Today’s been a day of mist, slush, and boiled eggs. While I trudge through term-opening hello’s and how-do’s with students, Bo cleans the kitchen and boils 3 dozen eggs for he and I to nosh on during the work week.
“Think popcorn is okay?” he asks. “There’s got to be something snackish that’s safe.
“Dunno,” I say while trying the cashew milk in my coffee.
Bo watches me sip. And grimace. “Well?”
I smack my lips. “Well, it’s, um, it’s there.”
“Yeah, that was how I felt about the coconut milk in my tea last night.”
Behind him is the door of the fridge. Behind the door of the fridge is my creamer. My GOOD creamer. “You’re gonna finish that cashew stuff off, aren’t you?”
Bo’s not making eye contact. “Yeees.”
“Good,” I say in a snit and snoot on out of there. Our grocery bill exploded for this diet. Meat’s pricey enough, but six bucks for a small jar of mayo? Robbery, I tell you!
And because Bo’s hardcore into this diet, he bought two jars. Multiple salad dressings. Multiple nut milks. We have to keep checking what’s “Whole30 compliant,” and of course none of these things are easily found, let alone cheap.
Here’s the site we’ve been using, in case you’re interested: https://www.oliveyouwhole.com/category/whole30/
When I look our fridge, my stomach churns. Is our tax return just going to end up funding this diet?
It’s a nauseating thought.
But I want Bo to want to be healthy, and for the first time in years, he does. He can’t just eat meals of pasta and bread anymore. I can’t be stuffing my face with chocolate chips anymore. Our kids deserve better role models of moderation and health. If they can face their fears atop the highest sledding hill by their grandma’s house, zipping down that slope no matter how nasty the previous wipe out, then dammit, we can survive a month without peanut butter and milk.
Oh! Speaking of which, we survived that mountain yesterday!
Clockwise: Biff and I sailing down, Blondie just before her hat flies off, Bash and I wipe out, Bash narrowly missing another saucer kid
You should have seen the broken sleds littering its bottom, like ships crushed by the rocks along a perilous New England shore. Ye gods, I thought I was going to pass out. But all three of the Bs trekked up the slope–surely the length of home plate to the outfield if not further–and just FLEW. Toppled a lot, too. One girl did careen into Biff early on, and Bash got a nasty face wash when we wiped out together, but nothing bad happened. No bloodshed. No screaming for the ER. Just mad giggles of delight.
So even though I couldn’t touch my mother’s pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, it was, in the end, a good Saturday.
A perk to this day? Seeing that my Tales of the River Vine bumped back into the top four slots of free YA Monster Fiction again. WOOHOO!
To all who grabbed a copy, thank you! To those who haven’t, grab one now! They’re free, after all, so even the most meager of budgets can afford a quick read into a dark fantasy. 🙂 I’ve another short story free on my site for newsletter subscribers, too–click here for more info.
And if you dig those short stories, you can check out my novel for just a buck!
Read on, share on, and write on, my friends!
Jean Lee's World 
It’s been a wee while…I’m sitting here with a lovely cup of tea and enjoying my wander through your world…we had our first gentle snowfall with hail-like pellets this morning and now the sun is shining! Keep up the good work re: eating healthier, it’s worth it and later, you’ll be able to eat those delicious cookies again!
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Ah, thank you kindly, my friend! I shall ask my mother ever so nicely to make those cookies in March, and will then ever so nicely stuff my face, giggling like a happy ninny. 🙂
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Yes!
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Glad you all made it back in one piece. Occasionally when we do get snow we have a wooded hill slope that rivals some of the Alps finest locations for carnage. Never ending stream of air ambulances. The healthy stuff does damage the bank balance. It does cheese me off seeing a gluten free version of a product often at x3 the price. Have found no suitable milk alternatives for coffee. Just had to go black. Hopefully you guys stick at it, it’s really worth it. Well it better be at the cost……
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Thank you! There are some specialty Whole30 creamers, but I’m scared to see their price tags. supposedly there’s a recipe that takes almond milk, coconut milk, cinnamon sticks, and vanilla beans. I’m hoping this will do the trick!
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Only thing I sort of got to work cheaply was either soya milk and almond milk, but you had to shake them like a cocktail first. Not great but cheapish.
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Thanks. Sigh…
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Thank you for this lively, happy post Jean Best wishes
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Thanks!
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Don’t envy you the diet change. That’s always a challenge, but I gave up crisps (potato chips) about two years ago, and it wasn’t long before I found them no draw at all – can pass an open bowl full without flinching these days! It was the first month or so that was hard. Good luck with it, but I think I’ll pass on joining in – though thank you for the implied invitation.
Love the snow pictures. We had about an inch, here, on Friday, that lasted for a day. I can’t remember the last time I went out with a sledge. Lucky you, especially having a convenient slope to use.
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It’s a terrifying slope, but the kids adore it. There’s a really small little hill by our house where the kids can sled without me fretting over them, which is nice. 🙂
And thanks for the encouragement. If we can knock this, we can knock anything. 🙂
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These posts are so lovely, Jean. Of course your diet is throwing a shadow on your happiness, but you will lose that extra weight and achieve a different kind of happiness instead LOL ( Says a body where diets go to die ) I can read about your family all the day round 🙂
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LOL! Thanks. It’s been a fun challenge so far. And my kids are nothing if not ample writing fodder. 😉
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Our go-to is almond milk, which I think is the nicest in tea, while we use oat milk on museli because it tastes really yummy – but those others – cashew in particular – are PRICEY. We also sometimes have apple juice on cereal and museli, too which is really tasty. But we make up our own museli because the shopbought stuff is FULL of added sugar and whey powder.
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Oh is it? See, that’s what we’re learning: just how much sugar’s stuffed into stuff. It’s a good lesson to learn, but uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuugh is shopping a pain now!
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Yes… *grimly identifies with that pain* Given our small grandson is a vegan we have to peruse the microscopic writing to ensure there is no egg, whey powder, cheese, butter or other dairy products sneaked in – which means quorn isn’t an option either. Egg white… Unless they specifically say it’s suitable for vegans. Shopping isn’t EVER a quick blast around the supermarket these days!
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