Healthy But Pain in the You Know What!

So it's April 2 and I'm already sort of tired of this experiment. The practical, logical side of me (which is about 65%) says, "Uh, you've got fresh milk, fresh bread, eggs, fruit, veggies -- you can't seriously be complaining yet." But the emotional side, of course, wants anything I don't have access to: sushi, Chinese food, a gyro!

So I decided to have a hardboiled egg for a snack, and while I thought about having a second one -- I realized that with only 24 eggs for the month, 12 of them hardboiled and 12 of them raw -- I needed to make the healthier choice of "one is enough." That was a good choice.

But since I can't just run to the store for lunch, I also had to think through what I would make.

Despite the fact that my freezer, refrigerator and pantry are stocked -- nothing looked good. I noticed a couple of ripe tomatoes on the kitchen tier, and since I'm not wasting food this month, I decided to make something with tomatoes. When I was a kid, my mom used to make a tomato and canned bean salad with a bit of mayo, salt and pepper. Since I have about 12 baby cucumbers, I decided to add one of those. Of course, I don't use canned green beans on a regular basis, so they are stored in the garage as opposed to my limited kitchen cupboard space.

Yakima is beautiful today -- sunny, no wind and about 53 degrees (which is a huge difference from the wind and snow flutters we had yesterday!) I opened my patio door, loving the sunshine, and I bounced happily out to my detached garage to get a can of beans. Unfortunately, while accessing them, I accidentally pushed another can which pushed my specialty bottled mushrooms in a savory Italian marinade off the shelf and onto the floor. Of course it broke. I was saving it for a spring or summer Italian or Greek salad. Too bad it's in the dumpster. Glass everywhere. I had to clean that up and my garage still smells like vinegar. Have you ever set out to do something that you really thought would be great and would help a lot of people, or even some people, only to feel kicked in the tushie? Well, that's how I felt when I was cleaning up the garage, trying not to get glass in my fingers.

When I got back into the house, I mixed together two medium tomatoes, a baby cucumber, a can of sliced beans, a tablespoon of Vegenaise (it's like mayo) and a sprinkling of Pampered Chef Italian Seasoning Mix. It is marinating in the refrigerator for lunch.

The reality is that many people are glad to have anything to eat. They would welcome the inconvenience of tossing the ingredients together. They would be so careful with the food they did have that they wouldn't have placed the mushrooms in a place where they would fall and splash on the floor. Despite the inconvenience -- I am blessed. I will have a healthy lunch and I will remember how fortunate I am to even have food in my pantry to make. So it's not exactly what I am craving at the moment. It's healthy, it will be delicious, and it's worth the effort to create change possibly in the world, but most certainly in myself.

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