How to Pack a Lunch: Introduction

I spend a lot of my time thinking about food. 

The other day, I realized that my favorite way to uselessly browse the internet is by checking out recipes and food blogs. I can do this for hours. 

Most of the time when I do this, I'm looking for the answer to a question or the solution to a problem. 

Such as.. can I make low-carb flatbreads with sweet potato and chickpea flour? How might one make refrigerator cookies? Is there a secret to making half-decent German potato salad?

One challenge I have revisited many times is how to pack a lunch.

When I was in school, I tried to cut costs any way I could. I found that while catching the bus to school was easy, it was much harder to reliably pack (and eat) my lunch every day. 

It sounds so easy, but there are a lot of obstacles to deal with when packing a lunch. 

How much food do I need to bring? 

Am I bringing food that needs to be kept cold? 

Will anything get squished, spoiled or otherwise ruined before I can eat it?

Do I need to pack ingredients separately? How many containers will it take? Will any of them leak?

How much weight and bulk will this add to my backpack? (Remember that heavy pack + long day = more fatigue, less productivity)

Do I really want another salad today? (No.)

Since this is a problem that I am constantly encountering, I have collected a bunch of little tricks and ideas over the years. I've decided to write a series of posts to share some helpful strategies to make the boring old brown-bag lunch a bit more enjoyable.

Stay tuned...

A Bad Relationship

Dear Internet and prospective employers,

I hope you don't expect me to be a perfect human being. I'm not.

I don't ignore my shortcomings, but I try to minimize the negative impact they may have on other people. Instead of hiding my secrets and character flaws, I tell stories about them.

Here is one such story..

Backhanded Compliments

(I realize that a lot of this blog right now is fond recollections of college life.. and I think I'm okay with that.)

I have many interesting memories of the many professors I've had over the years.

When I was in community college, I had the opportunity to do research over at the state university. I did a neat little data analysis project, and I was invited to put together a poster and present my research at their undergraduate research conference (which I'm doing again this year).

As I was standing there next to my poster, I saw someone approaching. This was one of the very few professors at the university that I was acquainted with, but I got really nervous because one of the lectures I had with him might have been entitled "How To Not Suck At Powerpoint (And Life In General)." He was probably a really funny guy in any other setting, but students tended to be terrified of his criticisms. Design was his thing, and he never held back.

Now, I pride myself on my design skills, for someone who is relatively untrained* in the art and science of graphic design. I wasn't terrified, but I had no idea what this guy was going to unleash on me. I greeted him, made a few small comments, and braced myself.

"Well, your poster is one of the few here that DOESN'T make me want to shoot myself."

I don't remember what my response was. Probably nothing witty or clever. Maybe I laughed out loud, but I always cherish that as one of the most unique compliments I've ever received.

Also, for anyone who needs a good reference for designing a research poster, this article is HILARIOUS. Also very informative.

http://colinpurrington.com/tips/academic/posterdesign

* For one of you that may be reading, I don't consider that class we had together with "farm-fresh goodness" to qualify as actual training...

Adventures with Instagram

I was going through some photo files this morning and found a bunch of interesting photos taken while I was doing my research project last year. Here is a little collection of some of them.

And finally, my mantra..

What Have I Been Up To?

When I was still a college student, I would occasionally fantasize about how I would enjoy this odd new thing called "free time."

I imagined myself blissfully lounging in my backyard, reading all kinds of books. I wanted to venture off to cafes to people-watch and draw beautiful pictures in one of my notebooks. I envisioned going for long, leisurely walks...

Oddly enough, my habit lately has been to get up at 5:30am to drive my fiance to work, by choice, without coffee. Then go to the gym.

It sounds like some kind of madness. (..Then again, I was that person who held two jobs while going to school full-time and read scientific journal articles in bed instead of fantasy novels.)

If you can believe it, I actually like going to the gym early in the morning. Sure, sometimes it takes a little convincing to drag myself out of my warm bed. Sometimes I find that I really don't enjoy the mind-numbing boredom of running on an elliptical at 6:30am. But recently I developed a desire to.. do things. Be a more active person in general, but also do fun and challenging things like climb rock walls and roller skate and play hockey.

One thing I have learned from my adventures at the gym is that it is important to find what motivates you. Goals can get you started, results can keep you going but when it's just you versus the machine, sometimes a ridiculous fantasy can help you push a little harder.

