mini foodfix: 4 SmartPoint tasty & filling snack

A cookie workout

After a marathon Christmas cookie baking frenzy today, I literally feel like I jogged to the next town over.

Who knew that stirring the cookie dough was such a workout?  I may have actually felt a little sweat on my brow!

I guess I should really bake more often... I mean, if I could just bake cookies every day, I wouldn't have to work out or anything!  

Because I workout all of the time, obviously.

And if I substituted baking for working out, I would have a lot of cookies in my house all of the time!

Which would certainly be counterproductive to most.  But not me!  Because I have willpower of steel!  I could smell cookies for hours without wanting one bite!  I could stir that dough til the cows came home and never even test it to make sure it tastes as great as it smells!

I think I sounded very convincing.

For real though, I don't love a cookie as much as I love other goodies.  I mean, if someone plopped a plate of good cookies in front of me, I wouldn't push it away or anything, but cookies are not my best.  Unless you consider Little Debbie's Oatmeal Sandwiches a cookie, because those things are just freaking ridiculous.  And when I utter the word ridiculous regarding a cookie, I mean ridiculous.  Trust me on this one guys.

My best goodie would definitely have to be... cupcakes.  Yeah.  Definitely moist and doughy cupcakes.  Mmmmm.  

Incidentally, I hate the word moist.  It makes me want to vomit.  I can't believe I just used it in a sentence.

My house smells like I baked all day.  Now I have to go get the kids from school so we can decorate the cookies.

I love Christmas.

TRAVEL San Francisco: Yummy Good Eats part three... Dinner

I absolutely love eating out in San Francisco.  There are an overwhelming amount of amazing, offbeat places to check out, there is always something for everyone, always an option for just about any type of food you are looking for.  I know I have just scratched the surface with the spots I was able to visit.  I'm only going to highlight three restaurants today, but I have plenty of other places to tell you all about, that's for sure!  At some point, be on the lookout for another post about some more great eats in the city of SF!

My favorite dinner experience was at Foreign Cinema, in the Mission District.  There was such a super cool vibe - just an excellent, unique ambiance. Without even taking the food into consideration, the experience itself was great. If you're seated in the partially covered and heated outdoor area (definitely worth it), you'll be treated to an old foreign film being played on a big outside wall - sometimes with audio. The service was great, the waitstaff very friendly and accommodating. The menu was fantastic - a bit fancy, but great and eclectic and ample.   The food was excellent, I had a Burratta Salad as an appetizer, and it was absolutely mouthwatering.  I also had a fantastic steak, which was cooked to perfection.  Keep in mind that you get what you pay for, so be prepared for a pricey meal. Note: There is an extensive oyster bar, wine list and cheese menu, and the desserts were amazing.  Also, they have a weekend brunch on Saturdays, which I did not go to, but I would guess is amazing.

Late one night wandering around Union Square, I stepped into King of Thai Noodle on O'Farrell Street, mainly because it was open and I was hungry. And even though it looked kind of like a sketchy strip mall type of restaurant, it was packed. I gotta say, I was pleasantly surprised with my meal.  My huge bowl of noodle soup was piping hot, really tasty and cheap, and it came out quickly.  It was totally tiny and cramped inside, but the service was good and fast, and I would definitely stop in again to try another noodle bowl.

John's Grill, a very well known seafood/steakhouse right in the heart of the city, is apparently a favorite with locals and celebrities.  I went there early one night with friends for dinner based on some really good yelp reviews, and was happily surprised that I didn't have trouble getting a table. I'm assuming because it was pretty early at about 6 pm. Two of us had the Filet Mignon, which was cooked perfectly. The menu didn't mention that the steak came with sides, so we each ordered a side, and ended up with way too much to eat! I had the Roquefort Salad to start, and it was huge - could have easily been a dinner salad because it was covered with shrimp, and there was enough for at least two. Our waitress looked like she didn't want to be there and wasn't friendly, but I suppose she did her job. They didn't have mojitos or the particular wine that we were hoping for, unfortunately. The atmosphere was kind of neat though, old timey wood walled steakhouse feel with nice dim lighting. If you like dessert, I highly recommend the chocolate mousse - it was fantastic. Overall, the food was very good, just priced pretty high in my opinion - our bill was $180 for two salads, 2 steaks, 2 sides, 1 seafood dinner, one glass of wine and one dessert.

Be sure to stop back next week! I'll be posting about some of my awesome experiences in traveling through California.

TRAVEL San Francisco: Yummy Good Eats part dos... Lunch

As I mentioned in my previous post about a few San Francisco breakfast spots, I never really realized how important the food industry is to Bay Area travelers.  After spending a few days in the city, I realized that there are just so many wonderful and eclectic choices and options.  I sometimes found it hard to make a decision, and ended up just eating in areas that I was wandering through.

