Notes On A Page

I have been getting creative in the kitchen since this week’s self-imposed supermarket ban (apparently I’m not the only one avoiding the market this week). And by “creative” I really mean boring and not blog-worthy. I think I’m doing OK getting my daily intake of fruits, veg, and vitamins, but I wouldn’t say the results have been culinarily spectacular. (I did not know “culinarily” was a word, but Ecto is all right with it and so am I.) We over at Notes On A Page have been enjoying some odd breakfasts, incoherent dinners and free pizza at a work meeting (hey, if it’s free I ain’t complaining). We did have Random Ingredients Burrito night. It started with this:

And then the Roommate blessedly brought home an avocado and a tomato so it turned into this (the corn clearly had better things to do than participate in my photoshoot):

At least I got some vegetables in with this monster wrap.

I also enjoyed my very first Oats in a Jar:

The jar fit quite handily into my lunchbox for a portable breakfast.

And then, last night I, like Heather, broke down and found myself in the supermarket. I only spent $10 and it was actually pretty necessary.

I get a lot of my daily protein from my morning oats (always made with some type of milk) and yogurt. And we were out of both. I admit I bought the Greek yogurt because it was a dollar and I want to see if Yoplait can hold a candle to Chobani. The cheese is getting paired with frozen dough and leftover sauce for pizza tomorrow night. You know groceries are sparse in my house when we have no cheese.

Speaking of sparse, check out the slim-pickings of my lunch tomorrow:

There’s not much green in there! Short of bringing an onion to munch on for lunch, I have to rely on the veggies in my orzo tuna salad. We have run out of granola as well, so that greek yogurt has to deal with always delicious but less nutritionally sound peanut butter Puffins. Ah, well. Can’t win ‘em all.

Since I went to bed late I planned ahead and made overnight oats to grab out of the fridge and eat at my desk in the morning. Behold:

Again, it’s not too pretty on the eyes. Hopefully if I throw some peanut butter in there it will suffice until lunchtime.

I think it’s safe to say the lunch is always greener in the other lunchbox.

March has been so good to us thus far. These days have been sunny and warm and I could not be happier. I’ve officially diagnosed myself with spring fever. I can’t be outside enough! Luckily having a dog is a great excuse for spending lots of time outdoors. I had to work at Job 1 in the morning, but Job 2 only required a meeting in the afternoon, so I headed home for a half day. The Boyfriend and I took Jack on an adventure in the park and afterwards, even after Jack had pooped out on the couch and the Boyfriend had left for work, I found myself craving an evening walk. I packed up my laptop, threw a fleece in my bag, and headed out to the Muddy Cup. The walk was absolutely beautiful and I let the music in my headphones set my mind adrift.

Within 15 minutes I, first-time Muddy Cup goer, arrived at the coffee shop to find this sign: “Sorry, Cash Only.” Well, sorry, no customer. I have limited financial resources to begin with, and what funds I do have I keep trapped inside a debit card. So what turned into a stroll to the coffee shop for a smoothie ended up being a circular 30 minute walk. No problem, though. I was happy walking about the neighborhood. I love where I live. It’s the edge of urban, a place where shops and bars and movie theaters are within walking distance, but also a place where you know your neighbors and smile at strangers walking by. Well, you smile at them between the months of March and September. If you are unfortunate enough to be forced outside during the winter months, the only glances you are exchanging with passerby are those of empathy and bitterness.

Today was the Smile! type of day. I passed a man out for a run, kids coming back from after-school care, a mother out for a walk with her daughter by her side and her son on a small bike with training wheels. The son zigzagged slightly down the road with his family behind him. When he came near me he stopped suddenly and honked the bike horn three times at me. I grinned. Kids crack me up.   

Once I got to my building I decided I didn’t want to go inside.  I needed someplace other than my animal-filled living room to write. As much as I love Jack and Sid, they are needy monsters and in order to type, I actually need to STOP petting them. This is not a concept they understand and I can’t take those shelter eyes and frantic paws coming at me. At Panera — a humans-only establishment — I was able to do some writing AND get my smoothie fix. Score.

Now that the sun is down and the chill is setting in, I’m back to hibernation mode. Lethargy is setting in and the sinus pressure headache that’s been lurking around all day is now here so I think it’s home to my couch, my animals, and a hot cuppa tea. Pleasant evening, Blogland!

