Notes On A Page

I have been going non-stop since I woke up this morning! I don’t work on Monday mornings which is awesome — it gives me a chance to clean and plan for the week ahead. I did the mountain of dishes from the weekend, cleaned the kitchen, tidied our messy apartment, emptied the garbages, sorted through weeks (months?!) of recycling, sorted laundry, cleaned the room, and sent out a couple job applications.

Now I’m sitting down for a hasty (but tasty!) lunch before work.

I used hot sauce and pepper olive oil as dressing. I also sprinkled some Parmesan on top, too. It might seem random but I find there are few situations where Parmesan is the wrong choice. The end product looked more like this:

Super filling with a spicy little kick!

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Do you have a dog? Mental_floss has an article today claiming people get more exercise from owning a dog than having a gym membership. I agree! Jack is a great motivator to get up and moving.

Off to work and then I’ve got super rockin’ evening of laundry at my mother’s!

I love discovering tasty new products!

The first product is a soy sauce from Kikkoman. I’ve had leftover tofu from stir fry a couple of nights ago and I knew I needed to use it fast. I don’t cook with tofu much; I’ve only ever used it in stir fries, so I knew I wanted something different.

A few days ago I received a bottle of Kikkoman’s Ponzu lime soy sauce as part of the Foodbuzz Tastemakers program and I used that as inspiration for the tofu. The Boyfriend was squeezing fresh juice with some oranges that were on their way out, so I incorporated orange juice into the recipe.

I decide to make crusted tofu, but instead of sesame seeds I used flax.

Zesty Crusted Tofu

Click on the link to be taken to my recipe page! Making this tofu is simple and it turns out quite tasty. Once it’s baked the tofu can be thrown into salads or used as the main dish in a quick dinner.

The second is juice that I’ve mentioned on the blog before. The company hasn’t sent me samples or anything to try; I just bought it on sale at Price Chopper and it’s super tasty!

I’m off to a hot bath. My back is all sorts of stiff and I have no idea why. For those of you in the middle of the Super Bowl, go team! For everyone else who’s lame like me and didn’t even know what teams were playing until she asked her roommate’s boyfriend yesterday, happy Sunday night.

I love Sundays — I just wish they lasted longer. Mine has been SO strenuous: work for a bit in the morning, brunch with the The Roommate and her boyfriend, and lounging on the couch with Jack and a mug of blueberry tea.

I’m watching L.A. Story which is one of my all-time favorite movies.

It’s hilarious and the ending is so sweet. It’s a feel-good movie that’s not too sappy. It means even more to me know because The Boyfriend gave me a copy for Christmas. I used to have a VHS copy but then my old VCR ate it (oh yeah, I still use my VCR!) and I was crushed. So The Boyf tracked down a copy for me! He’s so thoughtful!

Jack is looking bored. It’s so sunny out but the wind is a-roaring, which makes for very cold Albany weather. I want to take the monster to the dog park but that wind is making it difficult.

Pleeeease?

He’s so social and loves hanging out with his buddies. I’ll layer up in a bit and make the trek out into the arctic temperatures.

If my morning looked stressful, check out my afternoon: dog park, grocery store and meal planning for the week, and baking (?!). Phew.

The first week in February is done! It feels like 2010 is flying by and I’m standing in the dust. The Super Bowl is upon us… Valentines Day is around the corner… St. Patty’s Day lurking in the distant future. Too much. Let’s bring on the weekend and leave it at that.

Someone Should Have Signed Me Up For This… 30 days, 30 bloggers, 30 macaroni and cheese recipes. O. M. and G. I quite fancy this one.

Tears of Onion-y Joy… Tutorial video on how to dice an onion. Grab your knife, stick a Kleenex in your pocket, and get to it! And while we’re at it, let’s practice our garlic mincing skills.

Apparently You’re Supposed to Smell the Wine, Too… Another article from TheKitchn. Useful tips on how to properly taste wine. You know, if you’re out with those friends tonight.

This Gave Me A Good Laugh… Hipster puppies. Scarf-clad puppies getting their alternative on. Snide captions included.

Sweet Eats … Nothing says “I heart you this Valentines Day” like heart-shaped food. Watermelons, pasta, and polenta can all be shaped into hearts for your one true love — who knew?

These People Disagree on the Heart-Shaped Pizza Front, However… MyBadPad.com has a list of what NOT to give her on V-Day. I’m not agreeing that all of these are bad. If The Boyfriend rented a billboard on which to proclaim his never-ending love for me, I’d be cool with it.

Today was busy, but it flew by! Thank goodness!

I remembered my camera today. Lunch in action:

Greens and mushrooms with leftover tofu and YUMMY peanut sauce as salad dressing. Pretty sure I have to start making this weekly.

Fruit and cottage cheese. Cottage cheese doesn’t photograph well.

PB&J Larabar.

This held me over well through my second job, the ride home, and dinner prep. Tonight was taco night (a Boyfriend favorite). The Boyf and The Roommate had ground chicken in their tacos, but I’m trying to stick with the meatless thing so I did black beans instead. We had salsa, homemade guacamole, tomatoes, cheese, and salad greens, too.

Tacos have a high deliciousness factor, it’s true.

Nothing too complicated, but veggie-ful and hearty. Perfect Thursday night dinner. We’re only a night and a day away from the weekend, folks! I can’t wait for a little break. I’ve added a hot laundry date to my list of fun times. And lots of play time with this monster: