This is not the last time you will see this picture. Note: the beginning of this new year marks an important milestone. My promised reduction (by half!) in work hours has begun, as well as a new commitment to spend that extra time doing the kinds of work that I love (writing and cooking, mostly), and the kinds of play that are good for me (e.g., not playing Civilization 4 for hours on end because I am too tired/depressed to do anything else).
(Also note: it took me a few rocky weeks to get used to this new, weird freedom.)
Jan 1
Breakfast: Leftover deep-fried eggplant, leftover mac and cheese.
Lunch: Leftover eggplant with minty tomato sauce, leftover dijon beef stew and noodles.
Dinner: Grilled cheese and ham sandwiches on week-old bagels, featuring extra-sharp Cabot cheddar that barely wanted to melt. The stale bagels were edible once warm. Side salad of arugula, basil, mint, and shredded carrot, with olive oil and white wine vinegar. Orange slices.
Snacks: 4 cups of coffee with half-and-half and/or whipping cream, 2 regular, 2 decaf. 2 Ghiradelli chocolate squares, one dark chocolate, one mint. Small glass of eggnog mixed with whole milk, with rum, after dinner. The eggnog is now finally gone.
Jan 2
Breakfast (6:30 am): leftover deep-fried eggplant, leftover mac and cheese.
Lunch (at almost 4:00, after work): vegetable fried rice with a fried egg on top, from the restaurant. Served with exhaustion. Also served cold, because I did not get off work until 45 minutes after I expected, and my order sat languishing on the counter.
Dinner: scrambled eggs with gruyere cheese, multigrain toast with butter and jam (apricot on one slice, homemade apple butter that was a Christmas gift from my niece on the other), orange slices. Incidentally, this bag of tiny navel oranges that I bought at the Whole Foods suck. They are all dry and leathery and also full of seeds.
Snacks: 4 cups of coffee, 2 regular, 2 decaf, with half and half. Assorted pieces of chocolate, still from Christmas stocking/gifts. A pina colada with rum, from ingredients left over after New Year's.
My boss gave me a good-sized bag of Jelly Bellies today (and more chocolate) as a belated Christmas gift. I promised myself I would not open the Jelly Bellies until I next go to the movies. It is a struggle. I am now really looking forward to going to the movies.
Jan 3
Breakfast: at Nick's Diner. Cheeseburger with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, ketchup and mustard; home fries; coffee.
Shopping (co-op): Ugandan Equal Exchange coffee, decaf Equal Exchange coffee, 3 rolls Seventh Generation toilet paper, organic Irish Breakfast tea, organic green split peas, organic lactose-free 2% milk, assorted flavors individual Chobani Greek yogurts, $49.
Dinner: Homemade split pea soup, multigrain bread with butter. I didn't measure anything about the split pea soup, but-- apart from buying the split peas-- it was a throw-everything-in-the-pot kind of soup, designed to use things up. I started by rendering a few pieces of homemade salt pork I have been keeping in the freezer (and then removed the pieces that were mostly skin and fat); supplemented this with some olive oil and used the fat to soften some onion. The split peas went in, along with some seasonings (bay leaves, sage, lemon pepper, celery salt); liquid was added in the form of leftover canned tomatoes, leftover beef stock, and water. Boiling ensued. Eventually I threw in several chopped carrots and a few slices of deli ham, chopped up, for more porky flavor. Towards the end I added more salt, a lot more lemon pepper, a little maple syrup, and a little apple cider vinegar. I would have preferred to use some lemon juice, but I didn't have any handy. The soup was good, filling and flavorful, but the flavor was perhaps a little more complex than I would have preferred-- more smoky ham, more carrot, more lemon would have been ideal, and not the mostly irrelevant components like tomatoes and beef.
Snacks: 3 other cups of coffee, 1 regular, 2 decaf, with half and half. Assorted bits of chocolate and a grape Laffy Taffy, which my mother put in my Christmas stocking for some reason. Glass of red wine.
(Also note: it took me a few rocky weeks to get used to this new, weird freedom.)
Jan 1
Breakfast: Leftover deep-fried eggplant, leftover mac and cheese.
Lunch: Leftover eggplant with minty tomato sauce, leftover dijon beef stew and noodles.
Dinner: Grilled cheese and ham sandwiches on week-old bagels, featuring extra-sharp Cabot cheddar that barely wanted to melt. The stale bagels were edible once warm. Side salad of arugula, basil, mint, and shredded carrot, with olive oil and white wine vinegar. Orange slices.
Snacks: 4 cups of coffee with half-and-half and/or whipping cream, 2 regular, 2 decaf. 2 Ghiradelli chocolate squares, one dark chocolate, one mint. Small glass of eggnog mixed with whole milk, with rum, after dinner. The eggnog is now finally gone.
Jan 2
Breakfast (6:30 am): leftover deep-fried eggplant, leftover mac and cheese.
Lunch (at almost 4:00, after work): vegetable fried rice with a fried egg on top, from the restaurant. Served with exhaustion. Also served cold, because I did not get off work until 45 minutes after I expected, and my order sat languishing on the counter.
Dinner: scrambled eggs with gruyere cheese, multigrain toast with butter and jam (apricot on one slice, homemade apple butter that was a Christmas gift from my niece on the other), orange slices. Incidentally, this bag of tiny navel oranges that I bought at the Whole Foods suck. They are all dry and leathery and also full of seeds.
Snacks: 4 cups of coffee, 2 regular, 2 decaf, with half and half. Assorted pieces of chocolate, still from Christmas stocking/gifts. A pina colada with rum, from ingredients left over after New Year's.
My boss gave me a good-sized bag of Jelly Bellies today (and more chocolate) as a belated Christmas gift. I promised myself I would not open the Jelly Bellies until I next go to the movies. It is a struggle. I am now really looking forward to going to the movies.
Jan 3
Breakfast: at Nick's Diner. Cheeseburger with American cheese, lettuce, tomato, onion, pickle, ketchup and mustard; home fries; coffee.
Shopping (co-op): Ugandan Equal Exchange coffee, decaf Equal Exchange coffee, 3 rolls Seventh Generation toilet paper, organic Irish Breakfast tea, organic green split peas, organic lactose-free 2% milk, assorted flavors individual Chobani Greek yogurts, $49.
Dinner: Homemade split pea soup, multigrain bread with butter. I didn't measure anything about the split pea soup, but-- apart from buying the split peas-- it was a throw-everything-in-the-pot kind of soup, designed to use things up. I started by rendering a few pieces of homemade salt pork I have been keeping in the freezer (and then removed the pieces that were mostly skin and fat); supplemented this with some olive oil and used the fat to soften some onion. The split peas went in, along with some seasonings (bay leaves, sage, lemon pepper, celery salt); liquid was added in the form of leftover canned tomatoes, leftover beef stock, and water. Boiling ensued. Eventually I threw in several chopped carrots and a few slices of deli ham, chopped up, for more porky flavor. Towards the end I added more salt, a lot more lemon pepper, a little maple syrup, and a little apple cider vinegar. I would have preferred to use some lemon juice, but I didn't have any handy. The soup was good, filling and flavorful, but the flavor was perhaps a little more complex than I would have preferred-- more smoky ham, more carrot, more lemon would have been ideal, and not the mostly irrelevant components like tomatoes and beef.
Snacks: 3 other cups of coffee, 1 regular, 2 decaf, with half and half. Assorted bits of chocolate and a grape Laffy Taffy, which my mother put in my Christmas stocking for some reason. Glass of red wine.