Sweet and Sour Pork
Last year, I bought wind up plastic monsters and Halloween tub toys.
At first the kids get a startled look on their faces when they go to grab into the basket and there’s no candy. We tell them they can pick a toy or two and then they turn to their parents and say, “Look Mom! They are giving out toys! YAY!”
The only trick is sometimes they have a hard time choosing. I don’t mind. That gives us more time to enjoy the costumes and the fun.
Now for the economics of it. I checked the pricing. Those little Snicker Bars are 17 cents each. I got 137 toys for under $20. That’s about 15 cents each. So I get the satisfaction of giving them something that lasts more than the two seconds it takes to rip open a piece of candy and jam it in their mouth. Not to mention the sugar high and even maybe a tummy ache that comes along later.
I have given them hours (or at least minutes) of fun. They can flip their flying frog across the table over and over again. They can tease the family cat with it. Or they can use their Halloween pencil for weeks. They can blow on their kazoo or their Halloween whistle til they drive their parents nuts.
And when I close the door after each little child leaves, I feel good. And that makes for a Happy Halloween.
Now for the adult treat. I came up with a recipe for Sweet and Sour Pork that goes along with the ZReduction portion of the diet. I had given up the idea of ever having this dish again; let alone design a version of it I could eat and still lose weight. Now it’s here! So enjoy!
Sweet and Sour Pork Z2 Servings 6
You are not seeing things! I managed to take one of the most fattening and sugar-filled Chinese dishes on the planet and came up with a substitute that got raves at the office. I thought this was impossible --but I did it!
Don’t expect it to taste quite as sweet at the regular Chinese but frankly I like this better. I hope you do too.
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