Poco-Cocoa – Page 241 – Things & Stuff

We’re back!

Roux and I are at it again, blogging and surfing and emailing and lounging near the computer. Turns out we had a bad backup battery. Can you believe it? A tiny little battery was causing all those problems. Before we figured that out, though, the Apple service guy erased our hard drive. Yuck. So Justin has been slowly bringing back all our favorite programs and files. The benefit of a newly-erased hard drive is that we get a second chance not to clutter up our computer with over 5000 photos and 23 GB of itunes. Plus, we have the newest version of Mac’s operating system, Tiger, which is chock-full of widgets and doo-dads that are too fun to play with.

Tomorrow I’ll post something yummy, or something crafty. Or maybe something cute.

October 5, 2005

Random Thoughts
Life in the (gasp) real world

The past week has been a challenge for me. No computer. That sounds like a simple thing, a modern convenience, a luxury that many people don’t have or need. But for me? It’s like taping my mouth shut and putting all my friends in a sealed box. No fun! I’ve missed the emails from my family. I’ve missed reading all my favorite blogs. I’ve missed my itunes playlists. I’ve missed the ease of finding a recipe or pattern online. I’ve missed blogging.

My computer is still DEAD. My husband has been a bit overwhelmed with work this week, and we’ve been unable to get an appointment with the Apple service people to take a look at it. I seriously considered waltzing right in to the Apple store today and purchasing my own ibook. I let my friend Leti in on this plan, and she quickly offered to lend me her laptop to help ease the pain a bit and avoid any catastrophic multi-thousand dollar purchases. I think our computer can be fixed. Someday. Anyway, I can’t express enough how wonderful my pal Leti is. I think she may have preserved my sanity.

There are several good things about not having computer access for a week. You actually have to find something to do all day. As in, actually DO something, not just plan on doing something and spend the afternoon “researching” it online. Since I’ve been without computer, I have made some awesome recipes. I’ve sewed a purse (complete with lining, hand-embroidery, and all that jazz). I’ve decorated our tiny place for Halloween, with lights, tiny pumpkins, and a spider-web curtain I made. I’ve cleaned out my closet and found a huge pile of clothes and shoes to give away. I’ve washed all the laundry. I’ve read magazines. I’ve spent hours at the library. I’ve taken walks. And I’ve still somehow managed to get away with not doing the dishes. 🙂

I have pictures of some of these endeavors, but unfortunately I have no way of importing them at the moment (or maybe there is a way, but I just don’t understand how to do it with my camera and my friend’s computer). I can’t wait to post a photo of my purse…it is the cutest thing I’ve ever seen.

It’s going to be hard to tear myself away from this little laptop tonight, even though I know I need to be at work by 7:00 tomorrow morning to make breakfast for our guests. My husband is spending the weekend making a horror movie for a local contest, and my cat Roux and I are just getting settled in for a long night of surfing. Who needs sleep? Must…blog!

Oh, I’ve been tagged by Joe and Tanvi for the 23/5 meme. Here is the 5th sentence of my 23rd post:

He’s on a strict diet of 3/4 cup dry food a day, due to his – hefty build.

I was talking about my cat. Poor thing, with his fourteen pebbles of Science Diet. (It’s more than that, but it seems like it’s such a tiny bit!) I say he’s hefty, because I don’t think he looks fat, he’s just a really tall, really long kitty, and if we let him, he’d sit in front of that bowl and eat until he puked. (Which he has done before.)

So I apologize for the lengthy and detail-filled post here, but my fingers haven’t seen a keyboard in a few days, and they’re just going a bit crazy. Let’s all make a little wish tonight that my computer gets fixed before I have to return this laptop to my pal. Thanks for all your condolences! I’ve missed you all.

October 1, 2005

Random Thoughts
Sadness

I just wanted to let everyone know that I may not be blogging for a bit. Our computer died yesterday, and we haven’t been able to get it fixed yet. I’m hoping it will be fixed in a day or two, because life without itunes and blogs and email and general surfing is pretty boring. At the moment, I’m using my friend Leti’s laptop to post this (thanks Leti).

