A busy two weeks

Wow, two weeks already. While I wanted this blog to be a Monday through Friday blog, I'm not sure it will be until I get better into the groove of grad. school.

Well, week #1 that I was away was spring break, and it was exciting. It started off with my Dad's birthday. We all (my two brothers, my sister-in-law, me & J., Mom and Dad) went out to eat and then went on to the Hunt Club for drinks and music. A friend of my Dad's was playing in the band.

The next few days J. and I spent at a hotel relaxing. It was his belated birthday gift since we actually spent his real birthday in a computer lab working on reports. It was very nice. There was a trip to the zoo, as well as a day a the driving range, a day spent shopping, al kinds of good stuff.

By the end of spring break we had our last snow for the year (hopefully), and during the blizzard-like conditions, my sister-in-law went into labor and delivered a 8.5lb baby girl! I'm an aunt! That day we spent 14 hours at the hospital waiting for my little niece to arrive and at 12:55 am, she did.

And my second week away was spent recouping and getting back into school. Two meetings, four classes, two presentations, and two returned exams later I am back. Someone please relieve me of this nightmare.

So here we are, back on track. Yay!

An Ode to Suess

I can't believe I missed it this year! I am a huge Dr. Suess fan. I used to ask my Dad to read 'Horton hatches an egg' so many times that he still has parts memorized today. Dr. Suess books are one of the first gifts I'll buy for new parents. Even though Dr. Suess's birthday was last week, I still made a Suess themed lunch for today.

"Would you like them in a box, would you like them with a fox? I do not like green eggs and ham, I do not like them Sam-I-Am!"

Tasty Bento and Snack

Yesterday I had all intents to pack a lunch and head on campus to continue studying for my last midterm, and wouldn't you know it but I didn't want to leave the house. I did study, but it was in the comfort of my home. If you were curious, I had udon noodles with radishes and carrots for lunch in a chicken broth. It's weird, but I've been loving radishes lately. I eat them with almost anything right now. Raw with hummus, cooked in soups, whatever.

Oh, sunshine! And it's gone now. I hate the mild, cloudy weather we've had lately. Either you're sunny, or you're not; make up your mind Mother Nature.

On to today's lunch (which I'm eating as I write this).

My lunch includes: Orange wedges, lots of broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, a pink radish, spinach omelet, and some ginger-chili chicken stir-fry left over from dinner. The stir-fry turned out super spicy (because of the heaping tablespoon of chili sauce I put in it) which is alright. Nice variation in today's lunch. Sweet omelet and orange, steamed veggies, and spicy chicken... not a bad balance in my tastes.

Combat Stress Lunch

I have a lot of stress, as do most people in today's society. You'd think that we could get over it with all the news toys we have, but it's not quite the same. Give me a house in the middle of the woods somewhere with my honey and I would be happy away from my email, cell phone, and work stress. I am constantly connected to everyone almost 24 hours a day.

In honor of my stress, I am decided to try out some "Beat Stress" tips. I used to meditate, but that was more or less just me sitting in my backyard daydreaming, and I do yoga maybe once a week. The one area that I wish I had a little more control over is my diet. I obviously have some control as I pack my own lunches and eat at home for about 80% of my meals, but when my stress and anxiety kick in I throw planned meals out the door and snack constantly on sweet and salty snacks until I'm bloated like a balloon.

A Doggy's Delight

So this was my simple, tasty lunch today. And my Boys made a cameo appearance in the form of a nori dauchshund with a cheese face and tomato collar. The head was a little big for the body, but that's kind of how they look.

A Simple Lunch

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, J. and I eat lunch on campus between classes. It's generally our busiest days. My morning class has run thirty minutes late both days this week (you'd think that 75 minutes would be a long enough class, but it's not), and we've been forced to eat lunch separately this week. It's sad sitting in the library eating by yourself reading your class notes (and occasionally cookbooks). The campus library has a very large cookbook section and I love to check them out.

So let's see what I had for lunch today.

A New Day for a Blog

So, I started a blog. It's about my obsession. Not just food, but cute food. The kind of food that brings out your inner child.

Cute. Fun. Healthy.

A little about this blog:

I love food. And I'm going to tell you about my food, specifically what I eat for lunch. I love the idea of packing bento style lunches. It has helped me with portion control, I get to use the creative side of my brain, and I tend to save money (and stomach aches) when I don't eat out for lunch all the time.

Eventually, I will post pictures of things I cook/bake/cutify (which my not be related to my lunch), things I make for J., things I make for my boys, and so on.

I am by no means a gormet cook. Just today I burned sandwiches in the oven so badly that they were almost inedible. I say almost because I ate mine, but the Boys got a good part of J's extra crispy crusts, which proved to be a little too crunchy for them as well... who knew dogs were food snobs. Therefore, everything may not be perfectly cooked, but hopefully edible.

So, I try to cook healthy meals. It's not that I have anything against fried chicken or anything ( I was raised by a southern family), but I know only in moderation should you eat these things. I like to believe that if you eat enough fresh vegetables and fruits that you can "undo" the bad things you eat.

Enough for now. Later I will post pictures.