It’s Monday. Let’s Talk About Boring Stuff.
You guys.
Do I want an iPhone?
I don’t have AT&T so everything I hear about them dropping calls every five seconds is pure speculation. Well, in New York, anyway. I do know for a fact that AT&T sucks in Los Angeles. I know this because Tom has an iPhone and every time he calls me, he has to call me back about four times and I feel like I’m back in 2003 when all cell phones used to do that all the time.
(Tom! It’s 2003! See you at Fiddler On The Roof rehearsals! SUNRISE, SUNSET…)
Do people in NYC have the same problem? (With dropped calls, not Fiddler rehearsals.)
I’m going to tell you that my current phone is a Blackberry and that my provider is Sprint and that my contract is up in October which means I could easily change over to someone else at that time.
I didn’t realize Sprint was the ghetto internet provider until I had the following conversation a few weeks ago:
My friend: Why don’t you just get an iPhone?
Me: I don’t want to change providers.
My friend: Ohhhh, you’re with Verizon?
Me: No. Sprint.
PAUSE.
My friend: Is that…a joke?
Um. Why do people hate on Sprint? I’m curious.
So, I have some questions for you guys because you guys have cell phones, right? (Come on! You must! MY DAD has a cell phone! And he USES IT! But he doesn’t know how to check his messages so don’t leave him a voicemail.) You’ll be honest with me, right? While still taking care of my precious feelings?
Do I:
1. Switch to AT&T and get an iPhone because iPhones rock and the dropped calls are worth it
2. Stick with Sprint and just upgrade the phone – try out one of those new fangled Droid things.
3. Switch to Verizon and upgrade to one of those new fangled Droid things. That way, I get out of ghetto Sprint and if the iPhone ever becomes compatible with Verizon, I can upgrade.
4. Stick with Sprint and my Blackberry because…why not? STOP BEING SPOILED.
Give me your opinions, dudes. Let’s talk about something else.
Like zucchini bread.
I made vegan chocolate chip zucchini bread at my parents’ house last night. It was my second attempt of the day to be proactive about saving my money. My first attempt was to hit up the grocery store and snag some ingredients for weekday lunches. I also purchased some decaf ground coffee. I needed to hit the reset button on Being Aware of Where My Money Goes.
I was dropping too much cash on iced coffees and muffins to go with the coffee and then lunch because I was too lazy to make my own and…hm. It took me awhile to get settled after Italy, you know? I kept thinking I was still on vacation and could continue to drop money on anything I felt like.
Guess what?
I cannot.
So, hey. Here’s what I ate today. Everything made at home. Thought you might be interested because I finally stopped talking about Sprint.
BREAKFAST:
Smoothie
1 banana
frozen strawberries
3/4 c. unsweetened soy milk
2 Tbsp. dark chocolate hemp protein powder
2 Tbsp. flax seed
RESULT: Not enough frozen strawberries. Smoothie was not ice cold. Just sort of…not warm. Tweeted about this smoothie after I made it and the company that made the hemp protein powder reached out to me and they are now totally following me on Twitter. Social media is weird, y’all.
MID MORNING SLUMP:
decaf iced coffee (Whole Foods brand?)
unsweetened soy milk from home
poured into reusable plastic coffee cup with super cute straw that I bought at Bed Bath and Beyond for $7 OMG YOU GUYZ! SPARKLES!
Result: My body is not tricked by the decaf. Too much soy in my body after that smoothie. Reusable plastic coffee cup got compliments from other co-workers in the kitchen. Hot Guy was not in there to make conversation. WHAT A WASTE.
LUNCH
Salad!
1/2 c. cooked red quinoa (cooked in vegetable broth)
2 c. arugula (local!)
1/2 cucumber (local!)
1 heirloom tomato (local!)
1/3 avocado (local! JUST KIDDING. Please someone, tell me how to grow an avocado in NYC.)
kalamata olives
2 pieces Golden Sesame Tofu
1 Tbsp. Annie’s balsamic vinaigrette dressing
RESULT: Ehhhhhh. It sounds good in theory but there wasn’t enough dressing and I cut the vegetables up into pieces that were too large so it was sort of chunky and I wish I was eating pasta instead but I’m trying to lower the gluten and it didn’t fill me up for very long which brings me to my afternoon snack.
VEGAN CHOCOLATE CHIP ZUCCHINI BREAD
I would give you the recipe but I got it out of my mom’s 1970′s cookbook from La Leche League called something hippie like WHOLE FOODS TO FEED YOUR FAMILY. (I fully expected breast milk to be a main ingredient in every recipe but surprisingly? IT WASN’T. Thanks a lot, La Leche League. I was so looking forward to Breast Milk Zucchini Bread.)
I made some modifications to make it healthier – replaced most of the vegetable oil with applesauce, replaced the eggs with flaxseed/water combination. These were of course negated by the fact that I threw in a cup of chocolate chips and some chopped walnuts. WOOPS??
