Posted on September 27, 2009 - by Ashley Jackson

Goodbye, extremely long weekend…

It’s weird to think that I haven’t been at work for nine days…this is the longest I’ve been away from work since I started my job! I needed a break, though, and now I’m eager to go back in the morning. And a little anxious, too–I’m worried that I’ll either have a ton of work waiting for me in my inbox, or none at all. We’ll find out in the morning…

Last night my parents had hamburgers, fried potatoes, and pinto beans. I would’ve settled for just the fried potatoes and pinto beans, but alas, all I have is dry pinto beans, and fried potatoes just aren’t the same without beans. Instead, I had a bunch of grapes…

…that are kind of weird-tasting. Grapes are so hit and miss. I also decided I wanted another salad, so I made the same salad I’d had for lunch–Romaine, Greek Feta dressing, bacon, tomatoes, and the addition of some blue cheese–and topped it with the leftover grilled red peppers, onions, and mushrooms from lunch.

And I had a piece of sourdough bread on the side. I’m determined to eat an entire loaf of fresh-baked bread before it goes bad!

After I ate, I settled down to watch the first disc of Season 2 of The Big Bang Theory. I live under a rock and have no TiVo, so I haven’t been watching this completely awesome show since House got moved to the same time. I’d seen all the episodes on the first disc, but they were all still funny.

I had the rest of my Heath toffee fudge while I was watching.

Later in the evening, I needed a quick snack, so I had some croutons.

After I took the picture, I went back and got some Greek Feta dressing to dip them in.

Today, I’ve been a lazy slug. I could be unpacking or cleaning or something, but instead I spent most of the day lazing in bed with my dog. My pulled muscle still hurts and my face is covered in these mysterious red dots, and really, I just wanted a day to do nothing.

I haven’t really been that hungry today, but I knew if I didn’t eat something I was going to end up sick. So I had a peanut butter cookie LaraBar.

[The doggy on my mousepad there is not puppy Heath--'tis a trick of the eye! It's actually my family's husky, Mysti, when she was a baby (with very sharp teeth).]

I proceeded to do nothing all day, not even eat, until after 6PM. I just wasn’t hungry. But when I finally did get the urge to eat, I knew what I wanted to do–make my entire meal in my food steamer!

I pulled out a piece of frozen salmon, some frozen baby lima beans, and some fresh broccoli, threw it in the steamer, set the timer for 22 minutes, and bing…

…out came deliciousness. I did add some pepper to the salmon, some blue cheese to the broccoli, and some kosher salt all around. Otherwise, all this awesomeness came straight from the steamer. I love steamed salmon–it always stays moist inside, something that’s sometimes difficult to achieve with broiling or grilling (my other two favorite salmon-preparation methods).

After dinner, I settled down to watch Breakfast at Tiffany’s, because I’d had it out from NetFlix for five weeks. No late fees, ha ha…just didn’t feel like watching it until now. Midway through I made myself a little desert.

A Tofutti Cutie broken up into quarters and topped with chocolate-covered sunflower seeds, some mini peanut butter cups, and a broken up chocolate-drizzled lemon cookie.

And I just had my pre-bedtime snack while I was writing this–a piece of sourdough bread topped with Asiago cheese, tomato, lettuce, and a bit more Penzey’s Sandwich Sprinkle than I intended. Oh well, still good…

Off to bed–gotta get up in the morning and go to work!