The Mom Diet

Let me make something very clear. I love to eat.

My children are my diet plan. My kids were born with a sixth sense... the food sense. Every time (EV.ER.Y.TIME) I fix myself a snack, a meal, a morsel, my children's sixth sense kicks in and they appear out of nowhere to devour my food and after every crumb is obliterated, they vanish just as quickly as they appeared.

I figure that I actually only consume about 1/4 of whatever I take. So when I get overly excited and take too much, I still only eat a small portion. This works pretty well for all of us. I imagine someday this will not happen, and then I will actually have to control my own portions. But for now, I suppose am glad to share.

Well Rounded Meal

A Rose By Any Other Name is a Whole New Flower

This week, Sophia is not eating very well. At all. She doesn't want anything. She is never hungry. She just won't eat. Finally, after fighting with her at every meal, I decided not to feed her anything until she told me she was hungry. It is the fourth day now, and she has eaten 3 decent meals (one per day). This morning, I decided to try something...

Her favorite show in the world right now is Ratatouille. It is about a little mouse who loves to cook. For anyone who has seen Ratatouille, you know he debuts his cooking career by making the most delicious pot of soup. Thus, soup is Sophia's favorite food in the world right now.

So back to this morning. I made a bowl of oatmeal a little extra runny, sprinkled in a little brown sugar, and offered Sophia some breakfast soup.

Whaddya know. She loved it.

Big Girl Food

I Would Cry Too

Gravy

Making gravy is my hurdle to overcome.

I just cannot do it. I have tried over and again, and have never made a satisfactory pan of gravy to date. The embarrassing part is that I have NEVER heard of anyone else complaining about the complexities of making gravy. I don't believe it is supposed to be as tricky as souffle. I don't think it is supposed to take 45 minutes. I don't think it is supposed to be runnier than the water in my glass. I don't think it is supposed to taste like flour.

Of course, like every woman, I compare my gravy to my mother's. The texture, flavor, and color all need to be just like Mom's. My conclusion: It's never gonna happen. Mother's always make the best food that cannot be duplicated. This does, however, give me a glimmer of hope that someday my food will be unrepeatable to my children.

Whatever. Mom, I need a lesson. It may take all day, and I may need to make 6 batches to even come close to getting it right, but I am ready to learn from the master. Again.

My Husband, My Hero

Let's talk about Jared for a minute. He is amazing. I was having a total pregnancy meltdown this afternoon and texted him to share my distress. Here was the conversation...

N: "I am beside myself. I am so hungry and everything is making me gag. This is so much harder this time."
J: "Ok. We are going shopping and getting you 20 things that sound good. We will walk around the store 'til we find them."
N: "Thank you Jared. You are the best. There are tears running down my face right now."
J: "Cause I love you!"

After he got home from work, he brought me to the grocery store and we spent 45 minutes walking up and down every single aisle, picking out things that sound good to me. When we got home, and put everything away, he asked what I wanted for dinner. I could hardly decide cuz there was so many wonderful choices, and none of them made me want to gag!!
I turned to Jared and said, "Earlier today, I would open the fridge, look at the choices, gag, then cry. Now, I open the fridge, look at the choices, salivate, then cry (in sheer delight!). THANK YOU!"