So hopefully I’ll be back soon with recipes (I made 3 new recipes today!) and news on the Pantry Project. See you on the flip side.

September 27, 2005

Random Thoughts
The Pantry Project

I love to start projects. And though I’m not that great at finishing them, starting them is always a blast. My latest project involves my favorite things: food, lists, and grocery stores.

Usually, I make a weekly menu for all our meals and go to the supermarket once a week. I buy all the produce, pastas, and breads that I will need for the coming week. Sometimes this works out well, but most of the time, we stray from the menu, either by eating at a restaurant or by deciding late in the week that we really don’t feel like having that meal after all. This results in another trip to the supermarket, an expensive trip to a restaurant, and/or wilted produce and unused pantry items.

Now, we don’t have a big kitchen. In fact, it’s tiny. So I was really surprised when I did a full inventory of our food. (Yes, I made a list. Yes, I typed it up. Yes, I’m that weird.) I found frozen vegetables, old pasta, bags of dried beans, seven (!) different kinds of vinegar, and lots of items that I bought double of, just because I had no idea that I already had some.

So I decided to attempt to remedy these two problems with one solution: The Pantry Project. I’d like to attempt to use up the staples in our little kitchen, a little bit at a time. And I’d like to shop for additional items (like produce or cheese) every few days, or even every day if I feel like it. The thought of going to Whole Foods and saying, “Today, I feel like having an apple,” and buying just one apple, and knowing that it will get eaten, is very exciting to me. I’m a little worried that shopping more often will be more expensive, but I’m hoping that using up pantry items and not wasting food will balance it all out.

So for lunch today, I had a sandwich made with a Boca burger I found in the back of the freezer, a piece of avocado that was wrapped up in the fridge, as well as baby spinach, sliced tomato, and baby carrots on the side. Then I ate the last chocolate chip cookie. Hey, the cookie counts as pantry-cleaning, doesn’t it?

So tune in to find out whether The Pantry Project works, or better yet, whether I even remember The Pantry Project by tomorrow evening.

September 26, 2005

Edibles, Random Thoughts
Tofa
At one of my old jobs, I used to have monthly interns who were learning about becoming dietitians. One intern told me a story about her husband’s aversion to trying new foods. He went to an Asian restaurant with some friends and was exposed to tofu. He tried it, and actually liked it…when he called her with the news, he said, “I ate some of that tofa.” Justin and I often refer to it as tofa now (prounounced “toe-fuh”).

Anyway, I adapted this dish from a Cooking Light recipe that originally used chicken. It was perfect for these sweltering September days in Austin, since nothing had to be cooked (except for heating the tortillas). The wraps were cool, delicious, and easy. I served them with fresh pineapple…perfect combination.

Ginger-Peanut Tofu Salad Wraps
- 1 (8-ounce) package Thai-seasoned baked tofu, diced
- 1 medium cucumber, peeled, seeded, and chopped
- 1 medium red bell pepper, chopped
- 1 1/2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 tablespoon chopped peeled fresh ginger
- 3 tablespoons fresh lime juice
- 1 tablespoon low-sodium soy sauce
- 1/4 teaspoon ground red pepper
- 1 small garlic clove, crushed
- 1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons water
- 3 tablespoons fresh cilantro
- 8 whole wheat tortillas
- 4 cups baby spinach
Combine tofu, cucumber, and bell pepper in a medium bowl; set aside.

Place sugar, ginger, lime juice, soy sauce, ground red pepper, garlic, peanut butter, water, and cilantro in a food processor or blender, and process until smooth. Add peanut butter mixture to tofu mixture; stir well. Warm tortillas according to package directions (we use a cast-iron skillet). Spoon 1/2 cup tofu mixture onto each tortilla; top each serving with 1/2 cup spinach, and roll up.

Makes 8 servings.

Adapted from Cooking Light magazine.
September 24, 2005

Recipes

We’re back!

Life in the (gasp) real world

Sadness

The Pantry Project

Tofa