I get to work and the manager on duty for Sunday has brought his son with him to work. This isn't really a good place for a child to hang out all day, and this seven year old, full of energy, was no exception. Kids can make my dog nervous. The manager planted his son near the front desk, where I work, and then left to attend to the super bowl party he was running for the residents. After shooting pool for a while, and who knows what else, the boy works his way up to the front desk, where he proceeds to, no joke, break chalk, cut up latex gloves with scissors, find some thread in a drawer and spool it all over the place, among other things. He also doesn't really know how to interact with dogs and read dog body language, and despite me saying, 'She gets nervous when there's a lot of activity,' or, 'don't get right up in her face like that,' or, 'be careful with your feet, she's sensitive about that,' the kid didn't listen. He wanted to feed her peanut butter and nuts and kept trying to after I said she'd had enough.
So I became an impromptu babysitter for this kid who wasn't listening to me. I was pissed. I was more pissed that he wouldn't leave my dog alone, and that I got stuck with this kid on my shitty twelve hour day. All right, I will attempt to not turn this blog into a platform for me to bitch about how shitty things are right now, so all that was to illustrate how stressed out and frustrated I was (new word: strustrated? frussed?).
I made the Peanut Butter Banana Oatmeal for breakfast. Despite not having any sweetener like sugar or honey, the combination of the peanut butter and the banana was flavorful enough that I liked it. Unfortunately, it was really hot, and I didn't have time to eat it all, or even a third of it, before I had to run and catch the bus. Have I mentioned that it takes me an hour to get to work by bus? It sucks. I'll probably mention it again because I'm so bitter about it.
I had made the Lentil Soup recipe from the book, which is not on the website, the night before for lunch. It's 10 ounces of lentils, four ounces each of carrots, celery, and leeks, four Strausborg sausages (which I was unable to find, so I used some really good Italian hot sausage), and a shit ton of garlic salt. All right, the recipe didn't actually call for it (though it did say salt and pepper), and maybe it's my numbed American tastebuds, but it really needed it. I also threw in some fresh herbs. It was really good and flavorful, which, given it was full of LENTILS, was a nice surprise. I also had an apple at lunch, and had been eating walnuts and almonds and dried apricots in the morning.
When I finally got home, the last thing I wanted to do was make dinner. I was really hungry, really exhausted, and really pissy. But I knew I'd feel like that, so I planned on making Chicken Au Champagne, which my mom and I had made and I knew was relatively fast, easy, and good. And it was all those things. I threw together the Strawberry Salad with Tomatoes, another thing my mom and I had made, only sans tomatoes. I have tried all my life, and I just don't like tomatoes. Tomato derived products are fine, but I don't like the flavor or texture or consistency of tomatoes by themselves. So, anyway, I can't say enough about that salad. It's so simple and yet it tastes like there's a fantasy world coming to life in your mouth, it's so vivid and delicious. I love love love it. I also had a little bit of this fantastic spring onion and chive cheddar cheese I got from a great grocery store near my apartment. Cooking while shaking off the stress of the day while dancing to Pulp was actually really nice, and probably better at reducing my stress than my past tactic: getting comfort food (it probably would've been garlic fries and a fried fish sandwich from a local fast food chain, with a HUGE Mountain Dew...look at that parallel already, it's quite striking), and then watching tv on dvd to distract me while I ate. And, rest assured, I have a tiny studio apartment that's quite cluttered. If I can find room to dance around like an idiot (I was also trying to entertain my bird), so can you!
To be honest, the prospect of maintaining this degree of planning and preparation is quite daunting (I will need more Xanax). I was intending to make a fish dish tonight for dinner, but I think I'm just going to finish off the chicken. Guiliano cautions against eating the same thing several nights in a row, because variety is a key component, but for me, this is what I need to do right now.
Day One: Successful!
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