BLT's in Narnia

I'm sorry to say breakfast was jam on toast again. What can I say, I bore myself. If I could ever get into the swing of things then you would be seeing pictures of eggs on toast WITH canadian bacon (ay), doosn't that sound delicious? Yeah...to me too.

Look at the giant first bite that I took! If you are a stranger reading this blog I hope that you think I am Julia Roberts writing a blog under a fake name. Wait, I just looked at that bite again, totally not big enough to be Julia. And now that I'm re-examining the picture the lighting is awful. It doesn't help that I slightly burned the toast either. Its like looking at toast through the eyes of Edgar Allen Poe. I have to say, I don't hate burned toast (burnt toast?). The only thing I mind about it is that I worry about it giving me cancer. I definitely read that somewhere. EVERY time I eat burnt toast I worry about that, and that's a lot of worrying. I mean, still not enough to make me put down the toast, research the matter and come down definitively on either side of the issue, but then again, there isn't much that would motivate me to do research. I will read fashion blogs all day long though. 

Oh lunch was so much better! Its only Thursday but I still feel confident in saying this will take best lunch of the week this week. I went to Lil Peppers Deli which is one of those hidden lunch places that relies solely on the patronage of the businesses around it. I mean, there is no signage whatsoever. I probably couldn't find it on my own as I've only ever ridden in somebody's car to get there. Its like the Narnia of sandwich shops, you can really only find it by accident. And what a happy accident it is! Plus, a free cookie with anything you buy. I had a BLT (more toasted wheat bread, NOT burnt so I didn't think about cancer) a very wee side salad, half a bag of jalapeno chips, a fountain soda (weeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!) and A COOKIE (that I did not order but was just given, I know I already made that point but can a point about a deli that gives away free cookies be made enough? I don't think so.) 

Today at Sophie's I had another hotdog and lo, it was delicious. I followed it up with a fruit salad. I've been feeling vaguely guilty about the lack of vegetables in this blog so far. I didn't have any on hand so I figured, I'll make the fruit into a salad, and voila, problem solved. Also it meant that I could mask another banUGHna with the taste of delicious strawberries. That fruit salad was working overtime!

After nannying I was facing some tough choices, what to have for second dinner? I am at home so there is actual salad in the fridge that I could eat to add some veggies to this mix, but I don't want to over do it on the salad front, I mean...I just had salad at first dinner. Really I had only one other choice:

Second dinner was better than first dinner. I'm not sure what's going on with second dinner photography but ANOTHER dog has snuck into the background of the shot. I will reiterate, she is scenery not savory. I better go, all this blogging is making me tipsy! No...second dinner is making me tipsy.

A Heap o' Tots

I doubt that in the whole history of food blogs there has ever been one about food as ordinary as mine is. As I sit at my desk photographing toast it occurs to me, you might not be interested in my toast…tough toasties reader, I’m not going to jazz up my diet just for your reading pleasure. 

So that was breakfast...dry as toast you might say...Today I am researching cupcakes for a project at work. I have to order 600 cupcakes by July 12^th so I’m pricing out all of the options. I just spoke to a lady who quoted me $1.45/cupcake. Ok, this was my first cupcake pricing conversation to I had no scale to measure that on but it seems a little dear…are your cupcakes that rich too? Anyway, I’m ordering 600 so perhaps you could throw me a little discount says I (hopefully). She puts me on hold to check it out and comes back with, “Well, if we just swirl the icing on top instead (instead of what? She never said.) then it would only be $1.40/cupcake.” Thaaaat doesn’t sound like a bulk discount to me. That sounds like you’re going to put less effort into making the cupcakes and then (rightfully so) charge me less. Why don’t you skip the sugar and make them $1.35 each? How about just pouring all the batter into a large can and leaving it in the sun for a while, how much for cupcakes then? Next time I want to know how much it costs for you to do sub par work I will ask you that specifically. By the way, can you even imagine that conversation the other way around?

Me - $1.45 per cupcake? Hmm how about if you just schmear the icing on any which way, how much you would charge me then?

