Friday, March 9, 2012

Friday, Friday... Can't Stand That Day


Well it's another Lenten Friday. I dread it. I get all wobbly and tired and headachey. Blah. But my soul is being sanctified. I hope. 


So today was a whirlwind!  The girls had the day off school, which was awesome (more sleep!) until last night when I remembered I had an appt at the gym, so we'd have to get up and dressed anyway. Booo. 

Things took a while to get going this morning so I had no time to make breakfast. ACK! I had to grab the secret stash of Larabars, and pass those out (except for Veronica who is allergic to almond, so she had to have... uhm... pork rinds.

 Hey, don't judge! Four kids with no husband (he's on a trip) and a routine thrown off by kids not being in school... it was the best I could do. And it had protein. So there!

I had a bottle of water for breakfast. I do not recommend having only water to "eat" before working out. Instead of focusing on breathing, you will focus on "if I do 50 reps, can I eat a cheeseburger?" And your muscles don't like it. 


So anyway, we dropped Elizabeth with a sitter, and the three older girls and I headed to the gym. That took a little while.


Then we headed to a thrift store to buy some school supplies for class on Monday. 


By this point, I was about to drop dead, and the kids were hungry, too.  So I'm trying to think of what we can eat that is permissible on Friday, doesn't cost a lot, and isn't too far away.  The only thing I could come up with was Long John Silver's. BLECH  Well, it was our only option at this time. I don't even remember the last time I ate there, or if I've ever taken my kids... maybe?  


We ordered the fish. I thought the kids would be thrilled they had fried food, but instead, they picked all the batter off, and ate the insides. I had to do the same. Pretty awesome. 


Then we ran out the door to go to a political rally nearby. The kids were really excited about it... Amy (5) says "I can't wait to hear my first speech!"  The rally took a little over an hour. And by the time we got out we were all hungry again. Ugh. 


We rushed home and they had some apples with cashew butter. I had a spoonful of cashew butter (and I may or may not have sneaked a slice of apple), which really took away the edge of hunger. 


Right as I was headed out the door to pick up Elizabeth, the AT&T guy shows up to install some kind of line in Tom's office. Well, he had to wait out in his van since I had to leave. So we rushed to get E, rushed back home, and waited another 1.5 hrs for him to finish, and in the meantime, we're still hungry!


AT&T guy finally left, so we headed to grandma's (since the three girls are staying the weekend). The girls were very happy to see dinner already waiting (shrimp, vegetables, and maybe one other thing). So Grandma saved them from starvation. Whew. 


The baby and I were still hungry though. And I was not about to go home and spend an hour making dinner for an empty house. So E and I went to the local Mexican food place, and I tried a new entree. Chile Rellenos: a poblano pepper stuffed with cheese, and fried in corn masa flour.  When the dish came out, I scrapped away all the fried parts (which was easy because the breaded did not stick to the pepper) and ate what amounted to a steamed pepper with semi-melted cheese.  


EWW. Did not like it. At All. It was really watery, flavorless, and just not appetizing. I don't know if this is because this particular restaurant did not know how to make it properly, or if this is how chile rellanos are meant to taste, but no, thanks.  


So I'm STILL hungry. 


Anyway, my point in this post is someday things are just going to be crazy and hectic, and while you may not be able to be completely Primal (all organic items and such), you can still find some options that are maybe the least-worst of the worst.  


I think the important thing here (especially if you have children) is to accept that there will be days you won't be as good of a Primal Eater as you want to be , but that life will go on, and it won't do any good to beat yourself up over it. 


Yes, it is a good idea to have stashes of Primal-approved snacks, ready to go, in the fridge/pantry, but sometimes even that will fail. For us it was because I didn't cook as much this week since I knew Tom would be away most of the week. And also because today is Friday, which usually means we're down to the last few items before restocking on Sunday. 


Just one of those days.  Now I'm going to Google some snacks that will keep for longer than a week, and be better prepared next time. Hopefully.

7 comments:

  1. I keep a cooler in my car and I toss in already cooked bite size meals, like burger bites or kabobs. All finger foods. Works like a champ when hungry! I am a year into living primal and my stomach literally cannot handle fast food anymore.

    Winter/cooler weather is your friend when keeping food in the car. Summer time you need ice and keep the cooler out of direct sunshine. Often in the summer I will freeze my cooked, bite sized foods and then toss them into the cooler. Hard boiled eggs are a great travel food.

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  2. I always keep things around like tuna, sardines, jerky, smoked salmon, nuts, frozen veggies (microwaveable), baby carrots, romaine lettuce, hard boiled eggs, etc. I know, I know, not everybody likes fish (I love fish), but the idea is the same: keep easy and fast things around just in case you need to make a primal meal in under 2 minutes. Also, as you can see, most of these things last quite a long time in the cupboard/fridge, so there are no worries about wasting them.

    I always try to have a freshly cooked breakfast every morning, but since I am not a morning person that is not always possible. So, I always keep a few hard boiled eggs and V8s in my fridge. I know that V8 isn't ideal, but in a pinch it is better than nothing. And, if I don't get to the eggs in the morning, I can always throw them on a salad in the afternoon (I have a ginormous salad every day after work).

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    1. BTW, when it comes to sardines I go for the 'Crown Prince Skinless and Boneless'. I don't mind eating the bones and skin, but it grosses other people out, so I go with the boneless/skinless so I don't have to hear other people complain about MY lunch.

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    2. True that. I totally forgot about my emergency snacks I keep at my office, which are mainly canned herring, salmon, tuna, and sardines. This is my favorite. They sell them at my local Walmart and are available on Amazon.

      Sup Fetz, I haven't seen you on EPJ lately.

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    3. I had to give up my home internet connection for a while, so my total internet activity has decreased significantly. Essentially, while my stock of funds is A-ok, my flow of funds has slowed considerably over the past few months or so, so I had to give up the lowest priority items (internet, netflix and a few other things).

      I work in demolition, so there are constantly ebbs and flows when it comes to work (I usually only work half the year on average, which is awesome!!!). The good thing is that I am both a saver and an investor, so I am always ready when work slows down. However, my cost of living has increased over the past year due to inflation, but I have not yet increased my budget limit (because my income has not increased). I could keep my internet connection, I am just a stickler for keeping to my budget.

      Sorry for the tangent, Heather.

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  3. I am not sure how allergic V is to almonds, but I can't eat the Larabars with almonds either (they give me a stomach ache) but there are several that don't have any almonds in them. Cashew cookie, blueberry muffin, and if you are doing peanuts, peanut butter cookie, peanut butter & jelly. If she would still have a reaction because they're all processed in the same facility, I guess this tip will not help you much :)

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  4. Here's a blog post on fasting from a primal, Catholic perspective.
    http://perfecthealthdiet.com/?p=5700

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