Showdogs

One great lunch that I had was at a dive-y little spot in the Tenderloin called Showdogs, right on Market Street. There was nothing really fancy about the place, but I was kind of drawn to the fact that it was so unpretentious.  I ended up going simple with the basic all beef dog, some super tasty house made slaw, crispy thin fresh cut fries, and the kicker - a fresh house lemonade. So yummm!  Everything I ordered was delicious, the service was pleasant and speedy.  Overall it was fairly expensive for a hotdog place, but I loved the simplicity of my meal and would definitely go back to try out some other good looking things on the menu.

Clam Chowder in a bread bowl

While wandering around Fisherman's Wharf one sunny day, I had my eye out for a place to get the much heard about chowder in a bread bowl.  I chose Sabella and La Torre's sidewalk stand on Taylor Street, though there were plenty of other places to get pretty much the same thing.  I think I chose Sabella's because there was enough of a line to make it seem like the food would be good, but not too many people to make the wait annoying.  The bread was great, soft and gooey, and the chowder was pretty darned good.  It was thick and creamy, just wish there were a few more clams in there.  Initially it was a touch bland, but with some extra salt and pepper it worked.  At under 10 bucks, I thought it was fair for the amount you got.  The service was quick, and I chose to eat mine outside in the sunshine, though they do offer tables inside.  The only real downside was being stalked by seagulls hoping for a bite, but you can't blame the establishment for that! 

Pad Thai

I've never had Thai food before, so I popped into Osha Thai on Embarcadero for a late afternoon lunch one day.  I really liked the loungey vibe of the place, it was very quiet, spacious and not busy at all.  It looks like they'd have no trouble accommodating a large group.  Also, I have to say, the chairs were super comfy.  I ended up going with a Spring Roll, Pad Thai and an order of Udon Soup, based on the tasty sounding description in the menu.  It was very good, rather spicy.  The portions were generous, and the meal presentation was really nice.  I definitely could not finish everything.  I felt like it was kind of pricey, but probably justified by the atmosphere and service.

Where have you had lunch in the city of San Fran?  I had a super sandwich at a deli in Sausalito and I need to find an equally good sandwich spot that I can walk to from Union Square.  Any recos?

Check back for a review of a few great dinner spots I visited!

TRAVEL San Francisco: Yummy Good Eats, part uno: Breakfast

One thing that I never realized, is that San Francisco is as famous for its restaurants and food trends as it is for the Golden Gate Bridge and cable cars.  With upwards of 3500 places to eat, more than any other major city in the US, travelers routinely cite restaurants as a factor in their decision to visit.  Who knew??  Yep, the eclectic restaurants of San Francisco are a main attraction, drawing people from all over the world, and I made a point to try some restaurants that had great reviews on sites like Yelp and Trip Advisor.

Dottie's True Blue Cafe

For breakfast, you have to try Dottie's True Blue Cafe.  It's located on 28 6th Street in San Francisco, a bit of a sketchy neighborhood in general, but not too bad.  The thing about Dottie's is that it is so well known, there is almost always a line out the door, which some people just can't handle.  A few people wandered by, attempted the line, then left before being seated.  My thought process is that a great breakfast is worth the wait, so I was prepared.  I am a definitely a breakfast lover and Dottie's did not disappoint.  The atmosphere was authentic and vintage-y.  Nice and dim, which was good for an early morning visit.  The service was good, and the servers were super pleasant and attentive.  But the corn bread, oh the corn bread... (with jalepeño jam) was worth the wait alone.  The coffee is pretty good and piping hot, and the server was quick to top it off a few times.  I had the Smoked Whiskey-Fennel Sausage, Mushroom and Spinach Scramble - it was as amazing as it sounds, the portion was excellent and the price was fair at under $12.  The people at the table next to me got an order of pancakes which looked so fluffy and amazing, I was jonesing for a bite.  Based on the oohs and ahhs, I'm pretty sure they loved it.  The menu was pretty extensive and they also serve lunch.  If I had time, I would have definitely visited for one of their yummy sounding salads or sandwiches.  No doubt I'll go back.

Bob's Donut and Pasty Shop, through the window

I also had a stop at Bob's Donut and Pastry Shop, located on 1621 Polk Street in San Francisco.  There were tons of great choices, but I am partial to glazed donuts, and theirs were amazingly ethereal.  The place is open 24 hours a day, so everything is super fresh, and you get the feeling you are in an old-fashioned (pre-Dunkin' Donuts chain store) donut shop, with lots of regulars sitting about bantering.  I heard a lot of people talking about how great the Maple Butter Bar was, and they also made these massive donuts that were the size of your average bundt cake!  The coffee was so/so, but the donuts were well worth the walk and less than a dollar each!  I will absolutely visit this place again.

