's Pool Room offers hot dogs, served with or without special sauce, with or without pickles. There's a possibility of a side of Doritos, some candy or a can of soda, but don't expect much more choice than that.

The brothers who run the place remembered me-- despite seven years since my last visit!

There's one table and customer's eating in share it, taking turns when chairs fill.

We got some quarters and played pinball, Galaga and I kicked butt at Ms. Pac-Man.

7 dogs, 3 cans soda, 1 package candy and some video games = $20.