Friday, June 27, 2008

Friday's feast!

I did not feel well all day Thursday, and after dragging myself through the workday, the thought of making a dinner for everyone just exhausted me. I hadn't been grocery shopping in a week and there was nothing in the house. I stopped by a place called AliKat Kitchen on my way home from picking up the kids. They have ready-made meals that you cook when you get home. I chose chicken fajitas, which came with marinated raw chicken and veggies, tortillas, cinnamon carrots and a frozen veggie medley. I tossed the chicken a veggies in a stir fry pan, and the carrots in the microwave, and 30 minutes later, dinner was ready. Both kids gobbled it right up.

So, of course, they each got a chicken fajita in their lunch the next day.

That, along with:

*Cashews and dried papaya

*Organic applesauce

*Carrots

I'm really glad it's the weekend!

Thursday, June 26, 2008

Slacker!

I was wondering when this was going to happen ... I haven't posted all week about my kids' lunches. We dealt with some possible food poisoning this weekend, and I haven't felt right all week. I still managed to pack a lunch for school, though.

Here's a list of what they've eaten over the past few days. I can't remember it all, so I'll add to this as I think of it:

*Peanut butter (organic) and preserves (organic) sandwich

*Organic cashews with diced dried papaya

These two items are yummy together!

*Carrots

*Grapes

*Homemade lasagna (thanks Mom!)

*HonestKids juice

Thursday, June 19, 2008

Leave the dish towels alone!

My sweet daughter does this thing that drives my absolutely batty. Whenever she gets bored, pissy or mad that I won't/can't pick her up, she'll take the dish towels that I conveniently hang over the handle of the oven and toss them methodically onto the floor, one by one. It's so frustrating!! It's gotten to the point where I won't hang them up anyone, and resort to using paper towels. Then guilt over the wasted paper towels takes over and I'll hang a couple more towels up. It's one of the insignificant and endearing things I will remember about Reese when she grows up.

I forgot to make the kids' lunch one night after my husband and I finished our dinner. In the morning, it was a mad scramble to pull something together. I can't remember what day it was. I was thankful that I had some pre-bagged and pre-packaged things around the house to throw in their lunch boxes. This is a hard gig, but I'm proud to have it.

Wednesday, the kids went to my mom's house, so no lunch that day. On Thursday they had:

*Chicken and turkey sandwich on whole grain bread

You can see the nuts in the bread, it's so yummy!

*Mandarin oranges

*Dill and cilantro roasted potatos

I finally used some herbs from my garden and sauteed some organic potatos in some olive oil and served it up to the kids for dinner Wednesday night. Add some ketchup and they gobbled them right up. Leftovers went into their lunches.

*Baggie full of grapes and blueberries

Monday, June 16, 2008

A 5k, Chinese Food, and Sunburn

For me, this past weekend started out with a 5k race, the Brian Diemer Classic in Cutlerville. It's my seventh 5k (I think) since I took up running in April 2007. I ran my first 25k in May of this year, and thought that 5ks would be cake after that. But, after my big race, my running tapered off. I'm working to correct that. Running makes me feel so great, especially mentally. I can't tell you how great of a mood I was in for the rest of the day on Saturday.

Sunday, Father's Day, the kids and I went over to my mom and stepdad's house while the guys played golf. We got Chinese food from THE best Chinese restaurant ever - Abacus - and ordered Mongolian chicken. Nothing comes close to the flavors of this dish. I'm sure it's terrible for me, but it's a once-in-a-while treat. We also took a pontoon boat trip. I got sunburned during the kids' nap. I laid down on a chair and drank wine and read US Weekly, In Touch ... I suppose it was bad karma.

In Monday's lunch they got:

*Chicken pesto pasta

Penne noodles, basil pesto, pine nuts, parmesan, black pepper.

*Baggie full of grapes

*Carrots

In Tuesday's lunch they got:

*Spinach/artichoke bites

*String cheese

*Carrots/dip thingy

*Baggie of grapes and blueberries

Wednesday, June 11, 2008

Top Chef I am not

I love the Bravo channel's Top Chef. I would love to hire any TC reject (except for Lisa) to cook for my family for a month. That's been my fantsay for a while. I would love to hire a personal chef to grocery shop, meal plan, and cook for my family. Forever. I have been entertaining the thought of going vegetarian for a while, and I think it would be tough doing it on my own. But I don't know if I have it in me. My dear husband would balk at the idea, and possibly laugh and display his signature sigh and eye roll. (I start out a lot of sentences with "So. Today I read on the Internet that [insert any new non-mainstream health discovery]."

I'm a grazer. I eat all day long - literally. I'll eat breakfast at 7 a.m. on the way to my kids' daycare; usually an all-natural bar of some sort. Snack at 10:30ish. Lunch at noon. Snack at 3 p.m. and dinner around 8 p.m. I'll sneak a few nibbles of my kids' dinners if I'm hungry. Lately, though, the quality of my snacks have been abysmal (and not in the Joey Tribbiani way). I'm still eating like a 25k trainer, which I no longer am. I used to run 12-14 miles on Saturday mornings, and run at least 10 miles during the week. Ever since my May 10 25k, I've ran four times. Bleech. I'm soft, flabby, bloated ... NOT fun. Time to get back on track.

Ok, for Thursday's lunches I packed:

*Thai noodles with chicken

This was leftovers from dinner with my mom and stepdad. Whenever my husband is out of town, I mooch over to their house to try and feed everyone. Thanks Mom! Love ya!

