And by "this," I mean anything that requires willpower.
I left work a few minutes early today (I end my day with a prep period and didn't have much prepping to do) with the intention of going straight to the gym. As I drove back north, I started to toy with excuses. When I was about 4 miles from my exit, the Parkway turned into a complete standstill. "Well, this sure is annoying," I thought to myself. "Surely, if I have to sit in this for a long period of time, I deserve to go home and veg out." (Because this was my first day back to work, I was feeling extremely exhausted and in need of caffeine. By 9:45 AM, I was already thinking about how my job is akin to running a marathon).
The traffic broke up, no source in sight, and I begrudgingly headed to the gym. First, I had to drop clothes off at the dry cleaners' next door. As I rifled through my gym bag for said blazer and work pants, I realized that I did not have socks with me. CAN'T GO TO THE GYM WITHOUT SOCKS! (This is a common excuse. I didn't see headphones in the bag, either, now that I think of it...this is my second runner-up excuse). After dropping my items off for cleaning/repair, I got back in the car and headed home.
"Maybe I'll walk to Starbucks and get a coffee," I thought (Then I mapped it...2.5 miles, which includes some spots without a sidewalk...so no). "If my Internet still isn't working, I won't be able to use the computer/Kindle/TV...if that's the case, I'll go back to the gym," was another thought (nope...for once, the Internet is coming through just fine).
So now what? The longer I sit here (and I've already changed from work clothes to pajamas), the more impossible it will be to work out. Tomorrow I'm already booked solid from the time I leave for work in the morning to 8 pm, the end of the window in which the Internet repairman is supposed to arrive. I didn't get on the "gym horse" last week as planned, because once Monday was shot, Tuesday it poured all day, and Wednesday it snowed, I said, "screw it, I'm on vacation!" I'm sitting in bed looking at Groupons and I'm thisclose to pouring a glass of red wine.
No...I will cook dinner (OMG it's not even 4:00 yet) and maybe it will be worthy of posting some more.
........... (that's to signify that 2 hours have passed)
Dinner was good. I've been doing some cleaning up. I still haven't ruled out the gym but I also just got a Kindle and I can't put it down. I guess I could bring it to the gym, but...either way, my gym bag is packed for...wait...I can't go tomorrow...Wednesday looks doubtful (12 hour work day)...OMG. Why oh why can't I afford to just have one job?!
Anyway, let me talk about dinner before I bitch some more.
I modified yet another Simple Veganista recipe and once again used up some produce that was on the verge of spoiling. Tonight's main dish (after an organic baby greens/sun dried tomato salad) was soba and cucumber noodles with sweet ginger scallion sauce.
First, I made the sauce, which involved slicing all of the non-slimy green onions in my fridge. This was supposed to amount to 3/4 cup, but I did the best I could. I mixed this with about 2 tablespoons of minced, fresh ginger, which I obviously peeled first (and which might have had mold on a nub I cut off). The following also went in: 2 tablespoons of sesame seeds (which seemed a bit excessive), 2 tablespoons of rice vinegar (well, maybe a little more), 2 tablespoons of pure maple syrup, a tablespoon of sesame oil, 2 tablespoons of tamari, and a sprinkle of red pepper flakes.
I let that chill in the fridge while I boiled a large pot of water for the noodles. Side note: I had lo mein noodles on hand, so this technically isn't soba. I bought the lo mein noodles for something else and then forgot what it was. This happens often. Once the water was boiling, I threw in the noodles for 4 minutes. Meanwhile, I prepared the cucumber part of the recipe.
The recipe calls for one cucumber, julienned or spiralized. I don't have a julienne-r like the recipe called for, but I do have a Pampered Chef Spiral & Slice that I've been dying to use. Of course, I tried to use it before reading the directions and that made the tool spit out thin cucumber quarters instead of spirals. Even after I read the directions, I didn't get it quite right, but practice will make perfect. I spiralized my least mushy cucumber and threw it together with about 1/2 cup of chopped cilantro.
After the noodles were done, I drained them using my Pampered Chef Scoop and Drain (probably great for pasta shapes, but not so great for the long and stringy kind, as should be obvious...but my colander was in the dishwasher). Then I added the noodles back to the pot and mixed in the cucumber and cilantro. I also added 1/4 brick of tofu (can someone please tell me the correct terminology for this - is it block? brick? Is it a pound?) Good ratio. I dumped in about 3/4 of the sauce. Mixed well.
This makes two servings, so after portioning it out, divide the remaining sauce and add plenty of lime juice. Lime wedges would be yummy, too...and maybe some crushed peanuts. Ooh, and pea shoots would make a nice garnish. This was delicious served warm and I'll be trying it cold for lunch tomorrow.
And by tomorrow I mean Wednesday...my Internet is finally fast enough to instantly post images to Blogger, so I had to wait until Tuesday to post (oh, and I didn't go to the gym and I'm drinking a glass of red wine).
P.S. Confessions: I ate a marshmallow Peep last night (gelatin) and I took a slice of veggie stromboli at our lovely, delicious PTO-sponsored lunch (to unveil our new, gorgeous faculty room)...I tried to peel the cheese off, I really did...
P.P.S. If you are interested in any of the Pampered Chef products I've been writing about, please, please visit Elise's shop (and have her host a party while you're at it)! I'll do full reviews soon, once I get the chance to use all of my new stuff! (only the manual food processor and herb keeper remain!)
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