bringing dinner back

“More die in the United States of too much food than of too little.” — John Kenneth Galbraith (author of The Affluent Society)

And so, a month tardy by American standards, I have started Diet No. 2,765. Or thereabouts. The focus is the Kelly Challenge, a monthlong challenge Noah’s rock climbing team does annually. No sugar, no fried foods, no fast food, no soda. For adults, no alcohol. They pick the shortest month of the year and give you Super Bowl Sunday and Valentine’s Day off. Really pretty easy, in theory. For the first time, our whole family is doing it, Sawyer joining in at the last minute with promises of a celebratory feast at the end. We’ve even talked another family into joining us (and some rock climbing moms to further share the pain).

Red wine and chocolate will be the most difficult for me. Clyde will miss his after-dinner cocktail. Noah is steel when it comes to challenges like this. And I fully expect sweet-toothed Sawyer to cave by this time tomorrow.

Here’s our fun-free menu for the week:

Sunday: Broiled chicken thighs with some yummy Caribbean seasoning from Whole Foods and olive oil (tossed in the freezer, already marinated, last week when we ran out of propane and made a mad dash to eat Italian; yes, we’re still out of propane). Served the chicken with brown rice (successfully frozen two weeks ago and reheated in the microwave), a spinach salad, and crispy kale. Noah had his favorite fake chicken from Whole Foods.

Monday: Sawyer has tennis until 5 pm; Clyde has to do rock climbing practice pickup so they won’t be home until 7:45 pm. Leftover chicken, rice, lemon rosemary baked tofu, and broccoli sauteed in olive oil with salt, pepper, and a splash of lemon juice at the end.

Tuesday: Family breakfast as Clyde is going out with a friend for dinner. I don’t pick up the boys from school until 4:30 pm (one has chess, one has tutoring). We have leftover penne pasta from Saturday night, so I’ll jazz that up with some olive oil, garlic, cherry tomatoes and a yummy cheese. Maybe bread. This month, bread is the new chocolate. I’m thinking oatmeal for breakfast.

Wednesday: We’re all home by 6:15 pm, following the boys’ guitar lessons. I have some chorizo in the Land of Forgotten Foods (aka,the freezer) so I’ll make what we call arroz con chorizo. I saute a red pepper and yellow onion in olive oil, adding in sliced chorizo. When it’s cooked, I add in a few cups of cooked brown rice, which soaks up all that amazing grease … er, flavor. It’s great with a sweet white wine like a Riesling or Gerwurtztraminer … but we’ll just have to imagine. Noah’s not too fond of the vegetarian chorizo or of rice these days. Actually, he’s pretty much on a food strike, but I’ll try to find something for him.

Thursday: Another family breakfast (eggs?) as Clyde has a meeting tonight. Sawyer and I are at the rock climbing gym with Noah for most of the afternoon, not getting back ’til 7:45. To save money, we’ll once again enter the Land of Forgotten Foods. What do we find? Three packages of pork tamales! Whip those up with a salad and some frozen corn and we are good to go. I’ll grab a veggie burrito or a few veggie tamales for Noah beforehand.

Friday: There is talk of a regular Friday get together with the family suffering through the Kelly Challenge with us. Nothing specific yet. But we do have a list of what we won’t be eating.

Saturday: Yet another family breakfast as both boys have sleepovers with friends tonight! Clyde and I haven’t been out alone in so very long. We’re short on cash but are thinking of finally trying Louie’s, known for making some of the best pizza in town. It’s maybe five minutes from our house. I adore pizza. Ridiculous that we haven’t been there. And pizza is NOT on our can’t have list!