My Day In [Sex and] Food: Successes and Failures
A whole lot of nothing much to tell you today. Shobhit expanded his work shift yesterday and wound up working all evening, so I decided to take that opportunity to spend some time at Steamworks. I had a coupon with which, if I got in using the price break before 6 pm, would get me in for only five bucks. It's just as well: literally nothing came of it. I pretty much wasted even that five bucks. At least it was only five bucks.
That said, I also spent another five bucks before that: I thought I would only be spending a dollar to ride a Spin Cycle bike so I could get home by 5pm. I hadn't ridden my bike to work because, for the second day in a row, rain was in the forecast for the afternoon -- and then it didn't rain. The bike rides are only a dollar per half hour ride, but this time the app insisted I had to buy $5 worth of credits and then use $1 for the ride. Annoying. Apparently adding $5 to my account created $6 worth of credits, so there's that, I guess.
I tried to transfer to a bus once I got to Pine Street. I parked the Spin bike by the Paramount and even got on the bus, but the ride would not close on my app. I thought I had locked the bike, but I hadn't -- I'm too new at these new ride share bikes and didn't realize there's a lever you have to click down in order to lock the bike. Otherwise my account was going to keep accruing time on it. I got off the bus and grabbed the bike and just rode the rest of the way. And that was just as well, because I had left the umbrella I love so much (clear with pink and white stars on it) in the basket; I would have lost it had I locked the bike and gotten on the bus without it!
And I still made it home within the half-hour time frame so it didn't take another buck off my credits.
I also totally misread the time I had been there when I was at Steamworks. I left around 8pm, thinking I had been there three hours -- counting up from 5:00, which was dumb because I got in there closer to 5:50. So I realize now I was only there a couple of hours, which is often not enough time to make it worth going. Then again, it really was dead there last night -- it's super hit or miss on Wednesday evenings. But again: only five bucks. I had nothing better to do. It was disappointing not to get any action so I went home and just quickly took care of myself.
And then I made dinner, a sort of impromptu dish that was new. Well, sort of new. Years ago I have once or twice eaten Boca veggie chicken "chik" patties with pasta sauce on them -- it turns out to be simple and tasty, and lower on carbs than having them as sandwiches with hamburger buns. I made them slightly more elaborate this time: fried the patties, with veggie ham and slices of cheddar cheese on them, then topped with pasta sauce and parmesan cheese.
I called it Veggie Chicken Cordon Bleumesan. We didn't have a lot of vegetables to add to the can of leftover crushed tomatoes in the fridge, which was about 40% full. So, I did something else I've never done before: in addition to the chopped bell pepper, I also chopped up the last eggplant we had in the refrigerator, and sautéed all of that together in a sauce pan. I never prepared eggplant that way before, but it actually worked rather well, giving a lot of volume to the pasta sauce even though I had no other vegetables I would have liked to add, like onion or mushroom or celery.
So it was like the love child of an eggplant parmesan and a chicken cordon bleu, only vegetarian. I used up all four of the Boca "chik" patties to make plates for both Shobhit and myself, each of us getting two patties. When I sat down to eat mine while watching a Netflix comedy special, I realized I would have been thoroughly satisfied with only one of the pasta sauce-smothered patties -- the dish was heavier than I expected. But I still easily ate my entire plate, and left Shobhit's in the microwave for him. And to my surprise, he was pretty impressed with it once he got home from work too. I should keep this in mind for future meals, as it's rare to find a meal so low on carbs (or at least bread or pasta, both of which I eat a lot of) yet so filling. I think next time I'll only have one of the patties when I make it, though.
At least I was still down half a pound this morning.
. . . Jeeeesus Christ. I'm posting later than normal today for a stupid reason: really, ultimately because I did not bring my lunch. I thought I had a pizza in the freezer already but I guess I was thinking of the one I ate earlier this week. My bad as far as that goes. But, also because the lunch I ordered was delayed in its delivery.
We use this delivery service at work called Peachd. I've only used it a few times and not since we moved to the new location in August of last year. I found a vegetarian pasta dish I could order this morning, with a base price of $11.99. A little steep, but I guess I could handle it -- and it was either that or go to some restaurant or takeout place, which I didn't want to do. So, I got that. But then, with tax and the delivery fee after I ordered, it came to $14.30. Honestly that's way too much.
And then it was late. Delivery window was 11:30 to 12:30; it didn't arrive until 12:39. They texted me an apology and said I could get 10% off another order -- but only if I used it within the next 14 days. What kind of bullshit is this? I am not ordering through Peachd again in the next two weeks. In fact I'm not sure I ever will again. If I make this kind of dumb mistake in not bringing food again, I will indeed just go outside to get a sandwich somewhere or something. Also there is usually some sample frozen meal I can eat in the freezer anyway; it's just by coincidence that right now what's in there is all either desserts or non-vegetarian stuff.
I sat down with my dish at the same table where Scott and Noah were sitting when I finally got it, and I said, "Does this look worth fourteen bucks to you?" They both said no. "Where's the other one?" Noah asked. "Does it come with a side of steak?" Scott asked. I have to admit, once I dug into it, it was very tasty. Still not worth fourteen bucks though.
[posted 12:57 pm]