Leftover Lunch

I had trouble figuring out what to eat for lunch today because I cooked at home yesterday. The trouble with cooking for one is that I either eat too much or have heapo mucho leftovers. I went the leftover route this time. All the things I really wanted for lunch (mostly a pizza) were of a size to generate yet more leftovers and I'm still living with the dorm fridge to try to curb the desire to save leftovers as a science experiment rather than eat them. And since the pizza would be tomato based like my food, a hearty whole grain sandwich would have too much bread, pasta would be too carb-o-rific, and I had chicken veggie stir fry yesterday, I wound up with a 99cent Wendy's chicken sandwich with half the bun and a side salad. whoo hoo.

Anyhow, onto the leftovers. I made a produce run to the grocery and tried also to buy a pound of hamburger. Usually I buy a third of a pound of smoked ham for my weekly meat allotment but I had a can of "manw.ich" my mom bought for me that I figured I'd use instead of throw out. I'm not entirely sure why my mom thought I needed a can of man.wich. I've been successfully (oversuccessfully?) feeding myself for 17 years and only once before been tempted by a can. It wasn't a success then, mostly because it tastes like sugar and feeds four. Were I feeding four, I wouldn't be serving this. Anyhow, It was staring at me from my pantry space so I thought I'd try it.

The smallest sized ground meat package I could find was 1.33 pounds. The butcher at this store did not have standard fare, mostly just pre-seasoned, pre-stuffed goods, and they didn't have anyone staffing the counter during dinner rush anyway so I couldn't special order. I looked harder. I could buy 80% lean for $2.49/# but only in three pound packs. I don't need 3 pounds of meat in a month. I could buy 98% lean in the 1.33# pack but it was $6.49 a pound. I'd rather buy the fat and drain it. Finally I found a 1.33# pack of ground turkey for a reasonable cost. I've spent less time finding a perfect pair of pants than I spent finding that meat.

I browned up the meat. Technically, it was more "whiten up" the meat, but I did manage to get some color on it too. A little Adobo and chipotle and it was pretty tasty, but there was a ton of it. I decided to take some out and save it for some other use like sprinkling on a pizza or something. Then I did what I do with most pre-fab entrees - I added a bunch of veggies to dilute the meat and make it tastier. I had some leftover canned corn-mushroom-olive salad that had only been ok-ish from the night before but was just right for this canned extravaganza.

I put in some fresh mushroom slices and a small diced zucchini and part of a can of red-eye beans for good measure. (And because my friend had made a good corn-bean-avocado salad which inspired my less good corn-mushroom-olive salad.) It made aproximately four tons. Ok, about a gallon, I think. I served myself a small bowl of it with a small bag of Doritoes and a touch of shredded cheese. It was tasty but waaayyyy too sugary and the special hickory flavor was a little much. The veggies helped cut it and gave it some crunch. Were I to make this again, I'd nix the man.wich and use a better tomato sauce and just spice it like chili. In the meantime I don't want to eat it for lunch and I can get at least 3 dinners out of it should I be so inclined.

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Other leftovers. My non-blogs from the weekend.

I reverted back into hermit mode for sunday/monday. I didn't turn on the computer. I did make an effort to get outside and get sun by reading in the chaise by the community pool for a couple hours each day, so I did meet more neighbors which was nice, but that was the extent of my energy expenditure. Mostly I napped on the couch intermittently while I read. Just when I was feeling least like answering the phone, without actually being asleep on the couch and unable to hear it, my brother called to tell me he was having such a low energy day that he didn't call the parents or grandmas either and forced himself to go to Target just to get out of the house. We talked about how we would have called people but the conversation would have gone something like, "Hello. What's up? Can I go now?" Then we hung up. It made me feel better though.

So while I read two books this weekend, I wonder if they contributed to the low energy state or were only possible because of it. It's hard to say. One was good but not great (If You Deceive by Kresley Cole who has a link in my sidebar), and one that started good but slowed into meandering before getting downright creepy in a way that harshed my mellow. There had been some buzz about the second book so I stuck with it, but to recover, I hit up the library for the "Freddy the Golden Hamster" books by Reiche that a mom friend recommended as an entertaining kick. Freddy learns to type on a computer. I wonder if he gets a blog?

Energy was ok yesterday, but kind of low today and I nodded off through a meeting. Did manage to do 30 min. of exercise (Bodyrev Legs and Abs with 3 weights if you're asking) but also slept on the couch. Must be that there's not enough energy in leftovers to keep me awake.