The Boyfriend and I decided to skip grocery shopping this week. The main reason is we have no money, but I suppose there is some benefit to cleaning out the cupboards a little and taking stock of what we have. We have planned out breakfast, lunch, and dinner all week. Perhaps we’ll find some buried treasure in the back of freezer. That would be nothing short of fantastically and wonderfully awesome.

Instead of eating old Larabars for lunch everyday this week (as appealing as THAT sounds), I forced myself to get a little creative and scrounged around for the makings of a pasta salad. I ended up with half a box of orzo, a can of tuna, and clementines. I was trying to recreate this salad my aunt makes that has orzo, chicken, mandarin oranges, celery, and a dressing with mayo, dry mustard, and white pepper. Unfortunately, I did not have chicken, celery, oranges, or mayo. So… pretty much the only thing that links these two dishes is orzo. Think of this Easy Orzo and Tuna Salad as an homage.

I started by cooking the orzo and tossing in the tuna and clementine. Tasty, but it lacked a little crunch, so these guys got chopped and added:

I also added a sad half of an avocado that was losing life in the fridge. It added some creaminess that replaced the missing mayo.

For the vinaigrette, I just winged it since I was missing the key ingredients. Check out the recipe!

I ate a nice bowl for lunch this afternoon:

I wanted to put it over some spring mix, but to my dismay the remains of the bag was past its prime. (We are FAIL on the vegetable front over here.) I still think this is a good way to get a little more filling fiber into this lunch.

The salad is very light. At first I feared it was too light, but I think I am still caught in the doldrums of heavy winter stews and sauces. Each bite is quite refreshing and keeps you guessing: you’ve got a little heft from the tuna, a nice citrus spritz from the clementines, carrot-y crunch, and creamy avocado. The recipe makes a nice batch to last you through the week.

Penguin Tupperware: for use all year round! Let’s hope this sunny weather keeps away any real penguins, though!

It has been unbelievably gorgeous here in Albany. I found myself walking across our complex this evening in sweats — no winter coat needed! — to do some laundry. Nice to see you, March. Please stay this way.

Earlier today I ventured into the sunshine for an adventure with my boys. There was some fetch…

Awesome. I think next weekend we’re planning a REAL hiking day trip. The park was fine for today though. I was just happy to get some sun. So was this guy, who spazzed and sprinted like it was his job.

Pant, pant!

When we got home The Roommate, being her incredible self, was in the middle of making dinner. “I think we need to eat something real,” she declared. I was behind this sentiment 100%. Especially when this was the result:

Pork chops with cooked apples and onions, asparagus, and mashed potatoes. I said yes to all of the above:

My belly was so happy after this. I decided to go healthy for dessert and munched on a clementine. I have a thing for snack foods that involve work, like clementines, string cheese or peanuts. I think I like being kept busy and it takes longer to eat. Weird? Maybe. I’m cool with it.

Off to get to some stuff started for the week while we watch the Oscars. I think every one of us should strive to look as hot as Sigourney Weaver when we are 60. That is all.

Oscar weekend and wine. Happy Lunch Break.

Don’t Talk With Your Mouth Full… But after you’re done chewing, make sure you’re pronouncing these foodie words right.

Not cool, Oscars… Did you know that the Best Director honor has never gone to a woman or an African American? I’m officially cheering for Kathryn Bigelow or Lee Daniels. Read on for more disappointing Academy Awards trivia.

Clean Your Fridge!… I’ll be the first to admit it, I do not clean my fridge. Occasionally the Boyfriend will go on a cleaning rampage and sanitize everything within reach, including the fridge (and the garbage can! There’s another disgusting container I avoid thinking about…). But I DO go through the fridge once a week and check on the status of take-out boxes and containers of leftovers, inspect the dates of crusty jars and condiments, and take stock of the contents of our fridge. It’s a time- and health-saver.

If You’re the Traveling, Drinking Sort… Here’s a list of the 25 best cities in which to drink wine. For those of us with small (nonexistent?) travel budgets, I like the advice they give to train your taste-buds at home: “Take time to train your palate by starting with a single varietal, maybe a Merlot, and stick with it for a while. Then add another — perhaps a Pinot — and try that for a couple weeks. Soon, you’ll be able to tell the difference in a blind taste test. When you’re ready, try adding a Cabernet to the mix, but don’t push this one. And, when you visit other cities, add a new wine to your wine repertoire. As years go by, when you taste that varietal, it can take you right back to your special trip.” Good advice. And for the beer drinkers, here are some cities you’d be wise to visit.

7 ways to nap at work… Enough said. Enjoy your Friday.