Crouching Tiger, Hidden Nutrients

Ahhh, I just love a schedule! I mean, I thrive in an organized, scheduled situation. I love knowing what to expect (I was never a girl that needed surprises…I used to open my Christmas gifts and then re-wrap them, for crying out loud!). Knowing what’s coming gives me peace and time to prepare (thereby reducing any current or impending anxieties…boo-ya – my psychology degree comes in handy once again!).

Yes, SO excited!

So, now, two days back into our old (school) routine, I am successfully existing once again. I LOVE normalcy.

My lunchbox for Bigs, however, was a bit lackluster.

I made a “school(ish)” themed lunch. I did a gold star (gold food spray) shaped PB&J, with “A+” written on it with my Food Writers, some pretzel sticks, an apple, a cinnamon applesauce squeezy fruit and a gummy worm for dessert.

For dinner tonight, I made Chinese black rice and ground chicken. Sounds appetizing. HA! It was better than it sounds. Or looks, for that matter.

I love black rice. It’s delicious and nutty and has a bite (chew) to it. I made it and then added garlic and sesame oil.

I paired it with ground chicken that I browned (does it ever really get brown per se? Not really.) with wasabi powder and Chinese five spice. I added soy sauce to my own portion since my Crohn’s Husband (that’s his new title) can’t eat the non-GF version we have. This was a delicious and quite healthy dinner.

I would say that the kids did not enjoy it. They are becoming pickier and pickier as the days go on. I’m sure (I hope) it’s a phase.

I also made one of those little frozen packets of broccoli, cheese, and rice since Bigs has been wanting so desperately (bless his little heart) to like broccoli. I thought that gooey cheese sauce would be a game changer, but it was not. Oddly enough, Smalls (he who eats almost nothing except about one PB&J a day) devoured (relatively speaking) it.

I make a lot of these. I am really glad both boys love peanut butter. For them, it is an essential source of protein. And plus, it’s amazing. I love PB in ANY form and with ANY spread of ANY sort. I’m easy like that. And daring.

I even love PB and pickles. And PB and olives. Give each of those a try if you are feeling it. They are delish.

Anyways. Last night, a couple of girlfriends and I got together for a little wine and snackies.

You can’t go wrong with wine.

Or snackies.

Luckily, and let me tell you how hard it is to apply that word to this, there were no sweets. Eeeek. That was hard.

If there were, I’d have been forced to eat them, thereby breaking my new diet.

Today is the fourth day I’ve gone without any sort of sweet during the day. I am proud and miserable.

I had a great time with my girls and honestly, when there is some sort of bread involved (Cuban, French, who cares!), I feel a little less sad about the dessert.

But only a little.

And also wine helps.

Here’s hoping tomorrow brings lots of good things. My little buddy, Smalls, started feeling crummy tonight so I am hoping he’ll snap out of it by tomorrow. I’ll go ahead and make those pancakes just to make him feel better. Just as a precautionary measure. You know.

Despite feeling puny, Smalls had loads of fun spinning with Big Brother after bath. They get such a kick out of that (until one of them falls into a wall or something hurty). I love his little strong spirit! (I also love matching jammies and matching clothes.)

Have a lovely night!

Kristin