Food Waste:
I had to throw away a big head of broccoli. It was turning that weird light greenish color it turns before it goes completely bad. I did end up using most of the stalks in tonight's dinner so it wasn't a total loss. I also ended up using a whole bunch of other random leftovers in tonight's dinner so that cut back on waste this week.
I foresee having to throw away a serving of the baked raviolis because it just wasn't that great.
Weekly Recap
We did pretty good with the meal plan this week. I completely stuck to it Sunday-Wednesday. Wednesday in the crock pot I ended up throwing in chicken breasts, red peppers, and this bottle of mexican green sauce (the rest wasn't in English - but it wasn't enchilada sauce). Kind of mojo-y, kinda just good. We served that in corn tortillas and it was tasty.
The baked ravioli wouldn't been better if the ravioli was fresher. I honestly don't know how long that bag has been sitting in my cabinet. It was okay. We each had leftovers for lunch and there's still another serving.
Thursday I ended up not making the jambalaya cause I wanted to use up leftovers. Took leftover pork chops and sliced, broccoli stalks, green pepper, pineapple salsa, green beans, butternut squash (as I said, any random veggie that was in the fridge) and threw it all into the wok. Added an egg, rice, and soy sauce and we had a lovely fried rice for dinner. Great way to use up leftovers.
As for toinght, baked tofu is on the plan but we'll see how that goes...
Friday, February 26, 2010
Wednesday, February 24, 2010
Crock Pot Wednesday
It's that time of week again. Crock pot day. I got this recipe from a friend a few years ago and adapted it to our tastes.
Taco Soup:
- Ground beef or turkey (cooked)
- Diced bell pepper (red, green, or both)
- Diced/Seeded Jalapeno (or a TB of jarred diced jalapeno)
- Drained can of corn
- Drained can of black olives (roughly chopped a bit)
- Drained and rinsed can of beans (I usually use black, but friend suggests any bean)
- Can of crushed Tomatoes (sometimes I use a can of diced tomatos)
- 1 pkg of taco seasoning
- About 32 oz chicken stock
Toss everything into the crock pot and stir. I have a 6 qt crock pot so this is usually fine. Sometimes, I'll throw in an extra can of tomatoes. It's very easy since pretty much everything is in cans that I normally have in my pantry anyway.
I normally cook on low all day (about 7-8 hours). When I get home if I want it thicker, I just put some in a small put and make a corn starch slurry to thicken that small pot up and then dump that back into the whole crock pot. If you don't know how to make a corn starch slurry don't worry - just read the box it'll tell you how :)
I usually like it very thick so I make it much thicker when I get home. Sometimes, I'll take a can of creamed corn and thicken that and add it back into the pot. You could also probably use an imersion blender a bit to make it thicker. Serve with some shredded cheese and sour cream. If it's really thick, grab some chips too.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Jury Duty
So, I was called in to jury duty on the first day because I'm just lucky like that. I drove out to the court house and parked in a random parking lot. My first thought: There should really be more signs. There were signs telling me where not to park but not where to actually park and no signs actually telling me where to go in. Considering, we can only get called for jury duty every six years, it's not like anyone is an old pro at this point.
I get there early (9:15 - didn't have to be there until 9:30), as usual, and sit down and start reading. I left my cell phone in the car because the sheet said not to bring it in. There's an old guy sitting a row or two away from me babbling on his cell phone really loudly. Hmmm, why did I listen to the rules? I could be roaming the internet right now instead of playing Sudoku. Oh well.
Around 10, people are still wandering in and trying to fight their way out of it. "Why do I have to stay all day?? This is ridiculous" At this point, I'm thinking what's ridiculous is that you people won't just sit down and do you're jury duty that you have to maybe do once every six years. Get over it and sit the flip down.
We watch a movie. I read my book. I get called into a jury room around 10:30ish. It's a medical malpractice case. Okay, this could be interesting, call my name so you can interview me. They interview six people. After 2 hours, they knock out 4 people and replace them from the rest of us sitting in the room. I haven't been called yet.
