Weekend Eating Highlights

It has bee quite a 2011 so far. The snow has been swirling and piling up in big black heaps on the corners of intersections. The Jets lost after a strong comeback in the second half. Cars are crusted in place with ice and I fear there may never be street sweeping again. The kids have been trapped indoors, and probably have been watching too much television. I haven't really asked the babysitter. People who live in glass houses....you know.

It is definitely winter. The temperature in New York City this weekend topped out at a chilly 22 degrees. The snow has gotten out of control. 2 more feet are supposed to be coming Tuesday, and my brother called me a few weeks ago to laugh at me and tell me that New York has now gotten more snow than them in Chicago this winter! Blah. And while we did leave the house to go to a few places (Boat Show!!), we took it easy and stayed in most of the time. Here are a couple of highlights in food:

* I found hot dogs at the farmer's market!! At the beginning of my blogging I decided to stop buying Thing One's favorite meat, hot dogs. Even though I was buying a brand that was no nitrates, he wouldn't touch the organic variety, and we started getting heavy into the CSA grass fed meat. Conventional hot dogs just kind of got pushed off the plate. The CSA has a hot dog, but their seasonings taste more like bratwursts and we just didn't favor them. I was so thrilled when I saw that Hawthorne Valley had frankfurters. We bought them even though they were pricey, $12.75 for 8 dogs (I am guessing about a pound and a quarter). The kids loved them! And I am happy that the meat is local and grass fed and ethically raised.

* I have a good new smoothie recipe!! I will be sharing tomorrow!

* I made the Things sausage patties and cantaloupe for brekkie on Saturday morning, and to my surprise, neither really ate it. My kids usually go for meat at any meal, and I have been trying out dairy and grain free meals (it is proving harder than it sounds). But they wanted no part of this meat. I was actually kinda sad about this. Perhaps the cantaloupe was too much of a distraction. They did eat all the fruit.

* I bought whole millet. I am not sure why, but I am really really excited to try it out. A new whole grain could be a nice substitute for rice or even oatmeal. It is gluten free a decent source of iron too. I think at the very least, this will be good to vary our diet even more. I can't wait to report my findings!