What Happens When the Mac and Cheese Boils Over

Can I just tell you what a whirlwind day I've had?  Well...if it wasn't a whirlwind day around here I don't know what I would do. Ava was back to school today. Jordan was back after being off for 5 days. Livi was back to dance class today.  The girls had a dentist appointment this afternoon (all of my girls L-O-V-E going to the dentist...is this normal?)   Jim was working late tonight (still not home) so I was on single parent duty.  When bedtime came, all I could do was sigh.

But I wanted to share the funny part of my insane day:

We went to my mom's after I picked up Ava from preschool. This is our normal Wednesday routine. We usually hang out there and eat lunch together before I drive over to Olivia's dance class and my mom usually heads to work.  I pack a lunch for myself and the girls so we don't wipe out my mom's fridge and cupboards with our visit. Today was no different, except that mom offered up some of her leftovers for lunch.  She made ground pickles and "jumbo" which doesn't really sound appetizing. Nor does it look appetizing in real life, but it does remind me of my childhood and it is sort of a nostalgic comfort food, so I decided to partake. I put away my non-comforting Lean Cuisine and rooted around in the fridge for the container.

It's in the smallish Tupperware there, Mom said only half glancing to see if I chose the right one. The refrigerator is full of leftover containers. Mom is really good about keeping (and eating) leftovers. Unlike myself.  If I have a leftover to save and actually end up saving it, it is usually moldy by the time anyone thinks of it again (ew, I know).

I gathered up the sandwich making ingredients and popped open the ground pickles and jumbo container and noticed that it seemed a little soupy. What's in this? I asked (but duh, I knew the answer and I bet you do too!) Ground pickles, jumbo, eggs, mayonnaise mom said.  Okay, I thought. It seemed awfully mayonnaise-ey and there were reddish flecks throughout but I thought it was maybe jumbo skin (gross, I know).  I slathered the soupy goop onto my bread and began to chow down over the sink. Nope, didn't grab a plate, just started wolfing right there as I watched the pot starting to boil for the girls mac and cheese. 

This doesn't taste right, I thought.  It didn't taste BAD. It just didn't taste like ground pickles and jumbo.  I kept eating.  First, it didn't taste BAD as I said, and Second, I didn't want to barrage my mom with questions about her ground pickle and jumbo making techniques. I had already hounded her by asking what was IN it, right?  In the meantime, my mom was preparing her own sandwich.

My mom took a bite.  Wait, this doesn't taste right.

I know, I said, It doesn't taste sweet.

That's not it, Mom replied.

I looked at my sandwich. I was down to the last quarter of it.

What in the hell was I eating? 

It tastes like salsa,  I said

My mom started laughing. 

I started laughing.

This isn't ground pickles and jumbo, is it? I asked.

Both of us cracked up and tossed what was left of our sandwiches. 

I had just chowed down on a salsa dip sandwich.

If you don't think that a ground pickles and jumbo sandwich sounds appetizing, how about a salsa, cream cheese dip concoction (leftover from SUNDAY) sandwich.  I would have hurled, but we were laughing too hard.

And the mac and cheese was boiling over.

Food. F-O-O-D. Food.

I've been thinking about this all weekend....ALL weekend. Pretty much non-stop since Friday night. This happened to me once before, after I read the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle and I ended up joining a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)...this time, well, I'm not sure. But I know things won't be the same!


Friday night I finally got around to viewing the documentary FOOD Inc. I've been wanting to see it for a while and I'm super happy that I finally got the chance.


click the pic above for a link to the official FOOD, Inc. Website.


Not that this documentary has much to be happy about. When I told my mom about it, she said, "I don't think I want to see that"...well, I pose, that is EXACTLY the reason that you should! Because so many Americans are in the dark about how food gets from the farm to our tables, we are basically fooled into believing that what is provided for us in the grocery stores is safe, even healthy! I'm learning that just because the FDA says it is so or a cleverly designed package says it, that doesn't necessarily mean that it is. Just take a minute to think about all the product recalls and food safety issues that we've seen in the media over the last few years...green onions from Chi Chi's, Tomatoes from Taco Bell, Peanut Butter, Bagged lettuce and spinach, ground beef recalls...that's just a few that I can think of off the top of my head.


