Friday, April 29, 2011

Kids and Food Foolery

When one of my favorite bloggers, Stephanie in Suburbia posted recently about her woes transitioning from baby food to a toddler diet, it got me thinking about some of the ways we got our once-picky Monkey to love "real food".


deceptively delicious Pictures, Images and Photos
Great book!

I remember a few years ago when I first heard about the lawsuit between Jessica Seinfeld and Missy Chase Lapine, the author of the Sneaky Chef, I was a fairly new mother to a solid-food eater. Jessica Seinfeld wrote a book called Deceptively Delicious, which was a cookbook full of healthy recipes that made recognizable "kid food" healthier by disguising the healthy ingredients - usually pureed vegetables - by mixing them right in. My son was just starting to eat more kid food, and I wanted his meals to be more balanced. I thought this idea was brilliant!

Puree in action

The Sneaky Chef was a cookbook based on the same premise; it was published prior to Seinfeld's book and the author was essentially saying Seinfeld stole her idea. Seinfeld ended up winning. I actually own both books and I think they are great. It's a shame so much money had to be spent on lawyers to basically determine that this "idea" to trick kids into eating vegetables by hiding them in dishes children love is something that mother's have been doing for decades. Some argue that this isn't really teaching children healthy eating habits because they aren't learning to knowingly eat and enjoy things like vegetables. I can understand that, but I don't think it's all bad.

There are some vegetables my kids knowingly like in their true whole form. Asparagus, artichokes, tomatoes, carrots, corn and peas. Potatoes, as long as they are french fries. Artichokes and asparagus are expensive and we really don't even have those at dinner time all that often. Tomatoes, carrots, corn and peas are veggies they eat quite regularly, but I even get bored of those. My 4yo will eat lettuce if its in a sandwich. He won't knowingly touch sweet potatoes although he loved them when he was still on baby food.We have been mixing pureed sweet potatoes into their mac n' cheese for as long as we can remember!
Zucchini is a super versatile green veggie!

I try not to rely solely on the sneaky methods. I just use them to add some variety. Pureed, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, squash, and spinach are full of healthy vitamins and nutrients. And who can argue with the sheer genius of the black bean brownies? I am confident someday my kids will take servings of these vegetables and enjoy them, but for now they will just get them on the sly.  There are other "tricks" we have used to encourage our kids to eat. My husband Chip is a New York Yankees fan (I know, I know) and the way we started getting our 4yo to eat meat was to call it "Yankee Chicken." It was breaded and baked, which helped to make it totally enticing. Of course, since I'm a San Francisco Giant's fan (GO GIANTS!) we had another version we called "Giant's Chicken" which was the non-breaded, grilled version. And I can't forget the rice dish that has broccoli in it - aka "Hulk Rice." Think of the fun names for things we are already familiar with, such as "Ants on a Log." Once I started serving that as a snack it was sure a whole lot more exciting to eat than celery with peanut butter and raisins, right? And now, we don't even have to play these games with him, he just eats the food no matter what its called.  Our 2 yo has a pretty healthy appetite, so no worries there.

California rolls...its a start!

If you have a picky eater, don't despair. With some healthy food mixed with a dash of deception, and a whole lot of creativity and love, any child can get used to new flavors and colors in their food. All you can do is continually introduce foods to them and eventually they will eat them. Never did I imagine that my 4 yo who couldn't stand beans would be asking me for a burrito, or eating sushi with us at our favorite Japanese restaurant. :)

Do you have a picky eater at home? How do you achieve success at meal time? Or, do you not stress about it and hope they will grow out of it?

I was not compensated by the authors for this post in any way. I received both books as gifts from family.

Monday, April 25, 2011

More Earth Day Shenanigans

I couldn't do just one Earth Day post, because really I think Earth Day should be every day. I just thought I would share some environmentally friendly happenings over here and how we are enjoying nature at home.

