Head in the Sand

That's what I get for planning a bunch of goals around money. Didn't make a single one this week. Not. A. One. I just hate budgeting. Rather than look at a budget, I just crapped out on my goals. So every goal is a roll-over goal for this week. Lame.

So let's talk food.

In addition to paper towels and pop for me (another goal I failed on, I've been sneaking the Mountain Dew) we're also out of the giant Costco boxes of Rice Krispie Treats & Quaker Granola Bars that I usually keep stashed in the pantry as kid-filler. I've been buying a bunch more produce. What's been happening is, Girl 1 (aka Stealth Ninja, aka Miss MacGyver) has switched from her sneak-eating of "Christmas Treats" (Krispie Treats) over to fruits and veggies. She eats the caps of mushrooms. She noshes on carrots. She scarfs down apples, plums, even tomatoes whole. Every time I turn around she has something in her hand, in her mouth. I need more produce. I need a fridge lock.

Still, it's a pretty great problem to have.

Now that the guys are back in school, we have the cold lunch to think about. I used to throw in a fruit, a sandwich, a bag of chips, and a krispie treat/granola bar type snack. I'm trying to make their lunches healthier, and reduce packaging. We haven't bought the individually wrapped chips in a while, but their lunches don't seem filling...I found some good resources for ideas to put in their lunches at Kitchen Stewardship: Lunches to go and Kelly the Kitchen Kop: School Lunch Alternatives. Tonight over dinner I'm going to talk to the boys and find out what types of things they'd like to bring to eat. Boy 1 is eating us out of house and home (he's 12 and playing football) so I want to make sure he's getting enough to eat. The younger two boys just need more variety. The baby carrots have already returned home uneaten twice this week.

We're still doing a meatless meal or two a week. Last week the man made grilled cheese, and I made Eggplant with Tomato Pepper Sauce.

photo: Diana Rattray and About.com 

(one day I'll remember to take pictures of my own food.)

In the interest of full disclosure, let me say that eggplant is weird. The texture is just funky. I never ate eggplant as a kid, but for some reason eggplant seems earthy. Like if I'm going to be this super hippie ultra-earth conscious mom, I should be able to cook eggplant. It's local. It's meat-like-ish. It's...it's just weird. Not bad, just weird. So I'm trying out different ways of cooking it.

The kids loved this recipe, but really more for the sauce and ricotta filling than the eggplant. As we were squeaking and sponging our way through the meal, I realized I could have made the same recipe with manicotti shells instead of eggplant. Still meatless. Still healthy. I think I'll try that next time, if I can let go of the idea that I need to be an eggplant connoisseur in order to be green.