Day Fifteen

My issues have issues, so of course I'm kerfluffled about *waves arms wildly about* leading to this.

Is it weird that I linked to a news organization that has me blocked on Twitter? It's probably weird. But it's weirder that a local news organization has a MOMMY BLOGGER who they once featured in a little tiny story blocked on Twitter. It took effort for someone to go click that block button and they did it because of a scary ol' MOMMY BLOGGER of all things. Before you ask, I don't know why. I would ask, but ... y'know. I'm blocked. They can't see what I say.

Somehow this is Wendy Bell's fault. I don't know exactly how, but it is. And I'm never letting it go.

ANYWAY.

I already said my issues have issues. Are you convinced yet? Well, let me convince you some more. All of the people losing their jobs and not having income and all of that awfulness is terrible, but it's also drudging up allllll sorts of feeeeeeeelings.

Man, it really sucks being a kid and knowing your parents aren't sure how they're going to keep you fed. I wish I could go fix it for every single kid everywhere who is figuring that out right now. It's a confusing kind of existence that's unsettling and anger-inducing and ... sad. You spend a lot of time wanting things you can't have and then feeling bad for wanting them and UGH. It's a whole pile of ugh.

Now that allllll of that has been yanked to the surface, I'm in a weird place. I am incredibly fortunate that I'm in a good place, probably the best place I've been financially in my entire life, but it's still weird. I have a lot of catching up to do because poverty is a gift that keeps on giving debt for a very long time, but I can randomly drop stupid money on a cart full of food and not miss a beat. It just comes with baggage.

So, how am I coping with being in a good place but knowing how very much it sucks to not be in that good place? By eating all of the food I never had as a kid!

Pringles, you guys. Pringles are a luxury item. That may sound crazy, but when you're living on food stamps, you don't buy Pringles. You're allowed to buy snack items, but buying them means every Nosy Nancy in the store is going to give you The Look (you know, the one that says you should be using her tax dollars to buy healthy foods only, even as she has a cart full of Weight Watchers frozen meals and wine). Pringles are just too expensive. You're going for the store brand chips. The first time I ever tried Pringles was in college because they just plain didn't exist when I was a kid. But I'm eating them by the pound now.

Fresh fruit other than bananas. Fresh fruit is also a luxury, so I'm just going to eat it all. The rarer and the more expensive it is, the better. Give me your star fruit, basically.

Rotisserie chicken. I haven't actually eaten one, but after being a vegetarian for like 30 years, suddenly I want one. Did you know that you're not allowed to buy prepared foods with food stamps? Those dumb cheap but ready-to-eat chickens at the grocery store are off limits. So of course I want one now.

I'm a mess, y'all.

An incredibly fortunate mess.

I tossed some of my feelings towards 412 Food Rescue and Greater Pittsburgh Food Bank. Maybe you have a few dollars to help them out as well? Both are great organizations who can make $10 go a very long way. If you're not in Pittsburgh, find your local food bank and help. Kids everywhere -literally everywhere- are feeling those feels.

Day Fourteen

We sort of skipped St Patrick's Day for the most obvious of reasons, so I went digging in my archives for things we could do after the fact. Mila got a chance to make a leprechaun trap, which was wildly successful, and I made a green frittata. That just left us looking for a green dessert, and I came across this old post.

I forgot how amazing these little things were.

It turns out that all of the ingredients were actually available when I ran to the grocery store for my attempt at a full week's food. I was already spending all of the money, so I went for it. The girls managed to make them all by themselves with just a little bit of help zesting the limes.

Lime Cheesecake Tarts

3 packages frozen mini fillo shells (or one pie crust--graham or regular)
1 package cream cheese (I have used reduced fat cream cheese and the recipe turns out just fine)
3/4 cup sugar
Juice from 2 limes
Zest from 2 limes
1 1/2 cups heavy cream

1. Take the Fillo Shells out of the package. Ta-dah! You're done preparing the crusts!

2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine the cream cheese, sugar, lime juice, and lime zest with a mixer on low speed until smooth (about two minutes).

3. In a separate large bowl, beat the heavy cream with a mixer at high speed until peaks begin to form.

4. Add the cream cheese mixture to the whip cream little by little, gently stirring to combine the two.

5. Spoon the lime cheesecake filling into your pie crust or Fillo Shells.

6. Garnish with a bit of lime zest.

7. Refrigerate for 10-15 minutes before eating.

8. Try not to eat all of it at once. (I may have failed at this step. It's possible.)

Day Thirteen