If I didn’t have to sleep

Last week, I bought this little bunch of “apple bananas” at a fruit shop near my office in East Harlem.

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They were the color that I normally love bananas, but apparently partly green is a no-go in the world of apple bananas. I took one bite and thought my tongue had fallen out because I could no longer feel it. Guess they weren’t ripe yet! I let them sit for the weekend and then decided to revisit one for my snack this morning. For size orientation:

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And I could actually taste the apple flavor in there!

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Inginia and I had our group this afternoon, and while Inginia put together a fun lunch spread (as usual), I worked some kitchen magic to make blue playdough for the kids:

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For lunch, I had 1.5 thin slices of French-ish bread with Inginia’s mustardy tuna salad:

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And 1/2 of a mini english muffin with peanut butter:

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A juntos (minus the extra 1/2 slice of bread and tuna):

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Some parents brought in an Entenmann’s walnut danish ring (whyyyyyyyy?), so I had two small slices (with another little dabble of pb on the side):

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The same parent also brought in a carton of Dole strawberry banana orange juice.  I usually only drink water because I’m a much bigger fan of eating than drinking, but I had to have a sip because I used to love these juices when I was little. My sip did not disappoint!

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After the group, I relieved my tuna breath with a Newman’s ginger mint, the best breath mint ever.

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I think I had four of these over the course of the day/evening.

Later in the afternoon, it was orange time! Note the neat edges on those orange peels thanks to my fancy schmancy orange peeler from Myrna:

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I also had a small handful of these pita chips from Jessica. So salty and garlicky, mmmmmmmmm:

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I had my first course of dinner right before I left work around 5:20: a cup of the pumpkin-sofrito Buitoni’s mushroom agnosomething and 3-grain tempeh that I made last night.

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My second course took place in class with variation #2 of flax pudding because Heather was looking for a tofu-free method (and because I was out of tofu AND yogurt):

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For that pumpkin pie flax pudding, I brought 1.5 cups unsweetened soy milk to a boil with 6 tbsp ground flax, cinnamon/nutmeg/cloves/ginger, and 2 chopped dates. After a couple of minutes there, I immersion blended in 1.5 cups of canned pumpkin and poured the mix into a container to chill in the fridge overnight. For my purposes, one serving equals one cup — so this recipe makes 3-4 servings.

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It would probably also work without the pumpkin because the flax seems to have incredible gelling properties. It just might come out a little bit looser.

Next up was my snack/dessert baggie with manchego cheese samples from the gourmet deli, two of mom’s kitchen sink muffins with sunflower seed butter for spreading, and sample pieces of Tate’s Bakeshop chocolate chip cookies from the deli:

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When I got home tonight, I snacked a bit while I got tomorrw’s food ready … as in I shoveled big piles of fruit salad and groatmeal into my mouth too fast to photograph them. What’s a girl to do when it won’t all fit in the container??

I was also super-excited to find that my first issue of Eating Well had arrived! I won the subscription from Brandi a little while ago, and I can’t wait to start reading it 😀 Sadly, I can’t start yet because I have to go to bed ASAP.

What would you be doing right now if you didn’t have to sleep?

Oh, one more thing (about me again, because obviously the world revolves around me) … I got hired!! Thanks to the tireless efforts of Heather, my supervisor, my amazing unpaid internship has miraculously found space in the budget to hire me full-time after the internship ends on May 8. I’ll officially start on June 1. I’ll be able to keep doing what I currently do (and what I love to do!) about 1/3 of the time; the other 2/3 will be a different more paperwork-based job but still good experience. So, not only will I continue to get my social work experience; I will also learn a new system and have a small amount of financial stability to get me through the last year of grad school. Phew!

39 thoughts on “If I didn’t have to sleep”

  1. Sweetie Pie says:
    Reply

    Congratulations! I’m so glad to hear that you will be getting paid to do something you love. That’s great!!

    Congratulations, also, on a day of yummy eats. That pudding is intriguing. I’m curious to try it!

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  2. Jessica (jesslikesithot) says:
    Reply

    Congrats on the job Sarah!!!

    Is a banana apple totally natural!??! That sounds funkyy (in a good way), I want to try them! And yum, pita chips are one of the crunchiest/saltiest little chip-ys I know! I love em’!

    I’m looking into buying newman’s mints now, by the way…you have convinced me!

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  4. coco says:
    Reply

    congratulations on getting the job!!! I can imagine how happy you are! 😀
    Agree with you and Abbie, I’d eat rather than drink! 🙂
    really want to try that apple banana!

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  7. Erin says:
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    Congratulations, Sarah! One of your wishes granted 🙂
    And I’m going to retry flax pudding after seeing yours. It looks quite good.

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  15. Ashley says:
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    Great news about the job!

    Ok… So I have never ever heard of an apple banana. How do they even do that? Is the banana genetically modified to taste like an apple? Or some kind of cross-breeding b/w the fruits?

    When I first saw the blue playdough and hadn’t read the caption I thought it was some kind of delicious icing… silly ash

    Can I ask – what is in Inginia’s mustardy tuna salad? It looks great! I’m always looking for new tuna-mix ideas.

    Also, that flax pudding looks wonderful. I eat sooo much flax. I love it. I will have to try some variation of yours(because canned pumpkin is something you just cannot buy in supermarkets over here…)

    And if I didn’t have to sleep – I’d be reading something twilight-related 🙂

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  19. Anna says:
    Reply

    Congratulations on the paying gig! That’s such great news, and I am so happy that you get to stay there. Can’t wait to see what food they give you as a full-time member of the staff!

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  20. Amy says:
    Reply

    Ahh, congrats on the internship turning into a job! That is a great way to go!

    And you have now opened my eyes to apple bananas. I had NO CLUE they existed! Crazy! What a good idea.

    Like

  22. Diana (Soap & Chocolate) says:
    Reply

    HEY congratulations on the job! That has to feel so good!

    And as usual I just read like, 7 of your posts at once, and your trip to NC looks like it was SO FUN! I love the south.

    I’m a huge fan of the non-mixed honey Oikos too – the honey emerged like lava when I stirred it! BUt your idea is better, inverting it so that it becomes icing, because I am such a fan of icing/frosting/thefrequencywithwhichitappearsonyourblog.

    Welcome home!

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  25. Erin says:
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    Congratulations!

    I’d be working on writing a book if I didn’t have to sleep. And playing with my dog. And spending more time with my husband.

    🙂

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  29. Susan says:
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    CONGRATS on getting hired!!! Sounds like all your hard work has paid off 😀

    The thought of a crossbred apple and banana blows my mind. Even more so than a grapple.

    Like

  31. Danielle says:
    Reply

    Apple bananas? Never even knew they existed! Sounds so cool though!
    And I want play-doh! I haven’t played with that stuff in years, I need a baby cousin or something! And that is seriously the nicest color playdoh ever!
    And super congrats on getting hired! That is so awesome you must have made a great impression!
    (Is this too many exclamation points?)

    Like

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