Bright plantings by the front door

Another one, flanking both sides of the front door

Don't know what these are called, but I love them
This is our first year planting vegetables!
We so excited that our seeds have sprouted
Can't wait to be able to go to the yard when we need veggies!
Homegrown - better tasting than any supermarket
Last year we grew our own tomatoes. Our son, who eats them like they are covered in chocolate, really enjoyed them. It was nice for us to know he was eating quality, ripe,  organic produce, free of pesticides and not shipped from another country and ripened in a truck.

Since that seemed to go well, we decided to go a little crazy this year, adding squash, onions, and beans to the mix. I really hope we don't kill everything, because I am so looking forward to this. I think it will be great to teach the boys to learn how to grow their own food, and learn responsibility by helping water the plants and pick vegetables. They are young but its never too early to start showing them the ropes!

And my fellow humans, I have really been going crazy with using white vinegar around the house. A lot with the laundry. For example, I have a few things that say "do not use fabric softener" - some really expensive, high quality bath towels that I have, that I don't want to ruin, and also some super absorbent kitchen towels. Vinegar can be used as a fabric softener, and there is no static cling! And it doesn't make your clothes stink like vinegar. On the contrary, vinegar removes odors. It came in really handy when I was in the throes of "laundry day" and ran out of softener. I have also been using it on my shower. I put some in a spray bottle with some water (50/50 mix) and spray it on my glass shower doors to help prevent/remove build up, mildew etc. I also have used it mixed with baking soda to clean stainless steel pots and pans. What I love about using vinegar to clean is that it is non-toxic, natural, and doesn't leave behind a gross chemical smell after use...which for some twisted reason we have come to associate with "clean." And its so cheap too, I buy big jugs of it at Walmart and they really go a long way.

Just doing our part...enjoy the earth....we all share it! Have a great day!

Sunday, April 24, 2011

Happy Easter!

Go Get 'Em Kids!


I just wanted to take a moment to wish all my readers a lovely Easter with your families. If Easter isn't your holiday, that's ok. I'm totally Equal Opportunity. For a lot of people, Easter is a religious day, for others its a Hallmark Holiday all about chocolate bunnies and colored eggs. Let's face it, for a lot of us with small children it is a lot of fun to give them baskets and watch them hunt for eggs while they are high on sugar, so you can't blame us. Plus, we are the ones who pay for it later when we can't get them to calm down when they are having a crash and are whining and irritable.

I was raised Catholic but definitely don't make it to church as often as I should. I am looking forward to today because its another day I get to spend with my parents, aunts and uncles, cousins as well as my own family of 4. I wish you a great day, however you spend it!

Saturday, April 23, 2011

My Fitness Week (Weak)

No Rest For You! (Soup Nazi Voice) 
I'll be the first to admit, I wasn't very dedicated this week. After an inexplicable bout with insomnia Sunday night which ruined my Monday, I managed to pull off Yoga Meltdown on Tuesday. I don't know why I did Level 1, I really needed the push of Level 2. But whatever, I broke a sweat. I vowed to work out every day this week. Right.

Good stuff
"Who's Your Daddy?" - Jillian Michaels
Wednesday I took a day off for no apparent reason other than I usually take Wednesday off from working out. Although I wasn't supposed to, since I flaked Monday. But again, whatever. Thursday I ran about 3 miles before work - we cut it short because it was sort of windy and my RB hates wind. I am still glad we went, 3 miles is better than no miles, right? Friday we got back on track with a nice, 5 mile trail run. Saturday morning, back to Ripped in 30...which if I keep going the way I have been will be more like Ripped in 60.



Bad Office Food, Part XVII
I am officially grossed out by my snacking! You know how in the past I have talked about Bad Office Food? I took it to new heights this week. Monday, someone brought in a Boston Cream Pie. I had a decent sized piece, and felt I deserved it for no apparent reason. On Wednesday, there were brownie bites. The size really is an illusion that can mess with your mind. The serving size on the package was 1, and they were about 130 calories. I had already eaten 3 or more by the time I heard this information, because I didn't even read the label before I ate them. The same person who reported the calories started to talk about the fat and sugar, but I didn't even want to hear it because I was fully disgusted with myself and did not even want to know! This is why I eat healthy meals at home and at work, and am so obsessed with staying on track with fitness, people! Because I want to eat pie and brownies!