Boogaloos, Huevos Ranchero

Probably my favorite breakfast experience in SF was in the Mission District at Boogaloos,3296 22nd St, San Francisco.  I was definitely into the hipster diner atmosphere, ‎and it was a plus that they were playing some good tunes.  The servers were really friendly, and didn't seem to rush you at all, they were attentive but not to the point of being annoying.  I got the Huevos Ranchero, and it was the bomb, seriously authentic.  Really, really tasty, and a super portion.  If nobody was around, I may have licked my plate.  Coffee was good and refills kept coming.  The prices were definitely fair for the amount of food you are served, and the menu had a bunch of great sounding options, they also had plenty of vegetarian, vegan and gluten free choices, if that's your thing.  I'm looking forward to another visit to Booglaoos!

Next up... look out for a post on a few cool lunch spots in the Bay A!

with kale, i write

OK, so the weirdest thing happened.  I was reading blogs and things, and my computer died.  So I plugged it in and decided to read a book while waiting for my laptop to recharge a bit.  Of course, just a few minutes later, my nook died.  So that's not the weird part.  The weird part was that I of course decided to plug the nook in to charge, and was kind of aimlessly wandering around the kitchen, bored, thinking maybe I was hungry enough for a little snack.

And my mind was all, "Oh!  We have kale!  I'll steam some kale!"  And then my mind said to itself, "WTF Jessee?"

Because, steamed kale?  As a snack?  What are we, animals??  Like, healthy animals??  What about donuts and cookies and like, candy?  And frosting and cookie dough and other sugary sweet things, that are so bad for you?  Kale??

So I steamed some kale. And I tossed it with a little olive oil, lemon juice, and salt and pepper.  And I ate it, loving every freaking bite.

A month ago, I decided to do this cleanse. Not like the kind of cleanse where you starve yourself and drink shakes and like, disgusting wheat grass or something, but a healthy cleanse. The kind that cleanses your body of built up toxins and things.

I read about this thing, it was a 21 day cleanse where you gradually eliminated meat and dairy and eventually ended up eating vegan.  I decided that three weeks of eating good and smart and consciously wouldn't kill me at all. Either way, the three weeks were going to pass by, why not at least try it.

Honest to Cod, I believe this is the first time in my 43 (ugh!) years of life that I ever stuck to something. Like, made an actual decision to follow something, and then actually followed it til the end.

It wasn't hard. I am lucky that I like fruits and veggies. The cool thing about this cleanse was that in following it by the book, which had strict daily meals, I ended up making and trying a ton of things that I've never tried before (like kale and jicama). I made things that I was sure I wouldn't like, and loved them.  Seriously, I could almost live on this "diet."  In the three weeks that I did it, there was only one meal that I didn't like, and it was a roasted root medley. Wtf, right? Just too many roots I think. 

I hate the diet thing. Hate. I hate feeling deprived. I hate feeling like I can't eat a bowl of Lucky Charms without feeling guilty. Not that I ever really eat a bowl of Lucky Charms, but you know, if I felt like it, my initial feeling would be guilt.

Anyway, I did it. And it was good, really. Besides feeling better physically, I ended up dropping some pounds, which was a rather pleasant surprise. Kind of like a kick start to getting back on the wagon, which I so stupidly fell off of last year.  I'm a few years behind the fit at forty thing, but I'm catching up.  

I'll get there.

I will always need cheese in my life

Someone posed this question recently, and I have been thinking about it ever since.  Because I love food.  The question was, what 5 foods would you be devastated over if you could not ever eat them again.

Number one has to be cheese.  Cheeses in fact.  I am a cheese lover.  Goat cheese, mozzarella, swiss, blue cheese, cheddar... oh man.  Life would definitely not be the same without cheese.

Avocados.  I would eat an entire avocado every single day for the rest of my life if those thongs weren't so high in calories.

Tomatoes.  But they have to be the good, garden kind.  The kind that when you take a bite, the juice dribbles down your chin.  And yet somehow, that seems slightly sexual.

Dark chocolate.  I believe that chocolate is a food.  It must be.  And also, I read that it's actually good for you to eat a piece of chocolate a day.  Which is exactly why I eat three pieces of chocolate a day.  I like to err on the side of caution.

Bread... ah bread.  I love bread.  I try not to eat too much of it, really.  Carbs are not my BFF.  But I love toast so much, and I love dinner rolls.  And that kind of bread that you get at the Macaroni Grill with the rosemary in it that you dip in the oil... mmmmmmmmmmm

Welp, I am officially hungry now.  Better go figure out what to do about that.  What foods would you miss like crazy if you couldn't have them?

Shopping, sweater puppies, and scary rednecks, among other things...

