Planning two weeks of meals at a time and shopping at the cheapest grocery store in town has been making a huge difference in the grocery budget. And it is more cooking, bu we can’t eat that much processed food, since we’re gluten free these days, and so all of this cooking isn’t really optional anyway.
A few of you asked about the gluten free thing and the celiac tests. We did get Senor Pants’ test results back and he tested negative for everything. However, Mr. E and I did some research and we really don’t think that the celiac blood test is accurate. We are keeping on with the gluten free diet because 1. I feel better 2. Eli looks much larger and 3. is actually going to bed at night instead of screaming and staying up until 11:30. If he hasn’t gained enough weight at his next check in, we’ll reassess, but meanwhile I don’t see the point in pushing for more tests for either of us, just so we can continue what we’re already doing. I don’t know, the internet can make you believe anything, but at this point, I feel 100 times better, Senor Pants is fatter, and he’s sleeping at night, so we’re rolling with it.
I am on day six of my crazy pills and I think they are helping. I feel decidedly more mellow, although I do sometimes wake up feeling a little weird. I increase the dose today, so we’ll see. On the plus side, I keep telling people I’m on Levitra, which is uh, not really for my problem.
I personally feel that it’s way too early for the Starbucks Red Cup. Red Cup only at Christmas time please. Also, has anyone tried the Gingersnap Latte? I ordered it as my special once a week indulgence coffee on Sunday morning and I assumed it was just the Gingerbread Latte with a dippy new name, but it had a distinctly unpleasant oily mint funk to it. Did they make mine wrong, or is the “Snap” in the name a reference to some icky mint flavor they add?
I went to the mall this weekend to buy an overpriced white tablecloth from Williams Sonoma and I noticed a distinct lake of sale age. I am not sure when these rumored fire sale prices are going to begin but I can’t help but notice I just paid $60 for a table cloth. Also, in other superiority complex news, it always makes me laugh when I see fake cranberries and glass pears and pumpkin candles and paper mache pomegranates being sold for an arm and a leg. You can buy the real thing for 50 cents at the grocery store! Or pick it up for free on the ground outside.
Our lemon tree is going great gangbusters. I am totally going to make some limoncello, and then I am going to pour it over every damn thing I can find to pour it on.
We went to the Prop 8 Rally at the capitol. It was rather boring, not much of a turn out. We did see some police horses take a dump on the grass, and Eli got to pet one. His father was happy to note that Eli does not care much for horses. (Mr. E is really not a fan of horses. Birds, yes. Horses, no.)
My child has timed the end of his poop strike to coincide with the fact that we have run out of wipes. The good news is that being forced to wipe his kiester with paper towels makes me finally feel like a real mom.
Does anyone else frequent their local asian grocery store? I love shopping at mine. Everything is so dirt cheap and they have a plethora of rice noodles and I can always find a bunch of crazy stuff I’ve never heard of to experiment with, although we do run into problems regarding Mr. E and his love of turtles occassionally. But then on the news the other day they said there were all kinds of new rules and regulations and recalls having to do with melamine in imports from China but not to worry because almost all the tainted goods have come from asian grocery stores. Um, yikes?
PS It is eighty degrees here today. I am wearing shorts. Also, it is crab season! God, I love California.
Here’s meals for the next two weeks:
1. meatloaf, crispy iceberg and spinach salad, glazed carrots, and sour cream mashed potatoes. I don’t even like meatloaf and I have the weirdest craving for it. I think I probably actually just want to eat iceberg lettuce and ranch dressing.
2. ginger shrimp and apple slaw with yogurt dressing with mint, cinnamon, orange and honey. (Top Chef Recipe of the Week)
3. chicken and tofu satay, broccoli, spring rolls with rice paper wrappers
4. Thanksgiving: (brined turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, ambrosia salad (yummers!), brussel sprouts, and sausage sage chestnut stuffing. (Our guests are making pie and yams and cranberry hoo ha).
5. Steak Fajitas
6. Peach jam glazed pork tenderloin, whipped sweet potatoes, green beans
7. Crab, brocolli, twice baked potatoes
8. Green salad and minestrone soup (with gluten free noodles)
9. Polenta, sausage, greens
10. whitefish, mango salsa, quinoa
11. chicken picatta, rice, spinach
12. cherry chicken, chard, wild rice pilaf
13. beef bok choy hot pot
14. tropical shrimp and rice
Also: Caramel sauce which is to die for, seriously the best thing of all time, salt caramels, lemon poppy seed cake for thanksgiving breakfast, limoncello, pumpkin bread.
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