The Full Plate

Today I fled the premises and went to a place called The Full Plate (www.thefullplate.com). Essentially, it is a do-it-yourself catering place. You pick out meals and go and assemble them. All of the ingredients are ready and prepped as necessary (e.g., the onions are chopped). Each menu item has a step by step recipe and is packaged and labelled for future eating. I couldn't pick out anything requiring stovetop or oven cooking, limiting me to the grill, toaster oven, and microwave. Still, the entrees seemed spicy and interesting ; I was able to pick things like Tandoori Chicken, Chicken Morocco, and Pulled BBQ Pork Sandwiches. The real test will be if the kids will eat the stuff. I ate one of the Ham, Cheese and Broccoli Calzones I made for lunch, and it was very tasty. (It also contained two different kinds of cheese and 16 Weight Watchers Points per serving, but that's another issue.) Once my incredible new kitchen is installed, I won't have much use for The Full Plate, but for now it is a yummier and slightly cheaper alternative to take-out. (There was a mom-daughter team there making meals for after her soon-to-arrive baby makes its appearance and another couple was also making meals for pregnant friends; it seems to be a particular niche of the business.)

On the construction front, things were much quieter volume-wise today, which was a relief. After yesterday, we'd all about had it. The guys worked hard, as usual, and the huge dirt pile in the street in front our house is gone, as is the mudslide down the driveway. They've actually installed some of the forms for the foundation work. We've decided to go with a full-blown French drain on the side rather than the sump pumps. As of right now, work is slightly ahead of schedule, despite the water difficulties.