Public Service Announcement

Most people who know me know that one of my most favorite things to do is EAT in BED. Since Brian has meetings on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and some Thursdays, I try to hightail it to bed as early as possible with a good book and a tray of snacks. I'm pretty much a self-sacrificing person; so I thought I would help you all out.........in case you want to try out my hobby.

Here are some recommendations of what to eat and what NOT to eat in bed.

First - don't try to eat a meal in bed. This is just mindless snacking after 9 pm. The kind all the diet books tell you not to do. It shouldn't really register that you are actually eating........just that you are happy.

Don't take any food that requires silverware. It's too hard to hold a book and a fork. And you are taking chances getting the food from the plate to your mouth and reading at the same time.

Finger foods are best!

Veggies and Dip rock - don't drip dip on your bed linens though. When we redid our bed linens there was a moratorium on food in/on the bed. That lasted 24 hours or maybe from midnight to 7 am the first day. But seriously - no dripping on the bed!

Crackers and Cheese are almost perfect - I love salt at night. Most my snacks are salty. There is a problem with the crackers though. Most crackers are crumbly. Triscuits are the worst. Still love em though. You can always brush the crumbs to the othe side of the bed.

Pretzels are perfect - Whether you bite them or pop a whole one in your mouth, they are great. No crumbs. A little boring though.

Popcorn is good depending on how you eat it - If you are like me and eat one piece at a time, it's a neat snack that leaves no tell tale signs. You do have to have a napkin for the greasy fingers though. Do NOT wipe your hands on the bed linens. If you are the kind of person who grabs big honkin' handfulls of popcorn and shoves them in your mouth, this is not for you. You'll drop popcorn in the bed and it will be a popcorn cake when you wake up.

Nuts are good - They are salty and they have lots of protein (in case you forgot to eat dinner or forgot that you ate dinner). Mixed nuts in a little bowl are nice and tidy. Once again, eat one at a time. Sunflower seeds - not so good. Shells get everywhere and it looks like your bed was under a bird feeder or something. Peanuts in the shell are a disaster! You can NOT not drop the stinking shells on yourself. Then you brush them off you and then they are in the bed. Then you brush them out of the bed and they are on the floor. Next thing you know, it's 11 pm and you are changing the sheets and vacuuming the room.

Any small salty item on a napkin or in a bowl - cheezits, goldfish, chips, doritos, love em all!
Cookies, brownies, and small desserts stolen from receptions or New Beginnings are great - if they aren't crumbly or greasy. Nothing is better than a bite size cream puff wrapped in a napkin taken from a stake meeting. It combines two illicit activities.......well maybe three.......if you count self gratification.

Do NOT eat individually wrapped food or candies in bed! You don't want to roll over on crackling papers in the middle of the night and really, you don't want any evidence (other than an empty bowl or plate) lying around in the morning.

Do NOT eat Junior Mints in bed. They are so yummy and just the right amount of bitter and sweet. But no matter how careful you are...........well do you know what they look when you sleep on one? It's just not good! It's not good for you. It's not good for your husband and it's not good for the linen! Trust me! Don't do it.

I highly recommend combinations of foods. Go in the kitchen and consider carefully what to put on the tray. You don't want to get in and out of bed over and over. I just hate getting all comfy and then having to jump back out of bed because I forgot something important like a slice of turkey or a dab of grainy mustard. Don't forget the napkin and don't forget the drink.

When you finish snacking but before your husband gets home, move the tray across the room - like you don't know when or how the tray got in the bedroom. It could be from yesterday.

When he gets in bed and jumps out quickly because he has just been stabbed by a thousand cracker crumbs or peanut shells, do NOT look up from your book. Do NOT answer questions like, "What is in this bed?" or "Where did this come from?"

I hope this helps! I've been perfecting bedtime snacking for years......well not just bedtime snacking....snacking in general.