Bunco night! Usually a fun night for me, especially when I host. I love finding a fun theme and then pulling together an interesting menu complete with a couple of yummy desserts and a great mixed drink. Just typing that makes me sad.
Bunco is a simple little dice game–it’s really a good excuse to get together and chat with friends. My group has been meeting together for more than fourteen years! I really love these women. What a disappointment to realize that Bunco night was day six, and worse yet I was hosting!
I had two choices: I could just go to the store and buy all of my party food ready-made, and cook for the kids; or I could just cook Whole30 and let the kids eat the food I prepared for my friends. I went with the second choice, a bold move! I decided to make a slow-cooker pork roast and barbecue sauce and go with barbecue as a “theme.” I was inspired by Nom Nom Paleo’s Ginger Slaw, made from Brussels sprouts. I added a mixed fruit salad and roasted potato wedges and my kids were set. For my friends I had chips and made a dressing for the fruit salad from lime juice and maple syrup. It smelled yummy!
Of course I had desserts for my friends: an assortment of mini cupcakes and chocolate macaroons. And wine, of course!
So–I hated it. The food tasted okay but it wasn’t fun. The slaw is great, but has about a thousand ingredients. Really, would it kill someone to make a three-ingredient recipe?! The barbecue sauce is fine if you have never actually tasted barbecue sauce. (Recipe from Well-Fed.) That recipe was a disappointment because the ketchup was terrific.
I was really convinced that I did the right thing in cleaning out the cabinets when we started this. Just having the chips and sweets in the house was really hard on the kids. I don’t need to make this harder than it already is.
I think it would be good to talk about how they are doing and what I’m seeing so far, but it’s late and I’d really rather go to bed. If you wonder anything about Whole30 and our experience, please ask!