It's freaking Wednesday already - 27 days til Christmas.  Is that shocking to anyone else but me?  Yesterday I spent far too many hours on the computer trying to find Cyber Tuesday deals, so I didn't get around to writing a post.  What?  I was a day late to the party you say?  Yeahyeah, I know.  I just couldn't get it together enough to make Cyber Monday work in my favor.

Ah, I'm not too concerned.  This past week/end, we went to  my sister's house in CT for Thanksgiving. During that time, we shopped, ate and shopped.  And then ate some more.  I couldn't even bring myself to get on the scale when I got home.  I mean, I actually even ate sweater puppies at Denny's.  I never eat sweater puppies.  And I never go to Denny's, except on Black Friday morning.  Well OK, they're not actually called sweater puppies, but they're called some kind of puppies and they taste like french toast and look like munchkins.  Munchkin-like french toast balls that you dip in syrup or frosting-ish stuff.  OMG yum.  We call them sweater puppies.  Because who wouldn't?  So yeah, I ate those things.  Among other things, for basically five days straight.

Anyway, back to the shopping.  I admit it - I was a Black Friday freak.  Except, I was more like a black Thursday Night freak because apparently that's how we do it now??  Sheesh, I couldn't even get drunk on Thanksgiving because we had to drive to Target at 9:00 pm that night.  Fine, I wouldn't have gotten drunk anyway, but the fact that I couldn't get drunk if I had a burning desire to was rather annoying.  Tyrone apparently didn't get the memo because he got drunk and had to be at Target at 9:00 too.  Which is exactly why he forgot his phone and had to aimlessly walk around hoping to run into his wife after they divided and conquered the freaking store.  I'd just like to point out that thanks to me and my awesome ability to wheel and deal with boys, Ali and Ty actually ended up with the massive TV they were trying to get.  Because I think Dave from Target liked me.  He may have winked at me.  So after the possible winking, he gave me a sneaky ticket to get the very last massive TV in the store.  Woohoo!  I definitely rock.

OK, so back to the shopping again, I really got everything I needed on my list so I felt very accomplished.  I barely even bought myself things!  Except a new pair of yoga pants, a cozy hoodie, a long-sleeved shirt and a Nerd Rope.  I really needed that Nerd Rope.  See how not selfish I am?  Seriously, I am very excited that I finished a good portion of my shopping.

Oh yeah!  I almost forgot!  Kara and I almost threw down with some scary redneck jerks from West Virginia.  No offense if you're from West Virginia.  We went to this semi-legal flea market in a very sketchy part of New Haven, and you know, we were trying to park and those scummy losers stole my parking spot!!  Like, they literally looked at my face and jammed in there as I was actually backing in to the spot.  I was like, really??!  That's how you roll on motherfucking Thanksgiving??!  Then Kara got all finger waggy and fresh to them since she is a snappy little New Yorker and I had to talk her off the ledge before we got stabbed over a parking spot.  Getting stabbed over a parking spot is not my idea of a great way to spend the holiday weekend.

So we found another parking spot.  Because I am all about keeping the peace, man.  And also they were a little bit scary.  And my sister Jenney was nowhere in sight, and she was the only one with us with a black belt in Karate.  She could have Karate chopped that girl right in her skinny dreadlocked head.  But anyway, we did great at the illegal semi-legal flea market, didn't throw down or get the car keyed.  All in all, I consider it a win.

There were more awesome moments during the five days we were there, including an impromptu solo dance routine by my husband Alex, complete with a Herkie at the end, that made me laugh until I almost peed my pants.  I'll have to tell you more about that (could potentially post a damaging video of the actual event) and some other highlights tomorrow.

See how I left you with a cliffhanger?  I'm all savvy like that...

which part of please don't bring peanut butter cups into the house didn't you understand?

So you know,  time and circumstance has made me a little plumper than I'd like to be.  Well, OK, a lot plumper than I'd like to be.  There are two key things that help me to trim down and healthy myself up. Exercise and avoiding shitty food that I enjoy.

The exercise part, meh.  I hate the gym.  But walking at night in the dark, listening to music, breathing in some fresh air, dreaming... that I can do with a smile.  Most of the time.  Except crap it's been cold out!  WTF.  

The food part, fuck.  I love food.  I hate feeling deprived, like I am on a diet.  I hate feeling like I can't have something that looks tasty and that looks like it really just wants me to eat it.  I love eating prepared-by-someone-else food - like take out.  I know that's not the best for me, so I try to keep that to a minimum.   Admittedly, take out is quite a hard thing for me to give up.  It's my favorite.  But I try.

