Back-fat

The little sister and I went to 24 S.E.T. last night with a teacher I've never been to, and she had us lay on the step to do a ton of arm work (sore all over) but, apparently, I need more back-fat ... sparing the pictures, I have red sores all down my spine from simply laying on the step while doing weight work.

So, in honor of gaining back-fat (haha, joking mostly) here is a post semi-dedicated to food:

When we got home around 8, we were starving, indecisive, and basically just spontaneously ended up making one of the most delicious meals we (I've) cooked in a long time:


Salmon burgers on thin-whole-wheat buns with cheddar cheese, seasoned/cooked mushrooms and onions, tomatoes, lettuce and dijon mustard; sweet-potato and yam fries seasoned with pepper, garlic, and a little bit of chili powder; black beans. (And yes, that is a potholder with my tiny preschool-sized hand circa 1990.)


I was skeptical about this snack after constantly seeing it in those "healthy snacks omg!" articles in magazines/on the Internet, but seriously, whole-wheat Ritz with cheese and apple slices piled on top is so so good, and quite filling, too.


Another experimental lunch that I was pretty hesitant to eat when it came time to it, but was actually pleasantly surprised: Spinach leaves with feta cheese, peppered tomato slices, pasta and a little bit of sesame dressing.

Also, my sister is creeped out by my newest horticulturesque obsession:


I am just SO stoked that my avocado seeds are finally sprouting!! I've tried and (self-proclaimedly) failed numerous times to suspend these little guys over water in hopes of beginning my own avocado-growing family ... I guess I just didn't wait long enough before, because this time, they took weeks. It's just so cool how something so weird-looking actually works. I mean, shoving in toothpicks, suspending the seeds over water so that it's halfway emersed? Kinda weird. But then the seeds start splitting to reveal a little plant membrane inside, and the one I'm holding in the picture (which you can't see very well) has a stem coming out of it (top part of the seed).

So there you have it. My exciting life. I feel scratchiness in my throat right now, have congested ears, and am sneezing more than normal, so I'm gonna start the Airborne attack and hope that works.

Is it weird that I take pictures of food?

Yum yum, plain yogurt with apricots and orange-flavored dried cranberries (yes the ones from work). I am trying to kick up the health notch to balance out all the chocolate that's been cropping up around the office. Compared to how I can be, I've been pretty good about avoiding sweets-overload.

So, back to the title of this post, if it is weird, then some apologies are in order, and I can stop wondering whether certain things I do (like taking pictures of food) are weird. Maybe I just have a passion for all things edible ... that, or an unhealthy (or, in the above picture's case, healthy) obsession.

Regardless, my love for food faced an unprecedented challenge the other night: a kitchen nightmare.

It all began with a lovely pasta dish. The noodles had just been submerged in boiling water, the veggies for the sauce (which I, for some reason, refer to as "pizza sauce," even though it isn't in the slightest like pizza) were in the choppin' works, and the garlic was simmering in a pan. What's this? The sink is draining extra slowly? No worries, let's just turn on the garbage disposal ... except that causes a water-spewing display that would make the fountain at Balboa Park jealous.

Long story short, the next morning, my kitchen was FLOODED. Like, opening-a-drawer-that's-full-of-water flooded. Aaand, water got under the carpet, so currently, carpet crews are replacing the padding underneath the carpet. This means that even though I have a few more weeks of living there, everything is boxed up and moved around, and it pretty much looks like I'm about to hit the road.

Now, enjoy some more pictures I've taken and saved (how sad, right?) of FOOD:


Seriously, Ireland, this is your idea of a "breakfast sandwich"?


This is more like it. Guess it's 'cause it's not from a train station ...


A much fancier version of what I just made myself for lunch.


Mmm, Griffin's Bakery in Galway.

Yeah, those were all from Ireland, and that's not even all of the pictures I took of food while I was there ...

So, to end, finally, here is one just for fun: