Bad day

Yesterday was one of those days that started bad and became worse. Bob had a funeral, a need to get some car repairs done , I needed to get in to renew my Drivers license, so he took a sick day so we could accomplish them all. Nice plan, but did not work out that way !

Breakfast was fruity oatmeal , and during this Nick kept going on and on about a message on the cable , and it kind of got on my last nerve. It happens . We moms are human and sometimes our children do thing that grate on us to the point where we become less than charitable souls. In our house, this is never a good thing with Nick, for when I get impatient he reverts to more autistic behaviors, and the rest of the day is a real struggle. Turns out the message was for an upcoming boxing match- something no one in this house was interested in. What a waste !

Bob left to do the funeral and we began school.Plan was he would come home after, pick us up, we would hit sweet tomatoes for lunch, do the DMV, then he and Nick would go do the car while I had a little peace to do the grocery list and menu. We began with Math, and this was one of the days where Nick stumbled into one math difficulty that he has had for the past 11 years and NOTHING seems to help. This on top of the episode at breakfast made for a very frustrating morning. After an hour of struggling to complete an exercise that should have taken 10 minutes, I told him we needed to put it down and head for a walk. A brisk walk not only leads to fitness, but clears your head, hits your emotional reset button, and lets you look at something different to refresh your spirit. After the walk, we both felt as lot better. Back to the books, and suddenly I glanced at the time again. Due to construction traffic Bob was running late, I did some quick time math ( factoring in variables like crowd flow) and called Bob to suggest a change in plans for the afternoon. Subway instead of Sweet Tomatoes, skip the liscense for this day and just deal with the car. It was a winner.
I heart Subway's Veggie sub !Pair it with more veggies at home and it is even better.

Lunch finished, the guys headed off and I sat down to plan. Less than an hour later Bob called and delivered the bad news- the anticipates 100 dollar repair was going to be 600 and take 7 hours. He decided to shop around and came home. We both agreed that our car was fast becoming a money pit ( we had to put 700 dollars into car repairs in the last 6 weeks and more expensive jobs were on the near horizon), and made the decision that the time has come to trade it in. Car issues are a serious matter with us. We ran into very serious financial trouble due to a used car and endless repairs, and we will never go that route again. We have only one car, so having it run well is critical. New cars are fun- but sadly this means a death knell to moving plans this year. Heavy Sigh. Hall Walking will be my salvation for a while longer it seems. Then we had a discussion about our mothers - both of whom have Dementia , and it just felt like a very emotionally heavy day all together. I made a little alteration to our planned dinner ( because I was out of a key ingredient) and instead made this ultimate comfort food sort of meal

Baked Macaroni and Cheese with ham and Sweet and Savory Kale

Baked macaroni and cheese with ham

8 oz Barilla Plus Elbows
1 can diced tomatoes
8 oz cream cheese ( fat free if you have it)
1 cup cheddar
½ cup Plain Yogurt
¾ tsp pepper
¼ tsp salt
diced red pepper
1 cup frozen corn corn
½ cup shredded cheese to top mac and cheese
2 cups chopped ham
White Alfredo sauce

White Alfredo Sauce
1 cup warm water
1 cup powdered milk
2 Tbsp All Purpose Flour
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 tsp garlic salt

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Prepare the pasta according to directions.
To create homemade Alfredo sauce:
Place all ingredients in a jar and shake

In a large pot combine American cheese, cream cheese, yogurt, butter, tomatoes, homemade Alfredo sauce, salt, pepper , ham, corn and red pepper Stir on low heat until all cheese is melted. Then drain the pasta andadd it to the cheese sauce. Mix well.Then pour the Mac and cheese into a large baking dish. Top with shredded cheese . Bake for 40 minutes on 375


Sweet and Savory kale

2 tablespoons olive oil
1 small onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
4 teaspoons white sugar
1 tablespoon cider vinegar
1 1/2 cups chicken broth
4 cups stemmed, torn and rinsed kale
1/4 cup dried cranberries
salt and pepper to taste
1/4 cup sliced almonds


Heat olive oil in a large pot over medium heat. Stir in the onion and garlic; cook and stir until the
onion softens and turns translucent, about 5 minutes. Stir in the mustard, sugar, vinegar, and chicken stock, and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in the kale, cover, and cook 5 minutes until wilted.Stir in the dried cranberries, and continue boiling, uncovered, until the liquid has reduced by about half, and the cranberries have softened, about 15 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Sprinkle with sliced almonds before serving.

Both were yummy, comfort food sort of satisfying and while not exactly weight loss sort of food, nutritionally dense. Today is a brand new day and I am going to make it a good one !