So, the paper is done!!! And I am way beyond sleep-deprived. And it will take my body 10 years to recover from all the sugar I’ve downed in order to get through this. And I still have a presentation to give tonight. But, after that, I will be school-free for four whole days. That means I will have a four-day vacation from getting utterly drenched in torrential downpours on the way from work to class only to sit in an over-air-conditioned room for 3.5 hours.
I may have been smiling on the outside, but I was crying on the inside.
So were Deborah, Lucia, and Pura:
Anyway, I’ve at least been pairing my sugar overages with some green. When I eat too much junk, it’s always in addition to and not instead of a healthy base. Hopefully, my body will thank me by not letting diabetes spontaneously develop overnight.
My packed lunches this week involved a variation of this recipe for Catfish and Tomatillo Salsa from EatingWell. Except I used chicken instead of catfish because that was what I had. And I completely ignored every part of the recipe except the part that told me what to put in the salsa. Well, that’s sort of a lie. I used more tomatillos and more onion than the recipe required because I wanted to use everything. By the way, if you don’t know about tomatillos, you should get acquainted.
They resemble green tomatoes on the outside and somewhat on the inside, but the flavor is more like a Granny Smith apple.
I used two of my CSA garlic scapes in place of the garlic, and I also had to improvise when the recipe wanted japapenos and I did not have any. Instead, I poured in this super spicy green salsa that Lillian had left over from her tacos last week at work:
I chopped 1.5 chicken breasts (I’ve had them in my freezer since November at least!) and placed them on the bottom of a baking dish. The huge pile of salsa went on top.
I covered the dish and baked for 40 minutes at 400, and then I uncovered the dish and broiled for an additional 15 minutes to get this:
For the side, I decided to mobilize the rice I’ve been storing in my freezer for months. I defrosted Vianni’s veggie rice and chicken (and you know this is old because Vianni left my agency over six weeks ago!), Myrna’s rice and sardines, and stepdad John’s leftover coconut curry rice from a Thai restaurant and mixed them all together with BRM triticale berries to satisfy my whole-grains-loving conscience:
For an extra kick, I mixed all the rice-y goodness with the last of the TJ’s SPICY jalapeno-lime salsa (the origin of those orange bits in the picture above) from Elisabeth.
Outdoor patio lunch in action (the same day, incidentally, that afore-mentioned perfectly-timed-with-my-commute flood drama took place):
Food marriage has a much higher rate of success than people marriage:
As I’ve mentioned before, my agency has very Catholic roots and was started by nuns. This pious (?) man is probably a prominent Catholic figure, and he watched vigilantly over our lunch:
Word is, if you stare long enough, he actually starts to move closer. A religious miracle or a trick of perception? You decide. Or, if you don’t want to talk about religion and miracles, you can just tell me your best caught-in-the-rain story …
Tales of Expansion: Baby Butternut Edition 
mine was just this morning!!!! it was pouring buckets.. thunder lightening like crazy!!! problem one, i lost power as soon as i plugged my blowdryer in.. and did not get it back on until just before i had to leave to drop my car off at the shop.
went to the shop. thunder- lightening… which struck about 500 feet away from my car!!! i was so scared i went as fast as i could to the shop where i begged my co-worker to come and bring a boat. lol
what a fun morning
LikeLike
Hooray for 4 day weekend! Hope you get some sunshine!
My rain story…hmm…last summer in New York I was temping for a production company for a few weeks. On my last day, they were in the middle of rebranding so gave me a HUGE goodie-bag of their stuff- candy, notepads, pens, etc. I left work with 3 huge bags of freebies to meet a friend for dinner- it was torrential rain and as we crossed the street to the restaurant, the power went out and traffic lights died. We were standing bang in the middle of crazy traffic on Broadway in rush hour with complete chaos, no umbrellas, carrying our own weight in stationary/crocker. when a bus went flying by right through a puddle, completely soaking both of us. I’ve never been so happy to run into a greasy diner as I was that night 😛
LikeLike
I am lucky that I have not gotten caught in the rain this summer as I do not own an umbrella!
Congrats on completing the paper. Enjoy the weekend Sarah!
LikeLike
Go YOU. Woo for being done and having a breather!
Oh, rain. It’s been following us around this summer.
LikeLike
My favorite caught-in-the-rain story was the night I kissed my now-husband for the first time. I’d met up with him intending to tell him I wasn’t interested, but 3 hours later, I kissed him just outside the student center on our campus before darting off into the torrential rain. That was over 9 years ago and we just celebrated our first wedding anniversary! 🙂
LikeLike
My boyfriend gave me a tomatillo and I ate it plain.. it was way sour!!
LikeLike
Rain story? Hmmm. My family and I got stuck in a torrential downpour while we were walking through this big tropical garden in Costa Rica. We had to run to safety by going from bench to bench because they had little overhangs. It was actually pretty fun!
Cute water bottle! What brand is that?
LikeLike
I hate getting caught in the rain! If it’s warm rain I handle that a lot better than cold rain. I got caught in rain just this week! Meh.
Have a fabbo weekend Sarah! 🙂
LikeLike
I’ve seen the tomatillas, but never had them. You’ve inspired me for sure.
Probably my favorite rain story (which I actually have already told on someone else’s blog this morning – same question) is when I got caught about 2 miles out on a trail in my rollerblades. I knew there was NO way to get back w/out getting drenched, so I said to heck with it all and enjoyed it. I was the only person out there. It was super fun.
LikeLike
it started pouring this morning right when i was supposed to step out to walk to my train. it was like crazy an umbrella will do nothing for you rain, so i just called in and said i’d be in late…i feel lucky i have that option! congrats on being DONE, and enjoy the weekend!!
LikeLike
Congrats on being finished!!! YAHOOO partay time!!!
Well it was my choice BUT my first long-term boyf and I were bored one night at like 9pm and it was pouring outside. So we decided to drive to the high school track and race each other in the rain in all our clothes! ahahah it was quite adorable and quite WET and we each fell like 4 times ahahah!
LikeLike
I love how you officiate over food marriages. You bring yummies together!!!! Best rain story was hunk illusion photog helping me up the stairs after acl tear. Sigh, that was awesome. And painful!
LikeLike
I’ll say miracle 🙂 But I believe in those sorts of things! Plus, I have no fun rain stories.
i love tomatillos. We should have planted them this year.
LikeLike
With the weather we’ve benn have in Ontario it’s been tough to NOT get caught in the rain!
Love the chicken dish!
LikeLike
nice work on finishing the paper! the rain photos are cute. and i love tomatillos! love the way you used them here.
LikeLike
Enjoy your four day break! You deserve it.
I have not yet become acquainted with tomatillos. I hear SO much about them, especially on the Food Network, yet I’ve never tried them. I should, you’ve inspired me!
LikeLike