April 27, 2009
’tis back to the grindstone, m’hearties!
Glad to be bringing home a paycheck for another few (9) weeks, but not so much to have to actually do it. Here. With these people. You understand.
Had a wonderfully *waiting* weekend with the BFF et al. We’re anxiously awaiting her new bundle of joy and have bets going on how much he’ll weigh. Your positive thoughts are much appreciated, I’m worried that he’s been so quiet.
We had other good news to celebrate: her sibling is engaged and will likely be having an Aussie wedding. I promptly texted my congratulations and asked if I was invited to the shindig. š [Yes, I am.]
I figured that I should invite myself early on to guarantee that I can find a decent flight. I’ll be doing my travel research soon, it’d be so cool if I were, ah, still unemployed and able to do a NZ and Australia jaunt in the fall. [Cool minus the part where I’d still be jobless ….. priorities, priorities…!!]
Oh, and I just realized that this will be the first wedding that I’ve attended in years where I won’t be part of the ceremony. Oh, to simply be a guest and not a working participant! Fun!
Spent $6 on admission to the Fair on Saturday, another $9 on funnel cake (with powdered sugar) and roasted corn on the cob. Friends treated us to our demolition derby tickets ($8/each).
Overspending goes hand in hand with unhealthy fair food. Refrained from buying apple butter, peach butter, cinnamon apple butter, and apricot butter. Luckily, I really only had $20 in cash, so I put a couple things on my card, and stuck to cash only the rest of the time. Total spending was about $32.50.
I wanted to treat them to lunch on Sunday for putting us up and all, but didn’t get the chance to. I did run their dishwasher for them, though. Imagine that, an Asian using the dishwasher to wash dishes! Such a novelty.
The real plan is to trade them manual labor (babysitting, cooking and cleaning) later this summer when I have time on my hands. We’ve been such close childhood friends that we’ve never practiced such etiquettely habits as host gifts and bringing wine to gatherings before, I guess there’s no reason to start formality with practically-family.
April 23, 2009
Nickel’s article, Economy Got You Down? Pig Out! made me laugh out loud. Just this weekend, I was taken to the grocery store for snacks for the week because, “food is the only thing that makes you happy, at work.”
Too right!!
Forget the whole losing-your-job bit, now I have to listen to coworkers scheming to move their cash out of accounts to “prove insolvency” so they can claim their bit from unemployment and food stamps. Yeah. They’re planning to really make the most of this situation by defrauding the system to the highest extent. Money, and keeping food on the table, is not the least of my worries, but this is just wrong.
Anyway, since there’s absolutely nothing I can do about it whilst they’re plotting, I’m preventing an irrational reaction by feeding my soul. And not incidentally, my mouth š
So if Nickel’s citation is true, “The calmer you feel, the less likely you’ll do something irrational,” bring on the comfort food!
This week’s treats stashed in my “drawer of inappropriate starches” (Topher, Dollhouse):
Trader Joe’s Triple Ginger Cookies
Lemon Zest Luna Bars
Middle Eastern flatbread, and tzatziki (which is actually quite good in a breakfast burrito!)
Honey whole wheat pretzel sticks
Hmm…I’m lacking salty stuff. I’ve finally developed a taste for salt and vinegar chips which I used to hate! FB keeps talking about golden Oreos on Twitter, though, and that’s tilting the imbalance further in the direction of sweets.
I’ve also soothed my agitated soul by watching Psych and Burn Notice during my off hours. Friends with a ready supply of DVDs and comic books are great, I never watch TV in my normal life so this is like a free, at-home hiatus.
Of course, then I get to figure out how to repay friend for the loan and support. ’tis a cycle!
What nice things are you doing for yourselves these days?
April 12, 2009
Status: Food coma
Having nothing better to do on a lazy Sunday, I trotted ’round to the local Fresh and Easy in pursuit of a 77 cent/lb ham. The only available specimen was a hefty ten pounder, which I hoisted into my cart, and added a jug of apple juice and honey for good measure. The latter two items were for my honey-apple glaze, the idea for which I must thank the iPhone + Google.
For the record, I’ve never ever cooked a ham before. Fair warning.
The already-cooked ham was dutifully wrapped in foil, and placed in a roasting pan which, miracle of miracles, only took me ten minutes to find.
[Might I point out that this is 90% of the reason I don’t cook? It’s simply not my kitchen, and for all that I’m heartily grateful that my dad cooks 99% of the time, his idea of housekeeping and organizing is levels away from mine. And I cannot stand to cook in a messy kitchen, so as soon as the ham was wrapped and popped into the oven for the first-stage, 3-hour roast, I commenced 3 hours of dishwashing, kitchen cleaning, drain deodorizing, and grocery shopping. And cleaning out the fridge, packing food into actual containers instead of left willy-nilly on plates. Ugh! Also, matched up tops and bottoms to plastic containers.]
After the third hour, basting of the uncovered ham began, as did vegetable prep. I found this awesome recipe for new potatoes and green beans from A Veggie Venture. I didn’t want two pounds of baby red or white potatoes, so I opted for the (cheaper) loose, bulk Yukon potatoes. Tasted delicious, but I realized the reason you want the babies during the last step of cooking: the cut-up cooked potatoes got a little smashed in transition. But that didn’t affect the taste one iota.
I added rice and scarfed immediately.
Man. I’m a good kid. I made a great dinner and left the kitchen cleaner than when I started. Oh, and did I forget to mention home-made yellow cupcakes?
[No frosting, too sweet for my aging teeth.] I had to substitute olive oil for veggie oil, but that didn’t affect the taste.
Ham, $8
Juice, $2
Honey, $3
Green beans, $1.50
Potatos, $1.50
Cake, $1.50
Cleaning supplies (dish soap, vinegar, baking soda): $7
Total Cost: $24.50
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.
