This post is boring.

Today, I did several things to attempt to manage my fatigue

1. Only had one caffeinated beverage (apparently this works out in the long run, though I’m not sure the people who have to be around me during my mid-morning stupor would agree).
2. Took a short walk at lunch. I investigated the track on campus and have deemed it worthy. I might even try to take some running shoes with me some day this week.
3. Did a circuit training class at the gym that made me feel like I was going to keel over. I always read that weight training increases your metabolism, and metabolism=energy, right? Maybe it doesn’t. I’ve never been good at science. If I’m wrong, please don’t tell me. I’m fragile.
4. Ate animal flesh.

This last one is really the only one that’s relevant here. We’ve been going fairly meatless lately, and whenever my fatigue flares up, my mom always tells me I need to eat some chicken. So, for her, I made lemon/rosemary chicken with roasted potatoes and broccoli for dinner.

It was good, but I forgot to microwave the potatoes beforehand and they took forever to cook through. I actually had to put them back in the pan after I took this picture.

Now, let’s see if any of that helps. Considering that I’ve fallen asleep at the laptop three times while typing this, it’s not looking good.

I’ll try to be peppier tomorrow.

Like I said, we’re going to be eating a lot of pasta.

I did not feel well today. I was light-headed while giving a tour, and then for the next few hours, I felt like my head was trapped inside a metal box.

Is that so strange? Matt seemed confused by it, and asked me if I was hearing an echo.

Anyway, I came home early from work. But I had lots of Things to Do, so I didn’t start cooking dinner until 7:30. I can’t find the list where I planned our meals for the week, so I went for my go-to easy meal that still has protein and green stuff:

I like to call it: Annie’s Mac and Cheese with tuna and whatever vegetables we have. This time, brussels sprouts and broccoli.

I usually only make this for lunch, and typically on Sundays. I like to reserve it for use as a reward for Matt when we get done grocery shopping, as I am apparently difficult to shop with. But then, he thinks a trip to the store should take ten minutes, and how can I possibly touch all of the pretty produce and expensive natural products in that amount of time?

There is some kind of football-related nonsense happening in our neighborhood tonight, and I hope it’s going to be over soon, because I could really use some high quality sleep. We finished the final season of The Wire last night, and I spent way too much time weeping because I don’t have any other shows to watch ruminating over the social issues it brought to light.

These are our salad days.

One of the best things about our trip to North Carolina was that it gave us a chance to spend time with old friends we haven’t seen in a long time. I spent a good bit of our first wedding party talking to my friend Karin about all things food. I told her about this blog and she diligently read it. Clearly, she got a good sense of what I like, because she sent me a link to this recipe.

I think we all know that I love a main dish salad, especially in the summer. Tonight’s attempt did not disappoint.

Really, how can you go wrong with a bunch of grains and some tasty protein? And then, of course, there’s the feta.

I’m having a bad day. I started the ball rolling with the name change process recently, and I complicated things for myself by keeping my middle name and adding my original last name as a second middle name. Now I’m plagued by self-doubt (What middle initial do I use on my taxes? How will I sign? What if the Middle name box on a form is too small?) and have worked myself into a frenzy that has literally lasted for three days. If you read this and have two middle names, now would be a great time to tell me how much you love it.

Anyway, at least the food was good.

I’m back!

We actually got back Sunday night, but I’ve been kind of shell-shocked. And now I have lots of pictures and a dysfunctional space bar, so we’ll see how this goes.

(FYI: it is really long, so be warned)

My awesome parents took me grocery shopping at two of my favorite stores – Trader Joe’s and Harris Teeter. We don’t have either out here, and it was kind of bittersweet to be filling up the cart and knowing that I couldn’t take it with me. I really wish Greek yogurt and chicken sausages traveled better.

Anyway, my sister and loyal blog reader requested that I share my culinary magic with her family, and, luckily, she lives just a mile or so away from my parents, so I was able to oblige.

Trader Joe’s Meal #1:

Whole wheat couscous and a rosemary chicken/white bean/stewed tomato dish. I make white beans and stewed tomatoes with pasta, I don’t know why I never thought about chicken. It was good. Even my nieces ate it. I was really proud of my older niece for trying the tomatoes, as she’s a slightly picky eater. My younger niece wasn’t a big fan of the couscous. She said, “I don’t think I like this rice.”

