I got all confused when my alarm went off. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to have a normal schedule. A Monday through Friday gig with no question as to when I should set my alarm. One in which I didn’t wake up at 5 AM and stumble around for 10 minutes trying to remember if that day was a work day or a day off. Or worse, snap out of bed at 8 AM wondering if I slept through the start of my shift! Sure, there are perks to having a flex schedule, but there are also negatives. Getting one month of my schedule at a time makes it virtually impossible to make plans ahead of time. And for the super-scheduler that I am, that’s a BIG negative. For the normal jobbed people out there, do you start work at the same time throughout the week? Or is each day different? You have any say in your hours? Or for the peeps in school, do you like to keep each day’s wake up call similar, or do you have certain days you sleep in more than others? At my high school we had late Wednesdays that started 45 minutes later than the rest of the week. Weird.
Anyways, here was the lunch I packed. I finished off my beloved Newman’s Own protein pretzels, so I had to substitute in some normal ones. As you may or may not be able to see (from the above photo), they were way bigger, but way thinner. Not a fan. I’m hooked on Newman’s and this other kind was so salty I couldn’t taste anything but the massive sodium rocks. They even drowned out the pistachios and goji berries.
The salad on the other hand was QUITE the masterpiece if I do say so myself. I’m not sure it could be called a “salad” per se, but it DID have a bottom layer of lettuce, so I guess it meets the criteria. The other topping included: tofu chunks, leftover root veggies, carrots, quinoa, and soy nuts. Soy nuts are my new favorite salad topping because they give the perfect crunch to each bite.
After work, I came home with the uncharacteristic desire to MAKE dinner. Usually, I’m so exhausted I just want something quick and easy. But not today! This dinner was a two course affair and full of layers.
First up, pasta.
Layer 1: Noodles
Layer 2: Nooch (don’t be skimpy)
Layer 3: LightLife soy bacon
Layer 4: Peas
Cheesy pasta with bacon would normally be an artery clogging meal, but I made it healthy, hippie-style (clearly my training in maintaining a heart healthy diet is useful outside the hospital setting). I love all-in-one dishes. Why not just mix everything together in a bowl?
For the second layered dinner dish, I made a salad.
Layer 1: Spinach
Layer 2: Sweet potato wedges (can someone please tell me the difference between a sweet potato and a yam?)
Layer 3: Nooch & paprika covered cauliflower
I got this idea from my TX homegirl Erin’s raw popcorn. All I did was add nooch, paprika, and S&P to a tuperware full of raw cauliflower florets (it’s shake-n-bake, and I helped). Sooo good!
Layer 4: Hummus
Layer 5: More hummus
It may not LOOK pretty, but it tasted damn fine.
I love that you can’t tell where the cauliflower ends and the hummus begins…that is how all meals should be. SO MUCH HUMM-DADDY. Makes my heart go pitter patter with love beats.
Even after my two course PM feast, my sweet tooth was a raging beast, so I was coerced into obliging. You know how these things go…
Introducing the newest dessert hummus flavor: Caramel Apple
True convo with Kyle as I was eating (the above) dessert:
E: This is ridiculously good. I might have to finish it all.
K: Getting between you and your hummus is like a Mama bear and her cub!
Yes. So don’t try.
{ 55 comments… read them below or add one }
I work shift work, so I have hours all over the place – BUT they all fall between 9AM-9PM, so I don’t have it near as bad as you! I wish I could have regular hours though, since I hate having different meal times every day and whatnot. I’m sure you know aaalll about that!
That raw cauliflower popcorn sounds delicious. And dessert hummous?? Sign me up! -Eve
yeah…i agree. the most frustratign part is how it hinders my reg eating schedule (and eliminates my ability to work out completely)…ah well, if it were peachy, it wouldnt be called “work” right?
That first shot of your noodle bowl TOTALLY looked like your noodles were topped with dried papaya! Ha! I was thinking, Okay, Elise is taking the love of fruit and nutritional yeast a little TOO far with that one…
Glad to hear it way soy bacon instead–that sounds MUCH more appetizing!
Sweet Potato vs. Yam–In America, we probably don’t really have any yams in the supermarket. They are in South America or Africa…what we call yams in the US–the orange fleshed sweet and starchy tubers–are really just another variety of sweet potato. You’ll know the difference because true yams have a dark skin and can be about 7 feet long! Maybe at a farmers market or something?! Who knows…your sweet potato wedges look good, and I am sure they *tasted* even better, which is what matters, right?! I mean, really…lets get our priorities straight here!
Courtney
ok, well, lets not get ahead of yourselves, i can promise eventually some sort of ridiculous combo will eventually find its way onto my plate…i love nooch THAT much
thx for the yam/sweet potato difference. apparently all sweet potatoes have to be labeled as “yam” also as per the USDA…another govt food fail. no wonder everyone is so confused!
I know! But they cannot be labeled solely “yam” because that would be an outright lie…so they have to say “sweet potato/yam” which just confuses everyone. Number 1000001 that the USDA ticks me off…
Courtney
And PS–I would *avoid* the papaya n.y. combo…I don’t speak from experience or anything, but yuck!