I do have a lot of control over what comes in to this house, food wise.  I am the grocery shopper, so it's all on me if a thing of Double Stuf Oreo cookies end up in my shopping cart.  Or those freaking flat crispy chocolately cookies from Trader Joe's, or you guys, butter crunch ice cream.  Mmmmmm.  I have control over that shit and 98.4% of the time, I buy snacks and things that I don't care about, because I know myself.  I know that more than likely, if it was there, I could mindlessly eat a sleeve of Thin Mints.  Because really, who wouldn't just go to town on those amazing little minty cookies of joy??  Damn girl scouts.  I don't care one bit about the goldfish in the orange bag though, or pretzels or graham crackers or something, which is why my poor kids get stuck with that crap in their lunch pails everyday instead of Chips Ahoy.

Here's the thing.  I love peanut butter cups.  We all know that they are one of my top five all time favorite candies.  Halloween can be rough for me because besides certain yummy foods and goodies that are all up in my mug at the store constantly, I have no self control around certain candies.  I make my kids hide their Halloween stash from me to keep me from snagging it and just like, having a sugar frenzied field day.  They get it.  I've given fair warning, which I think is quite nice of me.  They keep that stuff out of my eye, and it works for us.  You know, out of sight, out of mind.  I can do that.

Except, peanut butter cups.  They are a weakness for sure.  They're just so chocolatey mixed with peanut buttery... mmm.   It is rare, RARE, for me to buy them, and like, bring them home as a snack or something.

So one would wonder why someone would bring home a package of peanut butter cups for me, wouldn't one?  The King Sized package no less.  Why?  It's called sabotage.  Because we all know that it would be a crime to toss a King Sized thing of peanut butter cups.  I'm pretty sure that's never happened in my lifetime - the tossing of the peanut butter cups thing.  It's because someone wants to keep me plump, and that sucks.  It doesn't matter if I say please don't bring me peanut butter cups, or Grandma Brown Double Chocolate Fudge cookies, of Subway oatmeal raisin cookies, or anything that I really love to eat.  No matter how often I say that, it never seems to enter the brain of the one that wants to keep me plump.  And pretty much every night, I am presented with a yummy, fattening, high calorie, bad-for-me gift that's really hard to resist.

That's not very nice.

I love a really great sandwich

Do you think it's weird to take a picture of a really great sandwich?  Maybe it is.  Sometimes I take a quick picture of a good looking plate of food.  I think maybe that's weird, but I can't help it.  I like food.

My husband and I went into Rhinebeck, NY to just amble around.  The kids were all off in different directions, so we went for a ride and ended up there.  We parked and walked a bit, and went into this little shop that had a sandwich board out front describing some of their specialty sandwiches.  

I love specialty sandwiches. 

I got this amazing thing - fresh mozzarella, local organic tomatoes and basil with pesto sauce on a homemade ciabatta roll.  Well yum!  It was awesome.

I couldn't even finish mine, so I brought half home for later.  After sandwiches, we just so happened to stroll past this little ice cream shop called Jane's Ice Cream.  It was all home made ice creams and frozen yogurts.  I got killer chocolate and it was possibly the best ice cream cone that I've ever had.  I wish I had a picture of that!

5 ways to drop some damn pounds

This is funny.  And strangely, kind of accurate.

1.  Get your ass off the couch.  Pick up a dumbbell, or a kid (one and the same sometimes, eh?) and put on your damn sneakers and take a walk.  Or a jog.  Or even a wog.  Just, do something.  Something other than watching 12 back to back episodes of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, wondering why you can't be thin and rich and like, have a shapely ass.  Yes, the Kardashians do have money, they can afford gym memberships and trainers and cute sneakers, wah wah wah.  I know, it sucks not to be the Kardashians, (In the financial way.  And maybe also the shapely ass way.  And kind of maybe in the Brody Jenner super hot step-sibling way.) but let's be real, you don't need any of that crap to get your butt out the door.

2.  Stop shoving shovelfuls of shitty food in your mouth.  Yes, you.  I mean me.  Let's be real, those amazing Grandma Brown Chocolate Fudge cookies are not doing anything to help you get Kim Kardashian's shapely ass.  Not at all.  And the creamer, and sugar in your coffee?  Not good.  No, because trim people use skim milk.  It tastes like shit?  Wah wah wah.  You can drink the creamy sweet stuff when you drop a few pounds.  Now step away from the donut and eat a freaking banana.

3.  Drink a shit ton of water.  You don't like water?  It's boring?  Well, too bad.  That "Diet" Coke (I used air quotes there if you didn't notice) that you drink 3 liters of a day isn't making you any slimmer, dumbass.  The fact is, diet soda actually makes you hungrier.  So going through the drive thru getting a Big Mac, Large Fries and a Diet Coke isn't helping.  No, no it is not.  If you want to go through the drive thru at McDonald's, get a baked chicken sandwich and some apple bites.  Or a cheeseburger and kid sized fries.  Just don't get the diet soda, get a bottled water.  Put a lemon or lime in your there if you want some flavor.  And some ice for good measure.  Maybe even get some bubbles in there, to make it fizzy.  You know, like seltzer water.  Everyone likes fizzy things, right?