The Moral of the Story
I need to be better about bringing healthy snacks with me to work - I know that eating crunchy foods helps me work better. I can't explain it. So I need to pick up some celery and carrots for work snacks, and make that part of my regular grocery list. That way I will always have them on hand. I really love pita chips too, and I had them at home and have no idea why they did not make it to the office with me. And I will tell myself a thousand times I need better willpower to fight the bad food, but I don't know if I'll ever listen.

Friday, April 22, 2011

Earth Day and The Paper Police

Earth day started the year I was born, in 1970. It is a day to bring about awareness and appreciation of our environment. I think about nature and the environment a lot, but realize not everyone else does. I think it's great that we have a day that might bring "the environment" into the forefront of people's minds who don't ordinarily think about it, if even just for a few minutes, just to get the wheels turning.

Today I'll be continuing my own ongoing battle for the environment on a micro-level, with my MIL over her paper towel usage at my house. Yes, there are days when I throw up my hands and remind myself I must choose my battles wisely, but today I'm not holding back.

I do have cloth napkins in my napkin holder, to prevent the quick grab of a paper napkin, and this works most of the time. I do understand that paper towels work better to dry things like wineglasses, etc. to prevent spots. And I admit I do use them to clean the mirrors in my house (when I get around to that - its low priority over here). However, for the general use of wiping down my granite counter top in the kitchen, its really not necessary. I wipe it down with a regular dishcloth, and then dry it with a microfiber towel. Or if I really want to make it shiny, I have a special cleaner and microfiber cloth which makes it look gorgeous. I am just talking about your typical, cleaning crumbs off the counter cleaning. Sure, if there was raw chicken juice on my counter I would use an antibacterial cleaner and a  paper towel that I could throw away. But this is not the case 99% of the time. When I get home, there are usually 5 used paper towels sitting on my counter - which detracts from the fact that its clean - that my well-meaning MIL used to wipe my granite down.

I have asked quizzically a few times, What are these for? because they are just sitting there. And I have suggested gently alternate cleaning methods and how I don't like to waste paper towels. For some reason this translates to her that I am cheap and don't want to buy paper towels. She's shown up here with a couple rolls here and there. IT'S NOT ABOUT THE MONEY. Sure, I bet we save a few bucks by conserving paper towels. But it's about the trees, lady. It's about the trees.

Monday, April 18, 2011

I'm "Working On" Working Out, Really I Am!



Grrr. There is a little thing called INSOMNIA that can really jack your plans up.

Saturday would have been my 3rd running day in a row - and I had plans to do 5 miles with my RB on the trail by my house. For whatever reason, my kids woke up in the middle of the night. Of course Monkey settled right back down fairly quickly but Buddha and I were up for 2 hours. I had dull headache pain, but I was tired and just thought if I could fall asleep it would go away.

Not.

I never really fell back into a deep sleep and it was time to run. I sent a text to my friend to let her know we had company. The Buddha-meister had to come with us so Chip and Monkey could continue sleeping. Usually when I run if I have a slight headache it goes away. For whatever reason, as we hit the trail, any time I tried to run my head would throb. Really bad.

So we did a lot of walking, and occasionally would try running again but it just wasn't working. I actually felt a little nauseous, and on our way back my little Buddha was getting irritable and tired of being in the stroller. Walking 5 miles takes a lot longer than running and I wasn't planning on having him cooped up that long.

This was no match - I had to use my prescription!


Turns out I had a vicious migraine that ate into most of my day. Anything else I had hoped to accomplish would have to wait til later. At least I walked 5+ miles!

