11 October 2015

Eating food while living away

So I'm going to code school. It's in SF. This would mean a minimum 3-hr roundtrip commute every day were I to stay at home, so instead I'm renting a room in the city and staying there 5 days a week. I've been coming home on the weekends. I have a lot to do and a lot of people to interact with and a lot of things to learn, and I am very tired.

We still have the CSA box coming for slightly more than 2 out of the 3 months I'll be gone. We paid for it all up front last year, when we signed up. So although we can cancel boxes if we need to, we'd much rather actually get and use all that beautiful veg. Plus, doing an advanced academic program is leaving my brain fried (and my evenings filled with homework) kind of a lot of the time. So the basics of eating are requiring some attention.

The general food plan is as follows:
- John picks up the CSA box every Thursday (as long as he's in town).
- I come home Friday night.
- We spend part of the weekend cooking and prepping for the week ahead. We pack everything up and freeze what can be frozen.
- I take some pre-cooked food and some easily usable/transportable ingredients back to the city on Sunday night or Monday morning. The rest stays at home for John to eat.
- I eat the previously prepped food all week, with supplemental salads, fruit, eggs, oatmeal, and canned soup/etc as needed.
- The next week, I bring home my tupperware and cooler, and the cycle starts again.

This is not that different from what a lot of people do on a regular basis. It's just a matter of planning and execution.

I have found myself not wanting to eat anything even vaguely complicated. This is good, because it means I really don't have to do that much to get fed. I just throw together some pasta with veg and beans, or warm up some pre-made soup, or put a handful of salad greens on a plate. In the morning there is tea and more tea and possibly eggs, depending on how long I've been up and therefore how much breakfast I can stomach. There is more soup and instant couscous for lunch. Sometimes I buy a burrito. I'm just tired.

Staples I'm keeping in SF:
- grains: pasta, instant couscous, rolled oats
- the tiniest bottle ever of olive oil
- granola bars
- canned things: tuna, soup, chickpeas
- lots of tea
- cream cheese
- tortillas
- bread
- butter

Fresh supplies to replenish every week, depending on the CSA & how much I've used up:
- veg: carrots, broccoli, peppers, green onion
- fruit: apples, mostly
- lots and lots of eggs
- any cilantro that comes in the CSA box
- basic salad greens or a head of lettuce

Things we're making on the weekend:
- Soups and stews: chili, samosa soup, carrot & white bean, etc
- Pasta sauce or fagioli sauce with all the veg, especially greens
- Refried beans and rice, kept separate for future burrito OR fried rice application
- Baked things for snacks or desserts: scones, loaf cakes, cookies
- Salads that keep well: grain and veg, so far

I'm pretty tired. What do you like to eat when you're tired?