First the popcorn - go buy the ingredients, and make it immediately. Especially if you want your home to smell really, really, good. It is salty and sweet, and the maple sugar makes the popcorn taste nutty, toasty, and buttery. I found the recipe in the March 2008 issue of Cooking Light:
- 2 Tbsp canola oil
- 1/2 cup popcorn
- 1/4 cup maple sugar
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
Heat oil in a 3-quart pot over med-high. Add the rest of the ingredients. Shake pot frequently to avoid burning. (Pay attention to this part. I shook "frequently", and still burned mine on the bottom. I would recommend shaking non-stop.)
(For those of you interested in this sort of thing, 1 1/2 cups of this TASTY-*$# treat has only 89 calories.)
Now on to my food crisis: I work from 7:00AM to 7:30PM. I don't like to eat after I leave work, which means I have to pack both lunch and dinner. That is a lot of food.
And there are days when it isn't even feasible to get to a freakin microwave oven. I've been falling back on Trader Joe's an awful lot lately. I need help! So, please...let me know if you have any ideas for good portable food.
In other news: my vacation was fabulous. I spent the entire time reading/sleeping under a beach umbrella, with my feet sticking out in the sun. I've never spent a vacation being that sedentary, but it was obviously needed. I was there with three co-workers. Most of the time we looked like we had been out too late the night before, despite going to bed before 9:00 every night. (Just how stressful is work, anyways?!)
View from the balcony:
10 comments:
This is the perfect use for the maple sugar in my cupboard :D If I were eating it beside the pool in the other shot it would be perfect :D
So, I think you had a lovely trip! :-)
This popcorn looks just PERFECT. I want to make some for the next time Mr. Cakespy and I have a law and order-a-thon!
As for food to pack--that is a rough one. I am still trying to figure that one myself!
Hummus is your friend. And, have you seen all of those bento lunch groups over at flickr? I'll track down a good link for you. . . .lots of lunch time inspiration. And, I do believe I did a post about packing lunches at some point too. I'll go back and see what I said!
And, um, I really would have done nothing but sit by that pool and drink if I'd been there. Lucky!
Do you like bean salads? I like to mince some shallot, and soak it for 10-15 (or, if I forget it, an hour or two) minutes, and add it in with some garbanzo beans (I use canned, I admit), and a olive oil/vinegar/salt vinaigrette and dress it up from there. The kind of bean can easily be varied, or use lentils instead. My daughter likes it with flaked tuna (and if they're in season, tomatoes). I like adding diced red bell peppers that I roast, and I add cumin to the vinaigrette, and put in chopped parsley, as well. With a some sliced chorizo, a piece of fruit and a bit of bread, it gives me something I can go back to many times, and it's better at room temperature. And, okay, it's always better if there's a piece of chocolate or a cookie to finish.
AHHH! I'm so jealous of you! Man, I am. That's a beautiful view! I'm glad you had a nice vacay, and you deserve the rest for working such long hours.
Also, I just read this recipe from Cooking Light, yesterday! I want to try it, but we don't have maple sugar. Maybe I could use maple syrup?
I'm not sure what to tell you about your work eating. I work until about 10 every night, so I end up eating dinner when I get home-around 10-11 PM.
Your post makes me long for a vacation. Glad that you got some good rest.
Quinoa Salad
cook quinoa (as much as you want)
1 can garbanzos
1 can kidney beans
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 cucumber, de-seeded and chopped
1 red pepper, chopped
1 yellow pepper, chopped
1 cup cubed feta cheese (more to taste),
2 T olive oil
1 T balsamic vin
all ingredients are approx. but defs delicious - I could eat this salad morning, noon and night.
Get yourself one of these: http://www.amazon.com/Zojirushi-Bento-Stainless-Steel-Lined-Silver/dp/B000246GSE/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=home-garden&qid=1204604194&sr=8-1
Sorry to do this to you, but I'm tagging you. . . go check out this post on my blog: http://rhubarbsky.wordpress.com/2008/03/05/well-now-lookie-there/
Have fun!
Carrie
Anyone who names their blog "Pietown" is definitely the kind of person that I would like to hang out with. As a new mama who's nursing, I can relate to the neverending quest for good piles of food. One of my simple favorites: Get yourself some high quality deli meat (don't skimp on this), a sliced apple (I like Fiji or Pink Lady), some real good cheese (Irish Dubliner, mmm), and maybe some artisan bread if you have the hankering. Don't make a sandwich, don't use a dip, just put a little pile of each on a plate and nibble on it. The trick with this is to get the high quality ingredients--enjoy your food simply rather than trying to make it entertain you. When I get tired of turkey, dubliner, and apples, I go with roast beef, sharp cheddar and grapes. Simple, easy, good.
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