I don’t know how to say this… I’m just gonna come straight out with it.

I had a hamburger today.  It was delicious.  And then I felt like I was gonna puke afterwards.

After our regular Thursday library outing, Finn was excited to go to McDonald’s.  It is what we used to do, pre-vegan, and the thought of not force feeding the kids lettuce and beans for lunch was kinda appetizing to me.  The fact that this decision promised me french fries and a hamburger with extra pickles had nothing to do with it.  As I was silently judging everyone’s left arm forking over their cash while zipping through the drive-thru (nevermind the fact that I was eating there right along with them), I realized this may not have been the best choice.  I decided I wasn’t going to feel guilty about it.  What I didn’t foresee is the bag of ass I would feel like after eating a small fry and a burger.

I made up for it at dinner. Even though potatoes were involved.

I had no idea that you could toss potato slices in nothing but vegetable stock and take them from this:

To this:

I usually marinate portabellas in Zesty Italian dressing before throwing them on the grill, but this afternoon, I soaked them in balsamic vinegar instead.  No oil – what??

The biggest surprise was the kale salad.  Nathan likes kale.  Me?  Unless it is floating in a bowl of Zuppa Toscana from The Olive Garden, I could go without.  But I’m trying… and it wasn’t half bad.  I smooshed up half an avocado and squeezed half a lemon in.  Then I massaged the daylights outta that kale.  It wasn’t terrible.  It wasn’t something I can imagine craving though.  We used dino kale, since it is supposed to be a little less kale-ish…  Still kale.

It was a decent meal.  I was still a little hungry afterwards, but I think I need to get used to not feeling like a stuffed Thanksgiving turkey after I eat.

After dinner, we headed over to Costco to stock up on groceries; you know, to spice our marriage up a bit.  Nothing is quite as sexy as watching the hubbs sniff the bottom of a pineapple.  I don’t think I have ever bought this much produce in my life…

This, my friends, is what $152.00 worth of fruits and veggies looks like.

Lord almighty, do you have any idea how heavy ten pounds of carrots are?  (I’ll give you a hint – ten pounds.) It is a bag the size of my torso.  Only with more fiber.  Like, you could swing that baby and knock someone out cold.  And yet, I am more excited to eat that than a hamburger.  What has this world come to??