Only two cups of sugar

I made dinner with an insane amount of butter recently. It's rare that I bust out the recipe box these days, but once in a while I'm inspired to whip something up besides spaghetti. On Tuesday, I made  Brussels sprouts braised in butter, along with lemon chicken doused in butter, and 90-second microwavable Uncle Ben's rice, likely created in a factory with chemical butter flavor (but those food scientists did a pretty good job). My friend Erin gave me the sprouts recipe and I eat them out of the pan like they're French fries.

That's fiber-ful spaghetti, but she doesn't know it.

Speaking of chemically processed food, Edie ate chicken nuggets and her body weight in mandarin oranges for dinner. I realize nuggets aren't healthy, but don't tell me how they're made. They're kind of a kid-dinner crutch and they work, for now anyway. A former colleague made chicken nuggets from scratch - I wondered, aren't you negating the point? They're cheap, they're easy, they're not  made by humans. Same with mac n' cheese. I used to only buy white cheddar Annie's. Now I'm not too proud to put some yellow-ass Kraft in my grocery cart, depending on how thrifty I'm feeling.

Again, spaghetti. Notice a theme?

I've had periods of food snobbery, like when I made fancy dishes from my Cook's Illustrated subscription, or when we tried eating Paleo for a while one week. Those two former versions of my life may be healthy, but I just don't have the budget, time to go to peruse the aisles of a grocery store, or the will/availability to chop veggies and turn on the oven for every meal. I realize it's kind of a sad testament to our busy lives, but time is of the essence so I feed my kid instant oatmeal or Gorilla Munch for breakfast. At least we eat at the table together and I toss in some raisins whenever I can. Okay, Edie eats her cereal in front of Daniel Tiger's Neighborhood, while I get Emmeline and myself ready...is that so bad?

Edie feeds Emmeline breakfast while I run upstairs for Edie's toothbrush...and hopefully hairbrush!

Edie and I baked bread and made lasagna while Emmeline napped on Sunday, a gorgeous fall day. I had a bunch of produce and meat to use up. I got my best appliance friend, the Slow Cooker, out of storage to make turkey-zucchini lasagna. We needed to eat some butternut squash and bananas before they went bad, so I found a recipe for squash banana cranberry bread (damn I love Google!). It may sound random, but it is delicious, and  I'd done some stealth parenting by sneaking veggies and fruit into a kid-approved bread. Furthermore, I eliminated one of the recommended three cups of sugar. Really, three cups of sugar - is that ever necessary? I gave the leftover pureed squash to Emmeline - she's almost six months, and ready for her first solid foods. Her review? Her face says it all.

I could seriously just eat her up!

I feel an absurd amount of satisfaction when I cook fresh food just before it expires. If I create a meatloaf the day that the ground pork's about to go, I give myself a high five. An internal high five. In general, I might've lowered my family's dietary standards, as time and energy are at a premium. But I still aim high when possible, and once in a while I'll even puree my baby girl some food.

Running a relay without the baton

We did another race, and this one was big. Not Dave's really real upcoming race, but this was a family affair that required setting an early alarm, securing a babysitter weeks in advance, and some general training. Dave and I completed a marathon relay as part of the Hartford Marathon. The day includes many different races - kids fun run, a 5k, wheelchair race, half marathon, marathon relay, and full marathon. Though the marathon relay has less glory than many of the other events (i.e. we didn't get finisher medals and the only offerings at the food tent when I got there were dry bagels and pears). Anyway, it fit the bill for Dave's amped up training needs, and my lackluster training.

We run this town

I've done the half marathon before, and it's a great course through the Parkville neighborhood of Hartford, into the tree-lined streets of West Hartford, out through photogenic Elizabeth Park, and under the Memorial Arch in Bushnell Park, with ample spectators cheering and bands playing. Dave and I did a marathon relay as he's training for the NYC Marathon in a few weeks. His training run for last weekend was a cool 20 miles, so we figured why not train on a course free of traffic and stocked with Gatorade? I'd do the remainder miles, which ended up being about 5.5.



VIP access to the Coachman

Our relay team did well, though not as well as my Dad and Jeff, who schooled us. I won't replay it mile for mile, but it was an absolutely gorgeous day, spirits were high, and Kevin and Jan's Winnebago was stocked with mimosas, coffee, sandwiches, and apple cider donuts for post-race rehab, and an outdoor patio to boot. They bought their camper specifically for pre- and post-race retreat, and it is an awesome resource. Less need for Port-a-Potties, coupled with a warm and dry place to store gear, and the added tailgating element increase the race day experience tenfold. People walk by and look at us longingly like, "Why didn't we think of that?" (here I am rhapsodizing about the benefits but have I done an ounce to contribute to the health and wellbeing of the glorious Coachman? Nope. I'm lame!)

A few things of note: my mom has been cleaning up Hartford Marathon events. 5Ks are her specialty, and this past year she keeps winning for her division (women in a certain age bracket). She's been getting more and more first place ribbons, as she did on Saturday. Did I mention she's beat me substantially the last few races we've done? I pretty much eat her dust, and couldn't be more proud.

Competitive parental units

My mom, sister, and I just registered for the Austin, Texas half marathon. I'm pretty pumped for a few reasons. One, I like the half marathon distance and training is reasonable. I thrive when I have a clear goal. After watching the marathoners finish on Saturday, I concluded that humans aren't designed to run 26.2 miles. It just seems insane. (I still flirt with the idea of running a marathon someday, primarily because I doubt I could do it).

Second, the Lone Star State! I've never been, and I know that Austin isn't the "real" Texas, but I'm excited to go during the short, dark days of February. Training starts in a few weeks, but until then, I'll be racing my mom at a Halloween 5K and cheering for Dave (and Jeff!) in New York City in a few weeks.

Can you spot Dave?