Posted May 16th, 2009 by Meg
1. I bought some apples at the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market and they were expensive, terrible, and went bad in 2 days. Not in season, no bueno.
2. My new iPod Shuffle (3rd generation), Mr. Shuffles, had to be replaced early last week because the volume and tracking button located on the headset stopped working (the music would still play though). They gave me a new one and told me it was unlikely that I would have the same problem. Well, it’s four days later and I have the same problem. In fact, it seems to be even worse. The tracks are fast forwarding and/or skipping through. Today at the gym, I was listening to very low volumed stop and go songs. It was awful.
3. My iPhone screen died on me Thursday night. It wouldn’t light up. The phone was still working though because I could hear the beeps when people txt messaged me. It also made it’s normal noise when you plug it into the wall/computer to charge your battery. I ended up having to restore the phone. Fortunately, it worked and the screen is back. Unfortunately, I lost some information on my phone because I don’t regularly back it up. Lesson learned.
4. There should be a Genius Bar application for the iPhone. Like Onstar, but for the phone emergencies. It should allow you to find and make appointments at Genius Bars that are either closest to you or that can take you the earliest. Also, it should offer quick suggestions on how to make sure if your product really is having problems (such as restoring or even something as simple as turning off/on).
So I have had a tough week with Apple products. Tomorrow will be the 4th Genius Bar appointment I have scheduled in the past week and a half. I hope that it works out and they let me return the iPod so I can get a 2nd generation iPod instead.
Posted April 18th, 2009 by Meg
I’ve waited days for my cold/bronchitis to go away so I could use the ingredients I bought last week to make pizza. It is now day eight and I’m still coughing, congested, and frustrated. This evening, I decided I did not want to wait any longer.
Even though I love pizza, I do not eat it too often because of health and economic reasons. I usually buy Amy’s frozen pizza to mitigate the health concerns, but afterwards I feel guilty for spending six dollars on such a small frozen serving. Having just opened a Mint account to budget myself, I have become ultra aware of my spending and decided it was time to start making my own pizza. For my first attempt, I kept it easy and used whole wheat pita, low-fat mozzarella cheese, Muir Glen pizza sauce, garlic, fresh farmer’s market asparagus, onion, and kalamata olives (thanks roomie!). Delicious. In the future, I plan to make the dough and sauce myself and also get more creative with the toppings.
Posted March 19th, 2009 by Meg
My friend had told me about the stir fry she had made; the combination of pre-lunch hunger and the delicious ingredients she used only made me think “I NEED A WOK.”
Fortunately, they were on sale at Sur La Table! I bought a stainless steel 14″ wok for less than 20 dollars. I was so excited and equally as intimidated. The wok came with preparation instructions. Apparently, for shipping purposes it had to be coated with a food-safe lacquer that needed to be heated off. And then of course the wok needed to be seasoned. Thoughts along the lines of “what if I do it wrong?” and “TJ’s frozen meatless meatballs are easier to make” clouded my head and for a week my shiny new wok sat around the stove collecting dust as I lazily lived around it.
Along with laziness and cooking insecurities, I still had not found a recipe I wanted to use. I kept running into two different problems in my search: the recipes were complex and required expensive ingredients or the recipes would make me think “that sounds nice, but would I really want to eat that for 3-4 meals? So, I just bought the basics: oils, noodles, random vegetables and some precooked chicken (I wonder if this has a -phobia name with the definition: fear of cooking chicken and getting sick). With the much needed help of my roommate, I was taught the basics on how to make a stir fry. The whole idea of it reminds me of a creative art class. The wok is the tool, now do whatever comes to mind! Which is awesome, but I am still a naive beginner and also the boring girl that enjoyed drawing inside the lines required lines to color with (My coloring books were as creative and outrageously colorful as a Banana Republic catalog).
I used kelp noodles as a rawlternative to regular noodles, fresh vegetables from the farmers market and I also added some egg whites at the end to give it the chow mein feel. And of course a big spoon full of chili garlic sauce to add some heat. I loved this dinner so much that I have been making a stir fry every week. I am altering the ingredients and spices each time to find my perfect stir fry. I plan to bring more cash with me to the Santa Monica Farmer’s Market so I can buy some local seasonal vegetables to help me become more creative and confident cook. Any suggestions or tips are welcome! Wok on!
