Search

Join Culinate! Login or Register

I have 40 recipes in my queue and no time to try them

From mydogischelsea by Laura Parisi

June 15, 2009

I eat so much better in the winter. That’s the season when I have that elusive thing called “time.” Time to make homemade stock. Time to try out fiddly recipes. Time to make three side dishes and a dessert for later.

But just as the first asparagus spears and snap peas hit the stands of the farmers market, the quality of the food I eat exponentially drops. This is because spring heralds the beginning of Ultimate Frisbee season. This means: team practice twice a week. League play every week, sometimes twice. Pickup games at every turn. Since Tuesday, I’ve had one evening that WASN’T dedicated to playing my chosen sport.

I practically go straight from work to the game or to practice, stopping at home only to pick up the dog. Occasionally (if there’s time) I’ll eat a pre-game slice of cheddar cheese and a handful of almonds. By the time we’re done playing, it’s after 9 PM and I am “hangry” (starving to the point of delirious ire). All I want to do is stuff my belly with greasy pub food as fast as humanly possible and go to sleep.

My CSA share has begun and I watch with horror as my greens age in the fridge. My garden is bursting with chard but I don’t bother to harvest it. The flat of strawberries I intend to turn into a slew of jams and desserts gets mushy and moldy.

And you can’t bring leftovers for lunch if you didn’t cook anything the night before. So instead of eating a delicious, healthy, home-cooked midday meal, I am forced to venture out into the food void that is downtown Vancouver, Washington, in search of something vaguely edible. All of this eating out is taking a toll on my pocketbook, my arteries and my tastebuds.

Tonight, I have plans—to go home and cook. I will use up the leftover chicken from last week’s non-Ultimate day and I will make enough chicken soup to feed me all week. I will sautee my overgrown chard in garlic and olive oil. I’ll eat CSA beets and kale and garlic whistles.

Most importantly, I will NOT scarf down an overcooked hamburger at a bar.

I will eat well.
_________________________________________________

Question of the day: How do you eat when you need to eat fast? I am open to suggestions.

Tags

add tags…
(please login to add tags)

There are 8 comments on this item

Add a comment

1. by Jenny on Jun 15, 2009 at 5:40 PM PDT

My problem is remembering to take my time eating even when I have the time to sit down and enjoy each mouthful. It seems like my mind and body is so used to eating in a rush (dinner at my desk between phone calls, a slice of pizza for lunch while running from the bakery to the gym, or a cup of coffee and a muffin between meetings). I always have to be mindful when I sit down with something in front of me. And remind myself to breathe and to take it slow. It takes a lot of effort.

I also find when I don’t have time to make myself a healthy lunch or dinner for work (I have breakfast at home) I tend to put together the simplest things that take no prep time whatsoever. Pasta with some sun-dried tomatoes. Tuna spread on some black olive bread. Almond butter and jelly on whole wheat. Meanwhile, the swiss chard, the onions, and asparagus go bad waiting for me to carve the time into my day to make something a little more inventive and a little healthier (than just tons of carbs).

This is a great post. And a great reminder for me to take just a few extra moments tomorrow morning to make myself something that doesn’t involve pasta or almond butter. Thanks!

2. by Kim on Jun 16, 2009 at 9:22 AM PDT

Laura, do you have a rice cooker? That has a timer? If you could set it to have brown rice ready and waiting when you come in, maybe then you could spend 15 minutes doing a veg stir-fry to go with it? I know that tired feeling, but cooking something -- anything -- helps me. Another favorite is frittata that I can eat all week. Eggs rock.

3. by Laura Parisi on Jun 16, 2009 at 10:40 AM PDT

Jenny: I hear you about the pasta! My go-to quick meal is pasta with parsley, garlic, olive oil and parm. It’s delicious, but I make it WAY too often. I also forget to slow down and enjoy each bite. I tend to treat my fork as a shovel.

Kim: Eggs do rock. I often make scrambled eggs after a game. Light enough to eat late at night and yet protein-rich and delicious! I don’t have a rice cooker, but I could make some rice in advance and maybe even prep the veggies so everything’s ready to hit the skillet when I get home. Because when I am ravenously hungry, I don’t have time to chop!

4. by Jennifer Meier on Jun 16, 2009 at 5:47 PM PDT

I second the vote for a rice cooker. It’s a kitchen gadget well worth the space it takes up - you can put in the rice and walk away without worrying about the rice getting over-cooked etc.. I also use it for all sorts of healthy grains like quinoa.

5. by David Silva on Jun 18, 2009 at 8:41 AM PDT

I’m all about the fruit. As a New Yorker, I’m always on the go, and relate to this post a little TOO well. Excellent blog. Instant healthy food: Navel oranges, Apples, a bag of baby carrots. All easy to eat while walking on the way to practice and / or a game. And these are so easy to eat and you don’t have to cook them. NO more sad produce in the fridge.

6. by meganjoy on Jun 19, 2009 at 2:33 PM PDT

i really do always love your blogs... and this one is no exception. my answer to summer craziness is a quiche... I know you dont like crust, but i am sure you could make one without, and it would work just fine. I make one and keep it in the fridge for the week- quiche is usually good warm or cold, and is an excellent vehicle for any number of yummy cheeses, meats and veggies, and is great for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

7. by michael5000 on Jun 23, 2009 at 9:38 PM PDT

Say what you like about healthy food, but it’s hard to beat a pint of ice cream when you need lunch in a hurry. I recommend coffee ice cream, as the caffeine takes the edge off of the 2:30 sugar crash.

8. by meganjoy on Aug 20, 2009 at 1:56 PM PDT

new favorite summer meal answer... Mark Bittman’s list of 101 simple salads- it is brilliant and now taped to our fridge...

Add a comment

Think before you type

Culinate welcomes comments that are on-topic, clean, and courteous. For the benefit of the community we reserve the right to delete comments that contain advertising, personal attacks, profanity, or which are thinly disguised attempts to promote another website.

Please enter your comment

Comment

Format: Bare URLs are automatically linked; use this style: [http://www.example.com "place text to be linked here"] for prettier links. You may specify *bold* or _italic_ text. No HTML please.