April 7, 2009
I hope you all understand by now that I’m amused by the strangest things. You do, right? Good. Because a friend brought by a heart-shaped brownie, and my mission was to cut heart-shaped servings by following the existing lines and not “wasting” any brownies cookie-cutter style. Each serving was about this size:
Came from the parent heart like so ….
And I could only cut three out easily. I could have started from the bottom up for the next few servings, but I was done with three. š Incidentally? Super yummy!
April 1, 2009
I’ve been working on making an habit of bringing decent lunches on a very short attention span. The best way to form a habit is to actually do it. Repeatedly. Simple? It should be, but it’s equally easy to fall out of the habit of say, going to the grocery store every Sunday. Things come up, y’know?
Sometimes the bringing of lunch works out wonderfully throughout the week, sometimes groceries are supplemented by leftovers from dinner, other times I have to get creative or purchase a meal or two. Here are a few of the oddities that prove I don’t always eat well. š
Normal: Leftovers from dinner.
Creative: Egg and spinach on a whole wheat bagel, 91 cents
I’d failed to plan for lunch one week, and had brought disparate ingredients that were supposed to magically coalesce into a meal. It sort of did. My unboiled egg was microwaved just long enough to make a little scramble, spinach meant for a salad served double duty as greens for the sandwich and leftover bagels brought for breakfast become sandwich bread.
This was so yummy I did it again the next day, this time mixing in leftover string cheese, for some dairy.
A huge helping of spinach topped with sunflower seeds (that I’ve had in my desk forever) and some balsamic vinaigrette rounded out those meals.
Deal and Coupontastic: Quiznos turkey sandwich and deli sandwich on Dutch crunch, $5.60
Armed with a Quiznos free small sandwich coupon, I picked up a small turkey sandwich (terribly puny, if you ask me), a small drink, and a small Italian sandwich at a deli joint (twice the length and width of the Quiznos sandwich) to make a lunch for two. The deli sandwich was quite a good deal, it was only $4.50 for a substantial roll and hefty meat filling. If we’d gotten the equivalent meal at Quiznos, sans coupon, it would have cost about $14.50.
Filling at the time: Bags of salad (usually $1/bag) are great when topped with some chicken or tuna, and other veggies. It’s satisfying, but for a much shorter period of time.
I could use some good ideas for what to try next!
March 27, 2009
My dad sure has good timing. Whatever he’s feeling guilty about, yesterday was definitely the best day to eat my cooking in an attempt to soothe my supposedly troubled soul. In my life, he’s never offered to eat anything I’ve made from scratch. It’s usually a good instinct, even though he claims it’s only because he prefers Asian foods, since my stovetop experimentation rarely produces a home run. But, last night’s? Was magic.
Presenting: the green bean, asparagus macaroni and cheese casserole!
In true old-Asian-woman style, I didn’t measure but by hand and feel. I will guarantee that’s at least a pound of shredded cheddar, one whole egg, and a can of green beans (found one, score!), but cannot attest to the quantities of any other ingredients. Handfuls, what looked about right, more handfuls, and so it went.
It may not look like much, but I assure you: delicious! It’s got a perfectly crunchy cheese and cracker crust, with gooey cheddar underneath holding the penne pasta, asparagus and green beans together. The best part is that the cheese forms a distinct layer on top, and is lightly distributed through the rest of the strata so it’s not overwhelmingly cheesy. One pound of cheddar notwithstanding.
Or wait, is the best part that it cost me less than $5 to make an entire pan of it?
No, no, no, don’t be silly. Cheese is the best part. Cheese is like unto manna for my taste buds. š
March 26, 2009
I’m steaming over the loss of the entire post that should have gone up yesterday, but didn’t. Instead, I tried to post it from my phone’s web browser, had to edit the title, and somehow lost the entire post!
Oh well. Y’all probably didn’t need the long version anyway. Here’s the summary:
Professional
1. Attended another (wait listed) class for my Certificate program this week. Would have missed this opportunity if I hadn’t called and asked for it; you’re supposed to sit and wait for them to contact you when there are openings but I couldn’t afford to be passive. (Never mind I was late thanks to the take-many-detours shuttle driver. Have I ever mentioned how much I HATE being late?)
2. Requested permission to “crash” another course two weeks ago. We’re down to the wire here, so I absolutely have to hit every class if I want to take my Certificates of Supervision and Management before the layoff. This means my assertiveness is getting a major workout.
Financial
1. +40: check received from the Airborne class action settlement.
2. +10: my first payout from MySurvey.com
3. +226: this is really a refund, not a plus sign. My dad peeved me because he had over 30 days to return the Dish Network equipment but didn’t so they charged my card. Now I have to wait for them to acknowledge and process receipt of the equipment, process a manual return, and then request a manual refund from the credit card. Bleh.
4. +153: Still waiting for the credit card to send a check from the second insurance refund. Meh.
Fun/Consumerism
1. LOVED MoneyFunk’s latest project: a turtle Amigurumi! I’m a total sucker for cute turtles.
2. Have plans for a $22 prix fixe dinner with a friend next week; a treat is usually a $4 cheeseburger or a couple of chicken soft tacos, but occasionally I have a hankerin’. And it’s at a restaurant I can’t ever afford, normally.
March 23, 2009
Can it make Mondays better? Here are a few fondly remembered meals of my once-extravagant business-dinner past:
Oh, formal business dinners, how I miss thee ….
Apologies but I can’t identify all the meals by name/restaurant, it feels like that would be revealing too much. (For example, how poor my memory is, for one thing!)
And I know we had some spectacular salads, too, but I can’t find those pictures, so wee cute little dessert will have to suffice.
And I can assure you, all those fancy dinners did not make me a food snob. While they were delightfully, sinfully delicious, I truly appreciate my plain food routine after all the rich foods and eating out.
March 15, 2009
After the hike yesterday, my joints are rather sore and I’m in need of some resting up to head off a major ‘ritis flare-up. Therefore, health day!
The shoulder has been out of whack for a long time, so I’m getting that worked on today. We’ll have a late lunch of cheese pizza and salad, and catch up with some old friends.
The Futility Fund (administered by Vanguard) was infused with the Rollover Contribution, finally. That’s $800+ down that drain. š
I’m still waiting for that last insurance reimbursement check from the credit card company, though. Should call and find out what’s taking them s’darned long this time.
Hope everyone else is having a fabulous day!
March 10, 2009
Most of them were for the weekend, but one was specifically for tonight.
Tonight, at 9 pm, a walking expedition to the local Fresh ‘n’ Easy was scheduled. Armed with a $2 off $10 or $5 off $20 coupon, a foray into the after-hours discounted produce and possibly other meal components was meant to bear much fruit and even veggies for the lunches of tomorrow and tomorrower.
As we all know, I don’t like the scurvy.
Instead, held captive by Dr. Gregory House on Hulu.com and the ice-cold (45-degrees for the layperson who knows of winter) winds, huddled in the room stayed I. No fresh bought comestibles, no provender, for my lunch tomorrow.
Luckily, leftovers shall be the saving of me. There’s some meatloaf from Sunday’s lunch that will serve admirably. Perhaps also a can of corn. Perhaps I’ll be that adventurous. Better luck tomorrow.
