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.

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!

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!

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.

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.

Okay, maybe this rule only applies to me. And my sister. Who celebrated a very snowy birthday last weekend with lots of yummy eats.

We met up in New York for some sisterly birthday celebrations, which entailed walking, talking, and eating. All day long.

Most of the day was spent tooling around Soho and the Village, but my sister absolutely insisted that we go uptown for Absolute Bagels. I’m not one to turn down a good bagel, so I agreed.  

We split a plain bagel topped with Tofutti (non-dairy “cream cheese”), which turned out to be tasty and not a bad compromise for you lactose intolerant folks out there. If you’re around Broadway and 108th (or go to Columbia University), I, in all of my intimate knowledge of the bagelries of New York, recommend Absolute Bagels. Personally I’m just gonna buy some Tofutti next time I make homemade bagels.

I had wanted to take my sister to Crumb for some birthday cupcakes, but they were closed. (For being the city that never sleeps, New York sure feels pretty drowsy on Sunday evenings). We were saved by finding a Magnolia Bakery stand in the dining concourse at Grand Central.  

I bought us each two cupcakes. The birthday girl tried red velvet with whipped vanilla frosting and a pretty purple-topped white cupcake.

I went with the Hummingbird (banana and pecan cupcake with cream cheese frosting) and a chocolate cupcake with vanilla frosting.  

I am a true lover of cream cheese frosting, so the Hummingbird was the winner of the cupcake competition. It was like a moist slice of banana bread covered with cake frosting! So good.

We shared, just like Mom always told us. Even so we ended up with leftovers when we parted ways in Grand Central. Yum!

By the end of this post you will note that, even though I spent the day in fabulous New York with my fabulous sister, I have pictures of neither. To this I say: a beloved sister and a pretty city are forever; cupcakes and bagels are fleeting.

At any rate, here’s a charming photo of the two of us from yesteryear:

Of Eastern New York, Albany got the least amount of snow in terms of accumulation, but from Tuesday to Friday it was cloudy and snowing or raining every minute of every day. Talk about needing some motivation and Vitamin D.

I tried to brighten the days with some color in the form of fruits and vegetables. It’s amazing how thankful I am for an orange when the ground, sky, and everything in between is gray.

That particular lunch also featured leftover pizza topped with hot sauce and pesto for a little excitement (I’m not even kidding, sometimes pesto is the most exciting part of my day.)

Here is my confession: I found this slice of homemade pizza in the back of the fridge and I admit that I cannot remember the exact date of its birth. But it looked fresh and (more importantly!) SMELLED fine, so it was added to the lunch menu. You can ask The Boyfriend: I am extremely sensitive to smelly things. If something smells off (pizza, produce, milk, your feet) you had best get it away from me pronto.

The random bit of pesto was from a Real Simple meal The Boyfriend had made the night before: Cod with Beans, Corn, and Pesto.

As you may have heard, The Boyfriend has been making fish lately.

The recipe is meant to have green beans, but when the boy came home from the store he announced that green beans were nowhere to be found, so he bought peppers instead. I was nervous about how the peppers would pair with the fish. Peppers are so flavorful and full of zing, whereas green beans are much milder. I said nothing though, which is unusual for me, but I am wary to criticize the hand that feeds me.

Let me tell you: The Boyfriend is 2 for 2. First the tilapia, now the cod. Success, my friends, delicious and fishy success! I was surprisingly full, without even eating a single noodle or slice of pizza.

Dinner was accompanied by a bottle of wine from our nice neighbors downstairs.

Dessert was accompanied by an episode of Criminal Minds (you can sneak a peek at Gideon and Hotchner in the background).

Following in The Boyfriend’s footsteps, I made a comforting Real Simple recipe for dinner the next night. (*I accidentally just typed “foodsteps” instead of “footsteps” — it still works, right??) I found this recipe in the magazine a couple of issues back and it just spoke to me. Seriously, how good does Creamy Barley with Tomatoes and Greens sound? The recipe makes a big ol’ pot, too.

I hate to say it, but this was honestly a little bland for me at first. I ended up adding some smoked Cheddar to the pot, and I think I would recommend skipping the Brie all together in favor of a smoked cheese. I also added some red pepper flakes for a little zing. I will say that I am completely in love with barley though. It’s so comforting and has such a good flavor. Barley stew has the same qualities as risotto: warm, filling, and good for you. I do recommend this recipe, but just add that you should be open to added your own favorite flavors.

I have no problem with this.  Carry on, Lunch Break.

GOOP-y… This writer tries Gwyneth Paltrow’s GOOP cleanse on for size.  I like reading about these crazy cleanses. It constantly reminds me not to try them.

Bottles That Don’t Break the Bank.. TheKitchn reviews ten whites and reds that sell for under ten bucks.  Handy if you’re the sort who gets invited to dinner parties.

Locally Grown and Delivered… I love this concept.  This company delivers boxes of locally grown produce.  Each week a box of farm fresh fruits and vegetables shows up at your door.  Takes the guesswork out of finding a local farmers market (and, frankly, it’s a royal pain waking up early on Saturday).  Uncommon Grounds, purveyor of delicious coffee and bagels and provider of my lunch yesterday afternoon, interviewed owner Kirk Childress yesterday on the blog.

Then again, this was the sight that met my eyes when I walked through the door this evening:

That would be a slice of cheesecake from the one and only Cheesecake Machismo. How do I feel about Cheesecake Machismo? I would like to fill my bathtub full of their cheesecake and soak it in through my pores. I’m hoping one day they will hire me to be their personal cheesecake tester. Just hearing the word “cheesecake” bring me unabashed joy. Cheese? Wonderful. Cake? Yes, please. Cheesecake? WELL, IF YOU INSIST.

I suppose I should stop my drooling for a moment to mention that this phantom cheesecake was purchased and set ever-so-sweetly upon my desk by the one and only Boyfriend. I sent him a text earlier detailing the fact that I was having a crummy day full of gray skies and blue emotions. (I believe the text went something like “shmeh.”) And because he is wonderful he bought me cheesecake. Bliss.

The cheesecake was a good buffer to the other thing I came home to:

That, dear friends, is a large pot. Normally I would use such a pot to boil up a large vat of pasta, sprinkle it with a little cheese and pepper, and call it dinner. But on this day, we are using this pot to collect the rain that is falling from our living room ceiling.

Drop by drop…

This is the fourth or fifth leak we’ve had in the apartment since we moved in last spring. We’re all delighted, as you can imagine.

It’s been raining all day along in Albany. But yesterday it was doing a little something like this:

Albany finally got its snow.

Nearly everything was cancelled, so The Boyfriend, Roommate, and I clambered into the Roommate’s minivan and ventured to the Gateway Diner for a late breakfast. Speaking of why you’re fat:

When one’s city is blanketed in snow, one is left with no choice but to consume copious amounts of breakfast foods to cope with the pending hibernation/starvation of a snow day. You understand.

I can only hope spring will be here soon, at which point I will stop eating like a bear.

(P.S. I know the layout of this particular post is all distorted.  I have no idea why.  WordPress and Ecto are both being whiny children today.)