Trader Joe’s Meal #2

Speaking of nieces, my older one made a special request for baked ziti, so I made this baked pasta dish with whole wheat penne, marinara, TJ’s quattro formaggio mix, and some roasted garlic chicken sausage. I ate a little to make sure it was okay, but it was really for my family.

I had the pasta with some roasted vegetables, and chicken sausage. With cheese.

And then, my crowning glory, Trader Joe’s Meal #3:

I didn’t actually cook this. Matt’s train was late coming in, and I was starving while waiting for it, so I coached my mom through the process via cell phone. This was a delicious pizza with TJ’s whole wheat dough, pizza sauce, some sweet apple chicken sausage, peppers, and lots of cheese. Mmmm. I ate about 1/4 of this. We had leftovers for lunch the next day. Oh, also, some sauteed vegetables on the side. I bought a bunch of vegetables and had to use them. My parents aren’t big vegetable people.

Man. I love chicken sausage. I wish I could find it here.

Other than this, I spent the week at my parents’ house eating lots of baked goods and chocolate things. My mom is an enabler. She keeps this JUST OUT in the kitchen:

Yeah, I probably ate all that.

Also, some delicious coconut bars:

And a bunch of Trader Joe’s Trekking the Himalayas, eaten in little bits like so:

That used to be my special cup. It’s like a goblet. Anyway, see those red things? Those are Goji Berries. They do not taste good. But they are some kind of super antioxidant. So I figure that basically makes up for all the cake I ate. Right?

Also, pretzel slims and almond butter:

And smoothies, and Greek yogurt, and white bean hummus, and soy and flaxseed chips. And brownies. And chocolate chip bars. And so. much. cake.

My parents took Matt and me and my sister’s family out on Friday night to a fancy new restaurant in their town, where I had a caprese salad, almond trout with rice pilaf, and some peach/strawberry/rhubarb cobbler.

We had our final party on Saturday, the day before we left. It was so great to see people I usually only see at Christmas. In honor of us, my Grandmother made a round of turkey burgers in addition to ground beef burgers. They were really good. We also had fruit salad, pasta salad, baked beans, and more. I forgot to take a picture.

I really should’ve taken a picture of the cake, though. Since it was a wedding celebration, a cake was a given, and I requested a coconut cake. My awesome grandmother obliged… by making FOUR of her awesome coconut cakes! Seriously. We took one back to my parents’ and I spent a lot of the evening trying to figure out if it was physically possible for me to house the whole thing before we left Sunday morning. It wasn’t. But I had a lot. Mom, is there any left? You should take a picture.

Sunday, we headed back up to Raleigh to meet my in-laws for brunch before we flew out. We had a great meal at Porter’s. I think Debbie took some pictures, but there have probably been enough pictures in this post.

Wow, this has been so long.

Okay, here are our three dinners since we returned.

Post-travel ravioli with brussels sprouts (on the monkey plate because I was so sad about leaving NC)

Last night’s spicy peanut chicken (so good):

I had all day off yesterday but was so busy running errands that we didn’t eat this until 9. Oh well. Live and learn.

And, finally, tonight’s pasta with zucchini/tomatoes/spinach/parmesan:

Okay, I’m cutting myself off. The space bar thing is driving me nuts. I’m also exhausted and confused about what day it is since I had the day off yesterday.

It’s getting hot in here.

So, I know everyone’s been all “OMG, where is See Food? Is she okay? She has no life, so she always posts on weekends.”

Y’all. Don’t worry. I’m back.

It has been so hot. We had a heat advisory all weekend and on Saturday, the heat index got up to 114. Today, the for real temperature got up to 108. I went outside just to say I felt it. Also, I work in a library, and libraries are always cold, so I get all thrown off when my computer says it’s 108 and yet my hands are so numb it’s hard to type. Anyway, starting Friday afternoon, the warnings all basically amounted to, “Do not leave your home.” But we’re getting ready to leave for vacation, so we had to do a couple of things like go to the storage unit and transfer boxes from the car in blazing heat, go get a few groceries, and, oh yeah, we steam cleaned the carpet. It didn’t get that hot, but I’m going to go on record as saying that I don’t recommend it during the hottest weekend of one’s life. Live and learn. At the farmer’s market on Saturday, I got this teeny little apple:

I’m not sure if that really captures the teeniness. I have really small hands.

