I’m not going to lie. When I heard P’s phone alarm go off yesterday morning I wanted to throw it through the window. Because you know what is so wrong?
Going to school after Memorial Day weekend.
Remember back when we were little and school started right after Labor Day and ended right before Memorial Day? And we walked uphill to school both ways in the snow with no cell phone? Those were good times.
Honestly, there is so much talk about the educational budget crisis and how to cut costs and I certainly don’t claim to be any sort of math wizard and I can hardly balance my checking account on a good month without just rounding down, but doesn’t it seem like we could save a lot of money if we cut out a month of meal expenses and utilities at every school in Texas? I mean especially when you consider it’s basically a month of watching movies and having pajama days and teachers trying to kill time because everyone is totally burned out?
I’m just kidding. I never attempt to balance my checkbook. That’s why I got married.
Anyway, Caroline was even more unhappy about getting up for school than I was. In fact, she shed real tears and made bold statements about conspiracies by the government to keep kids from having fun. It made the morning routine as pleasant as you might imagine.
But I finally got her off to school with the solace of knowing she only has seven days left and then I drove to Smart Barre to meet Gulley for the 8:30 class. Here’s what you need to know. I hate the 8:30 class. It doesn’t give me enough time to really wake up and causes a coffee dilemma. Do I drink coffee before the class or wait until after? Invariably I always choose after and this just deepens my resentment about the whole working out thing.
However, I was meeting a friend for coffee at 9:45 and so the 8:30 class was necessary because I knew there was no way I’d talk myself into going to the 11:00 class after coffee. My life is very difficult.
The truth is I enjoy Smart Barre for the most part. I feel better. I have more energy. My arms are definitely more toned than they were when I started. But I’ve now learned the routine of the workout well enough to know that I need to be filled with fear and dread when the instructor says, “Face the bar. Hold onto the bar with an underhand grip and then slide down to a 90 degree angle like you’re sitting in a chair.”
This never ends well. You know why?
Because there’s not a chair there. And the only time it really feels comfortable to sit at a 90 degree angle like you’re sitting in a chair? Is when there’s an actual chair to sit on. That’s just basic gravity. And we end up staying in that position until I either want to scream an obscenity or die or both.
But then we stretch it out at the end of class and it’s like I forget how bad it all was. It’s like the exercise version of childbirth but without the ice chips and jello afterwards. Oh, and the baby.
After Smart Barre, I met my friend at Starbucks and then I went to HEB because we were out of everything. You’d think maybe I would learn to go to the store before it’s all dire straits over here but you’d be wrong. You get your money for nothing and your chicks for free every time.
So I made a marathon shopping trip and bought food items that can serve to create actual meals. Which shouldn’t seem like a novel concept, but we’ve been so busy and called Papa John’s so many times that it kind of does.
All that to say, that we made these fish tacos last night.
Source: eclecticrecipes.com via Melanie on Pinterest
Edited to add: Here’s the link to the recipe if you can’t click on the picture above.
And they were delicious. We used some trout that P had in the freezer and he battered it with a combination of egg, flour and Panko crumbs. And then I took a page from the Lazy Girl’s Guide to Cabbage Slaw and bought it in a package at HEB and then seasoned it with Rice Wine Vinegar and lime juice.
But y’all. It’s the Yum Yum sauce that takes it over the edge. Because the name doesn’t lie. Just like Shakira’s hips.
So we filled corn tortillas with the fish, the slaw, a slice of avocado and a healthy dose of the Yum Yum sauce. And it might be one of my new favorite dinners ever.
And I ate enough that I’m going to have to be back at Smart Barre tomorrow morning.