Endless.


Since I had so much housework to catch up on from being largely unproductive on Saturday and a good couple weeks of  having "fun" and not staying on top of things, I was all over it yesterday. I did so much laundry, and put away ALL of the clean clothes which usually doesn't happen. Chip took the boys over to his mother's house so I had hours of time all to myself which I would have loved to spend flipping through magazines or reading my book. Instead, I cleaned my hardwood floors, aired the house out, buffed out scratches from our stainless steel refrigerator, dusted my bedroom, and cleaned the downstairs bathroom. And, the aforementioned mountain of laundry that was in dire need of attention. I would have loved to vacuum my entire upstairs which was on the agenda but that refrigerator took more time than I had expected. At least when the day was done, I knew I had accomplished a lot and I felt pretty good about myself.

So the plan was for me to get back to Ripped in 30! That's right, start the week off right! Uh, errr...FAIL. I was up last night from 1-3 a.m. No explanation. No child woke me up, nothing. I finished watching a Real Housewives of Orange County I had started earlier, and then easily went back to sleep. When my alarm went off at 6, instead of hitting snooze, I turned it off, because I was SO serious about my morning with Jillian. Well, I fell back to sleep and luckily woke up in time to get Monkey up for school. There goes my rest days...luckily I have the rest of the week ahead of me. I will do Ripped in 30 or Yoga Meltdown every day this week. I will, I will, I will!

Hope your week is off to a better start than mine!  What goals have you set for yourself this week?

Friday, April 15, 2011

Scoring Big with Thrifty Family Fun: Drive-In Movie!

The Drive-in...not like it was in high school!
My Dad happened to mention to me a few days ago that our local drive-in theater was going to be free on Thursday night. My biggest concern was that it was a school night and also Chip would be working so I'd be attempting to pull off yet another solo flight with my two wild banshees. Plus, since it was a work day for me I wasn't sure what my mood/commute traffic was going to be like or if the kids might be moody, tired or whatever. Plus plus, I live in a suburb and had to drive to the "city" and was still chapped from the $4.07/gallon gas fill-up I had made the day before. So I honestly didn't make any big plans to go, but when I got home fairly quickly with no traffic to happy children who seems fairly energetic, I thought...."Why not?"

I looked up the show times online, and then called to verify it was actually free. Turns out it was customer appreciation night! There would be live music, face painting, and games. Ok, I was not planning on getting out of the car as we were all going in our pajamas but I still thought it was pretty cool that they offered all that if we had wanted to partake. Even better, the feature was "Tangled." My boys hadn't seen it yet, and it actually is a movie I wanted to see as well.

I popped popcorn at home, and finally tried something I'd been wanting to do for a while. We were in a rush so I just threw in 1/2 cup of pop corn kernels into a paper bag, folded it over and taped it shut. I put the folded side up, and set the timer for 2-1/2 minutes. It turned out perfectly, with not very many un-popped kernels. I got a Tupperware bowl, poured in the popcorn, drizzled with olive oil, sprinkled with sea salt and parmesan cheese then shook it all up. YUM, right? I sort of panicked because in my rush I didn't stop to think if my boys would like it, but oh well. I grabbed a sippy of milk, a Honest Kids juice pouch, a couple snack packs of baked cheddar Goldfish, some Teddy Grahams and blankets and we were out the door.

We made it there pretty quickly, and it turned out to really be free. Call me a skeptic but I half anticipated we would show up and there would be a "catch". We picked out a great spot with a nice upward slant so even my 2yo would be able to see the screen from the front seat. See, even though I drive a small SUV it still wasn't really warm enough in my opinion to back in and leave the back door up so we could watch from our cargo space. Plus, Daddy wasn't with us and the whole safety factor, etc. It's great now that you don't have to worry about parking near a pole and the speakers reaching your car...we turned my car stereo to the right station and had great multi-speaker sound.