4.  Track what you eat.  And just because you don't track the part where you cleared your kids plate and ate 3 peanut butter and jelly sandwich bread crusts, 4 forkfuls of mac and cheese, and the bottom part of the cupcake with no icing on it doesn't mean you didn't eat it.  Be real.  Be honest with yourself.  Write that shit down every day, every bite.  If you've never done this before, you'll be shocked.  We eat way more than we think we do.  Studies show that when you track your food, you're more conscious of what you put in your mouth.  Who knew?

5. Find a friend.  You're not very friendly?  I mean me.  You're shy, kinda introverted? Uh, me again.  Hate people you don't know and already like?  Tough.  Suck it up.  If you don't have it in you to ask a buddy to walk with you, find an online friend.  There are online friends every fucking where.  Everyone wants to be your weight loss buddy online.  Just avoid meeting them in a dark alley if they suggest getting together to "discuss your weight loss progress."  Apparently, when you have someone to commiserate with, someone to push you as you push them, someone who isn't a judgey asshole in your corner, you're likely to lose more weight and keep it off.  I guess sometimes we just need a motivational friend.

Most importantly, (this makes 6 ways, a bonus!) STOP BLAMING PEOPLE, and take responsibly, now.  It doesn't matter how or why you got here.  It doesn't matter if you're 200 pounds overweight or 20.  Life is short and being overweight is unhealthy.  You're the only one who has the power to fix it.  

Now c'mon.  Let's go.  We got this.  I can be your motivational friend, and you can be mine.  Maybe.  But wait!  I'm not good at friends!  Don't call me, I'll call you?  

friday five

It's 1:55 and the kids should start rolling in in less than an hour.

Where did the day go?!

It seems like every year when my kids go off for the new school year, I have a period of adjustment too.  I mean, I know that they have to readjust - it's a lot to have to get back into nights where they have to shower and eat dinner and be in their beds by 8ish.  Days where they can no longer get up at their leisure, where they can swim their faces off all day.  Where they can eat breakfast at oh, maybe 11, and then lunch somewhere around 3 or so, and 500 Popsicles in between.

Sorry kiddos, those days are OVER.  At least til next summer.  

My readjusting comes in the form of figuring out what the hell to do with myself all day.  Sometimes I think, maybe I will make one of those crafts that look so easy on pinterest, or bake one of those awesome goodies, or maybe even cook one of those yummy dinners.  Then instead, I just laugh heartily at that thought and keep pinning more shit til I realize that if I don't get in the shower now, I'll never make it to the school in time to pick up Brooke.  Then suddenly, take-out pizza starts to seem really appealing. 

Aw, who am I kidding?  I'm going sushi.

Times up!  Happy weekend guys.

breakfast wars

We were at this resort that has the most amazing food.  Amazing.  And we get an option of eating in the fancy dining room or the huge casual dining room, where they have buffet style food for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  We always go buffet.

This is no average buffet.  The buffet is like crazy town where anything you could possibly want is available.

So in order to bug my sister Ali since we were at the resort and she wasn't, I sent her a few breakfast pictures while we were eating.  You know, because I am all sharing like that...

You know, the thing is, you really have to sample everything.  On my first plate, I filled up on some fresh fruit and banana bread, then the second plate of course had pancake, waffle, eggs, bacon, sausage and a um, maybe another piece of banana bread.  There  may or may not have been a third plate that involved yogurt with granola and raspberries.  Who eats like that??  

All I know is, I ate like a champion.  I will put out there though, that I like to have tastes of as much as I can when I am at this place because everything is so good, but I did not lick my plate.  Also, I feel like I need to point out that that was not just one day of breakfast photos.  Because you know, that would be slovenly.  And their food is so rich, there's no possible way that I could get all of that down.

There was also an omelet bar, but oh man, I was way too full to go there.  There was a fishy thing that I didn't try, all sorts of eggs and potatoes and breads and muffins.  Oh whoa.  My mouth is watering.

So for two days, Ali received my breakfast food pictures, and this is what she sent back:

Burned bacon, boxed cereal, a miscellaneous piece of fruit... they so made me laugh.  That's why I like those guys.

fail

Want to hear something that makes me feel like a huge failure at being a stay-at-home-mom, wife, and mother in general?  This is a hard confession for me because I don't usually like to admit to being less than perfect at my job.  

I hate cooking dinner.

There, I said it.  And I know hate is a very strong word.  

