Off the Wagon

Writing about food every day can be a challenge, especially on days when I don't cook anything - like today (actually, the past several days). Spring break at our house means one of two things - vacation or home projects. While vacation is definitely the better of the two choices, since we cruised on October break we decided to stay home and work this week. So far we've cleaned out, painted, and redecorated two rooms, bought a truck load of plants, planted some of them, and figured out our federal and state taxes. We were planning a garage sale on the morrow, but alas time worked against us. We're not ready for the sale, and there are plants waiting to go in the ground.

My point here is that we've been bad this week. On Tuesday we ate at McDonalds, on Wednesday I brought home chicken from the deli counter at Walmart, and today we snuck in a trip to Burger King without the boy's knowledge. (He had a friend over while we were raiding the garden department at Home Depot, so we picked up a bite without him, which would probably make him sad if only he knew.) I haven't been to the home of the Whopper in ages, so I was surprised to see a lime-cilantro fish sandwich on the menu, which sounds better than it actually tastes. It suffered from a sufficient lack of lime, I think. However, to the restaurant's credit the food was freshly made and quite hot - even the fries. (This is actually a separate discussion in itself since hot, salty fries are too wonderful to dunk in ketchup or lump in the same category with a so-so fish sandwich.)

On the bright side of this week's food debacle, my son actually ate leftovers today! Yesterday I made chicken enchiladas for dinner, and today he managed to put a large portion on a plate and reheat them in the microwave. This is miraculous, indeed, and all the more so because he put a paper towel over the top to keep it from splattering. (Oh, be still my heart!) I think this little spectacle was meant for his buddy who demonstrated the process by heating up a bowl of Chunky soup. I'm sure it was not intended to show his decrepit parents that he could actually feed himself because that might mean they would expect him to do so more often. I should probably add here that he is capable of cooking many dishes on his own. He has even been known to have dinner (including Mexicali chili mac and a from-scratch chocolate cake) waiting for us when we work late; however, he only manages to comprehend the use of cooking utensils when I'm not home. If I am in the house - even if I'm working - he waits for me to fix a meal. I don't really know where this comes from since he's known how to fend for himself for many years. Of course, his food choices are often lacking in nutritional content. For example, four pieces of toast with jelly, or honey, or sugar and cinnamon are his idea of a good snack - though I must confess that I've been known to eat left over pie for breakfast - this morning, in fact.

Ultimately, we completed many chores around the house and we're ending the week with a sense of accomplishment and a resolve to do better on our Eat at Home Project, even when we're busy. Next time we have home improvement chaos, we'll have to plan ahead with leftovers in the fridge or frozen goodies to keep from spending our dough on take out.