They LOVED the popcorn (thank goodness) although they turned the interior windows of my car into an olive oil finger-printed mess. They really enjoyed the movie and I thought it was really cute. There were a couple parts that scared my 4yo but that is typical for him. When they got a little antsy I opened up the sunroof and let my 4yo stand up and watch the movie "outside". He got a big kick out of that and checking out the moon, stars and planes flying overhead.

They were definitely out past their bed time, and Monkey had preschool this morning. I had to get up at dawn to run and honestly could have used another hour of sleep but for my kids to have an impromptu, fun night at the movies with their Mom, it was totally worth it. Plus, you really couldn't beat the price. :)

If you haven't seen Tangled, check out the trailer. TGIF y'all!

Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Oh My Aching Gas Tank!

It's killing me!
Seriously now, this is getting ridiculous!  Every time I go to get gas (which is at least 1x per week), the price is higher. It wouldn't be so bad but I have this major commute to work. I drive 54 miles a day round trip. Yes, I said 54 miles!! So for me, finding the lowest gas price is of utmost importance.
 




I wish I drove a Prius or some other eco-concious car. But I don't. And since my car is paid off in a few months, I am not anywhere near being in the market for a new car because I can't tell you how badly I am looking forward to no car payments. I'm nearly salivating.

I often check Gas Buddy before I fill up my tank. It is a website that tracks gas prices at all the gas stations, so you can find the one closest to you with the cheapest gas. Anyone who has an account can log on and report the up-to-the-minute gas prices, which are time stamped. You can customize your page so that when you log on, the gas prices for your area are the first ones that come up.

So the station closest to my house, which is 5 minutes away and also right by the freeway, is extremely convenient. I can stop there on my way somewhere, or on my way home if my tank is nearing empty and don't want to stop in the morning. However, according to the website, it is 10 cents higher for regular gas than another one that is about 8 minutes from my house, and out of my way if I am headed to work. Then, there is the one by my office which is also about 10 cents less right now than the one closest to my house. It's a pretty cool tool to use before heading to the pump and getting ripped off. They also have giveaways and prizes - you can earn points by reporting in gas prices, or commenting on their forum. They have a giveaway for a $250 gas card right now...wouldn't we all love that?

I'm home tonight and I know my gas light is on. I will have to get gas if I want to make it the 27-odd miles to my office. I will have to try to leave early to hit the less convenient station in the morning provided the prices are still better there tomorrow (they always are). Not the ideal situation but at least I know to plan ahead!

Check out Gas Buddy and create a profile to start earning points! Or at least make informed decisions when purchasing gas. I was not compensated for this post, just trying to help out my fellow citizens!

Thrifty Bay Area Fun at Hiller Aviation


This past weekend my 4yo Monkey had a play date with one of his friends. The other Mom is a teacher and is always "in the know" about cool, fun, educational places to take our kids. So while we have done play dates at our homes many times, we often get out and do different stuff also.


We went to check out Hiller Aviation Museum located in San Carlos, CA. Children 4 and under were free, so we didn't have to pay for the kids. Adults are normally $11, but there is a printable $1 off coupon on their website. However, the other Mom had purchased a Groupon so she paid for me and I drove. I am not sure what the deal was that she got since she paid for me to get in I didn't want to ask too many questions. But if I know Groupons the way I do (and believe me, I know them well) I am sure we got a great deal!


The museum was pretty cool. And it was great for our youngsters who have short attention spans. The museum covers the first 100 years of aviation. There were many models of old and new planes...all types from commercial to pleasure craft, from jet to helicopter. Everything from a simple glider from the 1800's to a Boeing spy plane from the 1980's. They had several exhibits that you could actually enter - so the boys got to sit in real pilot seats in the cockpit! There were a few things that were a little beyond them, such as the whole upstairs section with computers with flight simulation software and another video game-type thing downstairs, but there was a lot for the younger set. A whole seating area (747 seats of course) with some toys and ride-on planes for toddlers, and tables for them to enjoy their snacks.


