What Not To Eat

Oh man, today was kind of a disaster day in terms of food. It’s going to be so sad when I have this kid and have to start eating like a normal person again.

We got up EARLY this morning, since we had to leave the house by 7 in order to get to court on time. It was 6:55 and I hadn’t eaten any breakfast, so guess what I grabbed?

That’s right: pie. I had pie for breakfast. But it did contain apples (fruit) and I had a big glass of milk (dairy) along side. See? Balanced.

Court was a big fat fail. Short recap of the whole issue: Back in June (June 1, actually), I got on the DART train to ride to class. El Centro students ride the train for free. One of the DART cops asked to see my pass. I gave it to her. Apparently it expired the day before (which was Memorial Day = no class). Despite the fact that I was in my damn chef uniform with El Centro across the front- and despite the fact that El Centro pays in advance for all of their students to ride for free- she gave me a ticket. Awesome.

Fast forward to early September, when I had to go to court to enter a plea. They tell me to come back on October 20th. I come back today. The judge comes in late and spends an hour basically giving the courtroom- there were probably 50 people in there- a government lesson and then leaves. I have to enter a plea AGAIN (what exactly was the point of showing up in September?)… and then they inform us that the actual “court date” is NEXT JUNE. And from what the judge said today about DART “fare evasions”- it doesn’t sound like he’ll throw out the charge even if I can prove that I was an enrolled student at the time, meaning that I have to pay $150 for forgetting to get a new sticker on my student ID.

Ugh. Needless to say I was more than a little stressed after this. Like full on pregnant lady crying, snotty, freak-out mode. Not pretty.

Once I got home and semi-calmed down, my mom called and asked if I would go with her to check out a possible wedding venue for my brother… and bribed me with lunch. Smart lady.

We ended up at Johnny Carino’s. I ordered something called the Chicken Skilletini, which ended up being like a weird Italian version of fajitas.

Spaghetti and marinara sauce on a sizzle plate, topped with onions, peppers and chicken. I liked the pasta and chicken, but the onions and peppers were kind of raw. I probably ate half of this and then Brian polished off the rest when he got home from work.

A couple of weeks ago, I read this entry on the D SideDish blog about the Hoppin’ John at Peggy Sue BBQ in Highland Park and had been anxious to try it ever since. The deal was sealed when I checked out their menu online and saw that it was less than $6! At dinner!!! So that’s where we ended up tonight. And I was not disappointed:

That’s a ton of pulled pork on top, and the shreds were so long that I had to twirl them on the fork like spaghetti. The caramelized onions and peas were delicious (especially with pepper sauce). That toast was blah but uneccessary- this was definitely more than enough food sans bread. And if you’re not a meat-eater, they have the Hoppin’ John as a side without the pork- though I’m guessing that there’s some kind of salt pork or bacon cooked with the peas.

Remember how I told you that I got on a “list” at TCBY to be notified when they had pumpkin yogurt? Well, today was the big day. We stopped for dessert on the way home. I got a hot chocolate/pumpkin swirl.

(Tiny iPhone pic)

Honestly, this tasted more like eggnog than pumpkin. It had a strong nutmeg/vanilla flavor. Not bad, but I still want to try the Dreyer’s Pumpkin Slow-Churned.

So there you have it. Now I need a day to detox from all of this (delicious) food.

- SURVEY -

What’s the weirdest thing you’ve ever eaten for breakfast?

When I was growing up, I HATED breakfast and would eat the same (non-breakfast food) thing for like 2 years at a time: peanut butter & jelly, cheese toast, brownie bites…