Moving

Got hit by a moving day this past Friday weekend. I had to move out of the building where I'd been living and into the building next door, and once I was done and moved in, my roommate needed help with her moving.

Moving as a college student is always an adventure. If you're lucky, you're not the only one moving that day and it's amazing how helpful other people can be. There weren't many people moving Friday evening, so it was just me and Super A. (I have to put out there that he carried my overly large mini-fridge that's probably not dorm-legal by himself from the one building to the other, including up the steps and without putting it down more than twice. He's a champ). In addition to just moving and packing, my roommate and I had to go through the things that two of our other roommates had left behind.

Needless to say, I was very grateful to Super A and got us milkshakes and burritos at the end of the night (and then we spent two hours the next morning finishing up).

In nine hours, we two people had managed to move essentially all my belongings. And they all fit into the half a room and quarter of the kitchen in the apartment I moved into.

I am impressed.

The next day, I got a frantic phone call from my roommate. She couldn't finish moving out of the dorm because she had a cart full of stuff to empty in her new room, but they wouldn't give her the key to the new room until she moved out of the old one.

People, come on. How on earth does that make sense?

Anyway, Super A and I went and helped. I think she might have had more stuff than I did, but we got it out of the building and up to her new room eventually. While we were waiting for her to get her key, we held open doors and helped people lift carts up the steps to the building (there was no ramp for some reason). It was a nice adventure, and a long weekend.

Dear fellow college students: helping people move on move-in/move-out/term-switch day is a very nice thing to do, and you might make a few friends in the process.

Damn Fine Chicken and Sautéd Garlic Asparagus

I have a confession to make. You know Paleo, the eating style where you don't eat grains? I'm giving it a try. I'm not going as extreme as giving up dairy, too, because I grew up drinking milk with every meal and am not lactose intolerant in the least. But the whole not eating grain thing is hard. That means no cereal or toast in the morning, no pb sandwich for lunch (which I also grew up on), no pasta or rice for dinner, no granola bar snacks, etc.

The principal is that humans have been around for the last 150,000 years. Agriculture has been around for the last 10,000 years. Our ancestors were hunter-gatherers. They ate meat and veggies. They weren't farmers. Our bodies are still better suited for eating meat and veggies than for highly processed foods. For a better/more detailed explanation of paleo, check out Steve Kamb's website NerdFitness.*

I explained the gist of Paleo to one of my friends and she insisted she could never give up pasta and rice. She doesn't cook much, and what I have seen her cook is mostly grain based and made in the microwave or steamer. This summer, I'll be attempting to teach her how to cook. I know she likes balsamic vinegar, and what gets easier than marinading chicken and sautéing vegetables? (For those of you with limited cooking experience, don't worry, it's not as scary as it sounds.)

Here's the original website for the Damn Fine Chicken recipe, and here's my modified version:

Ingredients:

• 2 lb of chicken breasts (making for several nights for myself)
• 3 tbsp of balsamic vinegar
• 3 tbsp of olive oil
• 1 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp soy sauce
• Handful of chopped onions
• Salt, pepper to season

Mix the vinegar, olive oil, fish sauce, soy sauce, onions, and seasonings in a bowl. Plop in the chicken. Using your hands (it's raw meat, wash before and after), mix the chicken in the marinade until it's well covered. Let sit for several hours. Pour the whole thing into a flat baking sheet or casserole dish and bake on 375 F (for non convection dish, 400 for convection dish) for 40-45 minutes. You'll have to turn the chicken over in the middle. Sprinkle any extra seasonings on top and enjoy!

If you're a person relatively short on time like myself, I made the marinade the night before and stuck the whole thing, chicken and all, in the fridge. In the morning before work, I stirred it up and made sure the chicken was thoroughly covered in marinade (kinda tricky because I used a bowl, would use a baggie in the future), and let it sit for the day.

Here's what else I made to go with the chicken:

Ingredients: 

• asparagus
• spinach
• butter
• garlic

I'd recommend waiting until after you flip the chicken before starting this. The asparagus got cut up into more bit sized pieces than the huge stalks. I minced some garlic, too (meaning cut it up into tiny pieces in one direction, then cut up into tiny pieces the other direction, then chopped finely until all the pieces were really small. I put the butter and the garlic in first, followed by the asparagus. Spinach thins down when you cook it, so you can start with something like 2 handfuls and end up with about the quantity that would fit in a Snack-Pak pudding cup (only slight exaggeration). The asparagus takes about 10 minutes alone to cook, more if you like it well done and not as crunchy. Spinach doesn't need as long. Cover the pan and stir occasionally until the veggies are done the way you like them. Serve with the chicken.

*Please read my disclaimer.

How to Survive an All-Nighter

I've done one before and am looking at another really late night (hopefully not all-nighter but I'm prepared to deal with that too) tonight, so I thought I'd share my tips for surviving an all-nighter and making it through the next day, too.

The All-Nighter

Rule #1: Don't panic. If it seems as though there's no way around it, you will be up to at least the wee hours of the morning, step back for a second. Take a deep breath, calm down. Yes, it stinks, and yes, you will survive.

Rule #2: This is work time. Focus on your project or essay or assignment for large chunks of time, and take short breaks occasionally. Don't multitask (Facebook, chats/texting, email) because you'll just be up later then. Save your work frequently.