Oh, at Target I got a Rodney Yee Power Yoga DVD since the gym was closed all weekend. I did it pre-steam cleaning on Saturday. He creeps me out with his tight pants, but his cueing is awesome and it was a fairly tough workout, with something like 837 sun salutations to keep me moving.

Saturday night we had Lime Biryani, a recipe from a recent issue of Women’s Health. It’s quinoa cooked with water and lime juice (genius), carrots, chickpeas, golden raisins, sliced almonds and a lime vinaigrette. It was all cold and delicious and summery and I kind of wish I’d make like ten servings. But I made four. So between dinner Saturday and lunch Sunday, it’s gone.

That’s a fancy new bowl we received in the mail this weekend, handmade by a woman in Vermont. Ahh. Vermont. I bet it’s not 108 there.

Sunday morning I got the completely ridiculous idea that it would be fine to exercise outside. After all, it was only 88. At 8:00 in the morning. By the time I got home at 9:15, it was well into the 90s. This is what happens when the gym is closed. I start to lose it, bit by bit. Anyway, I jogged a mile like an idiot and then I kind of staggered for another three. I came home and we steam cleaned once more, just for kicks. And then I got all sickly and I think I had or have heat exhaustion. The internet doesn’t lie about these things. I’ve been chugging Powerade, for which I have a deep and inexplicable love.

Tomorrow it’s only supposed to be 95! Which is great, because I have 119 things to do, including packing for VACATION. Yay.

Tonight I wanted another salad, so I made tabbouleh with shrimp and feta, inspired by the same magazine that included the lime and quinoa thing.

Also a new bowl, received on Friday. I may have mentioned that in my last post, but I’m too lazy to look.

Okay, now I’m exhausted. It’s time for bed so that I can wake up painfully soon and go back to the (hopefully) cool and open gym. And then it’s just 8 working hours, a bunch of errands, a sleepless night of pre-flight stress, a ride to Kansas City and a 2 hour flight between us and glorious North Carolina. Which is supposed to be getting hit with a similar heat wave later this week. What can I say? We have terrible luck with weather.

Don’t worry, I’ll be posting tomorrow night’s dinner before I go into vacation mode. I’m sure it will be breathtaking and will not at all have an “I’m panicking because we have so much stuff to use up while we’re gone so here’s an onion/orange/zucchini salad mmmmmmm” feel to it.

Thirty minute meal

Matt called me at work just before 5 to ask what we were having for dinner and how long it would take so that he could decide whether or not to go to the food court at the mall (aka Picnic Place) to pick up some Chinese food to hold him over. I convinced him to wait with the promise of a 30 minute meal, and then I came home and put this together:

Here’s the recipe:

Ingredients

• 1 block of extra firm tofu
• 2 T rice wine vinegar
• 2 T soy sauce
• Garlic to taste
• Crushed red pepper
• 1 C green beans, trimmed and chopped
• 1 broccoli crown, trimmed
• 1 red bell pepper, diced
• 1/3 huge zucchini, sliced lengthwise and chopped
• 2 C mushrooms
• Handful of rice noodles

Cooking instructions

1. Press tofu under heavy pan for a few minutes
2. Mix rice vinegar, soy sauce, garlic together in a baking dish
3. Cube tofu and place in baking dish with marinade
4. Marinate for the length of time it takes to chop your veggies, or about 10 minutes, flipping once
5. Heat a wok or large stir fry pan over medium (mine’s non-stick but you could heat with oil if needed)
6. Reserve marinade and cook tofu for about 6 minutes, turning once. It should make a few popping sounds. Remove.
7. Soak rice noodles in warm water.
8. Add green beans and red bell peppers (or whatever your longest cooking veggies are). Cook for 3 minutes.
9. Add zucchini and broccoli. Cook for 3 minutes.
10. Add mushrooms. Cook for two minutes.
11. Add tofu, rice noodles, and reserved marinade. Stir gently until well-mixed. Reduce heat to medium low for about 3 minutes.
12. Enjoy.

Makes 4 servings if you’re me. Probably 2-3 if you’re Matt.

This was really simple, but it was probably one of my best stir fries ever. I credit the fantastic stir fry pan we got. Also, the cute bowls in which I served it, more great wedding gifts.  You could use any veggies or proteins here, really. I’m sure chicken or seafood would work well, I just wanted tofu.

