Sunday (his): Chinese Easter

This sure wasn't like Easter dinners of the past six years! How I miss them. This was Easter dinner with my friends Andrew and Emma at the Chinese take-out (also, eat in) place called Hot Wok. I had beef chow fun in honor of you and because I felt like it. I actually liked the place. The Chinese dudes who were running the show were both fobby and punk, it made for a great combo and atmosphere.

Sunday (hers): Happy Easter!

Because I don't plan on making anything special for dinner tonight (cuz my special someone is not with me), I am just posting this picture of the deviled eggs I prepared earlier today. Happy Easter!

Saturday (hers): Chinese Broccoli, free pizza

Because I had some instant noodles around 5, I only made some chinese broccoli for dinner. It was pretty delicious. I ended up going out to a local bar later in the evening, and luckily, there was free pizza. It was really weird pizza that was super fluffy and bready, but you can't complain when it's free and you've had is chinese broccoli.

Friday (hers): Filet o Fish n Fries

Is it me, or is Mcdonalds getting cheaper? At my neighborhood Mcdonalds, you can get a 2 Filet of Fish for 3 dollars, and 2 big Macs for 4.00 every day of the week. Also, shakes are just 1.89. I always thought they cost more for some reason. And of course, the pricepoint for Chicken Nuggets has gone way down now, nationwide. 20 pieces for 4.99. It used to cost that much for 10. It's so cheap and so hard to resist.

Thursday (hers): Ribs

I pigged out (somewhat guiltily) tonight. I started with some fries with homemade buttermilk ranch dressing. For some reason I was craving homemade ranch, so the fries were basically the vehicle for enjoying the ranch. Then I decided to cook my ribs. I seasoned them with salt and pepper and ate just one (there were 3 total) with watercress and rice. When I washed the watercress, I found a dead ladybug at the bottom of the colander. Oh, Chinatown!

Wednesday (Hers): Shrimp egg rolls n rice

Toaster ovened my last two egg rolls and served them over rice. I boiled an egg for good measure.

Wednesday (his): ... fried chicken

I caved in last night and bought fried chicken from Publix. And a coca-cola, seen in the upper right corner. But at least I "made" a biggish salad (with our favorite goddess dressing)!

Tuesday (hers): Shrimp Eggrolls and cold noodles

I made shrimp eggrolls tonight (his new favorite) and they were delicious. I was able to use the leftover fish sauce I had prepared for the spring rolls, and it was just grand. I have two eggrolls leftover, too.

Monday (hers): Bark

I met up with my cousin in Prospect Heights to grab dinner. She told me about this gourmet hot dog place called "Bark" that also had burgers and fries, so I bit! The fries were delicious. We got the "late night special," which included a bark burger, salt and pepper fries, and a beer for 11.00. I wish my neighborhood had some sort of casual dining place like Bark, but all we have is pizza.

Sunday (hers): Spring Rolls

Spring rolls for a spring day! I headed to chinatown to get food and happened to have everything I needed to make spring rolls. The fish sauce turned out great. I wish there was some way to make it always taste the same, but fish sauce refuses to be tamed by a recipe.

Saturday (hers):Chicken bake

I baked some traditional vietnamese soy sauce and garlic chicken on Saturday. It was too cold and raining to go the market, so I cooked the chicken, reheated the potatoes from brunch, and microwaved some frozen mixed vegetables. classy!

Saturday (his): Steak night

Steak, water cress, rice, beer, and one satisfied man. I thought of you while eating the delicious pieces of fat. If you were here, I'd probably let you have them!

Friday (his): Chinese buffet

 Round One

Round Two

 

Round Three

Round Four

UHHHHHH

Thursday (his): Leftovers night

...with reading material: a novel by Peter Stamm and your postcard from Seattle!

Saturday morning (hers): Homemade brunch

I forgot to take a pic of my dinner on Friday night, but I had sashimi at a sushi place. It was good but not great. To make up for my missing picture, I am uploading a photo of my brunch. It is so rainy and miserable outside, so I made do with what I could find in the apartment: potatoes, eggs, cheese, one bell pepper, and an onion. My magazines came, so I ate my brunch while reading through those.

Thursday (hers); Velveeta mac and broccoli

I stopped by Rite Aid on the way home and saw that Velveeta mac and cheese was on sale. I have never eaten the non-powder sauce mac and cheese, so I decided to take the plunge. I added steamed broccoli to make it less disgusting. The pros of velveeta mac are that you can actually eat it the next day. Powder-sauce mac is inedible almost immediately after cooking. Where does the taste go? You know what I'm talking about.

Wednesday (hers): Capers Pasta, more caprese, blackberry smoothie

Stopped by the local italian grocery store today and was actually spoken to by a grocer. So nice! I'm glad I decided to buy the tomatoes and basil I needed for the pasta there. I was able to use the kalamata olives I had leftover from the first time I cooked the pasta, and still had plenty of capers and anchovies. I really can't wait to make this for "him." I started with a caprese salad because I now had basil and that only seemed appropriate, and I ended with a blackberry smoothie. Yes, it's a bit out of character for me (I'm a strawberry girl) but my roommate went out of town and told me to eat his leftover berries.