Lunchtime is 12:30-2. Talk about a waste of time. I'd much rather just get this all over with. I contemplate going to law school cause the day starts at 9:30 lunch is 12:30-2 and then we leave at 4. That's a nice work day! Obviously, they have other work to do but in my head at this point in time, it sounds fabulous to be a lawyer or judge.
We go back to the little room we were in before lunch. They excuse 2 more people and take two more from our little pool. Now it's 2:45 and they let 2 more people go. There's only 6 of us left in the room (besides the jurors). I'm getting kind of interested now because I have a chance of being picked. I wouldn't mind being picked, I think it would be interesting serving on a jury (yes, I know I'm crazy). But, really? How bad is it to serve on jury duty? Granted at $40 a day pay I definitely couldn't afford my mortgage if I got put on a long case but this one was supposed to last around 8 days. Five of which my job would pay my full pay so after that I'd only get the $40.
Who could live on $40 a day? Especially in NY. What happens to those people who get picked for long cases (i.e. OJ trial). My house would be foreclosed on if I was paid $40 a day for 8 months. That's craziness. My husband would have to go out and get a second job in order to pay all the bills while I sat on a jury.
Anyway, 2 people get immediately excused. Two more get called up to fill the empty juror seats. One gets excused. It's down to me and an old guy. We're joking around. I told him he would be called first because my name is ALWAYS last. He was called up. He claimed he had sleep apnea so he would fall asleep on jury. Why don't you go to a doctor and get that checked out? If you have sleep apnea it means you're not breathing while you sleep - might be worth getting checked out instead of throwing around a diagnosis. I don't know why it bothers my so much but it really does. If you know there is something wrong with you, do something about it. Don't worry about sleeping with a mask on - you'll get used to it and you'll breathe better. My father has sleep apnea and sleeps with a C-Pap machine.
So, I finally get called. I figured I'm a shoe-in. I'm the last person in the room and there's one seat left. I sit down with the lawyers. We joke around a bit. They ask me where I work so I tell them. The lawyer excuses me. He knows the owner of the school I work for. What? I don't even know the owner, how does this effect me at all? What bullshit! If I worked for Staples, and the lawyer knew the owner, would that be a conflict of interested??
Yes, it probably would. But I was annoyed. I had sat in that room on that same case for HOURS and now I was chopped so quickly. Couldn't they call my name hours ago?? So I go back into the main room. Now, I'm worried that I have to go back into the main pool since it's only 3:30. I don't want to be called into another room and then have to come back the next day.
Luckily, I didn't have to. I handed in my papers and got stamped and I'm good to go for another 6 years. Maybe next time I'll actually get picked.
I get there early (9:15 - didn't have to be there until 9:30), as usual, and sit down and start reading. I left my cell phone in the car because the sheet said not to bring it in. There's an old guy sitting a row or two away from me babbling on his cell phone really loudly. Hmmm, why did I listen to the rules? I could be roaming the internet right now instead of playing Sudoku. Oh well.
Around 10, people are still wandering in and trying to fight their way out of it. "Why do I have to stay all day?? This is ridiculous" At this point, I'm thinking what's ridiculous is that you people won't just sit down and do you're jury duty that you have to maybe do once every six years. Get over it and sit the flip down.
We watch a movie. I read my book. I get called into a jury room around 10:30ish. It's a medical malpractice case. Okay, this could be interesting, call my name so you can interview me. They interview six people. After 2 hours, they knock out 4 people and replace them from the rest of us sitting in the room. I haven't been called yet.
Lunchtime is 12:30-2. Talk about a waste of time. I'd much rather just get this all over with. I contemplate going to law school cause the day starts at 9:30 lunch is 12:30-2 and then we leave at 4. That's a nice work day! Obviously, they have other work to do but in my head at this point in time, it sounds fabulous to be a lawyer or judge.