Now I need to go deal with a few issues, including the fact that our laptop power cord is broken again and I really want to go buy pretty shiny things at Target.

I am a loser

Well, last night we went out for dinner, and tonight I’m having leftovers cleverly disguised as a different meal:

That’s a tempeh melt with grilled veggies on the side. I polished off the veggies no problem, but I’ve only had half of the sandwich so far. I had a bigger lunch than usual, and I’m having a lot of trouble with my hunger cues today.

The AC is still broken at the gym, and yet they still keep opening and then (BIG SURPRISE) having to close early due to “extreme heat.” Today they opened up at 5:30 and then had to close at 9:00am. This is really throwing me off my routine, and I’m all agitated and I feel like I could just start yelling at any moment. I’m hoping to take a walk later, but the heat index is still 100 and it’s already 7:00pm, so yeah. We’ll see. I did some yoga this morning, and I would do another round, but it would require 1) getting off the couch and 2) moving things out of the way. That feels like so much effort.

Whole grains are delicious.

I’m having an RA flare, and while it’s relatively mild, I’m still finding it quite annoying because it’s all spread out – left knee, right hip, left hand, and jaw. Fun times all around, basically. So, no kickboxing for me, but I did hit the gym after work to do some cardio and weights. I’m always really proud of myself when I manage to exercise through pain – as long as it’s not excruciating, it really helps.

But enough self-congratulation. Wait, no. I’m not done. This meal was really delicious, too:

I’m going mostly meatless this week, just because meat is expensive and I didn’t want to buy any before we go on vacation. Good thing, too, because I took some WebMD diet assessment today and it was all DANGER, WILL ROBINSON! TOO. MUCH. PROTEIN.

So the main course (top right corner) was a delightful barley and walnut salad. It was inspired by a recipe from Food and Wine, with some major modifications. I’m more of a Cooking Light kind of girl, so I was a little appalled by the fact that the recipe called for 1/3 cup of olive oil. Just the idea of that makes me feel kind of sickly. Anyway, it’s barley, a few toasted walnuts, some spinach that I threw in with the barley at the last minute, a nice lemon vinaigrette, and some feta.

Close up:

I also roasted some veggies to have on the side, because I wanted to take advantage of the fact that it was only 78 degrees.

Now I’m off to clean and read and stress out over whether or not I can make it to the gym in the morning.

Indoor picnic

I’ve been looking for good party foods because we’re heading to North Carolina in a few weeks, and we’ll be having a few celebrations of our recent nuptials while we’re there. And I want to be ready to showcase my mad healthy cooking skillz at a moment’s notice. You know how it is.

So here’s one that was pretty successful: pesto potato salad. I made pesto for the first time, and it was pretty hardcore because it was from my very own basil plant, which has been living in the kitchen window, baffling me. I’m not good with plants. My boss has been on vacation for the last two weeks, and one of my biggest fears was that her plants would die under my care. Luckily, they haven’t. And my basil hasn’t either! I was only able to harvest like a cup, so this was a very small batch of pesto, and for that reason, my processor couldn’t really handle it, so it didn’t unify as we’ll as I would’ve liked. Oh well, it tasted good.

There’s my serving. It’s just red potatoes, peppers, and pesto. I hate traditional potato salad, so this was a really nice alternative.

Though I could have eaten enough potatoes to make a meal, I decided to round things out, so I made my fave black bean burgers from Veganomicon:

I only ate half of the bun. I don’t know what’s wrong with me today, but I’m just not that into food.

Oh, also tried parmesan squash chips, which didn’t turn out as well as I’d have liked, but were still pretty good:

I ate a few more than this, but they weren’t as presentable.

Sorry the light is extra weird in these, but we’re supposed to have storms and it’s all dark out.

And now, I’m going to avoid even looking at my to do list in favor of reading, since I’m not terribly interested in going outside.

I don’t feel very chatty.

I’m in a mood, but I know if I don’t post then my mom gets “curious” (read: nervous) about whether or not I ate dinner. So, here’s dinner:

Frittata with red potato, tomato, green pepper, spinach, and goat cheese; salad with tomato, more goat cheese, walnuts; bread.

I think I might have an Edy’s fruit bar, too. I just don’t know. I’ve had to make too many decisions today.