My schedule is pretty predictable: Monday through Thursday I work from 6:30 to 3:00 and Fridays I get the 9-5 shift. My boss is extremely flexible so I can get any day off if I need to and he knows that I’m willing to work a weekend day if we need coverage.
That salad looks fabulous with all thetoppings. I hate salads that are mostly lettuce.
thats awesome! what a great boss.
I work pretty steady hours; which is good, because I need a structured schedule. It drives me crazy to not know things in advance! My brother has shifts like yours, and while I do envy him his days off, I don’t envy the unpredictable and long hours. You win some, you lose some.
Sodium is your friend! ;p
As for the sweet potato / yam thing, I had the same question, but I finally figured it out! (Google helped.) To make a long story short, if you’re buying it in NYC, unless you’re in a specialty market, chances are it’s a sweet potato. Even if it says “yam.”
<3 <3
darn govt messing with food and getting it wrong (again)
wow carmel apple hummus!? That sounds amazing!! I will have to try and find some of that asap. Does it taste more like hummus or carmel?
i love mixing pasta with peas!! they work perfectly together
it tastes more caramel apple-y, but the best part is, its not super sweet (which is where the hummus comes in i think…) apparently chickpeas are like tofu and they take on whatever flavoring you mix them with…its really good!
The more hummus the better and that is a FACT!
You pack some amazing looking food, I would be more than happy to help you eat all of it!
fact: hummus is my crack. only there is no rehab for the addicted.
Is it weird that massive sodium rocks sound good to me? Probs. Your noodles look legit
thats a good point. typically im salt’s #1 fan. seriously, im like the anti-spokesperson for the cardiac diet. you know its bad when you have a higher blood pressure than your patients…
i work at a different time every day, i don’t mind it because i get to sleep in twice a week (well.. sleeping in to some people.. i personally don’t consider sleeping until 8 “sleeping in”.. sleeping in to me is more like 11, don’t hate) anyway! i do get confused as to what time i have to set my alarm sometimes and waking up in a panic is always a gnarly feeling. LMAO at kyle’s comment!!!!!! so rad!
Grace and I LOVE those pretzels. Now hear me out: pretzels + dessert hummus. I HAFTA try.
I’m the same as you with my work schedule…it’s all over the place. Even worse is that I don’t get my schedule until a few days before the work week!! I work at Starbucks and I usually open, but I’ve been helping out and closing for the past 6 weeks. My body is all sorts of confused! I thrive on consistency so these past few weeks have not been fun!
You graduated from UCLA right? I work at a Starbucks in Brentwood…pretty close by!
yup! ive probably been there 7 million times before. not that im a sbux junkie or anything…
your sched sounds equally inconsistent as mine.
AMEN. Will someone PLEASE clear up the difference between a sweet potato and a yam?!
I want your noodle dish. The hippie version, or the real version. I just want it!
apparently (in the US) we are eating sweet potatoes – regardless of what the label says. the USDA has screwed us up again, requiring mislabelings…yams are white on the inside, and darker and wrinkly on the outside…
okay your newest hummus sounds to die for. I wish you could go shopping for me, for real.
…he works from nine til give and then…
I work the same everyday of the week, and I don’t think I could function if I didn’t. I admire people with different schedules, because I couldn’t keep it all straight.
Also, I had no idea there was dessert hummus out there. Must try.
give?….I meant five.
haha, yeah i figured. glad you got the reference
dessert hummus is so good! definitely try it.
Hi! I have a newly started vegan blog and I just wanted say that I have been reading your blog for some time now, and it is really inspiring! Reading your blog, as well as other ones, and now having my one makes me eat with variation and to enjoy cooking even more. Keep blogging and have a nice day!
congrats on the new blog! thanks so much for the nice comments and i hope you keep reading
I think yams are called sweet potatoes in the US. Or the other way around. A mis-labelling somewhere (not that they are labelled
)
I’ve done some strange schedules, but more due to just long unpredicatble hours than a rota…(ie, a “Devil Wears Prada” boss who thought it was perfectly reasonable to call me at 11pm to go to the office and send a fax to California!) I worked at Starbucks for a while which can have funky hours, but me and the boss were tight so I was good. Hello, 9-2, I like. Though given that I was usually at a Starbucks by 6am each day anyway, wouldn’t have mattered. Night shifts I could NEVER do.
I will never come between you and hummus as long as you never come between me and my “chicken” salad. Deal?
deal.
sometimes i consider getting another side job and the bux or WFs for no reason other than to get a discount and save myself money since i effing LIVE at those places.
totally worth it for the discounts, seriously…10%, plus a free drink before, during and after shifts. You could train and be just part-time and do 1-2 shifts a week. Plus, how can you not love the cool hats?
Though the training is intense- I had to go to Starbucks School! (for real…you have all-day lectures about where coffee comes from/how it is grown/the process of roasting beans).
I think the major diff is that people like to say the word yams at the holidays. Everyother day its just sweet potatoes but people want to make it all fancy pants at thanksgiving…
Kyle is hilarious.