But let me clarify.  I like cooking in general.  At my leisure.  In a leisure suit maybe even.  I like baking and making meals, I just don't like the pressure of having to plan and cook a spectacular dinner every damn night.  I think this makes me get a D- in SAHM-ness.   Yeah, if I got a quarterly report card, in DINNER, I would definitely be lucky to get a D.

Well, when my husband was in law school, it was great.  He went to school at night after work, so it was kind of great in the respect that I didn't have to cook.  Like, I could easily throw something together for the kids on a paper plate (wooHOO quick and easy cleanup!) and be perfectly content with a bowl of cereal for myself.  I like cereal.  And I really appreciate paper plates.

Then after law school, certain times of the year, work would be way busier for my husband.  Like, busy where he'd be in the office sometimes til 11 or 12 at night.  I got used to those schedules and loved that I still didn't have to come up with food too often to satiate a guy's appetite.  Plus, I'm pretty sure that nothing that I'd make could compare with the sausage and peppers or pulled pork that his grandparents throw together with ease.

So lately, his job is a snitch less demanding night-wise, (JUST A SNITCH) and he gets home most nights by 9 or 10.  So I get the call.  Every day.  "What's for dinner?"

"What's for dinner?"

That is my least favorite question ever.

Hm.  How about sushi from that great sushi spot?  Or a sub from Subway?  Or pizza?  Yeah, every guy loves pizza, right??   I am such a fan of takeout.  Isn't it great to have someone else cook for you?  Then the worst thing is deciding where to order from.

But sheesh.  Takeout is like, so unhealthy.  And expensive.  And it makes me feel guilty that I didn't provide something for my family myself.  I am home all day.  And now that every kid is in school - there is absolutely no good excuse for me not to have a dinner put together every night for my family.

I sometimes feel like the only stay-at-home-mom who hates the whole plan/implement dinner thing. It sure seems like nobody else says it out loud!  You know, I'd be willing to bet that it's a dirty little secret in the SAHM community.  

Maybe I should make a support group.

99 and friday 5

So you guys!  I officially have 99 followers!  WooHOO!

I am so close to triple digits I can almost taste it.  

I just wanted to point out that exciting news before I started a little Friday five minute purge.  Yikes, can you believe it is Friday already?!  I know!  Me neither.  Do you like how I am conversing with myself? Or more like I am conversing with an imaginary reader.

So yeah, I know I am weird.  
11:40 a

Hm.  It's a beautiful sunny morning, and I sit here with my coffee, kind of cold.  Ah, pretty much definitely cold.  In warm weather I tend to have a harder time finishing a cup.  In fact, when it's warm, coffee usually makes me a little nauseous.  I've actually been a little nauseous for the past few days.  I should be in a better mood than I am.  I just got back from a little adventure that I so loved.  Have you ever been to New Mexico?  Now I can say that I have.  It was just a really cool place.  Very dry, very brownish, very different from home.  There was so much to see and do and eat.  If you are an art lover, there are these sculptures all over the place in Santa Fe, wind sculptures that are totally cool and mesmerizing.  I wanted to take one home.  Or twenty.  I'm not sure I would have been able to smuggle them onto the plane.  And they probably might look weird at my house, but I don't care.  I like them. Also, the food there is incredible.  I actually believe I had a meal that could be in my top five all time meals ever eaten.  It was breakfast at this place called Pasquale's.  I highly, strongly, fully encourage you to eat a meal or three there if you are ever in Santa Fe.  The menu is amazing and it is so hard to decide what to order.  I had a Durango Omelet with green chile sauce and I may have died a little bit eating it.  It was a man sized portion and I pretty much think I would have licked my plate if I thought nobody would notice.  So, so, so good.  I was seated next to this couple traveling from Michigan I think, who ordered pancakes.  Like, why would you order pancakes in New Mexico?  I love pancakes. But I can have pancakes every day at home.  Well, they looked amazing, I must admit.  But still, I personally was going for the southwestern experience food-wise, and I had to order something spicy and different.  Anyway, I need to go back.  I didn't get to see nearly as much as I wanted to.  And guess what?  John is dumb.  New Mexico is not boring at all.  I'll post more about it next week.

11:50.  whoops, that was ten minutes.

Harriet the Spy lunch

When I was a kid, I was a huge reader.  Well, not a huge reader, but an average sized kid who loved to read. A lot.  I always had my nose in some form of reading material, whether it be books, magazines, encyclopedias or comic books...

One of my favorite books was Harriet the Spy, by Louise Fitzhugh.

(This is exactly what my book looked like.  Except mine was way tattered from multiple readings.)

I wish I still had that old book.  I know that there are plenty of other HTS books on the shelves, but they look different of course, and it's just not the same.  I would give mine to Megan if I had it, because she reminds me so much of myself with her little book-lover ways.  Maybe I will order it on eBay for myself her.