There was an outside area that was fenced off that overlooked the San Carlos Airport. The boys ran around out there and blew off steam after eating their lunches. The museum is not that large, so the boys were inside and outside a few times, and also in the gift shop where there were a lot of tempting toys. We got a lot of cute pictures of them. I would definitely recommend it, especially if your child loves aircraft!  I can see us going back when the boys are a little older and can understand the meaning of it all a little more. We spent about 1.5 hours inside and another 30 minutes watching the boys play with the new toy planes we got them outside. It's a great place to go if you are looking for something that is not going to take up your whole day, especially if you have a child that might still nap for part of the day. It wasn't very crowded even on the weekend which was a plus as well.

Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Rearranging My Mantle

Quick update - using exactly what I had, I rearranged my mangle after purchasing this cool red lantern/candle holder from TJ Maxx last week. Looks much better, don't you think?


Mantle Before

After
I think having the candles grouped together in the center just makes it seem stronger whereas everything was weaker all spread out evenly the way it was. I will be on the look out for a few darker things of various heights to add to the mix. Some day my husband and I want to redo the face of the fireplace and add a darker wood mantle. That will be down the road.

Have a great Tuesday!

Thursday, April 7, 2011

I'll Buy My Own Spring, Thank You

Roots Pictures, Images and Photos
I guess I will put down roots here!

I came home from work today and started unloading some of the items I bought for the house today at TJ Maxx. This winter seemed especially long, and I wanted to brighten it up a bit since it is STILL raining. I wondered to myself if everyone does this. I always like to change the scenery by buying new accessories, moving things around a little. A couple months ago, I rearranged my furniture in the great room. I think it has been in the new configuration before, but I needed a change. Places like TJ Maxx or Home Goods have such great stuff, especially if you don't want to spend a lot of money.

The room doesn't get a ton of natural light except for the morning. We have huge windows, but they also have shutters on them, and outside the window are some tall trees. The color scheme I originally went with is tied into this rug below. Our style is kind of a Napa Style-meets-Pottery Barn sort of look. These are colors I love, as they are so warm and homey. Rust red, mustard, olive green and browns. Sometimes in the spring and summer I wish I could brighten it up, but don't know how.

Probably should have vacuumed it first, oh well

I decided to make some really bold moves by getting accessories with the right colors, but just a bit lighter, and A LOT brighter, and adding a little white into the mix. Here are the pillows I bought below - just the ones with the prints, I have our existing pillows behind so you can see how they compliment each other and what we have to work with. I am not normally a "print" person, especially not a "floral" person, so I don't see these having real staying power here, but at least through the summer. They definitely achieve what I was striving for.




Here are also some darling little pots I bought at Walmart a couple months back, I put 3 of them in our kitchen garden window. They really do add brightness and life into the house!


I also picked up this adorable metal candle holder, which comes with an LED candle inside. Not sure if its going to stay here, with the green candles I got at Ikea recently and the cute little potted plant my Mom brought over the other day. Red and green is a funny combo, it seems ok in patterns but when placed near each other in solids, not so much.

This mantle decor is currently a work in progress.

I realized today that I have lived in this house longer than I have lived anywhere since I left home for college in 1987. My husband and I got married in 2004 and moved here in 2005, so that makes 6 years. Isn't that just CRAZY? I guess this wild child is finally putting down roots.

Monkey wanted to take blog pictures too, with his Fisher-Price
Do you ever rearrange your furniture or change accessories just because you feel like it? You would think that with all I have going on between kids and work it would be the last thing on my mind, but strangely, I think about it all the time!

Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Save Me, Jillian!

My latest fitness attempt!
Last week I went to Target and found Jillian Michaels' latest DVD Ripped in 30 for $10! I have done her Yoga Meltdown in the past, but got it through Netflix, and had to return it after I did the workout a couple times so I could get more movies. Yoga Meltdown was $9! I vow to do Ripped in 30 all this month, on the days I am not running. I am really hoping for some results. Summer is coming...which means pool season...boating, shorts, bathing suits and what not!

