Junior Better Not be Picky

Did you know that the supposed number of portions per gallon of Eddy’s Rocky Road ice cream is 14? FOURTEEN. I’ll be lucky if I get five servings out of the current carton. In addition to the gargantuan helping I’ve been tossing down each night, I add chocolate syrup, additional marshmallows, and whipped cream. Other people might consider this normal, but for a hard-core salt snacker, it’s very strange for me. I finally get why people go nuts for chocolate ice cream, because I want to rub it all over myself. That seems to be the only thing out of the ordinary as far as my eating habits. I made one of my favorite summer dinners last night, Vegetarian Gumbo, substituting frozen corn and okra for the fresh I usually use. It was still delicious. And it tickled me a bit to add exposure to another food type to Junior. So far she’s had Chinese, Japanese, Thai, Cajun, Mexican, Seafood, Indian, and Canadian. I still need to throw in some German, and some time this week she’ll get Polish since I bought pierogis . And I’ve been thinking of making Chicken Paprikash with Spaetzel, which would cover Hungarian. Ooh, and I bought lamb to make these precious little dumplings that were in 'Living', so she’ll get some Greek. Uh, so obviously my appetite is returning, although I still can only eat little bits and it hurts me, like a gastric bypass patient.

Today for breakfast I tried the new Oat Cluster Cheerios Crunch, because I am a total sucker for anything new, especially with ‘Crunch’ in the title (my standing fave is Raisin Bran Crunch, and Kashi’s Go Lean Crunch is a close second). I guess it’s the crunch that makes it so tasty. Anyhow, it’s freaking delicious, and if you haven’t been back to Cheerios in a while like me, they’re a very pleasant heart-healthy whole-grain treat.

I also had a very lovely toasted crumpet with butter and strawberry-rhubarb jam, and a scalding cup of Lady Grey tea. Very British of me, I know. I was a little disappointed in the jam until I was able to pinpoint the funny taste – I realized that last night when I made the gumbo I used the garlic-dicing knife to cut a wedge of sautéing butter, and apparently rubbed garlic all over the place. So I had a lovely toasted crumpet with garlic butter and jam, which wasn’t as tasty as you’d think. Oh, and I had a handful of prunes, because that’s what I’ve been reduced to. So for someone who a year ago never, ever ate breakfast (except for the rare Burger King ham-egg-cheese croissandwich), I think I’m doing very well. And of course, I took my prenatal vitamin and a DHA supplement. And then keeled over because I was so full. I'm still at 8 lbs gained, which is exactly where I want to be for the halfway point, although with less weight-management-vomitting I need to watch the ice cream in the next few months. And get some damn exercise, sheesh!