Bakery Lady - ummm…dial tone

Anyway, I’m still researching, we’ll see how it all turns out. The point of talking about this is that its lunch time, and I’ve been looking at pictures of cupcakes for an hour now. All this cake-gazing has made me want to jet down to the cafeteria and pick up whatever my little belly desires. However, the thought of taking a picture of it and then having to write all about it on here stopped me…Sure, it would have been a grubby little food entry with what I had in mind (tater tots!) but the accountability of all this caught up to me so instead I ate this:

Not really inspiring and technically second breakfast material but still, healthier than a heap of tots. Incidentally ‘healthier than a heap of tots’ sounds like a saying, don’t you think? I can hear a southern lady saying it for sure, ‘How’s Billy doing?’ ‘Oh girl, he’s healthier than a heap o’ tots’. I like that. What I don’t like are bananas. I’m not bananas about them. I don’t die for them, Rachel Zoe, I just don’t. But I do know they are good for me so I try to stomach 2-4 per week. Today after my second breakfast of champions I forced one down. Here’s the before and after to prove it. 

With that background in play doesn’t it look like a hurricane came blowing in and destroyed the banana? It pleases me to think of my hunger as a hurricane. A hungircane. Hungircane Anneka – ironically in that scenario the only people affected would be those who had stocked provisions in case of an actual hurricane, I’m hitting those houses first!

Someone just walked by my desk with a big plate of cookies. They looked delicious and I would like one right now. I guess this is where writing down everything you eat comes into play in helping a diet. Thinking about having to add that cookie to the blog has stopped me. I will not go and get one. I will not photograph it. I will not eat it. I hope this doesn’t turn into a blog about all the things I haven’t been eating…Either way those cookies will be gone in five minutes. Will power is something that doesn't need to be long lasting in an office. Free food invariably creates a feeding frenzy.

Yes, just like that. 

If only we were paid to be here we could all afford to buy our own food…As long as I can resist the urge to jump in the fray I don’t need to worry about those cookies again. Although that siren song is doubly potent, I have to go against the call of a cookie as well as the primal urge to join any mob that passes me by. Those of you who know me well know that I rarely pass that up! See?

Just kidding, that’s not me! But I love this picture, I may get it framed for my house. I read an article a couple of days after this was taken and as it turns out, that guy was comforting his girlfriend who had been trampled to the ground by riot police. Is it just me or does everyone agree that Americans should stop poking fun at Canada, they can obviously retaliate when provoked. So lets all cut it oot eh? Ha! I couldn’t resist, I went all HGTV on you.

Today I’m not nannying so there is no excuse for two dinners. I’m starving though, probably because the raisin bran didn’t make that much of a dent, so its 4:30 and I think I’ll have a yogurt, hopefully that will hold me until dinner.

You might say I have been pining for that yogurt.

Gibbs loves when I eat yogurt...

I’m not sure why though.

Dinner when it rolled around was delicious! Mash potatoes, tri tip, and zucchini. And I think the first real meal to be posted to this blog!

Oh, it looks so healthy and delicious! I would eat it all over again. And I know that I said there is no excuse for two dinner tonight...but I had seconds anyway! And thirds!

Sometimes the food is so good you just shouldn't say no. After dinner Nick and I went over to a friend's house who's birthday it was. They were having pizza and offered us some when we arrived. I'm ashamed to say that after all that tri tip and all those mashed potatoes I was still ready for pizza! But I said no, which is probably a good thing because we all celebrated Tim's birthday with wine and cupcakes, yummmmmm.

The cupcake was a perfect end to the day, considering all the research I was doing earlier. Now I'm full of food, full of dessert - yes that is different than regular food - and full of wine. Time for bed, all this blogging is making me sleepy.

 

Second breakfast? Elevenses?

I have decided to write a blog. I've read a couple of blogs and their first posts usually talk about how their friends hoped they would start writing down their hilarious stories or some other premise like that, basically establishing that they are in demand and people want to hear from them...I'm the opposite. I'll be pushing this blog on people who probably don't want to read it but they SHOULD for their own sake, I mean, otherwise they will score pretty embarrassing marks when it comes time for the quizzing. I'm really surprised people haven't already suggested I do this.

My reason for blogging? Two words: Food journalling (journaling?), (three words). Every food journal that I have ever kept has swiftly gone the way of wherever journals go when people stop writing in them and use them as coasters, door jambs, dust collectors, etc. I know that doesn't bode well for this blog but I'm hoping that since I can't physically use this writing space for a different purpose and the world wide web doesn't get dusty (on the inside) I'll just have to keep writing. So here goes...

Dinner last night was delicious. After I finish nannying (where I usually eat the equivalent of a full dinner) I go home and eat second dinner, which always makes me feel like one of the funny hobbits:

P - "What about second breakfast?"
M - "I don't think he knows about second breakfast, Pip."
P - "What about elevenses? Luncheon? Afternoon tea? Dinner? Supper? He knows about them, doesn't he?"
M - "I wouldn't count on it."

