Taking it Home

There's something fitting about me teaching a home economics class. I'm not totally sure what it is, but it's cool how it lets me tie in work with my outside world. The class created nachos last week during a short food prep unit. Not 8 lbs' worth, but enough for a whole classroom and more.

The spirit of creation encouraged me to put together an original mega meal at home. And why not? There's usually enough food sitting around. No need to find a buffet or a far-off restaurant with a shady challenge. Plus, this stuff was already paid for. The idea was convincing enough.

So what did I come up with last Friday?


Plate 1: Wheat tortilla folded into a huge taco, stuffed with 6 oz of tuna, one roma tomato, 1000 island dressing, black olives, and garden vegetable salsa. It was impossible to eat without utensils. This reminded me of those oversized challenge burritos, but the ingredients here were a bit more original.


Plate (Bowl?) 2: Cut green beans with chunks of red & green jalapeno peppers. This was the perfect blend of fresh and hot. My mouth wouldn't forgive me for quite awhile afterward.


Plate 3: 1 lb cranberry sauce with 1/2 cup of oats and 1/2 pint of milk. Sometimes I come up with strange concoctions, mostly because of what I happen to have on hand. Cranberry sauce reminds me of jello anyway, so eating it alone has never posed an issue. Mixing it with oats reminded me of a really bland trail mix.


Hmmm.... how do I explain this one? There's really no good story here. I rarely eat pancakes at home, and the eyes grew weary of seeing this half-empty bottle in my refrigerator. It added some rich flavor to the oats, though honestly maple-flavored syrup really only goes with pancakes or waffles. Let's move on.


Plate 4: I suspected a sugar deficiency, something that could not pass by without resolution. So for my final plate, I took 10 white chocolate-coconut candy bars and drizzled honey over them. These are organic candies, so they've actually been fortified with calcium, iron, and fiber. This is not the gratuitous sugar pile it first appears to be... right.

The candy bars weigh 1.3 oz and provide me 230 calories each. That's 2300 calories at just under a total pound (the honey adds something of course). While some of us do have a weakness for sugary things, this was probably too much. The urge to sleep right after this plate was overwhelming. And so I did.

In conclusion, you can find a lot of good food lying around the house.

Just don't eat it all at one time.