Rule #3: Hydrate. Stay away from the energy drinks. If you need caffeine, I opt for tea (consumed at least 3 cups of black tea, don't remember how many more). You might prefer coffee or soda, that's ok. If you finish early and can go to bed for a few hours, you will probably be tired enough that you can fall asleep quickly. Water is always a good alternative too, just to stay hydrated.

Rule #4: Eat something. Don't eat junk food. Go for something nutritious, like nuts and fruit or whole grain toast. This will help prevent you from getting sick the next day. If you're drinking something high in caffeine, like coffee, it's really important for you.

Rule #5: Don't do it on your bed. This is almost a guarantee that you will fall asleep. I stayed in a study room, a not very comfortable couch, a barstool, and at one point I recall standing at the counter to keep myself from falling asleep.

Rule #6: At some point, take a quick break to wash your face and brush your teeth, or even hop in the shower. Put on your pjs if you want, or other comfy clothes (but stay away from the bed and stay upright). You'll come back feeling really refreshed.

The Next Day

Rule #1: Make sure you get up for whatever it is you have to be up for. For me, that's class and work. If you think you might be asleep at that time, tell a friend the night before and ask them to call you and make sure you're up. It might take a couple of tries, but you'll be glad they did.

Rule #2: Please don't drive. You haven't gotten nearly enough sleep, if any, so you're more or less as impaired as a drunk driver. Stay out of the driver's seat.

Rule #3: If you drank caffeinated drinks through the night, keep drinking them. Stopping will cause a sleepy-crash.

Rule #4: A quick nap can be your friend. Know that you might actually fall asleep though, so set an alarm. A 30 minute nap is good for light sleep. If you crash for longer than that, better make sure you wake up on an even 90 minutes or so. In between those times is a recipe for feeling more groggy than when you laid down.

Rule #5: Get really good sleep the next night. You need to make up for your sleep loss. You might actually sleep deeper and longer than you normally would, so keep that in mind.

The Day After

There's no rules for this day, just keep in mind that you're on Day 2 of recovery so you'll still probably feel a little slow. By Day 3, you should be back to normal. Keep getting good sleep for a few days to make up for the missed sleep.

Beware the sleepy hahas.

Microwave Chocolate Banana Cake

Sounds delicious, right? SnackGirl's done it again, mixing the sweet treat with the not so bad for you. This recipe uses a banana, an egg, 2 tablespoons of cocoa powder, and 2 teaspoons of sugar. It takes about 5 minutes to throw together and it makes two cakes. The nutrition facts are pretty phenomenal for  cake, too!

Here's the recipe: SnackGirl Microwave Cake

If I make any changes to the recipe, I'll post them below!

Coconut Blueberry Muffin Tops

It's almost summer, which means it's finally berry season again! As soon as blueberry prices go down, I'm planning on stocking up and storing as many pints as possible in the fridge and freezer (I apologize in advance, Elandra). Maybe though I'll make some of these yummies on a weekend:

Right now (rainy Friday morning right around when the munchies hit and there's a huge muffin in the fridge at work) these look incredibly delicious. Click here to see the original recipe on Jenna Weber's Eat, Live, Run blog.

Take a Break, Jeez!

I go hard. I work a 40 hour a week job, am taking a class and writing a significantly intense final project for it, run a club, exercise 5+ days a week, am an active member of another club, and struggle to find time for doing laundry, hanging out with friends, and cooking. Last week in particular was very stressful, and I'm sure it's not going to get better until I finish this term. I have a race this coming weekend, and my family is moving 6 hours away. This is all manageable, but it really wears a person down after a while.

Shocker: I woke up sick yesterday.

My immediate reaction: It's going to really stink to run this afternoon, and I need to do laundry, and homework, and gee, what about dinner?

As the day went on, I realized none of that was going to happen. My body was clearly telling me what it needed was not another long day, but an easy break-night. So when I got home from work, no, I did not head straight to the gym, but rather, the shower. Cue pjs, a comfy sweatshirt, and hanging out on the couch with a box of tissues and my laptop (ok, so there was still a little homework). I made sure to go to bed early enough that I would get about 8 hours of sleep.

And you know what? Today I feel much better. Allowing myself a night off gave my body time to unwind and start recovering. A good night's sleep was even better. I know it'll be a few days until I'm back to normal, but that doesn't mean I should continue at the same, slightly frantic pace I've been going.

The takeaway is to know your limits. Be comfortable saying "no" when you have too much on your plate. Give yourself a break every now and then. Ask for help when you need it. It's ok to be human.

A Well Used Mug

I have a new best friend. He's cute, keeps me company all day, holds my hand when I need it.

It's my tea mug.

The graphic is a picture of the simple dog from Hyperbole and a Half. It was given to me a couple of years ago as an awkward Christmas present. When I started work, I knew I would want to drink tea here, and my co-workers all had their own mugs and cups. I picked this one because, since it was an awkward present, I wouldn't feel too too terrible if it broke in transit, but I wanted a mug I liked.

This past week I've consumed more tea than I know what to do with. I went from maybe one cup a day to one cup every single day to two - three cups a day this week. Because I only have black tea here (keep meaning to fix that!), I've been resteeping the same bag or serving of looseleaf. At the end of the day, the poor mug usually gets forgotten in my post work heading out the door. So I come in the next day to a mug, empty, but still with a line of tea around the top from the day before.

I've tried washing it with and without soap, scrubbing with my fingers and paper towels, but it persists. I suspect it's not going away at this point, but that's ok. It's a well loved mug now, and the tea stain is part of its character. I've been thinking about bringing another mug to work, but it would be the same.