*Organic sugar snap peas

*Mandarin oranges

*Meijer organic yogurt

*String cheese

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Finally the sun comes out!

Man, what a dreary and depressing past few days, weather-wise. I'm finally connecting cloudy days to my complete lack of motivation. This rain has been killing me, not to mention my newborn patio garden. My plants are soaked to the root; I hope they survive. I planted tomatos, cilantro, sage, dill, basil, lavender, and a few perennials. I'm planning on planting some peas tonight. The kids are fascinated with it. I can't wait to eat from our own garden! Reese currently eats from our garden (she shovels fistfulls of soil into her mouth when we're not looking), so I'm hoping to show her that real food will come out of these pots of dirt and leaves.

Today, the kids got:

*Bean/cheese burrito for Bodin

*Spinach artichoke bites for Reese

*Baggie full of grapes

*Carrots/ranch dip thingy for Bodin

*Brown rice krispies treats (Glenny's).

I tried one (ok, TWO!) of these myself and they're really good. All organic and made from brown rice. No funky hfcs or artificial preservatives.

Monday, June 9, 2008

Detoxing from the weekend

On Saturday, we celebrated my husband's birthday with his family. The kids got cupcakes, ice cream, and Rice Krispies treats, and the adults got strawberry cheesecake (and ice cream, too!). Then on Sunday, the kids and I went over to my mom and step dad's house while the guys golfed. Lunch for them was a whole wheat tortilla with melted cheese, bananas, raisins and Sun Chips, and a dessert that I'm not remembering somehow. I think it was used as a bribe to get the kids to do something. I'm not above that.

To top it all off my husband and I got Maggie Moo's ice cream last night (ice cream and organic yogurt being my only dairy exceptions), so I'm suffering from a severe ice cream hangover. Lunch today for me was an organic baby greens salad with: 1/2 avocado, sugar snap peas, red grapes, organic vinaigrette dressing, and organic croutons. I'm going to see if my kids will enjoy this concoction tonight with dinner.

In their lunches were:

*Bean/cheese burrito for my son

The natural ones from Costco.

*Spinach/artichoke bites (Morningstar) for Reese.

*Baggie full of red grapes

*Carrots/ranch dressing thingy for Bodin.

I went to a health food store and bought some organic cereal bars and, believe it or not, BROWN rice krispies treats. I'll test these out later this week. I also bought some organic cashews and will be grinding up some cashew butter later this week. I've never bought organic cashews before.

So much fun!

Friday, June 6, 2008

I lucked out!

Wednesday evening, I picked up my kids from my mom's house - she watches them on Wednesdays. For lunch, she made the kids this stuffed chicken parm with spaghetti noodles, and sent home the leftovers for me to use in their lunches on Thursday. Score! LOVE IT when that happens.

Here's Thursday's lunch:

*Stuffed parm chicken with spaghetti

*Mandarin oranges for Reese and a carrot/dip thingy for Bodin

*Organic animal crackers

I got a ginormous tub of these from Costco. It lasts forever and it a great snack for many occasions. One time, I melted down some chocolate chips and let Bodin dip the back of a few cookies. Let them sit in the fridge for a few hours, and you have a fun, homemade 'dessert' that's fun to make and eat.

I found out Reese refused the cheese/bean burrito that I sent with her earlier this week. Time to come up with new main courses. Since I was short on time and inspiration, they got a repeat from earlier this week.

Friday's grub:

*Cashew butter and strawberry preserves sandwich

*Organic applesauce for Reese and a carrot/dip thingy for Bodin

*Grapes

I'm glad it's the weekend!! I'm going to try and pre-make some lunches that I can freeze 'n grab.

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Did he really just call me "ma'am?"

Oh lord, I'm getting old. I remember being 18 and thinking that 30 was more mid-life than prime-of-life. It was impossible to be cool at that age, and now here I am at age 30. I feel young(ish) on most days, and I look now at high school students and think they seem impossibly young.

As I was leaving the grocery store yesterday, two kids dressed in grungy clothes and stylishly dirty hair approached me with, "ma'am? do you know what time it is?" I checked out my BlackBerry (way cool) and told them. But as I started walking to my car, I realized that I'd been "ma'am'ed." What gave it away? My in-between hairstyle (can't decide to grow it out or cut it short) or the faint crow's feet around my eyes when I squint. Or was it the grocery cart full of "family food" items like two gallons of organic milk or the clear plastic produce bags sticking out of my re-usable grocery bags?

Either way, I'm still trying to figure out if ma'am suits me. I don't feel old enough yet.

For lunch yesterday, the kids got a repeat of Friday's lunch. After my grocery store trip, they got a new selection:

*One all-natural bean/cheese burrito. I can't remember the brand, but it's from Costco and didn't have any red flag ingredients in it.

These need to be nuked. Deep down inside, I don't think microwaves are the safest appliance, but I still use one. My husband would flip if I dissed the microwave. Baby steps.

*YoKids yogurt for my daughter

My daughter really likes to feed herself, so I thought I'd let her daycare teacher deal with the mess on this one. :)

*Organic carrot/ranch dip packet for my son.

Instead of cheese 'n crackers in a plastic tub, picture the same packaging only with healthy carrots and "dip-dip," as my son calls it.

*Baggie full of red grapes

Both my kids love these and gobble them up like candy.