The perks of being a cubicle drone

I started a new job about a month and a half ago. (Egads, it's almost been two months, but let's pretend that time is not passing ever so rapidly even thought that's technologically impossible...!) It's at an office downtown and I have never been more excited about an office building. The layout is nice and open and I have a wonderful view of the river when I walk down the hall. The sun comes in even when I'm far away from any windows and I have delightful "cube buddies" in my little quadrant. I've started to put up pictures and I'm nesting in quite nicely if I do say so myself. The workload is getting easier as time goes on and I'm getting more and more confident every day.

One of the most awesome things about working downtown is the access to all of the culinary delights Chicago has to offer, in particular food trucks! My coworkers are obsessed with food trucks, and with good reason. In the past two weeks we have had: tamales from the Tamalli Space Ship, empanadas from 5411 Empanadas, and today we had macaroni and cheese from The Southern Mac.

Additionally, there is a delightful little French-style market in the basement of the train station, and I am able to get quite a lot of chicken for four dollars, fresh produce, and a big ol' heap of Belgian frites (fries). These frites have awakened a dormant love for mayonnaise in me, and I don't know if I feel excited or ashamed.

Today I followed the wrappers until I found that USA Network was handing out free mini Häagen-Dazs cones for whatever reason. So fancy, they even had toasted walnuts on top!

I used to think the best part about working downtown would be to be close to all of my friends who've been working down here for the last few years. I imagined them all to be lunching together, laughing and having a grand old time. In reality, one of them goes to Wendy's "1.5 x per week" (when I asked how, he said he goes 1 time 1 week and 2 times the next week), another usually brings her lunch, and still another favors sandwiches over elaborate lunches with friends. Anyway, they're all far enough apart that it doesn't really work to meet up after all. But as long as I've got my free ice cream, I think I'm okay with that.

Quick lunch

This weather has got to go. It has been rainy and cold for far too long and it even SNOWED on Sunday. Today as I was walking to the bus I saw a "Happy Easter" sign... directly behind a pile of snow. Hooray Chicago.

This morning it was so cold and rainy I just pushed snooze about 11 times. I finally dragged myself out of bed and realized that I wanted something other than grilled cheese from the cafeteria for lunch, especially since I haven't run in a really long time. I started eating my breakfast and decided at the spur of the moment to put some pasta on to make a tuna pasta salad for lunch. It all came together in less than 15 minutes.

(Photo courtesy of BBC Good Food Online)

Put the following ingredients in a small bowl and mix well:
1 cup of Pasta (Whole wheat rigatoni, thanks for being on sale this week!)
1/2 can of Tuna
2 or 3 glugs of Olive oil
generous sprinklings of Salt/Pepper/Italian Seasoning
10 or 12 Chopped Grape Tomatoes

Add to your lunch bag 1 grapefruit, 1 snack bag of sesame sticks, and 1 snack bag of yogurt-covered raisins, leave the house 20 minutes after waking and pat yourself on the back for a job well done. No grilled cheese for this girl today! :)

First Meals

I moved recently. Away from the train and the dirt and the scary downstairs neighbors. Into a quieter part of town, next to a house that has a baby swing hanging from the tree out front, and on a street that's having a block party in two weeks. So I've moved from a somewhat young, central, hip neighborhood to straight up suburbia. Not that there's anything wrong with that... so far. I just have a hard time believing that the neighborhood I currently reside in is actually part of Chicago at all.

The first meal I made in my new home was something I had attempted before, with success. White bean and tuna salad. Nothing fancy, but got me my core protein requirements :) After a week or so of eating take-out or restaurant food due to the total time-suck that is moving, this dish was perfect. I used cherry tomatoes from the garden, and a few leaves of basil as well. One can of white beans, one can of tuna, a generous sprinkling of garlic salt, pepper, and a splash of olive oil made it all come together nicely. The basil was so fragrant, the girl who lives on the third floor of the three flat was wandering through and poked her head in for a taste. To round it out (okay, I was starving, I'm not gonna lie here), I tossed it with a handful of penne pasta. Mmmmm. Other toss-ins can include red onion and whatever else is in your fridge.

I have also somewhat printed off a recipe from Smitten Kitchen for homemade tomato sauce (from scratch!) so the fruits of my labor will be posted as soon as I can find a few hours to squeeze in the simmering time. (3 hours?) Exciting stuff, folks!

Finally, here is a story from Serious Eats, another website I adore. I wish I was clever like this author. Alas, a girl can dream...