Day 2

Day two and the progress continues. Only casualty of the day was a microwave that died for some reason. It was almost 10 years old, and I am not going to miss it. The only thing it was being used for was occasionally baking a sweet potato ( my son) or melting some cheese, and both can be accomplished through other means. I can really use the counter space for other things !

Breakfast was an Arnolds Thin topped with two slices of Provalone cheese, a Bartlett Pear and 5 Campamari tomatoes. These are so sweet and flavorful, and sizewise something between a cherry tomato and a small regular tomato. I just put these on the plate, trying to think of how to keep the tomato juice from making the arnolds mushy, and my son declared it to be a a smiling frog.On the side was my coffee with cream.I was concerned that this breakfast choice was going to be too light, but it stuck with us well.

Lunch was 1/3 cup pf black beans mixed with 2 T BBQ sauce , 1 oz Montey jack cheese sliced and placed in an Aldis Fit and Active Original Wrap (90 calories each), and then baked at 350 for 20 minutes. Yummy ! On the side was 2 carrots cut into sticks and one cucumber peeled and sliced. A can of Aldi's Diet Soda accompanied.

The school day was one filled with challenging moments(yeah, that's the word!), including my son's milestone of telling his first ever lie and cheating on an assignment. Autistic children do not understand "the rules" of interpersonal relationships like friendships and so on, so things like lying are unknown to them. What happened is that I gave my son a math worksheet to do , took the answer sheet and laid it down at the other end of the table face down and let him work independantly while I tackled a task on the computer. I glanced up and saw him racing through the worksheet with a smile, and when I walked over to the table I found the answeraheet next to him, turned to the second page, folded over, and him in the act of copying. I asked him what he was doing and he said "my math". I asked him if he was copying the answers he said "Nope- I am using my own head". Caught ! So the grade for that subject was F, and a bittersweet moment. He is recovering enough to be able to lie, which is a big yay, but it is a lie . Big boo.

Dinner was an attempt to make a classic comfort food in a more healthy and weekday friendly fashion.Turkey and dumplings in the crocopot. 2 cups of cooked turkey with 1 can of cream of mushroom soup, 1 can of cream of celery soup and 1 can of chicken broth. About an hour before serving crack open a can of refrigerator biscuitsan slide them in. Not the most healthy because of the canned soups and biscuits, but cheap , easy and fairly low calorie. On the side was steamed rainbow chard and steamed broccoli, cauliflower and carrot mix. I really preffer steaming veggies as opposed to boiling them ! Diet soda to accompany, and the general consensus was that chard is better in something than on it's own. A bit like bitter spinach served in this way.

In the evening I had a big handful of raw cauliflower, some celery sticks, a wedge of laughing cow lite and a Fiber Plus bar. Son was attempting to make himself a scrambled egg with steamed chard when the microwave died. At his age (17)he has a higher need of calories and protien, and so his evening snack winds up more substantial than mine or dad's.

Storms came through here last night. No damage in my neighborhood but several others got hit by downed trees and even a few tornadoes formed. At least it is not a hurricane !