23 - cleaning out the fridge

Well, it's a good thing I made a decent sized batch of baked penne last night! Had a late meeting tonight, so I didn't make dinner. The bf made some chicken and rotini pasta dish for himself, but I will leave that for him for dinner tomorrow night (my bowling league night). I had a wee bit of baked penne left from last night, so it just took some veggie fillers to finish off tomorrow's lunch bento. =) Our weekly lunch meeting has been cancelled until we move into our new office in about one month, so I will most likely have bento's every day unless I have a lunch date with the girls. This lunch is the last of my rasberries... it's ok, they weren't really in season. The only time I had out-of-this-world rasberries was when I picked them myself! There's an apple/berry farm about 25 minutes from my home that we went to last year. It took me about 2 hours to pick two pints worth (I was very picky!... might also be the pick two, eat one that slowed me down...), but they were SO GOOD! I have to remember to go again this coming season.

By the way... I got my reusable grocery shopping totes!!! The pictures on Amazon does not do them justice... they look so much better in person! Super excited to use them on my next grocery restock, which probably will not be until Sunday since I am going away this weekend. Two more days until I'm in Virginia visiting my college girlfriend/drunken partner! =D Oh oh, can't wait. *smiles*

top tier: plain cole slaw mix, organic carrot sticks
bottom tier: more leftover baked penne, steamed broccoli
snack box: rasberries, seedless red grapes, thai peanut sauce (for cole slaw & carrots)

22 - Breaking habits

Do you sometimes find that you fall into a food rut? I don't mean bad food by any means, but I mean when you keep falling back on the "safety" foods. It wasn't obvious until I realized I couldn't stop craving things left and right. Ack! In an attempt to "freshen" things up a bit, our goal this week is to think outside the box. A quick inventory of the fridge found some sweet italian sausage, hot italian sausage, bell peppers, and shredded sharp cheddar cheese. The light bulb goes off... baked penne! I sauteed the sausage, peppers, and sliced baby bella mushrooms with some white wine, cilantro, sundried tomatoes and a bit of tomato sauce. This was tossed with cooked penne, layered with some shredded cheddar and baked until cheese melted. Yumm! The only thing I would change next time is eliminate the sundried tomato and use less hot sausage. =)

sausage, pepper and mushroom baked penne, plain cole slaw, thai peanut sauce

snack: rasberries and seedless red grapes

organic carrot sticks (not shown)

21 - primavera

The work week started off slow due to server technical difficulties. We are moving to a new office in about a month and everything is getting moved to a new server... but things didn't go all too smooth with the transition. During our downtime today, my food-lover side came out and I was inspired to try a new recipe. First thing that came to mind was... SEAFOOD! The bf is a true asian... meat and rice, that is all he asks for. But I was drooling over something other than chicken or beef... shrimp it is! I went to the market after work to pick up some fresh shrimp and other groceries for the week.

Oh oh, before I forgot this... I can't wait until the end of this week! I ordered a set of five reusable grocery shopping totes from Amazon. They come in five different colors, plus a thermal hot/cold tote as a free gift!!! I felt kind of guilty for not buying them sooner, so I tried to buy only the absolute necessities until they come in. =D

For dinner/lunch, I know I had some coconut milk and broccoli at home. Do I smell primavera? *smiles* A little bit of onion, carrots, broccoli, shrimp, and coconut milk with a hint of lime over fresh spaghetti. I didn't follow a recipe, but I kind of wish I did. The outcome was good, but I wish I had a recipe nearby just for reference on spices and such. I need to remember that for next time.

I leave you with a pic of the world's cutest kittens...

Nimmie & Nikkie
darn that flash! pardon the scary glowing eyes, they are very cute!

lunch: shrimp primavera with coconut lime sauce
snack: organic carrot sticks, rasberries