RESULT: HOLY FREAKING AWESOME!!!! Too many chocolate chips. BUT HOLY FREAKING AWESOME!!!!
So far today, I have spent zero dollars.
And I have eaten some delicious food.
And yet, that salad was not wholly satisfying.
What are your go to lunches during the week? Do you bring leftovers from dinner? Do you make a sandwich? I’m curious because while trying to live healthfully and cheaply, I don’t always make a lunch that fills me up or tastes very good. I feel like I’m either shoving lettuce into my mouth and wishing I wasn’t and/or I end up starving after about 30 minutes which leads me to believe I’m not getting enough protein and/or fiber.
Who has got some ideas? WHO WHO WHO?
Do I need to make burritos?
I love burritos.
Burritos leave me satisfied.
And I think I just answered my own question.
But I still need your help about that iPhone thing.
WHO CAN HELP A SISTER OUT!???????
I resisted the iPhone for quite a while. I wasn’t excited about paying $100/month for a phone. I have it now. Have to admit, I love it. I haven’t had any problems with dropped calls (in Wisconsin) but really, I make so few phone calls I’m probably not the best person to ask about that. Seriously, I think I used 75 minutes last month.
ok Food! (a topic I might be able to help you out with)
I’ve got some recipes that you might like on my site. Don’t be fooled by what you find under the “vegan” tag -I’m not always good about getting the right tags on everything.
Jen – Thank you! I will poke around your site!! And you bring up an excellent point which is that I rarely use my phone during the week as everyone who needs me calls my office and texting seems to be a preferred method of checking in during other times. I think I used about the same amount of minutes as you last month out of a possible 450 on the Blackberry. Sort of a waste. Maybe the dropped calls thing isn’t such a big deal. And now I’m off to stalk you for lunch ideas.
I have a cheap cell phone, so, if I lose it, it’s like, “Who cares?”
I’ve seen too many people freaking out because they’ve lost their Iphone for the second time in three months. I don’t need that.
If all you do is call and text, you might as well just get a cheap plan and a cheap phone.
As for the rest of youe post, I stopped reading at “Let’s talk about something else. Like zucchini bread.”
Tim – That is an interesting point! It’s pretty amazing to me that while absentminded and while a regular Loser of All Things (keys, wallet, sanity), I have never ever lost a cell phone. And now because I typed that, I will lose my Blackberry tonight. GUARANTEED.
Food! I love food! Especially lunch! Right now I’m a big fan of taking whatever I made for dinner and either throwing it on some lettuce or stuffing it in a pita pocket. That way it’s a little different but still yummy and filling. Of course this would not work if you had lasagna for dinner the night before. A lasagna salad sounds horrible. But it does work with things like pasta (on lettuce) and stir fry (both), etc.
And, I’m thinking of downgrading my phone once my contract is up, so I am no help.
Kisses!
i just told tom to relay this to you, but i’ll just relay it now. since i have fingers that type. i also have sprint. i also feel it is the ghetto provider. however, i think it’s going to make a comeback. first it has to go thru the re-emerging neighborhood phase. then slowly the hipsters will start to move in. after that the hipster families and then the yuppies. then it will be like UGH this is so overrated you guys and the price for a studio apartment with no airconditioning on the 3rd floor of a walk up IS INSANE. oh wait. anyway, so yeah. i’m sticking with ghetto sprint b/c…why else. but let me know if you get the iphone and you can’t live without it. i watch tom basically lick his and kiss it all over whenever we’re together.
I have Verizon and the coverage is pretty good in the long island to nyc area. My cousin has AT&T and he constantly has trouble getting a clear signal. I’ve also thought about giving up on Verizon just so I could try the iPhone (who hasn’t). The conclusion that I came to was that I would be sacrificing reliability just so I could have some fun apps to play with and in the end it isn’t worth it. Also the price is a little ridiculous.
About half of my friends who had AT&T left and switched to Verizon. I do have slight coverage problems when I get really close to the LI Sound but those are rare.
I’m remembering your awesome photos of your new blackberry beating up your old phone.
My phone is 8 yrs old, and I’m like your dad in that I don’t know how to check voicemail. And I leave it in the car in case of emergencies only. I know it’s bizarre that I’m on twitter and yet refuse to carry a cell phone. I’m mysterious like that. And unqualified to give you iphone advice.
I usually have leftovers for lunch, or I make a big yummy pasta salad with cukes, cheese, tomatoes and other stuff and eat that for lunch all week. In winter I make homemade mac n cheese or a big pot of soup or stew and eat that all week. It’s nice to cook once and have the week’s lunch all done.
i do not have a smart phone, too cheap to pay for the plan…but Scott also has an I-phone and just like Thomas the calls suck! This is coming from MA, so LA is not the only one with issues. I say if it ain’t broke dont fix it!
as far as lunch- I take a sandwich usually on a Flax, oat bran wrap thing, and it is delicious…fiber is high so it tends to keep me full. if I have no Boars Head I opt for leftovers…how about hummus and taboule wraps?
