Winner, Winner, Chili Dinner

I won a chili contest!!!! You cannot believe how excited I am to have won. I very rarely win anything. I think the last time I won was in 1992. I was the right caller into a radio station to win a Phantom of the Opera CD and  T-shirt. Seriously.

I’ve been reading PreventionRD for the last year or so. The recipes look very interesting, but I really enjoy reading about the life of an RD. It sort of gives me a glimpse of what I’m getting myself into and hope that I will be able to balance everything. I haven’t figured how to balance everything yet, but I have hope it will happen.

The End is Nigh

Classes are over for the semester and finals are all that is left. Yay! I will be so excited to be done with classes. At least done for a week. Then I have 6 weeks of microbiology, but THEN I have the rest of the summer off. I’ve been looking for a nutrition-related job to fill the hours, but I may end up just doing volunteer work, cleaning, knitting, spinning, reading… Okay, just knitting, spinning, and reading. Cleaning can suck it.

OP has had her first grounding of a sort. She is very…particular about food. Picky? Stubborn? She likes to go to her restaurants and eat her food at home. Every night is a meltdown because how dare I put ziti on her plate, because she doesn’t like it because it’s not spaghetti and the 80 million other times I served ziti she had a meltdown before eating until she finally broke down and ate it and realized it was good and she did like it, but really she just wants hot dogs like she wanted hot dogs last night. Why can’t we giver her hot dogs for dinner every night? Life is horrible!!! You don’t understand me!!! I’m running away!!!! You’re the worst parents ever!!!!

We’ve tried having her pick out dinner or make it, like all the experts and my nutrition experts suggest, and she’s really into the process, but refuses to eat it. Unless it’s pancakes or hot dogs.

On Sunday, we had to pick a restaurant for dinner and she wanted “Old McDonalds” (that’s what she calls it) because some toy is there (thanks, marketing). We didn’t go to Old McDonalds. Instead we went to a restaurant where there were rocks outside perfect for kicking at Daddy in her angst. Needless to say, she’s been punished and can’t go to any of her restaurants for two weeks.

She’s taking it pretty well, and we’re using it as a teaching (torture?) tool. We went to a Thai restaurant one night and an Indian restaurant the other night. We’ve gone before, usually with a meltdown in tow (especially with Indian), but this time she was much more open and even happily tried new foods. Without a meltdown! And liked them! We made a big deal about how proud we were of her trying new things and all that crap, and I’m hoping this is a new trend that continues after the punishment is over, because I would love to not have a meltdown with every meal that doesn’t meet her specifications.

Microwaving Dog Poop

Fun fact! I don’t actually microwave dog poop, but that is the sort of week it has been. Our offices are moving to a new and very horrible location on campus and it is hell. That is all I will say in case someone from work were to read this. Maybe the title should be flaming dog poop?

Remember in the 80s or whenever (shut up you youngins) when microwave cooking was the New Coke of the cooking world? There were cookbooks and it was, like, totally awesome and fast. Then people realized that the food was more like dog poop (see what I did there?) than edible food.

Flash back to now and microwave cooking is back!!! Sort of. Well, okay. For me it is back. Blame Pinterest, for I found the first recipe there. What recipe you ask? Chocolate chip cookie in a cup. It is quick to make and quick to cook, and it comes out pretty darn good. Plus, you don’t need a large amount of each ingredient, just  a bit of this and that.

And why wasn’t I given any of this? You people are poopy heads!

I’ve also started making egg whites in a mug for breakfast. It’s super easy and I’m not getting a pan dirty. Simply coat your mug with some sort of no stick thing (I use an oil spray). Put the egg whites in the mug. Throw it into your microwave for 30-60 seconds (Your microwave is probably better than mine). Stir a bit if you like. If it’s not done, put it in for another 30-60 seconds. Keep doing this until you have cooked eggs. At one of your checks or at the end, add spices (I like chives!) and cheese. Once it looks solid, you are done. Pop that sucker out and make a sandwhich or eat with a fork. If you really want, put it on your head and sing, “I’m a little teapot.” I won’t tell, but it is best that you do the last one without others around. You may end up committed. No muss, no fuss, and only 1 mug to wash. I haven’t poisoned myself yet so I think it’s okay.

My mother said “totally awesome.”