All the time hungry.
It doesn’t matter how much I eat, I’m still hungry! And I eat a lot. Practically every hour, I wander out to the kitchen and stare into the cabinets and/or fridge, looking for something that might satisfy the hungry. Nothing does. When Kathy came last week for a visit, she said, “Look at you! You’re wasting away!” This is not exactly true, but I am 10 pounds thinner than before I got pregnant. Last week I appeared to have lost 2 pounds in one day. Surely that can’t be right. If it is, then I’ve found the secret to rapid weight loss without dieting. All you have to do is give birth to a giant baby, and then breastfeed him 10-12 times a day. See? Nothing to it.
Last night, after the girls’ American Girl Club meeting (they had a tea party, and it was adorable), I begged my husband to take me to the grocery store to buy food. Not that we’re out of food – in fact, we have a freezer full of it. However, at 3:00 P.M., when I’m starving because I’ve nursed my strapping young son six times already, I just don’t really feel like gnawing on a package of frozen hamburger. Call me crazy.
This is one time in my life when my determination to cook everything from scratch just doesn’t pay off. Because I have tons of frozen veggies, frozen butter, frozen meat, frozen cheese, a plethora of whole grains and pasta, flour and sugar and baking supplies, and yet none of this is any good to me when I don’t have the time or energy to prepare anything! Because there’s a baby…well, you know.
So, last night I dragged my hyperactive, overtired children, and my poor husband, who is recovering from Bee’s tummy virus and has zero interest in food, to the grocery store, even though it was nearly bedtime and we were still a half hour from home. But I had to get snacks. I had to. The girls were bickering and complaining, and DJ was crying, but I ignored them all, and marched up and down the aisles with single-minded determination. I threw stuff in the cart with wild abandon. Cookies, granola bars, pudding in a can. Yogurt, potato chips, cheese and crackers. Because here’s the thing….I’m hungry, people. Apparently, when I’m really hungry, I don’t give a rat’s behind about frugality.
I’ve learned that if I want a decent meal, I’d better make it myself, because if supper prep is left to my husband, we’ll be eating cold kidney beans or pie filling right out of the can, which, as you know, is not a balanced meal (sadly, this is what he eats when I’m not around. He needs me. Without me, he’d probably end up with scurvy). Trying to eat a meal in a restaurant with my left hand, while nursing a fussy, squirming baby, without giving the entire room a free peep show, is just totally not worth it. However, at 5:00 P.M., which is the buckaroo’s fussy time, it’s extremely difficult (if not impossible) to put together a meal. So, I’ve been using my brand-new, Christmas-present-from-my-husband crock pot nearly every day. I find that if I can prepare a meal early in the morning, before all hell breaks loose, I’ll have real food to eat when supper time rolls around.
I love my new crock pot. I love it so much that I took a picture of it.
Perhaps it’s nerdy to be this enthused about a new kitchen appliance, but I don’t care. Right now it’s the only thing between me and near-starvation. And look at that baby! I can fit a whole chicken in there!
Anyway, after I got Bee on the bus this morning, I started our favorite slow cooker pot roast, and got some brown rice soaking, because we love to eat the rich, oniony gravy over rice. At least I do, and I’m the one doing the cooking. So there.
I might even make an oatmeal crumb cake, and possibly cookies. Maybe some jello too (they have apricot flavor now!) I don’t care about the calories, because I’m nursing a 14-pound newborn, and I deserve it. And perhaps I’ve mentioned this, but I’m hungry, people.