I don’t know anything about cell phones–can’t help you there. Food though–I can talk about that forever.
I make a very similar quinoa salad, but I add kidney beans (fiber and protein) instead of tofu. I also like to grate vegetables, like carrots and beets, into it. That way I don’t get the chunky problem. And I use lemon juice to stretch out the dressing.
Oh, and sometimes I like to roast eggplant, peppers, some kind of green, zucchini, mushrooms, and balsamic vinegar & herbs. If I put the veg in a glass container, I can warm it up in the microwave before adding it to some spinach and bread. Not so good for avoiding gluten, but very filling.
And, um, yeah, burritos are filling, can be gluten-free if you use corn tortillas, and can be full of good stuff! Yum!
LOVE my Droid. Verizon has been my provider for 10+ years and I sometimes consider straying. My eyes wander and I get gadget lust. iPhone. PalmPre. It’s those dang commercials.
But I have an iTouch AND an iPad, both of which I love, and I feel pretty confident that my Droid will do everything my iTouch/iPad will do. Plus two really cool accessories to go with the Droid – the deskside dock that makes it go “I’m a clock and I play music and stuff” and the GPS holder that, when you put it in the holder, sends some sort of secret mysterious signal that tells it to be a navigation unit – which impresses all of my geeky friends.
Plus the new Droid will let it be a wireless router so you and seven of your closest friends can connect to the net with it – which in my case is nice for my iTouch AND my iPad and let’s me have a ton of connectivity for a pretty decent cost.
Food – got nothing for that!
I’m commenting from my HTC Evo on the Sprint network. I love this phone and I have never had issues with Sprint. I’ve been with them since 2001. It’s definitely better than my old blackberry.
The best way to make sure that you are eating lunches that keep you full longer than 30 mins is to be sure to incorporate good (mono-unsaturated) fats, liquids, potatoes and beans. Good fats, like those found in avocados, nuts, and olive oil, are great for keeping you full. Soups are also quite satiating, because the liquid fills you up quite a bit. I know this is not typical soup weather, but thing of all those amazing tomatoes going on right now and imagine them in an awesome gazpacho! Or a chilled, pureed soup, like fresh pea or this yummy looking Spicy Cucumber Avocado Soup I saw in Food & Wine Mag (http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/spicy-avocado-cucumber-soup). Mmm..
Some other lunch ideas- veggie burgers! There are so many yummy frozen ones now (I am partial to Amy’s, especially the Texas one), but you can easily make them yourself, too. Slap it over some greens and you are good to go. I also love tofu scramble, which can be jazzed up by any of the amazing veggies at the greenmarket now, or wrapped up with some brown rice and beans in a tortilla, etc.. And don’t forget the great gluten-free pasta options out there- my favorite is the quinoa pasta.
My absolute favorite thing to have these days, which I have for lunch or dinner (or as part of one of those meals)? Find the most beautiful heirloom tomato, cut it up, drizzle it with some good olive oil (I have this blood orange olive oil I use, which is basically *ridiculous*) and sprinkle liberally with sea salt and your choice of ground black pepper, flaked chili pepper (my choice- I use Aleppo pepper or Turkish chili pepper), or fresh basil. Perfection, and surprisingly filling because of the olive oil.
Everyone I know who has an iPhone has had complaints. My boyfriend has a Droid on the Sprint network and it is awesome. He’s had Sprint for years and never had any problems. I have a super old phone that doesn’t even get on the internet, so my opinion is just based on what people have told me about their phones, but I say stick with Sprint.
For lunch, I make basically the same salad, but I add black beans and either rice or quinoa. And I use a little lemon juice, like Lisa, to stretch the dressing and give it a little kick.
OH MY GOD! You guys are AMAZEBALLS.
Abbie – Yes to the soup in the winter! I made a kick ass lentil soup with pastini that I am still dreaming about. Come to think of it, my office is so frigid that it just might make sense to whip up a batch now.
Kyle – Had no idea (from this post and your last about Smithtown?) that you were an LI-er. WOO.
Alayna – You had me at ‘lasagna salad sounds gross’. You bring up an excellent point about stir fry for dinner and then tossing it into a pita pocket. GENIUS! My stir fry tends to always suck though. I can’t get the flavor right. Another issue I’m realizing: I never make dinner. Therefore, I never have leftovers. That’s a whole other blog post though.
Christine – Hummus wrap is a brilliant idea. I need to find these flax wraps you speak of – brand??
Lisa – I am starving just thinking about the food you are talking about HOLY COW. Lemon juice to stretch the dressing is a brilliant concept.