Anyway, the sole purpose of this post was to tell you that I had a big fat Tomato and Mayo sandwich for lunch.  (And yet here I am, several paragraphs into this post already.  Go figure.)  It was a Harriet the Spy sandwich (if you are not aware, Harriet would only eat tomato and mayo sandwiches for lunch). Which I could eat eight of in a row if I didn't have such fabulous self control.  That sandwich is ridiculously great, and simple, and incidentally tastes a million times better with tomatoes picked from your own garden.  Which is why I only eat Harriet the Spy sandwiches in the summer. Let's just say that I need to use my own personal tomatoes because I have an irrational fear of accidentally biting into a rotten tomato.

Anyway.  There you have it.  My oh-so-exciting post of the day.

(ps -- If you like tomatoes, I challenge you to try one of these for lunch today and tell me what you think.  Make sure you cut the tomatoes into big fat slices!  And by all means use an excess of mayo.  Seriously.)

is it only me?

Apparently me and my sisters are so very cool, that our kids want to lurk around whenever we are sitting and chatting together.  For the life of me, I just can't fathom ever trying to sit in on a conversation with my Mom and my aunts when I was a kid. B.O.R.I.N.G.

The thought of all of that adult boring stuff would send me running for something fun to do.  We also grasped the concept that if we bugged my Mom enough, sooner or later, she would just wrangle us all up and go home.

Don't get me wrong, I love having my kids around, and I especially love having real conversations with them.  To be honest with you, I do like the fact that they actually want to be around me.  But.  I also value and appreciate time with other adults.  Kid-less time with adults.  Where topics can range and we don't have to censor ourselves to little nosy ears that pick up on so much.  Often times we are discussing stuff that is none of their beeswax or completely inappropriate.  My sisters and brothers-in-law are peers, so we can throw around terms and conversations and information that just isn't what we want the kids to being hearing. 

My sister Jenney tried to put it into perspective for her daughter Abby, who was hurt one day when we asked her to take a hike during an adults only conversation.  Jen said, "How would you feel if the next time you had Anna and Kaitlyn and Missi over, I came up and flopped on your bed and listened to your boy talk and tried to act like a teenager?"

The thought of that mortified Abby, and I think she finally got it.

The question is, am I the only extremely cool Mom out there that has this problem??

For Goodcheapeats.com - What's on Your Plate Wednesday, I decided to share one of my favorite Summer Salads, which is appropriate because, well, it's summer!

Handfull of Mixed Greens

1/2 cup of No-Sugar-Added Mandarins

1/8 cup Craisins

1/4 Avocado

1/8 cup Goat Cheese

1 TBL Balsamic Vinegar

1 tsp Olive Oil

bock bock. what the H?

So I went into the grocery store the other day, quite lazily unprepared for dinner.  I was thinking maybe BBQ chicken on the grill, maybe a little corn on the cob. 

I was perusing the chicken section of the meat case, and I was excited to see that our local grocery had finally stepped into the 2000's (Gosh, that sounds dumb) and started carrying organic, free range chicken. 

I've been wanting to go free range for like, ever, so I grabbed a package that looked like it had enough meat to feed the fam, and I almost tripped when I saw the sticker price for a snitch over one and a half pounds of meat.  TWENTY-SEVEN DOLLARS.  Yup, I said it.  Now my question is, who pays 27 bucks for four little pieces of uncooked chicken?  By all means if the Grand Union wants to marinate it, pop it on the grill then serve it to me and my family on a silver platter -- maybe I could justify the money.

I want to go organic, I want to go free-range - I really do!  But who can afford that on a daily basis??  That is seriously pretty much 4 times the amount that I typically pay for regular chicken.  No wonder our store doesn't carry it, I would venture a guess that the meat probably goes bad before anyone in our town would buck up for that.

Oh well, guess I will have to wait til we win the lottery.

theme-y dinners

I know I am a stay-at-home Mom and all, but the other night we were seriously hurting for dinner.  It was just me and the girls because Alex was working and little Alex had a late soccer game, so I really had nothing planned, and nothing all that exciting in the cupboards.  If it were just me, I'd have had a bowl of cereal and called it a night.

After a quick assessment of what we had kicking around, I decided to tell the girls we were going to do an "N" themed dinner night, just for fun.  We rounded up some nuggets, noodles and "nanners."  We had Neapolitan ice-cream for dessert, but had to get a little creative for drinks -- Megan came up with "New juice boxes," which worked fine enough.  Megan and Brooke made up menus while I was whipping up the feast, so that kept them busy and happy. 

They were so excited with the theme-y dinner night, you would have thought I was taking them to Chuck E. Cheese or something.  They chattered away about what other themes we could have in the future, deciding the next theme would be red.

I love when simple things make my kids happy.  I especially love when they remind me that we don't need to go nuts to have fun.