Wafflin'

I've been in California about two weeks now, (okay fine, a week and a half, but it does seem much longer...) and have had all sorts of culinary adventures, starting with cookie baking the Monday after I arrived and continuing with a trip to "The Meat House" with my Dad on Christmas eve. Yesterday I was fortunate enough to be taken around downtown LA by a friend and we stopped at one of her favorite restaurants in Hollywood, The Waffle. I'm a sucker for waffles, and tell anyone that will listen how I gained 20 pounds studying abroad in Belgium eating waffles. I know they're trending now, too, at least out here on the west coast, so I was eager to see what the hoopla was all about.

I ordered a waffle grilled cheese sandwhich (affectionately known as "a double wide" but really something like quadruple wide) and it was ridiculously amazing. It wasn't what I was expecting (it was much wider) but it was still delicious. It was a savory waffle (twist!) and had three kinds of cheese, a slice of tomato, and a hunk of avocado to boot. It was a bit complicated to eat but I hunkered down with knife and fork, and was able to eat only about half before I squirreled away the rest for a satisfying leftover lunch today. I would reccomend The Waffle if you're in the Hollywood area, but it was a bit pricy... Although tax in California's got nothing on tax in Chicago.

In other news, I'll be not eating out again for the entire month of January and hope to bring this blog back up to snuff (ah, New Year's Resolutions). Armed with some new recipes and cookbooks I'm thinking it's going to go off swimmingly but who knows, I may cave and grab Chipotle on a cold blustery Friday.

Meanwhile, here is a (slightly) disturbing webcomic that illustrates some of the struggle I feel when thinking about dinner... Ah, The Oatmeal. Good times.

Cheers for now :)

a

Amazing discoveries every day

So maybe it's the fact that I've been in meetings for longer than I care to divulge. Maybe babysitting early in the mornings is starting to take a toll on me. Maybe it's because it's Friday, and it's hot in this darn office and I have a headache brewing and a million things to do before I leave yet I'm updating this blog instead...

But ya'll are about to get ranted at.

CHECK THIS OUT: http://www.familydollar.com/pages/pop-tarts-trifle.aspx

First of all, ew. Trifles are supposed to be wonderfully delicate, the stuff that southern belles dream of as they while away an afternoon with some nice mint juleps or maybe an afternoon tea. They are elegant. They are placed in pretty glass containers. They are made by Martha Stewart and not with PopTarts!

Here is a nice example:Yum!

Yer doin' it right.

But seriously. Poptarts? High Fructose Corn Syrup? No! This is why we're fat, America. Don't stoop to this nastiness! Stand up for yourself and your heart! Make quality desserts for the people you love, if you really love them. You do not have to compromise your waistband, your wallet, or your values to do this! Sure, I've extolled the loveliness of Zebra Cakes in this blog before but this is something different. This is more serious. This is about access to good quality food for people who don't have a lot of money (I struggled to buy food when I was unemployed and I continue to struggle to buy food on my current budget).

When I go to grad school and try to figure out my place in this crazy, wonderful, messed-up world, one of the things I hope to ease is the inequality that our food systems present us with. There is no reason that in this country, in this day and age, that people should go hungry, or that the under-served populations in our cities and elsewhere are also the ones that have the highest rates of obesity and heart disease. It's not a coincidence, folks. It's all part of a bigger, grander design. And I am not going to stand here and watch 10-year-olds get diabetes and not try and stop the madness.

Okay, I feel better now.

Check back soon for updates from cookie potluck :) (Yes, I am aware of the irony).

Delinquent blogger award

Hello friends old and new :) Sorry I've been away from the blog lately, but I recently had my wisdom teeth out and have subsequently been eating a lot of yogurt... and more yogurt... and still more yogurt. Also pudding. The whole situation has made me rather cranky and childish, and poor J has had to deal with me not wanting to get out of bed, be reluctant to eat anything, feel nauseous, whine, be dizzy, and generally not eat very much... sometimes (if he's lucky) all in the same day!

I think I'm on the mend, though, and have been eating more solid foods recently, starting with... soup. Attempts at tacos on Friday bordered on disastrous. Maybe it was the tortilla chips. Tonight I'm going to try pizza. Mmmm. Cheesy goodness.

Being incapacitated in the eating department as of late has really been a challenge. I'm not eating a lot but what I am eating is crappy, and I thought I'd lose weight but I just binge on ice cream instead. I feel like a lot of people struggle with balancing what they want to look like and how they want to eat, so I won't waste a lot of time here laying it all out, but I'm tired of being sluggish and tired and feeling like a flabby. Especially since bike riding season is over (sadness!), it's going to be up to me to get myself back on track and my weight under control, or at least fit into my pants so I don't have to buy new ones (best reason I can think of to lose weight!).

I'm pretty pumped to be joining the Chicago Park District starting in January. I have a hunch that once I start working out my cravings for sweet and fatty foods will diminish. At least I hope. I remember something similar happening when I joined track and field many moons ago. Healthier recipes coming your way in 2011! (ugh, 2011, when did that happen?!?)