hello, caffeine - goodbye, leftovers

After over 2 years of all-natural energy, I've moved back to the dark side. Or the light, depending on how you look at it. I almost can't believe I made it as long as I did without this legal drug. I went through my whole prenancy and almost the whole first year of Ella's life without so much as a sip of coke. Two years without Baja's fruit tea! No more, my friends. I have welcomed the sweet goodness back into my life.

Funny enough, I'm not getting the bursts of synthesized energy I was anticipating. I must be way more exhausted than I had expected. Granted, I'm not even drinking a full bottle of coke (note: being from the south, "coke" indicates any carbonated beverage - my preference is actually Pepsi) or cup of fruit tea at a time. I thought that after so long an absence, there would be more of an effect. I suppose the ever-present dark circles under my eyes suggest otherwise.

The healthy answer, I realize, is to sleep more, but I'm still working on being a better time manager. I also need to be a better food manager (how's that for a segue?). I either need to master the art of cooking for exactly how many people are eating that night (usually 2) or we need to start eating the leftovers. I clean out our refrigerator every Wednesday night (trash day is Thursday) - and, without fail, there are multiple meals that get thrown away.

I admit that I am slightly neurotic when it comes to tossing food. If it's been in the fridge 3 days, I begin to question it's integrity. Andy, on the other hand, eats hamburgers on buns that have literally been sitting out for three weeks. We need to come to a happy medium. I Do feel guilty about not eating the leftovers when there are starving children in Africa (although I still don't quite get the exact correlation - if I could send them the actual leftovers I would).

So last night Andy and I ate what may be leftovers. It was cooked but never even partially eaten - just refrigerated - so it seemed a bit more appetizing than a half-eaten cuisine. It wasn't. Actually, the mashed potatoes weren't bad - nor were the green beans. But no matter how much lemon juice I spritzed on the chicken, it just wouldn't produce any moisture. Chicken breasts were not made to be microwaved after being fully cooked and seasoned.

Good thing we're eating take-out tonight.