open-faced garden sandwich.

I'm a fan of the "super healthy meals, indulgent desserts" lifestyle (at least until my metabolism completely breaks down). Lately, actually, I've been pretty on top of cooking almost all my meals or eating salads when I do go to the dining hall. Desserts are at a minimum. And I've exercised three mornings in a row!

But there's always that one day that trips you up. The week leading up to that day could have been long. You might have been stuck in a 3-hr lab killing live fish with scalpels and smashing snails with rusty wrenches before massacring their bodies in search of teeny tiny parasites (and disappointingly not finding any :( ) An odd allergy season may have descended.

On these days, you eat a sandwich like this one. And then you go out to Brother Jimmy's with the girls to share a swamp water and the best pulled chicken nachos you've had in a long time. It's okay. It happens.

pumpkin oatmeal + veggie burger.

So the other day I woke up early, by break standards - 7:45 am - and drove about an hour to the greenhouse where The Garden of Eden meets to plant, water, and harvest organically grown lettuce. I ate breakfast around 9 am, as I was driving. We worked at the greenhouse till around 2 pm.

At the end, I was eating the arugula that had been picked because I was hungry and wanted to munch on something, even if that meant eating these really bitter (the flavor was much more pronounced) tiny leaves.

With the knowledge that Thomas Sweet was in close proximity, I proceeded to spend about 15 minutes getting lost on Route 18 and going who knows where to park in a spot that was most likely illegal. But I mean, I wasn't going to be long or anything.

turkey meatballs: salad & sub.

A really long time ago, my mom made turkey meatballs. I had recently returned from college & was trying to change my bad university habits by vowing to eat healthy all summer. So I incorporated the turkey meatballs into a salad. My brothers & dad were normal. They ate the meatballs as part of a sub sandwich.

And not too long ago at all, less than an hour ago actually, I slammed my finger in a door. All by myself.

Now let me tell you, it takes a hell of a lot more skill to do the latter than the former.

tofu sprout lunch.

I decided I would just say what I ate for lunch instead of trying to come up with some fancy pants name. Why was this such a difficult solution to come to? I am not sure.

I have been loving this Thai place I have been to a few times. It serves authentic, absolutely delicious Thai food.

I enjoy their food and its flavor so much that I have tried recreating it at home. I went ahead and impulsively bought bean sprouts from the grocery store, even though the bag was huge and I had no idea how I'd be able to finish them all.

quick lunch update 4 - sandwich.

I need a new name for these so badly. I was thinking of abbreviating "quick lunch update" and just saying QLU, but that may be difficult for new readers of my blog & it is neither cute nor catchy.

Why is there a spoon in the below picture? Not sure.

Anyway, my mom and I were making a quick visit to A&P for some dinner ingredients when I saw this rosemary focaccia on sale. It was on sale because the sell by date was that day. However, I was convinced that my family (of EIGHT) would be able to finish the bread quite quickly. There were only a few pieces left for the next day, and it was with two of these pieces that I built the foundation for my lunch.

quick lunch update 3 - tuna sandwich.

Today I ate a tuna sandwich. But I didn't use mayo. Impossible? NOT AT ALL.

quick lunch update 2 - salad.

I feel like I should have a name for these lunch sneak-peeks. Hm. I can't think of one, but I really want something creative & interesting. Hmm. Ummm. Er. Uh. Yeah nothing's coming, I will use numbers until something hits me!

Yesterday night for dinner, I knew I primarily would eat slices of the orange pull-apart loaf I made recently, so I decided upon salad for dinner. I never grew up eating salad as a meal ... It just doesn't fit with my culture. But college (I should say university, since I technically attend a university, not a college) changed me for the better in that I ate salad a lot. Especially Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays when the next best choice is the chicken stuffed with broccoli, which sounds delicious, but not when it was on the menu a few days back ... and you're probably eating reheated leftovers of three days ago. And plus, the salad bar is fairly well-stocked. I love the craisins and pumpkin & sunflower seeds they have! That along with the feta and some baby spinach .. oh my.

quick lunch update 1 - pita sandwich.

I made tomato jam again - by myself, this time - with these beautiful plump little tomatoes.


You know the section of the grocery store where they have fruit and vegetables that are a little past their prime? And so they're on sale because otherwise they'd go in the garbage very soon? Yeah ... that's where these came from. No shame. They were perfectly fine (after I picked out the bad ones) & they made beautiful tomato jam.

And so I had a nice light lunch of an egg white omelette with spinach and tomato jam in a pita.