"Feeding the Beast" or "Anarchy!"

Those of you who follow me on Twitter have surely seen the awesome food that my school expects our children to eat.  As their teacher, I am expected to sit down and eat with my children, whatever they are eating. I have several BIG problems with this.  The first:

That by the way you are looking at turkey with dressing, mixed greens (no seasoning at all), sweet potatoes (again no seasoning), and wheat bread.   In theory this should be a tasty, healthy mean.  Let me assure you it is not.  Being from the South those greens need SOMETHING!  Doesn't have to be ham hocks...but why can't we have some vinegar to go with them?  It comes out like boiled grass. The sweet potatoes could have some cinnamon or nutmeg, it doesn't have to be just butter and brown sugar.  If you were a 3, 4, or 5 year old would you eat that? Neither would I though I do take a taste of everything each time with the children.  Now realize that I leave my house by 8 a.m.. Breakfast comes about 7:30.  I don't get out of my classroom for my lunch break until 2 or 2:30.  By then I look like the honey badger desperate for anything to satisfy my hunger.

The rules also state that we are not allowed to eat in our rooms, and we can't use the refrigerator for staff food.  I have decided that if certain (ahem most) co-workers can misuse their cell phones during the day then by all that's unholy I'm going to eat when I need to! I am declaring anarchy! Well, maybe not anarchy, I'm not going to be stupid enough to eat my food in front of the suits...

The second biggest reason is that I'm choosy about the processed foods I eat and I generally make most meals from scratch at home.  Cereals, pastas, etc I will buy. But mystery meat?  Uh no thanks.  Won't buy it and won't eat it.

Tomorrow's menu is:

Kashi and grapefruit for breakfast. I have to go in for blood work before work (For my insurance, nothing is going on.) and can't eat before I leave.

Teriyaki chicken and pepper lettuce wraps for lunch.

And finally, toasted almonds and a smoothie for an afternoon snack on my commute home.  Since it takes me 45 minutes to get home and once there I take Shamus out for his big walk, I need a pick me up before then too.

Oh, and here is how I'm smuggling my contraband in:

 Load the insulated bag with food and ice packs and stealthily walk it into my closet.  Crap I hope I don't get a TSA pat down on my way in....

Tag! Your it!

The Rules:

 1. You must post these rules.

2. Each person must post 11 things about themselves on their blog.

3. Answer the questions the tagger set for you in their post and create 11 new questions for the people you tag to answer.

11 Things About Me

1. I too am a bibliophile.  My dream job is to own my own bookstore.

2. I collect vintage cookbooks. My oldest is from the early 1900's and talks about the dangers of using electricity in the kitchen.

3. I love waterfalls and running water in general.  Something about sitting on the banks refreshes my body and soul.

4. I love rain...probably goes back to #3.

5. When I can't sleep I go online and plan fantasy vacations that I'll have to win the lottery to be able to afford.

6. I am a chronic procrastinator.  I leave everything but Christmas shopping to the very last minute.

7. Someday I hope to thru-hike the Appalachian Trail.

8. I'm as un-Martha Stewart as someone can be.  No crafting talent whatsoever.

9. Narrow minded people annoy the crap out of me.  If they aren't hurting others why do you need to hate?

10. I'd like to travel the world and learn every language I encounter. 

11. I own more hiking boots than high heels.

Tagged Questions

1. If you were stuck on a desert island and could only take 3 books with you, what would you take?

 Only three?

 -Arrows of the Queen by Mercedes Lackey

-A survival manual

-A compilation of Tolkien's works

2. Favorite place you've ever traveled. Why? Hmmm.  It would have to be the Smoky Mountains, and only because I've been so many times I know the area really well and can stay out of the the tourist hells of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge.  OH, and the area is covered in rushing streams and waterfalls.

3. What's the most embarrassing song on your iPod/in your music collection? New Kids on the Block's Hanging Tough Album.

4. Do you have any pets? If so, what? If not, do you want any? A pug/mix mutt rescue named Shamus.

5. Would you rather get your nails done or go rock climbing? I really want to say rock climbing, but the truth is I'm terrified of heights.

6. What's the craziest thing you've ever done? I'm boring as hell.

7. What are your favorite ice cream toppings? Home made hot fudge sauce.

8. If Hollywood made a movie about your life, who would play you? America Ferrera

9. What's your dream job? See #1 about me. Although if someone offered me a job as an X-wing pilot I'd jump at it.

10. Do you have any tattoos? If so, what and where? If not, would you and what would you get? No ink, but I'd like to get a Wild Violet (purple).

11. What's your favorite quote? JFK-“Children are the world's most valuable resource and its best hope for the future”

Questions to answer

1. If you won the lottery, would you continue to work or would you retire? Why?

2. Do you play and instrument?  What is it?  If not, what would you like to play?

3. Does your zodiac sign describe your personality?

4. If TV/Movies were real life, what character would you want to be?

5. What is the strangest thing you've ever eaten?  Would you eat it again?

6. What is the first book you remember reading or being read to you?

7. What other names did your parents consider when naming you?  Would you have preferred one of them?

8. What is your favorite food?

9. What's the most embarrassing hairstyle you've ever had?

10. What does your dream house look like?

11. Can you eat with chopsticks?

I'm tagging:

Becka- http://anythingbutaveragegirl.blogspot.com/

Del- http://welshswan.wordpress.com/

Cez- http://thecrazyworldofcez.wordpress.com/

Happy 2012 everyone!  I hope you survived New Year's Eve with minimal after effects.  I wrote earlier about my New Years resolutions and it's  probably  a good thing that I started early, because the past week was a bust. With the week off I had high hopes of starting a new exercise plan so that come Tuesday (back to the grind) I would expect to do it when I woke up.  I've been fighting chronic bronchitis for the past year (thank you Mom and your second hand smoke). It flared up again and I really haven't done much with my week off except relax...not necessarily a bad thing, but disappointing none the less.

Well, here it is January 1st, 2012, not much on the schedule for today. Had the family "traditional" New Years Day dinner. I'm not sure when that became a tradition, but mom says it is soooo.... I did convince her to let me grill the "traditional" cornish hens instead of baking them.  For the record I do NOT like cornish hens. Grilled with cumin, garlic, and salt they weren't too bad though mom stressed how tough they turned out.  Personally I think she needs to get her false teeth sharpened, dad and I thought they were just right.

I digress though I could go on about my mother until everyone stopped reading my blog.  This morning I woke up and weighed myself first thing so that I can keep a count on my health progress from this day forward.  I also weighed Shamus, my pug/mix rescue.  Part of my NY resolutions is to for him to lose weight too. I'll post our progress.  I bet he loses gobs of weight too...you know how "men" lose it faster than women do...soo unfair.

My 2012 New Year's Resolutions:

1) To build a healthier me.

2) To manage my time better so that I am able to do the activities I enjoy.

3) To better manage my finances so that I can afford to do the activities I enjoy.

And my resolution to my bloggers:

To add more photos to my blog!  So to start the year off right:

Happy New Year everyone!  Here's to building a better tomorrow!