Pasta + kale + carmelized onions + lentils = Yum!

I tried a new recipe tonight -- pasta with kale, carmelized onions and lentils. I kind of winged it with Rachel's recipe -- Rachel has a lot of vegetarian recipes and she's never steered me wrong.

This was good - the onions were sweet and the pasta/lentils combo was really filling. I also really liked the kale - it was my first time trying kale, too. :o)

I think it would taste REALLY good with some tomatoes -- probably of the sundried variety. ;o)

And so commences an evening of "When Harry Met Sally," a glass of wine, laundry folding, and further menu and exercise planning for the week.

Sometimes, this level of domesticity for a 23-year-old is a bit weird, though. Hmm.

Yuuuuuuuum!

Being a vegetarian has it's challenges and it's perks. One of the biggest perks is the increased dependence on your own creativity in the kitchen sometimes.

Recently, everyone in my office took a personality test to see where our character strengths are. My top trait was creativity - which I'm pleased to see.

Last night, I looked in the fridge for something to eat. Sitting on the shelf was a two-pack of tofu. With my tofu and some new finds from Whole Foods, I tapped into that creativity I supposedly have and voila! A hereby nameless, but nevertheless tasty dish:

{in the pan -- please pardon my turmeric-stained spoon}

So here are the ingredients and directions if it looks at all appetizing . . .
1 half-pack of extra firm tofu (about 5 ounces)
1 green onion, chopped
1/4 cup fresh cilantro, chopped
about 2 Tbsp olive oil
red pepper flakes (to taste)
cayenne pepper (to taste)
juice of 1/2 lemon
about 2 Tbsp soy sauce
about 2 Tbsp white vinegar
2 ounces (dry) capellini (angel hair)

First, I cubed the tofu and put it in the pan with the olive oil. While I was frying the tofu, I boiled angel hair pasta. In the pan, I threw the chopped green onion and cilantro and seasoned with the red chili pepper flakes and sprinkled with cayenne. I drizzled the vinegar and soy sauce over it then covered and let it simmer for a bit while I strained the pasta. After this, I stirred the pasta into the pan, tossing it with the tofu. I let it fry in the pan with the cover off (to let the noodles crisp just a bit). After a few minutes, I sprinkled with some more soy sauce, vinegar, chili pepper flakes and cayenne. All in all, I think this took maybe 20 minutes.

{all finished - just wishing I photographed food better}

Mmmmm!!! There was some good heat, good flavor and texture to it. I'll definitely be recreating this one.

But what to name it????

It's tricky, tricky, tricky.

(My Run DMC references are over. I promise.)

I don't know why, but I find it difficult to ignore the peevish feelings that arise when my coworkers do things like ask me if I've received email, talk to me from another room, or ask me about whether I've completed a task before I've even gotten to it yet. They tend to crop up in situations where I feel I'm being treated like someone's personal assistant (which I'm not) and for reasons beyond my understanding, my usually cheerful, happy-to-help self is left in quite a state. Can they see the steam coming from ears? Is it seeping out between my teeth as I try to smile and be pleasant? The following is a list of frequently arising work-related pet peeves:

1. Asking me if I've received an email
Generally speaking, my email inbox works quite well. I understand that technology isn't always fool-proof, that there are glitches, but in general if you send me something you can bet that I've received. I may not have had a chance to reply, but I have it and will get to it.

2. Talking to me from another room
Okay, there's really only one person who does this and it's because their office is fairly close to my desk which means I can hear them speaking to me. Of course, they get agitated when they can't see that I have headphones on and can't hear or that I'm ignoring whatever is being said. Maybe that's because if you're dying to tell me something you could a.) send me an email or b.) come up and talk to me.

