WEEK 3
Day 15: We woke up to a “you can hear the echo when I say
HELLO” empty fridge. Like a “come on, Buggie! Have a piece of ham and a package
of fruit snacks for breakfast!” kind of empty. Ok, it wasn’t THAT bad. I had an
egg for him. But seriously. That was it.
I scrounged up an avocado and gratefully my mom sent me home
with a mango yesterday (bless her) so I made this weird little breakfast. Two
eggs, an avocado and some mango slices. Not my favorite but it was fine and
filled me up!
Lunch: After flying around the grocery store, I had supplies
to make myself a decent salad with tuna, chopped apples, almonds and a little
bowl of leftover soup. I was SLEEPY today so I was thrilled when all the stars
aligned and the boys napped at the same time for more than 30 minutes! Nothing
teaches you about the real luxuries in life more than motherhood.
I came home and threw together this old staple: a Greek
Artichoke Spinach Fritata. It’s delicious and easy. I don’t even read the
recipe anymore since I’ve made it one thousand times. You’re about to see why I’ve
never been on food network. When I’m cooking from memory I don’t measure or
really pay attention to the times on things. I just go with my gut, you know??
Here’s the gist:
You need:
Greek seasoning6 eggs
Refrigerated hasbrowns
Fresh spinach
1 can of artichokes
Tomatoes
Preheat your broiler.
Get a REALLY BIG skillet and throw some olive oil in there. Sautee your bag of hashbrowns until they are a pretty golden brown… about 5-10 minutes. I always feel like this takes longer than it should.
Chop up two big handfuls of fresh spinach. Drain your artichokes and chop ‘em up. When your hashbrowns are pretty much finished (don’t you love the specifics??) dump in your spinach and artichokes. Then add about a tablespoon of greek seasoning. Sautee it all together until your spinach is wilted and your artichokes are heated through.
In another bowl, mix up your 6 eggs and add a good amount of salt and pepper. Then pour your eggs over the veggies in the skillet and let it cook (covered) for about 5 minutes, or until the edges begin to set. Then take your tomatoes and slice them very thin. Lay them out on top of your frittata. If you are NOT doing Whole 30 or if your husband really likes feta cheese, top the whole thing with that. Then put it under the broiler (uncovered) until the center is set and the top is slightly browned.
Day 16:
I always have these fantasies about what I’m going to do on
the mornings when Buggie goes to school. I visualize myself cleaning the whole
house and then putting on my running clothes and getting in a good workout and
a shower and doing my hair, all before Squish wakes up from his morning nap. Here’s what ACTUALLY happens: Buggie runs in at 7:03 (every. day.) and I grab him and pull him up on the bed with me and tickle him until he insists it’s time to play. I’m already running behind because I refuse to give up this routine.
I rush into the kitchen and make his lunch for school. (Yes, yes. All of you super-moms did this last night before you went to bed. I cleaned up the kitchen and fell into a coma-like sleep at 9pm. That’s the difference between you and me.) I make him a ham and cheese sandwich and YES I CUT IT INTO A CUTE SHAPE, ok? I use a cookie cutter and it’s adorable and I don’t care if his teachers think this is evidence that he will not tie his own shoes until 4th grade. I like it. And I write a note on his napkin, too! I’m creating a narcissist!!
I balance the rest of the next hour feeding Squish a bottle while reading yet another book about sea anemones to Buggie while I coax him to potty and put on his shorts. I beg him to eat breakfast and then send him out the door with Hubby with a big sigh of relief that he will not be THAT late, and turn around to enjoy the glory of a quiet house. I put Squish down for his first nap and I think… here I go! Watch how productive I will be! And then I turn on a morning show and sit and drink my coffee while it’s hot and eat my breakfast. And I sit there for a long time. I think about how I should get up now, but my stomach is full and I can’t run on a full stomach. And then I remember that I have a few thank-you notes to write. And then I decide a hot shower sounds amazing. So when I hear Squish waking up on the monitor a little while later, my dreams for a Barbie-mom morning are dashed. But somehow I am still fulfilled. I will carry on.
