#172... so the story goes

As per usual, my comp time is floating right up at around 100 hours.  Basically, I have to average a part time job for the rest of the year.  I'm still not sure how that's going to work out.  If my job were a part time job, I wouldn't have this problem to begin with.

I guess this is an issue every year.  But they make a huge deal about it. Every. Year.

So today, I'm home.  Considering cleaning out my storage room to make room for canning jar shelves.  And a freezer.

But yesterday I ate this:

 

The last of the black rice/barley/brown rice mix with oven roasted zucchini and shredded chicken from the freezer stash, accompanied by cantaloupe and Armenian cucumber.

#170 and #171... I just like food.

That is what I tell people when they look at the kitchen exploits that I'm willing to make public (we don't talk about the experiments that never had a chance past the garbage can) and they make a big deal out of them.

I just like food.

And I get all smug when it's something I've grown myself.

I didn't get the chance to be publicly smug about this one.  It was supposed to be a work lunch, but the client provided food, so I took it home and ate it for breakfast the next day.

It has an heirloom tomato and mozzarella salad with a dipper full of reduced balsamic vinaigrette, mixed grains with marinated artichoke hearts, and as much cantaloupe as I could crowbar into the container.  I had three cantaloupes ripen at once, and another one just a few days later that's still sitting on my cupboard.  I imagine at least one more is sitting out in the garden waiting for me to come and pick it.

I had this one during staff meeting.  I would have felt bad, but staff meeting was held during the only half hour I didn't have to be in with client, effectively voiding out my lunch break.  For that, my coworkers get to smell the turkey sausage while we talk schedules.  Also included is more of my current mix of grains, and a pile of roasted zucchini.  The other layer has even more cantaloupe, and three heirloom snacking tomatoes with a couple of hard candies for dessert.

#169... Gardening!

One of the things I love about owning a home (BTW... I bought a house) is the fact that I can garden.

And garden I have.

I'm still figuring things out.  The squash bugs still wreak havoc.  The cucumbers aren't all that prolific.  And some of the peppers are spotting.

But I still end up with about as much produce as I can handle.

This week I've canned 34 pints of corn, 9 pints of green beans, and 6 pints of Mexican spaghetti sauce.  I imagine I'll end up with about 6 quarts of saurkraut, more tomatoes than I have jars for, and hopefully enough red peppers for a year's supply of roasted red pepper sauce.

Today's lunch is another courtesy of the garden:

I've got a mess of grains (black rice, brown rice, and barley) with some of that Mexican spaghetti sauce and shredded chicken I pulled out of the freezer.  The other layer has tomatoes and cantaloupe (from the garden, of course) with a dipper full of reduced balsamic vinaigrette.

Yes.  Still working with the crappy phone camera.  I'm working on it.

#168... I'm not making promises... just lunch.

Wow.

Three years you guys.

You few that are left.

I know you're there.  I keep getting page views for some reason.

So.  Let's ease into this...  We'll keep it nice and short.

Yes.  Apparently I can't take a good food photo with my current phone.  I'll work on that.

I've got a smoked turkey sausage, zucchini, corn, cantaloupe, peppers, and an old German tomato.

I had this at work while having a lovely moment of schadenfreude.  It was a good Monday.  With a garden fresh lunch (Yes, I did grow everything except the sausage.) and having a good laugh with my coworkers, how could it not be?

Bento #167... Gigging

I've spent an awful lot of time gigging recently... working with companies who do big corporate gigs.  It's great fun.  This past week, for instance, I spent a few days in Vegas.  No bentos for that because... it was Vegas.  Doing shows on the road means a 'per diem', which means that they gave me money for eating out and such.  Just one of the many perks of travel...  I spent two days working at a much closer convention center.  I took lunch the first day...  And again, was the weird one for having a healthy, tasty meal instead of a sandwich.  I did liberate a couple of cookies from the craft services table.  Because... cookies.

I have a salad of asparagus and white beans with a balsamic glaze.  It was incredibly tasty.  The purple potatoes came from my parents' garden.  I happened to be standing there while my dad was digging up the red potatoes, and when he would come across a purple potato that was out of place, he'd toss it to me.  I forgot about them until I got home and found I had a pocket full of purple potatoes...

I also have the last of the farmer's market stuff for the year... a selection of baby tomatoes (the orange ones are my favorite) and a purple carrot.  They are accompanied by grapes and gouda.