Sesame seeds, snacks and sugar

Have you ever watched a three year old pick every single sesame seed off of her bun and then eat them all at once in one huge gulp out of her hand? I have.

Have you ever listened to a three year old lisp her way through a "reading" of Do Kangaroos Have Mother's Too? I have. It was adorable.

Have you ever had to buy purple grapes for 22 kids for a Kindergarten snack? I have. Seriously, this snack cost us $14. Tomorrow is Jake's day to take snack for his class. Parents were supposed to sign up for snack at meet the teacher night. By the time I made my way over to that table all of the good, inexpensive "easy" snacks had been snagged. My choices were either purple grapes individually packaged for 22 kids or rainbow fruit kabobs for 22 kids. I think we all know I chose the grapes. It was time consuming enough plucking 15 grapes off their stems and stashing them into 22 different baggies. I tried to get Jake to help me. He lasted halfway through his first bag. He kept losing count and asking me how many grapes were in his sack. So finally I just took over. Which I suspect was his master plan all along.

Have you ever thought about cutting sugar and white flour from your diet? I have. I am loving this blog right now. She has so many great ideas about meals and snacks that are "real" food instead of highly processed. I've been feeling for awhile that even though I love to bake and eat sugary things my body just can't handle them as well anymore. Plus, I am always so tired in the afternoons now. And sometimes the mornings. And also the evenings.

So I wonder if cutting sugar and white flour out for awhile would make a difference. I asked my beloved hubby if he would do this for ten days with me. He lovingly said no. So I asked him if he wanted to think about it. And he said no. He has stuck with me through my wanting to buy organic fruits and veggies and even meat when we can. He didn't make fun of me on Saturday when I made homemade whole wheat poptarts for the kiddos. He has supported me in all of my little house on the prairie ideas so far. But he is drawing a line in the sugar about my latest whim. Well. I may have to do it without him. Won't he feel silly when I have all this extra energy and he just wants to go take a nap?

Speaking of organic. There was no way I could afford to buy organic grapes for Jake's class snack. But I did spend ten cents a pound more for these beautiful purple grapes in these big plastic containers. As I was rinsing them off this afternoon I saw on the package that they had been sprayed with sulfur dioxide as a preservative. I felt so bad. I never would have bought them if I had seen that at the store. I don't know if sulfur dioxide is bad for you, but it sounds like it might be. I went to college on a small campus with a sulfur pit right next to it. There is nothing like waking up in the morning to the smell of rotten eggs wafting in through your dorm room patio door. Probably explains my inability to make good grades my freshman year. Anyhow, I hope the children enjoy their $14 sulfur coated snack at Kinder tomorrow. I'm already planning what sugarless, white flourless, probably tasteless snack I can bring for them next month to make up for it.