in Transition

I've been swamped!

Can I have another one of ME? I need to clone myself...I want to do so many things. Let's say there are so many things I'd like to accomplish, but I can't do it all! My body and time are limited; the physical aches and pains I can't ignore. In fact, I've been more in shape than when I started. I guess I want to do more, and I expect to be able to do better and faster.

And NOW, besides school and its demanding duties, I got offered a part-time gig, BAKING! Can you believe it??? And I got another 'little' offer for a complementary days and hours. Like I said, there are so many things I'd like to DO, but I'm not a super ME! And there's only 24hours in a day, whether we like it or not.

I'm happy; I'm honored that someone or people believe in me and seeing something special I can contribute. It's not a sad problem, but I don't know how I'm gonna get my body in shape for all these demands. I'm sure you'd say...Mind over body...if I put my mind into it, somehow my body will follow. Sure. I'm doing it, but it doesn't mean my aches and pains go away in an instance. Smile. I need to get enough rest. Put my feet up. Rest my back. I know I'll be able to perform even better. I need to learn how to manage my time better.

With that said, I got one of my favorite stations in the kitchen! I'm in Pasta and Omelet station for 5 days, and I've been too busy to do it better than the first attempt. I want Chef to notice that I've learned a lot so far and that I can handle the station better with better outcome. So, excuse me for not having the time to take photos in the kitchen at all this week.

These are what I've been making and planning to do in the station besides the basic spaghetti and ravioli with marinara sauce that we have to have available every single day:

Pasta specials:
*Aglio e Olio (spaghetti with olive oil and garlic);
I added Italian sausage for this version.
*Lasagna
*Baked Mac and Cheese
*Spaghetti al Nero di Seppia (with squid and its ink)
*Gnocchi (don't know what sauce to go with it just yet; or I think I'm gonna make a pesto sauce from scratch at home and bring it to the school kitchen...we'll see)

Omelets:
*BLT (Bacon Lettuce Tomato); yes...even Chef was impressed with how daring I was to think about this! Wink.
*Ricotta with fresh chopped basil, avocado and cherry tomatoes.
*hmmm...what else? I haven't thought much about omelet recipes, to tell you the truth. I'll come up with something when I see what ingredients we have available. Any suggestions?

Anyways, It's been fun. It is, for sure, a huge learning experience for me, in a different way than before. It is intense! I'm sure...

I WILL SURVIVE!
Smile.
Cheers.

full Circle

That's it. I'm back to where I started...I've come full circle with all the stations in the kitchen now. I'm back on Entree again!

Take a look at the two salads I made for my last day at Salad Station. I made Cobb's Salad with stripes of 1-2oz portions of bacon bits, egg, tomato, turkey, avocado, and blue cheese crumble, pictured top right below. Yup, that's how our Chef wants us to present Cobb's Salad! Imagine the time needed to make such salad. Wink.


Then I was running a bit late for my second salad, so I came up with simple arugula bunch, cut endive, cherry tomatoes, diced yellow bell pepper, and fig on top with blue cheese crumble mixed with olive oil, salt and pepper as dressing. I sliced purple head lettuce to be the base and decoration that give color contrast. That was it!

Not bad. Smile.
Would you have some? They're pretty refreshing, to say the least.

Talking about greens, I haven't been eating fruits and vegetables lately as the daily recommended intakes. Why not? I've been making some myself, but I've been 'lazy' to eat them afterward. I ended up eating other food like Entree or the specials, which don't have everything I need. I'm trying to save money by eating at our Cafeteria, but I realized that I haven't been eating as well balanced as when I prepare food and eat at home! It's funny, isn't it?

It's an experiment, this so-called LIFE!
We live and we learn.

Can you imagine that we only have 4 weeks left to our semester? (Cafeteria closes before finals start). Our Chef decided that we'd pick our 5 favorite stations and we'd stay for a week for each station he assigns us in. Let's see what I get...

(I picked Quick Bread/Muffin, Pasta and Omelet, Sandwich and Burger, Pastry and Vegetarian special).

Stay tuned.
Cheers.