So I posted on Friday about Bad Office Food. It happened again. Yesterday was my bosses birthday, and we had Noah's bagels in the morning. I never go to work without eating at least a small breakfast, but I had no problem tearing into the bagels like it was my birthday. I had 1/2 a sesame, and 1/2 a blueberry bagel with cream cheese. My thought was, it's a treat. Carb overload.

Lunch time came and we ordered in from this awesome BBQ place. As you know, I usually bring my healthy lunch to work every day...so again, this was a treat! There were really no healthy options at this place, so I went for it - Prime Rib Dip sandwich - it was soo good. A little bit of slaw on the side and a few fries and 1 onion ring. Needless to say, I had food coma! We were celebrating someone's birthday after all, I couldn't be rude! I realize I have no one to blame but ME.

I really knew I had eaten too much when I wasn't even hungry for dinner last night. I did have a glass of wine, which was much needed after my gnarly commute home. Food-wise, it was a bad day. I admit it! I effed up! No self-control whatsoever.

This morning I did Ripped in 30, and loved it. Each week the work out changes, and gets progressively crazier and more intense. Bring it on! Just what the doctor ordered....with a side salad.

How do you change your fitness routine once summer is on the horizon, if at all? Hope your week is off to a great start!

Friday, April 1, 2011

Bad Snacks At the Office

So I continually strive for healthy living, but I use the term strive loosely. You know the saying about how you should reach for the moon, so that if you don't make it you might land on a star...blah blah? That saying really defines my relationship with food. I guess I always like to factor in a little failure for myself when it comes to diet. It's hard enough for me to try to be really good at the important things, like my family and work...I need some slack somewhere right?

So at home, I eat pretty well. I don't buy a lot of crap. Not even for my kids. Especially not for my kids. I do my best to prepare good lunches for me to bring to work, and that includes snacks. Sometimes, this is an EPIC FAIL. If I don't bring snacks to the office, there is nothing to snack on unless I go out and buy it. Every once in a while, someone will be out and about and pick something up, or worse yet, bring something in from home that they have mass quantities of that they don't want hanging around their house. The holidays were insane with all the goodies that people brought in.

Your spouse said, take it to work! They'll eat it! We did.

My job can be tedious sometimes, periods of intense focus lead to moments of cagey hunger, or just the need to divert my attention to something fun or more interesting, anything else...which is typically food. I have no willpower. That is why I don't buy any bad food for my house. So when the "bad stuff" shows up at the office, I eat it.

I TOTALLY wish we had this at work every day. No lie.

Yesterday afternoon, I caved and I dug into the huge snack/chip selection that our office manager brought in. Nobody made me, everyone was crunching on them and I couldn't resist. I had eaten a pretty healthy lunch, and was tempted by the sound of the munching and crunching and the crinkly bags. Thank God they were the little bags, something like 90 calories...of Chili Cheese Fritos. I actually tried NOT to read the ingredients when I ate them. And I only ate one bag. And a few of the Cheetos from another bag. This was a good day. There have been other times when someone has brought in a bag of pretzels, trail mix, flavored popcorn, M&M's and everyone comes sniffing around. Once the bags are opened, we continue to chow down until they are empty. It's really quite comical actually. I forgot to mention that our office manager brought in one of those huge cartons of Goldfish Crackers Wednesday afternoon. I had a few handfuls of those too. I when I left the office Wednesday, I bet they wouldn't last thru Friday. As of 5:30 Thursday when I left, there were only less than a quarter carton left, and I worked from home today so I'm not sure of the outcome. This damage was done  by 5 people. Adults too! No snack is beneath us. We will literally eat anything.


Devoured. By 5 grown people. Seriously.
Well, almost anything. Let me tell you about the snacks from the Asian grocery store. But I'll save that for another time.