We go back to the little room we were in before lunch. They excuse 2 more people and take two more from our little pool. Now it's 2:45 and they let 2 more people go. There's only 6 of us left in the room (besides the jurors). I'm getting kind of interested now because I have a chance of being picked. I wouldn't mind being picked, I think it would be interesting serving on a jury (yes, I know I'm crazy). But, really? How bad is it to serve on jury duty? Granted at $40 a day pay I definitely couldn't afford my mortgage if I got put on a long case but this one was supposed to last around 8 days. Five of which my job would pay my full pay so after that I'd only get the $40.
Who could live on $40 a day? Especially in NY. What happens to those people who get picked for long cases (i.e. OJ trial). My house would be foreclosed on if I was paid $40 a day for 8 months. That's craziness. My husband would have to go out and get a second job in order to pay all the bills while I sat on a jury.
Anyway, 2 people get immediately excused. Two more get called up to fill the empty juror seats. One gets excused. It's down to me and an old guy. We're joking around. I told him he would be called first because my name is ALWAYS last. He was called up. He claimed he had sleep apnea so he would fall asleep on jury. Why don't you go to a doctor and get that checked out? If you have sleep apnea it means you're not breathing while you sleep - might be worth getting checked out instead of throwing around a diagnosis. I don't know why it bothers my so much but it really does. If you know there is something wrong with you, do something about it. Don't worry about sleeping with a mask on - you'll get used to it and you'll breathe better. My father has sleep apnea and sleeps with a C-Pap machine.
So, I finally get called. I figured I'm a shoe-in. I'm the last person in the room and there's one seat left. I sit down with the lawyers. We joke around a bit. They ask me where I work so I tell them. The lawyer excuses me. He knows the owner of the school I work for. What? I don't even know the owner, how does this effect me at all? What bullshit! If I worked for Staples, and the lawyer knew the owner, would that be a conflict of interested??
Yes, it probably would. But I was annoyed. I had sat in that room on that same case for HOURS and now I was chopped so quickly. Couldn't they call my name hours ago?? So I go back into the main room. Now, I'm worried that I have to go back into the main pool since it's only 3:30. I don't want to be called into another room and then have to come back the next day.
Luckily, I didn't have to. I handed in my papers and got stamped and I'm good to go for another 6 years. Maybe next time I'll actually get picked.
Monday, February 22, 2010
Meal Plan Monday
It's already time for another Meal Plan Monday. Here is the plan for this week:
Breakfast is cereal, waffles, or toast
Lunch is leftovers
Sunday: Baked ziti but instead of ziti I'm using mini raviolis, garlic bread, salad
Monday: Chicken "Glop" (yes, it's a terrible name but that's what we always called it growing up), rice, roasted butternut squash
Tuesday: Pork chops with pineapple salsa, steamed broccoli
Wednesday: Something in the crock pot but I haven't figured out what yet.
Thursday: Jambalaya with chicken and/or shrimp
Friday: Baked Tofu
I'm heading off to jury duty now. Lucky me, I got called in on the first day. I have a book and a sudoku book all set to go so hopefully that'll keep me entertained all day. Some things say I can bring my cell phone, some things say I can't at all, so I guess I'll just leave it in the car. It would be nice to be able to text or just roam the internet while I wait but oh well. Hopefully, I don't get lost driving out there.
Breakfast is cereal, waffles, or toast
Lunch is leftovers
Sunday: Baked ziti but instead of ziti I'm using mini raviolis, garlic bread, salad
Monday: Chicken "Glop" (yes, it's a terrible name but that's what we always called it growing up), rice, roasted butternut squash
Tuesday: Pork chops with pineapple salsa, steamed broccoli
Wednesday: Something in the crock pot but I haven't figured out what yet.
Thursday: Jambalaya with chicken and/or shrimp
Friday: Baked Tofu
I'm heading off to jury duty now. Lucky me, I got called in on the first day. I have a book and a sudoku book all set to go so hopefully that'll keep me entertained all day. Some things say I can bring my cell phone, some things say I can't at all, so I guess I'll just leave it in the car. It would be nice to be able to text or just roam the internet while I wait but oh well. Hopefully, I don't get lost driving out there.
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