Uninspiration

Good morning. Not a banging title, huh? What can I say, yesterday just seemed off the whole day long. Latin class was… let’s just stick with that. We discussed the sparrow in Catullus’ poem again. What I learned was that Latin teachers use the word “mentulla” when they don’t want to say penis. Go figure.

Flame Grilled Veggie Burger, Carrots, Cherry Tomatoes, Lentil Stew

Lunch was–you guessed it–uninspired. The one thing that seemed appealing from the cafe was lentil stew; basically if it has the word lentil in it I’ll eat it. But I wonder if it’s still a stew if you scoop it in a to-go box and eat it with a fork? It was OK but a little bland. I threw in a veggie burger for some flavor and protein.

My Greek History class was a bit ridiculous, mostly because our professor is a bit of a stubborn headed pollack(and I feel I can say this being a stubborn headed 1/4 pollack). He insists that 1 man converted the Greek alphabet from the Phonecian’s and that he and Homer sat down for 3 days in a tent while Homer recited the Iliad and he wrote it down. There’s about 5 individual things wrong with that, but it’s too much effort to even point out how wrong that must be.

What do you do when the 3 o’clock munchies come on? I think that’s a ridiculous question. I eat, of course!

Pumpkin Oats With Butter Toffee Peanut Butter And Chocolate Chips

This was my most inspired meal of the day(except maybe breakfast), thanks to this blogger who made some delicious sounding muffins. Naturally Nutty also makes a chocolate butter toffee peanut butter I have yet to try, but based on how this bowl tasted altogether I bet it’s great. I also had an apple to round out this meal. I think it’s more sensible to have a mid-afternoon meal to keep your metabolism up rather than snack. 6-7 hours between Lunch and Dinner is way longer than anyone should go without some good fuel.

The afternoon pretty much came and went, and I didn’t get much done other than watch last season’s season finale of Grey’s Anatomy. It got me mucho excited for the new season; I’ve missed being attached enough to a show to feel sympathy for the characters even though I know they’re not real. About this time I realized just how uninspired my day had actually been, so I went on a quest to fix that and ended up at the Bookstore.

Ginger Smoothie

Confession: I’d had this on my mind since the first time I got one but was holding off because I hate paying so much for fancy drinks. That being said, it made this even more special. It was a bit runnier than I remember the last one being, but I was just happy to get a little spice(ginger) in my life. Too bad this wasn’t about 5 times the size, because before I knew it, it was time for an uninspired dinner.

Japanese Noodle Soup, Artichoke Hearts, Mashed Butternut Squash, Green Beans, Chickpeas And Tofu In Sweet And Spicy Steak Sauce

Umm, did you get all that? The main meat was overcooked, fatty beef. Err, no thanks. The veggie option was manicotti stuffed with cheese sauce and topped with marinara. See, as an Italian, I would have had my heritage revoked for eating cafeteria manicotti. There was grilled chicken, but I’m still trying to avoid eating meat just for the sake of protein. Rather, I stuck some chickpeas and tofu in a bowl and made a sauce with A.1., mustard, honey, and ground ginger. I’m no Iron Chef, but for working on the fly and trying to find the most natural ingredients I could, that wasn’t half bad.

I was almost talked into going to open mic night on campus. Ok, that’s a lie; stuff like that really doesn’t appeal to me so I politely declined and insisted that, maybe translating Greek on a Friday night isn’t the sexiest thing, but it’s what I wanted to do.

Deep Chocolate Vitatop, Cinnamon Raisin Toast With Cream Cheese

I hate studying without snacks. What’s the point of making up the concept of “study snacks” if you aren’t going to snack while studying. But it was clearly one of those nights because I, Evan Thomas, burnt the toast. Wtf? I’ve only made how much toast in my life? and I burnt it. It still tasted good under cream cheese. And Deep Chocolate is definitely my numero uno chocolate flavor from Vitalicious still; no one can take down the king. A little later it didn’t take much inspiration to make this:

Vanilla Oikos With Peanut Flour And Midnight Moo Sauce

Some great bloggers out there can’t and aren’t wrong about this combo. The vanilla Oikos is just sweet enough to raise the peanut butter flavor, and the chocolate sauce just tops it all off and makes it like a Reese’s. The amazing thing is that this has 21g of protein. Umm, what? That’s like a piece of chicken at a meal. Delicious AND nutritious? The Holy Grail.

This morning was clearly not a treadmill morning, since the gym nearby opens up at 9 and I like to have done the world and more by then. I slept 20 minutes through my alarm; frat rushing is in full swing and the parties last night would not let me get some good shut eye. Still, I got out and after a bit of Garmin frustration ran 6.3 in 52. It wasn’t the run I was hoping for, but considering the hills I had to hit I’m glad I went that far. I passed the farmer’s market setting up and a Whole Foods where I grab-n-goed a weekend flier. Thankfully I don’t know enough people around here for them to think I’m nuts Breakfast was a bit of a mystery, until I got uninspired by a reader, Karen, who asked how to make French Toast oats.

Carrot Juice, Plain Oikos With Blueberries And Maple-Agave Syrup, Oats With An Egg And Mighty Maple

Normally, I’ll make french toast oats by preparng 40g dry grains with 160g of water as usual. After 2 minutes of microwaving I crack in an egg and add salt, stirring until the yolk breaks and the egg is pretty well incorporated but not fully. Then I microwave for an additional minute, and when it comes out I add 1 tablespoon maple syrup, cinnamon, and vanilla powder. Today, however, I was much more feeling the mighty maple than maple syrup, and went for a tablespoon of that instead. It really came out tasting like a whole other beast separate from french toast oats. The maple syrup found its way into my yogurt instead, which I’ve since learned takes some convincing to eat when a) you aren’t pumped for it and b) you know you’ll have to pay for more when you finish the container. C’est la vie, right?(By the way, you’ve just witnessed my full knowledge of French)

Today I plan on going home again for the weekend and can’t wait. A full fridge and pantry? Yes please! Maybe I’ll even work with the oven a bit while I have the opportunity. I hear some packages are waiting for me which I can’t wait to open. And if the weather stays nice it’ll be a great time to go fruit picking. What’s on the agenda for your weekends?