Saturday (his: Pasta with Tuna, Tomatoes, Garlic, Capers and Olives

Another humble attempt at making a home-cooked meal for one. I biked to the grocery store to buy the tuna, tomatoes, capers, olives and anchovies and I followed this recipe. Penne pasta noodles probably would have been better than these spiral wheat noodles, but it still turned out okay. Not as great as the one I had during the summer! I wonder why? 

Friday (his): Sad pasta and gazpacho

From my summer subletter I inherited two big 2 lb bottles of Prego spaghetti sauce and a few bags of spiral pasta noodles. So I decided to make this sad pasta. At least the gazpacho was good. The last time I made it here I think I forgot the lemon zest. It's a start.

Thursday (his): Burger night at the Top

I know, I know. It's been four consecutive nights of eating out since getting back. I promise this will change. It's just that dinner is the best time to meet people and catch-up. Tonight it was the Top Burger with sweet potato fries. Not bad for a fancy burger, but I think I still might prefer the burgers at Buddha Belly and Mack's drive through. Friday night I'm eating in!

Monday through Saturday (Hers 8/22-8/27): Chicken, spaghetti, fruit, rice, salad, cupcakes, beef, potatoes, rice

Now that I'm back in a long distance relationship, my life is slowly going back to what it was like in May, April, March, February, January...etc. It is sad cooking for one again, but as a really strange creature of habit, there is something comforting about getting back in the kitchen and cooking my little meals. Strangely, I seemed to have cooked less this summer than I did during the regular year because I actually had someone to go out and eat with. When it's just me, I take a lot of pleasure and comfort in preparing my meals and putting half my food away for the next day's lunch. I'm back to eating chicken after a long hiatus. I blame the amount chicken I ate in college to by inability to enjoy it for the last 7-8 years. I also made spaghetti with meat sauce because my little sister was coming and I have no idea what to feed her except that. I'm going to let the pictures tell the rest of the story.

Wednesday (his): Kung Pao Chicken at Hot Wok

Had dinner at Hot Wok with some friends. Needless to say, this Kung Pao chicken paled compared to Famous Joe's version. Eating here made me miss Prosperity Dumpling, too. Still, Hot Wok is the only decent Chinese take-out/dine-in place in Gainesville. The workers are younger and have a punkish vibe to them. The front person is a young woman and the kitchen guys all sport longish hair (I'd say mullets but I'm not quite sure what style it is) and wear jeans and cut-off t-shirts. I like to think they're in a band. Wok N Roll!

Tuesday (his): Pre-Workshop Dinner, or, A Return to Long Distance Dining

The three month hiatus on this blog meant that us long distance diners were no longer eating long distance, but eating together! It was great! It was lovely! It was as it should be. If only we had made a shadow blog for all the great things we ate and time we had.

However, as the picture above and this post attests to, we're back to eating long distance. Tonight was pre-workshop dinner at Leonardo's, a popular joint close to campus. I actually had the Veggie Pizza. (My cell phone won't send a pic to my e-mail, apparently) I suppose it was the appropriate dinner to return to, though I hope to not be eating so much pizza. (Last night I bought veggies for gazpacho on a late night grocery store run)

Sunday (hers): Homemade hummus

You may or may not be aware that I am really into garbanzo beans and have 8 cans sitting in my pantry. There would be more if I could carry the cans home from the market! I decided to make some hummus (tahini free) since I had the beans and the pita bread. It is so easy to make and so tasty. All you need is one can of garbanzo beans, juice of a lemon, 3 tablespoons olive oil, salt, 1 garlic clove, parsley, and some paprika to top it off.