I never played sports in high school. I will never make millions of dollars.

I'm never going to be a female Patrice Bergeron, or even a Dennis Wideman.

No one will ever tell me that I should be a Patriots cheerleader.

I don't inspire fear or awe in anyone. I don't have a fan club.

I know what my limitations are. If I forget, the world will be sure to remind me.

Despite this, I can learn new things and have fun. I can practice skating in my driveway and at the local ice rink. I can entertain the notion of playing in a beginners hockey league.

I can do whatever I want, as long as it keeps me going.

What keeps you going?

My Favorite Energy Drink

I'm not a big fan of energy drinks.

When I was going to school, one of the most popular cafe drinks was a Red Bull with a splash of flavor syrup. My fellow students craved caffeine in all forms. Hot, cold, fizzy, fruity, earthy, sweet. I shudder at the thought.

But every morning, I would go through my daily ritual. Fill my water bottle about 2/3 full with an amber-green liquid, then top off with fruit juice. I wouldn't leave the house without that strangely tart, refreshing concoction in hand. If I needed extra focus at work, I'd mix another batch.

It was my very own homemade energy drink! Key ingredient...

Yerba Mate

Image from http://companiesandme.com/lonjevitea/conversations/34-why-yerba-mate-tea

I bought a 5 lb bag (..a really big bag!) of EcoTeas unsmoked yerba mate last year. Even though I drink this stuff quite a bit, I haven't finished the bag yet.

Brief summary: Very popular in South America (particularly Argentina, Paraguay, Chile, etc.). Made from Ilex paraguariensis which is an indigenous holly shrub. Tastes vaguely like grass or hay. People have all kinds of crazy-good things to say about it.

For me.. it helps get me in a good mood and focus early in the morning.

(I know that might be the stuff of miracles for some people. Your mileage may vary.)

There are all kinds of ways to drink it, but this is my favorite. The fruit juice helps tone down the grassy flavor of the mate. This recipe yields a drink that has a refreshing, earthy tartness to it. You can use more fruit juice or sweetener if desired.

Lindsey's "Red Drink"

(Makes about 1.5 quarts, can be scaled up or down)

1/4 cup loose, unsmoked yerba mate spooned into a large open-top paper tea bag.

Take the tea bag and place it inside a quart-sized mason jar. Hold the bag up near the rim of the jar.

Fill the jar with lukewarm water, making sure to thoroughly moisten the tea bag.

Use a standard canning lid and seal the jar so that the top of the bag is sticking out of the lid.

(You don't want the loose leaves escaping into the liquid, so sealing the open end of the bag this way helps.)

Stick it in the fridge and steep for at least 2 hours.

When finished steeping, remove the bag from the jar and carefully squeeze out excess liquid.

Pour the brewed iced yerba mate into a larger container and add about half as much fruit juice as there is yerba mate. Enjoy!

Note: You can re-steep the tea bag once again, although it will make a weaker brew. I usually make a half gallon at a time, which requires two tea bags. I use one fresh bag and one second-run bag for each batch.

Hello again!

I'm back!

Sitting down to write this makes me think of all of the personal journals I have forgotten and revisited. Feeling the need to justify a lack of attention to a book, or a blog, or anything of that sort.

I say that "I'm back!" but in many ways, I didn't really go anywhere. Right now, I'm sitting in the same spot where I wrote many of my past entries, and I visit this place several times each week. And the internet itself seems to be everywhere.

But this absence was really just because other things required my attention. The other day I saw a former coworker and he asked me what was new, to which I answered with my standard, "Oh, not too much.." As I said it, I realized it wasn't accurate. Sure, at that point in time I was just killing time and wandering around a shop, but a whole bunch of life-stuff actually had happened since the last time I spoke to this person.

It all depends on your frame of reference I suppose.

I'm sitting in the same chair that I sat in when I wrote my very first entry, but when I go home tonight, it won't be to the same place that I lived when I last wrote.

I have a piece of yard that I can dig up as I please. I guess this means that the "imaginary farm" is real now, although it's not particularly large or farmlike.

I have a new (fancy, significant) piece of jewelry.

I have a (fancy, expensive) piece of paper framed above my desk.

I'm planning new, exciting and scary adventures in the realm of "real-life things."

So now that you're properly updated, I'll get back to posting recipes, musings and.. whatever else I feel like, I guess.