Falafel Rerun

OK today we are going to the zoo and the baby is napping as I type. Daddy is in the shower. I am making the remaining falafel for lunch to eat before we go to the zoo. I decided to look online to see if I could find instructions for baking falafel*. I really hate to fry food and it is not good for you even in healthy oil. I found instructions on about.com. Although I had my own batter already from the store I figured I could just use the baking instructions from a baked falafel recipe. I may add that today after the batter was in the fridge all night and colder and firmer it was much easier to work with. I could not have rolled it in a ball yesterday, it was too mushy. So I rolled ping pong sized balls and placed in a baking dish thats bottom was pre-drizzled with EVOO. I preheated oven to 350 and baked 15-20 minutes flipping over halfway. They were great and I did not miss all the grease. They still have some olive oil on them but who cares how much you eat of that. I found a new family favorite. Even the baby loves it. Try it some time if you get the chance. If you would like to make from scratch here's the recipe I found on about.com, otherwise the boxed mix is healthy and easy.

*Woops, the baking directions are on the box which I just dug out of the recycle bin. Oh well.

Major Bummer!

Today is my husbands Saturday. As a cop his days off rotates every 4 weeks. So, right now he has Monday and Tuesday off for the next 4 weeks. When his schedule shifts to the next 2 days off (Tuesday & Wednesday) he gets a 3 day weekend, including all three days. So today is his Saturday. I love when his days off are weekdays because if we want to go anywhere and do something everyone else does not have the day off. We have never liked crowds so if we go places like the zoo or mall often we have the whole place to ourselves (almost). Plus having to wait anywhere with a baby is almost never a good thing, specially ours who does not tolerate waiting most of the time.

Today we were planning to go to the zoo. He went to the Brookfield Zoo website and even bought the family pass. We would have to make it today, it is supposed to rain this afternoon and rain hard tomorrow. We were sitting and watching You Are What You Eat together while the baby was napping and I had a cup of tea . . . . ahhh! Then he went to take a shower and the phone rang. It was the Assistant States Attorneys office calling asking to speak to Officer _____ . He got off the phone and looking very down in the mouth said he had to go to trial today, he had to be there at 1pm (it was approximately 11:45 am).

I am very slowly getting used to being disappointed like this. That is a sad thought just typing it. We knew it was going to be like this but not til it IS your life does it truly begin to effect you. So I always have a plan B somewhere in the cobwebs of my brain. It stinks bad enough that many holidays he isn't with us or if he is it's for just a short bit. I try very hard to work around it and create a life no matter how weird, that includes daddy in almost any/every holiday/birthday/function. Days like today make me want to go right out and get some huge cookies with frosting. Now that I am down 16.6 pounds I don't though. After having a cheat meal yesterday of corned beef and cabbage at my in-laws the scale was up nearly 2 pounds but I think alot of that is water because the meat was so salty. Plus when I took my socks off to take my shower there were sock indentations on my ankles. I'll have to up the water, vegetables, & tea today.

Guess baby, doggy and I will have to bundle up and go for a walk before the afternoon rain comes. My big outing today will be to cash the arcade check and fill up my tank, maybe get some groceries too. Whoopie! (That is said very unenthusiastically). Wah!