Debbiy – Your techieness makes my head explode in the best possible way. And you bring up an excellent point – if you have an iPod Touch, do you really need an iPhone? It’s the same thing without the phone service, right? All the apps, etc. I feel like I could get my iPhone fix by upgrading my iPod.
Geoffrey – I believe the HTC Evo is what I’m leaning towards but Sprint is sold out online! I need to get to a store to see if anyone has it in stock and play with it a little. I’ve been with Sprint since 2002! When I first got a cell phone! In college! MEMORIES!!!!!! And I’ve never had an issue. Which is why I found it odd when everyone started being like ZOMG U HAVE SPRINT? LOSER.
Rachel – I love you. But I hate cold soup. I have a visceral, insane reaction to cold soup. That is how gross I think it is. THAT BEING SAID – I love hot soup. (Hale and Hearty’s 10 Veg is a favorite). However I have to admit, I get insanely full while eating it because of the liquid and the veggies. But then, an hour later? I want more. So…dangit. You are onto something with the good fats. Olive oil and avocado are staples in my diet. And I TOO HAVE BEEN EATING THAT DINNER OF TOMATOES AND SALT AND PEPPER! I just bought a slew of delicious heirloom tomatoes! So yes, am so into what you are saying. I don’t need to be filled up all day (as I find I do best eating five or six small meals spaced out instead of three larger ones) but I do need some sense of satiety. You have inspired me in my veggie burger quest. I was really loving Sunshine burgers for awhile but then someone just recommended Trader Joe’s masala burgers? Have you had these? Should I buy some? I AM INTRIGUED. I have yet to try the quinoa pasta but my roommate is a huge fan. So I will hit that up next. And the brown rice/beans in a tortilla? EXCELLENT IDEA. Will work on some variations of all your suggestions. Am so obsessed. And I want your blood orange olive oil. WHAT THE F?!!!!!!
G – See? Yeah. That’s the thing. Everyone complaining about the iPhone and the dropped calls. I’m with your boyfriend. I mean, in terms of Sprint. Not like, WITH your boyfriend. In a cheating way. WHAT?! OMG.
Wow, this post was a hit. Zucchini bread must be more fascinating that I thought.
Laura, I love you, but your distaste for cold soup is an issue we might have to work through. Are you sure you couldn’t even dip your toes into an amazing heirloom tomato (and watermelon!) gazpacho? It is basically our dish of amazing tomato goodness in spoon form! I will get through to you yet.
Haven’t tried those Trader Joe’s burgers, but am intrigued… I might have to dip on into that. And you need to hit up the quinoa pasta- it was a staple of my diet when I was macro. I like the “pagodas” the best, but imagine some spaghetti primavera with zucchinis, squash, campari tomatoes, and spring onions fresh from the greenmarket? Zomg. Or a cold quinoa pasta salad with fresh pesto and heirlooms? NOM.
The blood orange olive oil is amazeballs awesomesauce. As soon as July/Aug rolls around, I’m pretty much eating heirlooms with the goods 5 times a week- that olive oil has pushed it to 7. I’ll find out where she got it.
In case you want to try some burgers of your own, some of my faves:
Red Lentil and Cumin burgers (2 of my fave things): http://www.foodandwine.com/recipes/cumin-spiced-red-lentil-burgers [I subbed soy sour cream instead of soy yogurt when I made this in my macro days, found it worked better- also I totally upped the cayenne and cumin]
Black Bean Burger: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/homemade-black-bean-veggie-burgers/Detail.aspx
Portobello Burger: http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/portobello-mushroom-burgers/Detail.aspx [I sometimes dredge this in a bread crumb/spice mix and then bake or grill, esp if I am not eating it on a traditional bun]
By the way, if you are serious about going gluten-free and want some tips about good products, email me. I was gluten-free for a few years while macro.
Oh, and ps. If you are a hot soup lover, you have to come over for some of my delish curried butternut squash soup (with almond milk! so good) or my white bean and kale soup (with optional soysage).
I would help you with your stir fry issue, but I don’t know how. However, you should ask Raven what he puts in his. It is excellent!
[...] I had no idea everyone had such strong opinions about lunch. [...]
Just spent the last hour catching up on your last year, and I have two things to say:
1.) Get on the Droid EVO wait-list and never look back. I switched FROM Verizon, to Sprint, last month – to get the EVO, and it’s the greatest phone I’ve ever had. And knowing the kinds of things that will amaze you and astound you and thrill you? This phone has them all and you will be in love with it and never stop talking about “OMG you guyzzzzz, this phone is amaaaaaazeballs!”
2.) It was great to see you and your Pinkberry and we should make plans super soon, and you can play with my EVO and see why it’s so amazing but, far more importantly, we can catch up and stuff and not underneath Port Authority.