Wednesday (his: Beef and Broccoli

It wasn't a complete failure, turns out. My Chinese beef and broccoli is a little beefier than I'd like. Something I didn't do quite right--cutting, marinade, etc. But it was fine; it was just me eating it, after all!

Tuesday (his): pork fried rice from Buddha Belly

Went to Buddha Belly for pre-workshop dinner with my friend. At least I didn't have a burger, right? Like I've said before, Buddha Belly has a lot going against it--bad location, cheesy name, and pan-Asianness--but somehow it still manages to be pretty good, it's own thing.

Tuesday (hers): When in doubt

I was so tired and in need of an easy meal after work today. Rib eye steak and caprese salad, here I come. I decided to save money by skimping on the basil, and I didn't miss it too much. This was the first time I broiled bellpeppers and zucchini with the steak, and it was quite good. I love zucchini and have no idea why I don't eat it more. Coat it with some olive oil and sprinkle some salt, and you've got a tasty side. I wonder if it's healthy for you.

Monday (his): Fried Chicken dinner from Publix

Ran into my neighbor K. and another classmate L who were on their way to get fried chicken from Publix. It didn't take to much to persuade me to join them for a pre-cooked and -pared 8-piece fried chicken meal from Publix, which also included coleslaw, dinner rolls, beans, all for $8.99. Gross, but good.

Saturday (his): Blue Highway pizza

My friend Andrew and I went to Blue Highway pizza. I had this Shrimp scampi pizza all to myself and it was delicious. The service was pretty terrible, however. The waitress forgot to put our order in so we waited for an extra long time.

Friday (his): double double burgers!

I went out of control on Friday and ordered not just one, but two double burgers from Mac's drive thru. I think you had sent me a picture of Culver's butter burger, which got my burger craving going. I don't regret my decision at all, even though it was excessive.

Monday (hers): Kinda sad

Long day. Hodge podge meal. I started with two cheese quesadillas, then had some frozen mixed veggies (hate those kidney beans they sneak in), and ended with two kiwis. When the weekend comes, I can go grocery shopping...

Wednesday, 4/6 to Sunday, 4/10 (hers): Seattle!

I visited Seattle for several days and forgot to photograph my meals. Luckily I did snap photos of these room service nachos (keep uploading sideways for some dang reason!!) and this donut from the FAMOUS Top Pot donuts. It was pretty good, but 2 dollars for one donut. Kinda pricy, no?

Tuesday (his): Chipotle Time!

Tuesday was officially the longest day of the semester because I stayed on campus from 8:30 a.m. until 9:45 p.m. I usually go home at least once, for either lunch or dinner, but it was raining hard all day and I had work to do. Hence: Chicken fajita burrito at Chipotle. Every time I eat a burrito at Chipotle I'm reminded of my first year of grad school in Madison. I had a steady diet of Chipotle burritos thanks in large part to the stack of burrito coupons I was given my parent's friend who was once a manager there. 

Monday (his): Steak redux, this time with yellow squash

How could I not cook the second piece of New York strip steak sitting in the refrigerator? Unfortunately, I only had a little soy sauce left, which explains why the steak looks slightly less delicious. It was still good. The yellow squash was a nice vegetable addition. Looking over my dinners, my meals are so repetitive and even more gross than yours!

Tuesday (hers): Beef and Broccoli

After reviewing what I have been eating for dinner via the blog, I realized I am gross and need to eat way more vegetables. I got this broccoli last weekend in chinatown and decided to make beef and broccoli. I had to buy beef and gave into the not-so-good and definitely overpriced 'gourmet' grocery store in my neighborhood. I actually paid 7.99lb for london broil. Can you believe it? I used to pay 2.99 for this at normal grocery stores. It simply is a mediocre cut of meat, but what to do? At least I was able to make it taste good. Fuzzy pic is due to me using a camera phone because I didn't want to talk to my bedroom to get the camera.

Monday (hers): Something Familiar...

I know what you are thinking: Chickpea salad again?? Well, yes. I couldn't think of anything else to eat and I had the ingredients on hand. It was tasty. I had filled up a bit before on little sandwiches and cheese at the event I attended, so this was enough.

Sunday (hers): Leftovers and Brussel Sprouts

Had the rest of the of the meat and mushroom sauce and prepared some brussel sprouts for the side. I am amazed at how long brussel sprouts keep! They are truly a miracle food.

Sunday (his): hotdog and tacos

Played my first full game of softball this afternoon (it was fun!), and was super hungry afterward. Luckily, the Backyard bar was having a beer and free hot dog special to celebrate baseball's opening weekend. The hotdog wasn't enough, so I got a couple of steak tacos and chips to go with it from Boca Fiesta next door. Not a big fan of their tacos, it turns out. Overall, a nice way to wind down a busy weekend.

Saturday (Hers): Pasta with meat and mushroom sauce

My little sister is visiting, and she has very particular taste. We could not have more opposite attitudes towards food. She loves snacking, and I do not. She always seems hungry when she is here, and it makes me sad. I do know that she is a big pasta fan so I made this mushroom and meat sauce to eat over pasta. She liked it. I added a side of frozen mixed vegetables because that is what she likes (scoffed at the idea of chinese broccoli or brussel sprouts). So silly.