Those hobbits crack me up! Not the boring ones that the story is actually about, but the comic relief ones who talk instead of just staring mournfully into the camera (ahem Frodo...). I don't think I can hear the word 'breakfast' without immediately thinking of Pippin asking for second breakfast. Anyway, so I go home to have my second dinner and last night this is what I had:

Jealous? You should be. My friend Khrisna came over and we gossiped our way through Bread & Cie Jalepeno Cheddar bread, TJ's Cheddar Cheese Straws, spicy olives, crunchy asian snack mix, and mini stroopwafels (they are dutch...isn't that veeeeerd?). Oh...and two bottles of champagne! Sometimes you just need a girls night. I'm going to say now, and perhaps I should have said before, don't be shocked...this blog will feature alcohol anecdotes. I told my friend Rae that I was starting a blog. Its going to be about food I said. Her text back read "Shock gasp! lol hey u better include wine too or else I don't know who u r!" Burn.
I could say that we didn't go into the evening intending to drink two bottles, but I did buy them especially for the evening so make what you will of it. I could also say don't judge but I'm judging myself, not for the drinking part, but for wondering all day today why I had a headache...you can judge me for that.

Breakfast today was whole wheat toast with raspberry jam and a lovely cup of coffee, honestly I'm supposed to be photographing all my food but there you have it, second meal into the blog and I forgot this one. Trust me it wasn't interesting and I'm sure you can picture the whole meal on your own. Wondering about my mug? Don't worry, it features in my luncheon photography. After breakfast I went to a meeting, they had monster pastries and a fruit tray, I already regret starting this blog, I chose the fruit.

 Before you ask, no, better lighting wouldn't help this picture...its fruit from a tray at a meeting, this is as exciting as it gets. Yawn...lunch rolled around and I went with this:

Do you see that mug? It would have been full of coffee during the breakfast shot. Anyway, I thought (stupidly) that this spread would fill me up, turns out no. I have to say the shredded oats were fantastic, they always are. I like to eat two or three pieces and then take a big swig of milk. Rae once laughed at me for eating deconstructed cereal, that made me think of a deconstructed nicoise salad I ate at a fancy restaurant once. So now whenever I eat shredded oats with milk (which you will learn is A LOT) I think of nicoise salad. Maybe that's why I think it is a lunch that will fill me up, spoiler alert,  it doesn't, I am about to post a picture of second lunch. Oh yeah, there were grapes there too, more fruit, snooze.

So that is second lunch. Inspiration struck when I was photographing it. Did you think I zipped over to Maui for second lunch? Wrong! I put my food on my tropical mouse pad, so pret-ty! The brown stuff in the cup was chili, and it was delicious. Nikki and I walked over to the cafeteria because I was moaning about my headache (pre-hangover acceptance), you need a fountain soda said she. When do I not need a fountain soda? Well aside from when I aspire to fit into my jeans ever again. I should give you some background, I LOVE FOUNTAIN SODA. Canned soda? I could take it but I will most likely leave it. Fountain soda? I will probably be installing a fountain soda machine in my house at some point. Side note - did you know that at McDonalds you can get a small coke from the dollar menu? Of course you did! BUT did you know that if you order extra large it is also only $1?? Yes, I will always order the extra large on principal there, but honestly, who ever needs that much coke? Not even me.

I digress, we went to the cafeteria, and I tried to hate the chili, I REALLY tried. They listed cilantro as an ingredient, yuck. That's a great way to ruin delicious food. But as it turns out you couldn't taste any cilantro so the chili was still edible. So chili and soda for second lunch, yummy.

Bold move there, I went with no transition, just straight into the next picture. You're looking at dinner (first dinner, nannying dinner). Sophie ate hotdogs and string cheese all cut up into little rounds so I skipped the string cheese and replaced it with condiments and a bun for the hot dog. It was great. Tonight I thought I would try and replaced second dinner with shopping. On my way home from nannying I went to Target and bought various bits and pieces. I wasn't fooling anyone though:

There you have it, a LIGHT second dinner. I finished the last remnants of champagne in an effort to finally get rid of this headache (hair of the poodle that bit you) and the last few stroopwafels. That's my dog Gibbs in the background, just scenery, not menu item. I think any healthy dieter would call my second dinner 'empty calories' - does that mean regular calories are FULL of it? Or just the healthy dieters out there?

Well that's my first post finished - all this blogging is making me hungry.