I've become accustomed to going into my local grocery store and being welcomed by shiny, colorful peppers (four different colors), tomatoes, pineapples, mangoes...fresh looking bananas, strawberries, apples. I have forgotten that these things aren't supposed to be ripe and ready to go in the middle of January (or that some of them grow no where near my north of the equator address)--until I get them home and slice or bite into one. Then somewhere in the back of my mind I think "is this how an apple is supposed to taste?" So many of the "off season" fruits and veggies that I MUST have from the grocery store are flavorless, and blah...but they sure do look pretty sitting on my counter.


I remember when I was a youngster...in the not so long ago early eighties...going to the store with my mom and asking "why can't we get peaches?" and my mom saying, "well, they aren't in season" and basically that meant that the grocery store doesn't have any either. Now the grocery store has them...and off season, they are absolutely disgusting. I will vehemently argue with ANYONE who tries to claim otherwise. Still, the grocery store now has them at any time of the season and they look like their swollen, juicy predecessors...but...


Have you ever eaten a home grown or farm grown strawberry? Unbelievable right? How about a tomato from your own garden...you can't beat it for the flavor. I mean right off the vine, sun warmed, absolute run-down-your-chin deliciousness. Why don't we eat this way all the time?


Well, number one, I live in Pennsylvania where the growing season isn't that long...number two, it's expensive to eat healthy foods like this right? Number three, what do I do in the dead of winter (like right now) for produce?--I've nary canned a single thing, nor do I know HOW to do it. Number four, at 5:30pm that box of frozen pizza or chicken tenders looks like a great choice for dinner that night. I get it. It's hard.


BUT nothing great comes without price...and when I really get down to thinking about it what IS the price of good health? What is the price of feeling good about what I'm putting on the table, into my mouth, (forcing) into my children's mouths? What is the price of avoiding diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, cancer, salmonella, ecoli--what is the price of my LIFE, my family's LIFE??


I know there isn't much in this world that I can control, but what I put on the table can be one of them. Where's the extra money going to come from? Well...I just bought a new phone...my husband just purchase a few hundred dollar "game system"...the money is there, we just need to decide what we want to spend it on. I can tell you, it isn't heart medication, insulin, or hospital bills....


I'm really great at THINKING about eating sustainable, local, organic foods but what am I doing?...I mean really, there ARE frozen pizzas, extremely cheap cuts of meat, poultry and pork, sugary sweets, chips and pretzels, garbage breakfast cereals, pastries, and frosted this and that in my pantry, freezer, and refrigerator as I type this.


One thing I did last spring was join a CSA as I mentioned earlier. For those who aren't familiar, this is a local farm that runs because of farmer's market and CSA patrons. Basically I pay for a share in the farm and every week, or every other week (depending on how MUCH I pay) I get to out to the farm and fill a grocery bag or two with organic produce that they grow not 10 miles from my home. (I live in the suburbs). Last year, there was decent variety...no tomatoes because of blight, but they also had strawberries, organic eggs, chickens, and breads and baked goods to buy in addition. I really enjoyed driving up there with my girls on a summer morning and filling my bags. I felt really good about it.


The next week though I would find myself discarding much of the produce that came my way because I just didn't know how to cook it! I was very ashamed of myself. I want to do this again...the farmers were wonderful, the experience was lovely, the produce was EXCELLENT quality...I think I'm going to do a half share this year and it might be a little more manageable.

I would like to start a garden this year...but we are looking to also move soon...so I might not get to that this year.


And thanks to my viewing of FOOD, Inc. I checked around for some local farmers raising organic, grass fed beef...and I think I found a winner.


I'm also going to try to SEVERELY limit my family's consumption of fast food...sorry kids (really I think they like the toys that come with the meal better than they like the food anyway!)

I am going to try to be more aware and more respectful of myself, my family, my planet, my food, and the farmers and animals that produce it. I think this way of being is in harmony with what my God wants for our lives.


What I'm trying to say is if you haven't seen the documentary, you should...then you will know that I'm NOT a tree hugging hippie...I'm just a mom, trying to do the best for my husband, my kids, and myself...I think the message is worth passing along too!


I know it's going to be VERY tough...but any little change I make will be one for the better.