3. Asking me if something's completed before I've even started
Now, if I were a slacker, this would be totally warranted and absolutely essential to making sure I'm getting the tasks done that need to be completed. However, I'm not a slacker. I'm a pretty hard worker. I also have many projects on my plate. Is it so difficult to understand that I can't publish a web page in under 15 minutes yet? Is it impossible to grasp that your tiny request of making a PDF of a file will be done after I've attended to the urgent project on my plate at the moment? Goodness gracious -- I'll GET to it!



Now, before I convince anyone that my coworkers are horrendously annoying people (they're not - they just have moments), there are two bright beacons of redemption. My boss is always so nice when requesting anything from me. Even when he's stressed, flustered and having a hard time to remember to throw in a "please" or two, he's still polite and knows that he can trust me in finishing what I need to get done in time. I mean, he IS my boss -- and yet he trusts me more than those who do not directly manage me? Interesting.

My coworker Lisa (name has been changed to protect the innocent) is the kindest, most thoughtful person I've ever worked with. She apologizes for interrupting me, she asks me to do something "when [I] have a chance." Just that wording alone makes me more inclined to help her because I think, "Of COURSE! Yeah, I'll take care of that little thing right now while I'm thinking of it."


In all seriousness, do you think Jesus had pet peeves? I mean, I'm positive that he would have dealt with them much better than I ever could and I pray that I will become more like Him in dealing with minor things that irritate me (because they really are minor). But sometimes, that quest to be more like Him demonstrates to me just how far I have to go and reminds me to be humble about my own shortcomings.

Ouch, ouch, ouch!

I hope to write something better when my shoulder isn't all seized up. I don't know if I slept funny or what (I'm a tummy sleeper unfortunately, it happens), but yesterday I woke up with a stiffness in my neck and shoulders that just worsened as the day went on.

By the end of the day, the neck was "eh" (a 4 on a 1-10 scale) and the shoulders were "whoa! dang!" (a 7.5 on a 1-10 scale) of pain. Taking a hot shower seemed to help, but laying in bed was awful. I just couldn't get comfortable to save my life. It hurt to try to sit up, roll over, relax too much, or otherwise try to make myself comfortable.

This morning, the movement has been very slow. I avoided driving on the freeway to work because that would require more use of my neck than I am painlessly able to offer. I'm waiting for the Aleve to kick in, the whole time wishing I could just camp on the couch.

I think I should have called in sick. Tuesday Tops tomorrow if I'm feeling up for it.

Friday Favorites

Friday Favorites - (n.) Like Tuesday Tops but not quite.

- flowers
- my new wine rack freshly installed by my dad
- my handsome boyfriend getting a pretty great opportunity at work (of course, it prolongs the amount of time until I see him, but I'm happy for him and really excited)
- my technologically challenged self managed to hook up my router (I'm blogging from my kitchen bar . . . NOT from the living room floor per the norm before this)
- books
- red lentil dal (I took Rachel's recipe -- it's a favorite and I make it once a week, usually)
- frozen bread (as a single girl living by herself, a loaf of bread usually goes bad before I can finish it so I've opted for freezing the loaf and pulling out and toasting slices as needed)


Tonight:
- veggie burger on toasted sourdough bread with goat cheese and mustard
- red wine
- long chat with my honey
- an organization 'game plan' is in the works


Current mood: loving life.

In spite

In spite of the dreary weather . . .
In spite of my currently low iron level (read: zilch energy) . . .
In spite of a birthday weekend full of high-calorie foods . . .
In spite of my own lack of motivation and pushing myself . . .

I've still managed to lose 1.6 pounds since last week. :o) I was praying to just break even . . . but I lost.

I'm going to run tonight, rain or not. Bring it, El Nino!

Lions and tigers and . . . tornadoes? Oh my!

Well, Palo Alto officially has a tornado warning in effect. It has been dumping buckets of rain for a few days now and lighting and thunder abound. It's come and go for the most part, but we've been officially "warned." There could be a tornado coming.

Of course, the sky's not green/yellow and there are no funnel clouds to be seen anywhere and thankfully, no hail, but hey . . .

We've been warned.