fleissig, fleissig

Instead of a lazy Saturday - which is typically my first choice for a Saturday, whether I can afford it or not - I decided to be productive. I was assisted in this decision by the fact that I had to be up at a decent hour since my apartment building is being re-keyed and the locksmith was going to be here by 10. That meant that I had to get up well before that so I could get dressed, clean the apartment and wash the dishes. I have absolutely no idea why I feel that it is necessary to clean my apartment for the locksmith but hey, any form of motivation works!

After I had done all that it was 10 and the locksmith wasn't here yet. Then I remembered the big bag full of fresh produce from my weekly local organic produce delivery. So, I decided to prepare for the week:

First I made breakfast burritos to freeze, whole wheat tortillas filled with a mixture of red, kidney, and black beans, some salsa and a sprinkling of cheese. YUM! I can just grab one in the morning on my way to the office, heat it in the microwave when I get there and have a great start to my day!

Then, as the locksmith was still not here, I decided to finally cut up the GIGANTIC butternut squash that has been hanging around my kitchen for a couple of weeks. Last weekend I bought some short grain brown rice so I decided to make butternut squash risotto. It turned out to be a pretty big batch so I froze that too. Now I have 5 servings of butternut squash risotto ready to grab for lunches or quick dinners.

Then, since I had a pile of butternut squash already cut up (it was just too much to use it all in the risotto) I looked around for ideas of what to do with it. AHA! I had a bunch of carrots and so I decided to make creamy carrot and butternut squash soup. I used a starchy potato instead of cream to make it creamy and that is now cooling until I can put it through the food processor to make it smooth and creamy. More lunch options for the week!

It didn't matter at all that the locksmith came and went at some point, I was on a roll. I turned next to the meyer lemons. What to do with them? I briefly considered a meyer lemon pie but quickly realized there are no graham crackers (for the crust) in my pantry. So, instead, I have made dark chocolate and lemon sorbet. It's going in the freezer as soon as it cools and it will be a delicious treat after dinner tomorrow night.

I am stopping myself now because my freezer is full and I realize there are only so many lunches in a week and I'm a bit over that quota. Besides, I should probably write some cover letters and send in some job applications before the day is over since that was supposed to be the purpose of spending my Saturday at home. The good news is that now I have a clean apartment, a clean kitchen, and lots of already prepared food for the week. This means that I can spend my Sunday and the evenings this week doing the job hunt thing without having to take time to prepare food or clean.

Also, since I spent a good chunk of the day brainstorming cooking ideas, I have some good ideas for quick dinners this week to use the rest of my produce if I get sick of risotto or soup, including fresh trumpet mushrooms over pasta, savory kale pancakes, and stir fried collard greens.

I love the wonderfully fresh produce available year-round in Northern California!

OK, now it's time to find a job!