Food Ramblings

Shirley didn't come today, cause it's Saturday. She won't be coming tomorrow either. That means no big fancy lunch cooked, cause you know that I can't do that.

...but I'd like to add that she couldn't do it either unless I were here to keep the kids out of her way.

So what's usually on the menu when Mom has to fend for herself? You know it, Rice and Beans leftovers!


Joe has another use for his noseplugs - they help make it possible for him to gag that bowl of barfy blackness down. Joe wins the Best Complainer award when it comes to beans. Luckily it doesn't amount to a lot of verbal complaining, just looks and sighs of dread. I can handle that.

Ethan does very well with beans for some reason, and that makes me very glad. He practically sings when he eats black beans with salt.

Usually though, and this isn't just a new phenomenon here in Costa Rica, but throughout my life of motherhood, my children will come to me and say they are hungry and haven't had anything to eat almost all day. Easier to handle in Utah with bags of Costco Snacks in the pantry, lots of fruits and loaves of bread. I was doing apples here, but am not anymore, cause Abi will go get an apple, eat about 1/4th of it, leave it somewhere in the house where it's wasted, and go get another one out of the fridge. I just can't guard the fridge all day or handle her complaining when I tell her she can't have more apples. Better for the apples to just disappear.

They're drinking a ton of juice too. That's what they know how to do when they're fending for themselves.

Then I begin thinking about what sort of Mother tells her children to fend for themselves, or worse: "you can wait, you've had enough to eat", and then goes into her private bedroom quarters and eats another chocolate from her private stash? I thought that, that mother should be thrown into jail.

"But it's for my sanity!!" - although I really need a healthier stress reliever. My exercise and diet has totally gotten off. Actually I pretty sure I shared over half of these chocolates with the kids.

And I let the kids have 2 each of these - these cookies in honor of Hermana Bonilla, my mission companion whose family from Costa Rica sent her lovely packages in mail with lots of these chiky cookies

I saw them at the store and had a quick flashback and had to buy them. 2 cookies times 6 kids = 12, 24 in the package, so I had half of these ones too, but wait, I did share my 12 with Lily, so I shared over half of these too! so that's a pretty good sharing roll I'm on.

Usually it's rice and beans. You know food is twice as expensive here, we might not break the bank with rice and beans on the daily menu. Got a pot of beans soaking right now. Grab your noseplugs Joe, gonna be a long 3 months.

Tomorrow will still be a slight repeat of today, except that Corey took the kids to go hunt for crocodiles. Luckily they came home with groceries instead. He went to the nice and expensive store where they sell Johnsonville sausage links just like they sell at the Walmart in Quarry Bend. Mmm. They even came home with a can of sour cream and onion Pringles. And apples. Ok Abi, only one more. And what about the rest of my kids - they like apples, I need to think of them too, huh.

Also a roasted chicken, the poor dog with the lame foot was scratching at our door, and we all took pity on him and gave him several servings of scraps. (He was hit by a car, that's what happened to his leg) Roasted chicken and loaf of french bread = one meal. We should be able to survive till Monday when Shirley will return to feed us and keep us alive.