I would very much like to try that dessert hum daddy
hahaha. i think youre on the money with that one. as soon as the season changes, sbux brings out the red cups and then sweet potatoes become yams, hot chocolate suddenly becomes cocoa, etc.
(that said, i kinda like it)
Nooch + cauli + roasted sweet potatoes. That was MY DINNER last night. But the nooch was on my kale. And the cauli was next to the sweet pots. Yours looks FAR more appetizing and I am so tossin’ up the tail end of my cauli w/ nooch tonite. Thank you for da dinner idea!!!!!!!
Woot! And thanks for sayin hi on my bloggie and that all was well with reader and my domain change. xoxo
Hi there!! Your lunch is gorgeous!! I can’t pack pretty lunches cuz they get all messed up whenever i get to my destination!
I wake up at different times to go to work depending on what bus I catch. They’re 30 minutes apart, so if my bosses aren’t in one day, I’ll take the later bus. ahahaha SHHHH….
AHHH dessert hummus! YUMmmmyy!!! My favorite has got to be the chocolate mousse or the maple walnut. It’s AMAZING on top of frozen waffles or pancakes instead of syrup! Try it!
your secret is safe with me.
p.s. i just had the chocolate mousse and HOLY YUM.
Your title makes me want to watch Eurotrip for the 76th time. My answers to your job Q’s: I have a set schedule but I don’t get to pick the hours. Luckily it’s always the same days and hours year after year after year.
So many Midwesterner’s were be proud to see that “cheesy-pasta-bacon” dish. Cheese, pasta, bacon and a veggie make up many casseroles in these parts!
I’m glad Kyle knows that he’s marrying an addict and I’m proud of you for showing that hummus who’s boss. That’s the way the damn thing is done
Yum, your pasta dish looks great as does that caramel hummus! I don’t know how you cope with such an unpredictable schedule, it must get very hard sometimes. I am currently studying pre-med though so I guess I will have to learn how to deal with it;)
haha, yup…soon you too will know the joys of having your patients’ stability control your schedule! how far into med school are you? and what field(s) are you interested in?
Hmm I tried the Lightlife bacon a while back and didn’t like it, but perhaps I should give it another try? I really love Lightlife Tempeh bacon–smoky and delish!
ive never tried the tempeh bacon before. i really like the soy bacon, but its VERY salty, so i only have it once in a while.
OMG I need dessert hummus NOW! Also, I had early release on Wednesdays in high school– crazy! But for now, I get up at 7 on Tuesdays and Thursdays, and 9 on M, W, F. Saturday and Sunday? Muhahaha I never know!
Mmmm that hum-dinner sounds amazing! Shooo, now I need more food!
Have a fab Friday!
hooray for agenda-less weekends. i love those. i only get them every other weekend, and they zoom by.
hahaha!! i love the hummus part
i coudlnt stop laughing
looks good!
I work at my restraunt job always at the same hours.. but as a makeup artist.. I could have a call time of 5am or 9 pm. it defiantly ranges.
wow, 9 pm call time? no thanks. what a fun job though!!
Oi, sorry about your schedule! What always throws me off is starting at different times different days. It’s so confusing!
I was JUST thinking of making faux carbonara-style pasta with sundried tomatoes… I’ve never tried soy bacon, though.
Gorgeous sweet potatoes and cauliflower!!!!
im an a.m. person so I get up early everyday normally…on my own too!
that dessert hummus looks sooooo interesting! i have to try it someday!!
I need to ALSO try that business on my cauliflower!! I just love it plain in salads!!
beautiful eats!
HAPPY FRIDAY! AND HAVE AN AMAZING WEEKEND!!!
hey elise!
i’m a pre-med neural science major at nyu (and i’m actually starting to volunteer in the ER at what i’m pretty sure is your hospital within the next few weeks—ahhh that was creepy).
have you ever had the 20 ingredient salad at curly’s vegetarian on 14th btwn 1st and 2nd? it’s a huge salad w 20 ingredients that are different every day…literally my favorite thing in the entire world…if you haven’t tried it you MUST.
i have NOT! and its right around the corner, too! good luck in the ED, and please oh please dont send me your homeless patients with “chest pain” just because you wanna clear out the weirdos
– j/k i love ALL my patients
Haha, you and your hummus never cease to crack me up….
I feel for ya with your schedule…. I’m a school social worker and my schools start at different times, but only by an hour. But honestly it still really screws with me…. going to bed at different times each night, etc. I don’t know how you do it girl!
Also, don’t forget about my year’s subscription to Vegetarian Times mag on my blog if you are interested!
i almost forgot!!! thx
just wanted to say that I feel like I’ve heard that convo between you and kile before..haha
probably…its kinda like that with most food
I’ve never heard of dessert hummus! I MUST find this!!!!
I’m a student and my class schedule isn’t anything crazy but my boyf works retail so he has weird hours and works the weekend all the time. i kiss his snoring face when I leave for school at 7 AM and then I see him for a couple hours at night before he tucks me in for sleep. basically i never see him when the sun is out.
aww…i think thats what it would be like if i worked more than 3 days a week. thank goodness i have random days off to catch up (slash see him for longer than 5 minutes)
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