That was a very long way of saying that I did indeed have
left-over frittata for breakfast this morning. It was still delicious.
Lunch: I grabbed a rotisserie chicken at the store yesterday
and took all the skin off before I chopped it up. Today I threw some of the
meat over some greens and added blueberries, dried apricots and cashews. It was
bright and pretty and happy.
Dinner: This was one of my favorite recipes so far!! Bacon
and avocado sliders served over sweet potatoes. It was so good and was actually
really easy to make! Everyone loved them.
Here’s the recipe:
I used some of the sweet potatoes and made a puree for
Squish. He’s almost 6 months and it’s time to start solids! It could have gone
better. It could have gone worse. But he was stinkin’ adorable.
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Day 17:
I woke up this morning feeling ambitious. I have a fridge
full of veggies and I intend to use them, dang it! I’m not sure what possessed
me to make this on a morning when my children were so “busy”, but I
did. Here’s the “Italian Brunch Bake” I made. It certainly is a great recipe
for brunch, considering that by the time you’re finished making it, it is
basically lunch time. But I plan to eat it for the next 4 mornings, so it’s
worth it. I used fresh red peppers in mine because I'm not a fan of the roasted ones in a jar. I think they're slimy. There. I said it. |
| This is her picture, not mine. Mine did NOT cut into pretty squares like this. I basically scooped it out with a spatula. It looked like a vegetable explosion on my plate. But it was good! |
Lunch: We had a play date at the museum this morning with some
sweet friends, and we fed our kids while we were there. I came home and got the
boys down, and then I was starving (this is becoming a pattern for me since my
lunches no longer work between two slices of bread). I used the rest of that
chicken from yesterday and had pretty much the exact same salad. It was not
terribly exciting but it was yummy!
Dinner: We met with our Life Group from church tonight,
where the group-meal was hamburgers, chips, a cheese tray, watermelon and ice
cream. I ended up eating a plain hamburger patty between two slices of lettuce and a
piece of watermelon. It was kind of sad. People kept looking at my pathetic
plate and making the “I’m sad for you” face while ketchup squeezed out between the meat and cheese on their
own hamburger buns. I felt sad for me, too.
When we got home, I ate the last piece of frittata and at least went to bed with a full tummy. I missed the ice cream, but c’est la vie.
Day 18: Italian Brunch Bake pay-off! I served myself a big
slice and a bowl of berries and patted myself on the back for a job well done.
Who cares if I almost lost my mind trying to chop veggies while pretending to
be a crab chasing a sea urchin? It’s all worth it now that I have no work to do
at all this morning.
Lunch: And the world’s weirdest lunch award goes to…. This totally
strange “omlet” thing I made as I was trying to use up the rest of my mushrooms
before they went bad! I sautéed all the rest of the sliced mushrooms and added
a couple of scrambled eggs. I LOVE mushrooms but this was not delicious. I
added half of an apple and some almond butter to round the whole thing out. I
know, I know. Where’s the green? Where’s the red? Where’s the pretty? I don’t
know. I think I left it with the rest of my brain at the post office or the
bank or one of the other stops on our tour ‘de errands this morning.
Dinner: Guys, I have the world’s best husband. I know, you
probably think yours is the best. And maybe he is for you, but mine is the BEST
for me. I mean he’s really great. He called on his way home from work and
offered to take Buggie to Chick fil A for me tonight and let me have a few
moments of quiet after Squish went down. He’s a good man. A keeper, that one. I
asked him to bring me some grilled nuggets on his way home, and I added them to
a big bowl of greens with avocado, mango, walnuts and dried apricots. So good!!
And hardly any clean-up afterwards. Bliss.
I have roped a few poor friends into doing this Whole 30
thing with me. Crazy loves company, people! I can’t wait to share some of their
recipes next week. It’s like they’re doing the hard part for me! (insert evil
laugh here).
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