Blogging the Menu: Day 13

They closed school again.  Something about the buses and blah blah diesel fuel blah blah.  I am deeply annoyed.  At least we don't have to pay for yet another extra day of daycare tomorrow as my dear husband will be off.  My question is this:  What do they do in motherfucking Alaska, hmmmm?  I did a rotation in Fairbanks one September.  It snowed like fucking crazy, it was bitterly cold (and dark) in September.  I was told stories of air so cold it created fog from any teeny smidgeon of moisture.  No one missed any school.  I am deeply frustrated.

Ok, on to the menu.  Yesterday I came across a link on Facebook from the 21 Day Sugar Detox page.  It was a review of a recipe in the detox cookbook.  It looked interesting, so I made it.  It was a little fiddly and required some cooking vs. other chia puddings I've made, but it wasn't difficult.  When I poured it in the jars I was thinking "There is no way this is 4 servings for my big fat mouth" but this morning I actually measured out an appropriate serving and it was pretty filling.  Of course, I added sliced banana and some walnuts, which helped.

There is nothing more right than banana walnut pudding for breakfast.

There was a portion of leftover Moroccan meatballs and cauli rice in the fridge for me and I figured if I didn't get it eaten it would disappear, so I took it along to work. 

So good.  I ate too much too fast though and ended up overly full.

I dove into my desk drawer for a square of dark chocolate mid-afternoon.  It was just what I wanted.  One square did the trick (which is not always the case-sometimes I spiral into a seething spiral of self hatred and eat until I become diabetic).

Hey there, little guy-wanna go on a trip down my digestive tract?

Being as it's still ball withering cold outside, it was a good night for leftover chicken noodle soup for the kids. I opted for leftover chili with a little pepper jack cheese.  Mmmm...I may regret it later on the treadmill.

Always better the second day.

I was surfing around Pinterest the other day (I know, I know...useless time suck) and found a recipe for homemade coffee creamer.  I haven't had cream in my coffee for a while, but I do miss it sometimes, so I thought what the hell. I used to drink International Delight creamer with abandon, but then one day I looked at the ingredients and was really appalled.  There is nothing recognizable in that stuff.  I switched to half and half.  So tonight I made French Vanilla and Pumpkin Spice.  It was quite easy to make and tasted exactly right from the jar.  The small container is the date paste used to sweeten the mixture.

I'm so goddamned domestic.

Of course, I had to try it right away.  Honestly?  It's not bad.  Certainly not the same level of "creaminess" as your standard non-dairy chemical shitstorm, but not bad.  I only added about a tablespoonful to this cup.  Might need more to achieve the sweet cup of coffee I used to drink fairly regularly.  I learned something in the making of this and that is that Thai Kitchen coconut milk?  Is exponentially fattier than Goya.  As in there was a good two inches of fatty fatty two-by-four at the top of the can.  So much that I had to scrape it out and blend that shit back together with my stick blender before I could use it in the recipe.  I must remember this when I make "ice cream" next.  

Just a little bit sweet.

In about an hour I have to go climb onto Torvald the Treader and do a 2x1000 with a 400m rest interval.  If 800s suck, I'm pretty sure 1000s are going to make me want to die.  Is it acceptable to crawl my 10 minute cool down?  Also our satellite dish is on the fritz from the cold and has been performing spottily for the last few days.  If nothing else I can pop in Pitch Perfect and laugh/cry my way through these intervals. 

And of course, knowing this is in the fridge doesn't hurt.

So there you have it.  One food experiment that was a resounding success and one that was more of a "huh" kind of experience.  I'll try the creamer again tomorrow and see what I think.  The website Organically Delicious has several options for dairy based and non-dairy based creamers.  Might be worth a shot if you are trying to kick the chemical habit for the new year.  

So I'm almost 2 weeks into this blogging journey.  It's getting easier to pass on stuff that interferes with my goals (donuts, cookies, etc) and taking pictures of all this stuff is having the desired effect.  I'm trying more new things, revisiting old favorites, and being honest with myself about what I cram in my pie hole.  Maybe I'll do this shit all year.  In the end it will be just shoddy pictures of Taco Bell wrappers and you'll reminisce about my banana shots.

Stay warm!