Free Fridays

Good morning all.

I wisely scheduled no classes or work on Friday, so today is like an early start to the weekend! With lots of papers and chapters to read! But don't feel jealous, because while everyone will be basking in the lovely weather on Monday, I'll be at work. Because I, as a new hire who has to prove herself, was told "You don't have to, but you can if you want." Hmph.

Yesterday I tried a new conditioner, and this morning I woke up with perfect hair.


This is what it looks like without brushing. I'm thinking of switching the "hair serum" reward for binge-free weeks with body lotion or something else, because I obviously don't need it :D

What I DO need is more recipes with lots of yummy leftovers. I barely had to cook at all this week, which was good because I barely felt like getting up to push buttons on the microwave after all of that first-week-of-the-semester stress. Behold the wonder of leftovers:


Beef stew with all of the turnips plucked out and replaced with a freshly cooked potato.


Chevre Stuffed Chicken with orzo pasta cooked in chicken broth with shredded carrots. I dare Oprah to come up with better 10-minute meals.

Last time I was at the store I picked up something that wasn't leftovers, but also made my life a heck of a lot easier: Gardenburgers!


1:45 in the microwave and dinner is served. I was going to top my first one with fresh tomato and lettuce, but when I reached into the vegetable drawer for the former I came out with something dotted with suspicious gray spots. So ketchup it was.


Notice something about the bagel it's on? Like that it's perfect? Note to self and anyone who's listening: make your bagels with white whole wheat flour.


Gardenburgers taste a little different from what I remember. I last ate them in high school, when my mother could buy big boxes of them from Costco. I remember them being very salty, but that wasn't the case anymore...they also had a distinct herbal flavor to them that wasn't bad, but was unexpected.

Any big plans for the weekend?