Kelly's Stellar Kitchen

I’m sitting here, drinking what is probably my third fifth cup of coffee at the tail end of a long day. I’m not drinking it out of my favorite mug, as I had hoped to, but you know, we just CAN’T win ‘em all!

However, I do feel a lot like a winner today. I graduated with my Master’s degree, and I’m piling heaps of hope upon even more hope that I will be get a permanent job with a competitive salary in my field. The job market doesn’t look good, but I’m doing my best to stay positive.

You haven’t seen me for all of April and most of May because, while I was working on my 60-page Master’s Thesis and Action Research, I was also working 4 jobs for a total of about 70 hours a week. I even injured my ankle, which has truly sidelined my cooking/running/training. 

I guess it was all for the better, because with every spare moment, I worked laboriously on my Thesis. I took my trusty MacBook and jump drives everywhere, even squeezing in some lunch-break-work at my various jobs. Aside from disappearing off of the blogosphere, my social life also took a serious dive.

Today was my commencement ceremony. I feel good. I feel accomplished. I feel ready to dive back into life outside of academia. I feel ready to have time for leisure reading and leisure writing.

Anyhow, what does this have to do with blogging?

Well, my dear friends, it means I have time to cook again, in my barely renovated kitchen. But I want these recipes to be flavorful, beautiful, and carefully sought-and-thought out.

My plan is to hold off on posting recipes for a bit. Starting July 1, you will see the recipes (hopefully some quality food porn) coming at you again on the regular. At that time, I hope to have a new layout and blog design. Call it a relaunch, if you will. A “Kitchen” renovation, of sorts.

In the meantime, I will be diving back in to “What I Ate Wednesdays” and telling you about some of my favorite food/kitchen products. There are more new favorites than I thought I could even have! I’ll pick my best for you. 

I’m glad to be back, kids, and I hope you will welcome me with open arms.

After all, I am a MASTER of something. Imagine that! (I have the bill to prove it). 

So, y’all:

My kitchen is being majorly renovated right now. I’m beyond excited, but it’s limiting my cooking. Truthfully, so is my work schedule.

I spent most of the day in NYC yesterday, seeing a taping of Late Night with Jimmy Fallon. My love for Jimmy Fallon goes way back to the SNL Days and THE Debbie Downer Sketch. I  saw myself on TV today! Clearly, I am a big star now.

Not above taking (many a) screen shot, I should mention I'm in the last row with a shiny silver clip in my hair. Later, I would go on stage, onto the band bench. I can totally see me clapping, and on TV, I can make out my own face. MADE OF WIN.

In my head, I had planned for yesterday to be a manageable day, food wise, but I really digressed. We all have those days. I am far from perfect. Yesterday was truly a day of indulgence.

I ate 3 of these bad boys for breakfast with a cup of coffee and an apple. Good, solid start to the day.

Then, I boarded a train to NYC, met up with a friend, and we took the subway down to Rockerfeller Plaza, where we ate here:

I had a turkey burger with mushroom and swiss, and a side of sweet potato fries. I only ate half of the burger, because I wasn't thrilled with it. But the sweet potato fries? Ate all of them like a BOSS.

What’s a girl to eat in Manhattan after seeing Jimmy Fallon and expending a lot of energy clapping? Obviously one of my favorite confectionary items from Crumbs.

White Hot Chocolate Cupcake? Yes, please. Have I mentioned lately that I am completely OBSESSED with Crumbs? Because, I am.

And lastly, when I arrived home at night, I ate some leftover slices of Papa John’s thin-crust pepperoni pizza, and 3 cheese sticks.

A day of excess, for sure. Today, I move on, and fuel my body much more adequately.

(But I’m still thinking about that cupcake. And Jimmy Fallon.)

I’ve been “off” of fast food* since May 2010. I’ve never looked back!

Below is a post from my previous blog, and the reason that I quit fast food.

*Pizza is not fast food.

Don’t Eat this Book (Written May 2010 by yours truly)

At one of my WW meetings, a member said she was (RE)reading a book by Morgan Spurlock, the man who made Supersize Me. Another (lifetime) member said he owns the book and rereads it frequently – he hit goal 20 years ago and looks fantastic!

So, I signed my (shrinking) butt on to Amazon and found a copy for 25 cents. It’s been enlightening, despite the fact that it was published 5 years ago.

I’m reading this book for a number of reasons, but the primary reason is that I’m trying more and more to move away from processed foods in my diet, (not “DIET,” just meaning my daily intake) and something tells me Mr. Spurlock has a lot to share about what goes IN to all of these Fast Foods. I only eat fast food about once a week, it’s usually Chick-Fil-A or Wendy’s, but if I could get it down to once a month or once every other month that would be fab. **Edit (3/12): After completing the entire book, I stopped all fast food. I would still eat Chick-Fil-A if we had it in NY, as there is very little chemical content.**

I’m posting to share the following excerpt from The Washington Monthly via Spurlock’s Don’t Eat this Book.
” If a person drives instead of walks for only 20 minutes each day for a year, he will store about 26,000 calories, thus gaining about 5 pounds. Researchers at the University of Minnesota estimated that over a year, those who spend only five minutes each workday sending emails to coworkers instead of visiting their offices will gain an extra pound. Most of us gain weight this way, a few grams a day, a few pounds a year – but enough to shorten our lives.”

Pretty scary, no?

I spend a lot of my time reading food blogs. More specifically, I spend a lot of my time reading food blogs when I should be diligently working on my Master’s Thesis.

While icing my knee and reading through blogs Saturday after a training run, I decided that I wanted to add another layer to KSK. I want to write more, reflect more.

I decided to add “What I Ate Wednesday” to my blog. If you’ve never seen it before, I did most of my “research” on it at peasandcrayons.

The gist of it is that every Wednesday, you’re going to get photos and possibly some snarky commentary  on everything I shove down my gullet. (Such a comically ugly sounding word, isn’t it?)

My hope is that this will be interesting for you, but also make me think twice or thrice about what I am actually eating that day.

Every single solitary bite, lick, taste, and chomp will be documented by my iPhone on Wednesdays.

Happy Wednesday! I bring you: What Kelly* Ate Wednesday, Installation #1.

*Yes, I’m using my name. Does that make me a narcissist? Maybe, but this IS Kelly’sStellar Kitchen, right?

Breakfast: coffee with Nutella oatmeal, made with milk. This portion was too big, and I didn't finish it!

Small lunch on-the-go. Clearly not well-planned!

A mini-brownie I grabbed to snack on mid-afternoon.

Coffee, round two: Again, in my favorite coffee cup. 2tbsp half and half, TYVM.

WW.com recipe: Chili Soft Tacos. SO good.