Babies, Books, and Barbecue
Yesterday was the perfect mommy/daughter day, complete with three meals together at the kitchen table, and a day of activities that would make Mister Roger beam.
Before getting out of bed this morning, I bought myself a few more minutes by giving Scarlet bananas in a bowl as she watched Yo Gabba Gabba! on my iPad. Then it was time for coffee.
The caffeine surging in my bloodstream provided me with the might to scramble a few eggs and pop the sweet potato waffles from the night before into the toaster oven. Juicy, sweet cantaloupe found its way onto my plate, as well. By the way, Kim agreed to share the waffle recipe! Keep an eye open for it this Saturday.
On the way home from the library with the kids, we stopped by a new barbecue joint to pick up a take-out menu for dinner. Kim bopped out with a menu smelling like a meat smoker. Yes, I meant her and the menu, but it was in a good way. I went in to ask for a sauce sample and it tasted exactly like barbecue sauce should taste, with the right balance of vinegar, spice, and not too much sugar. Sold.
We kept lunch simple, munching on hummus, carrot sticks, baguette slices, crackers, Swiss cheese, and some grapes. Scarlet ate all of my grapes and devoured her hummus from the spoon!
A couple of hours later I snacked on a handful of roasted pumpkin seeds I had stowed away in my carry-on.
A little later I blended a simple smoothie of banana and coconut milk, one of Kim’s stand-bys. Then we took the kids swimming in the backyard.
The much-anticipated dinner hour arrived and we feasted Texas-style on Hardeman’s Bar-B-Que. Kim and I ordered two plates and split everything amongst ourselves and the kids: beef brisket, “lean cut” ribs, East Texas sausage links, potato salad, baked beans, canned green beans, and soft white bread. The food was pretty good, though the brisket and ribs were a little on the dry side. Since digging into authentic barbecue is more of a special treat for me, I didn’t bother with the chicken breast.
Hardeman’s makes homemade cobbler with fresh peaches and it was pretty good. A small glass of 1% milk alongside hit the spot. The restaurant ran out of the sweet potato pie, which led us to order the Italian cream cake they recommended. It was too bad that the cake tasted like the meat – smoked and a little dry. I only tried one bite.
Estimated calories: 445 (breakfast), 313 (lunch), 1035 (dinner), 335 (snacks).
I ended the day with a soothing cup of decaffeinated Earl Grey tea.
I'm a chef nutritionist, not the food police. I eat cookies but make sure to eat my broccoli too.
