Tag: snack

Snack Boxes

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We’re finishing up our last few days in Spain and I’m feeling a mix of emotions. Excited, because I’m looking forward to seeing my family, getting back to my apartment, and overall getting back into the swing of things. Sad, because almost over and it’s been such a great trip, I’ve really enjoyed spending time with my boyfriend’s family, and when I go home, I won’t be seeing my boyfriend again for a while.

Today we’ll be doing another tourist day instead of family time. We did a tourist day on Tuesday and ending up both getting sick the next day. We don’t think it was from anything in particular that we ate, just the overall change in diet. We’re looking forward to going on a day trip today. A few pictures from our trip below.

A few different locations from Spain 🇪🇸

Since I’m spending a lot of time with my boyfriend’s family, we’re having many large, almost festive, meals. A big spread of food is made and everyone picks what they want. We have lots of appetizers, lots of the main courses, and lots of dessert! It’s a lot of food! A dinner or lunch can normally take a few hours of eating and socializing. After, we have some tea or a small coffee and talk some more. It’s been really nice (and makes sure everything is digested!). However, we haven’t done any snacking.

I love to snack which is why I tend to have smaller portions at my main meals. I love foods I can pick at throughout the day. I especially love my “snack boxes” I bring to work. After lunch, I tend to feel much slower. Even if my lunch isn’t heavy, having that pause in my workday makes me want to sit back, watch an episode, and relax for an hour. Unfortunately, after my lunch break I have to get back to my desk! Having the snack boxes is a great way for me to stay engaged and attentive while also satisfying the hunger I start to feel toward the end of my workday. Below are some of my recent “boxes”:

Blueberries, Swiss cheese, Chili Roasted pistachios

This first “box” is very easy to make as there’s very little preparation. I typically buy a block of cheese and slice thin(ish), the blueberries need to be washed, and the pistachios come pre-spiced. There are a variety of flavors for the pistachios which makes this a great base to easily mix up. You can also mix this up with your favorite cheese or picking fruit. I like to keep all the pieces small so I can quickly grab something without having to shift my concentration to my snack “box”.

Salami wrapped cheese cubes, strawberries, grapes

I’m a big fan of the cheese and fruit combo. This is a snack box from when I was in Kansas City where I sometimes worked late due to the nature of my project. This is also a very easy box to make and requires little preparation. I wash the grapes and the strawberries and combine the salami with the cheese cubes. I don’t cut the strawberry tops; instead I just bite until the calyx and put them back in the box. Then I throw them out when I get home. The grapes are still on the stem, and after I’ve plucked the grapes, I put the stem back in the box and bring that home as well to throw it out. This minimizes how much time I’m spending prepping these boxes. They seem like small actions initially, but there’s also any clean up (knife, cutting board, etc.), so I can avoid that and spend time on other things.

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Ecuadorian Ceviche

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Happy Friday! I hope your week was less chaotic than mine!

On Wednesday I finally caught up with my work. Which looking back, honestly didn’t take that long, but it consisted of 2 days with a maximum of 3 hours of sleep a night (which is good, considering). Saturday I had a competition that took the majority of my day, and by the end I was so whipped out that I just called it a night. Sunday was a lost day too because I went grocery shopping, cooked, had game night (in the afternoon) and went to soccer, and by the time that was done I think my body just clocked out for the day. Monday was the first painful day — I had 2 case studies and a quiz due on Tuesday and I hadn’t started yet (poor planning on my part). Good news: I managed to finish everything. Bad news: I went to bed at 3am and had to wake up at 5 to start the rest of Tuesdays work and start/finish my study guide for my exam on Wednesday. All-in-all, would not recommend and would not do again. But I made it. Yay!

Don’t forget the salsa fresca (not pictured!)

Heading into the coming week I’m going to be doing a lot of lecture re-watching to prep for my Module 1 finals. I always look forward to the end of Modules/quarters/semesters because usually by that time my schedule has been thrown out of whack, I’m exhausted, and I’m really hitting my check-out point. Knowing its ending gives me a bit of a second wind because I know at the start of the next Module/quarter/semester, I can hit the re-set button and make plans to fix things that didn’t work in the previous round. So dreading the next 2 weeks, but also really excited for the next 2 weeks to pass.

Other than that, not a whole lot of new updates. Working on applications, building my network, doing well in school, and prepping for next year with club plans and goals. This semester I definitely have a lot more work, but it feels much more manageable, probably because I already got the fall out of the way. Currently just trying to swim, while also adding more things to my load. Just trying to find the right balance.

For today’s post I decided to do a bit of a throwback recipe, one that was made over the winter break while I was home. Good news: today’s post features Master Chef: Dad! For those who haven’t read previous posts featuring Dad, I enjoy shamelessly promoting how good of a cook my Dad is because, he is. I think there’s a saying about how nothing beats a home-cooked meal? Right on.

While I was home, Dad (and I ) made two really good recipes! Today I’m going to share with you Ceviche, which is by far one of my favorite dishes from Ecuador!

To make this you’ll need:

  • 4 limes
  • 1/4 red onion
  • raw shrimp (1 lb.)
  • popcorn (no butter!)
  • 1/2 cup ketchup
  • 2 cups orange juice
  • 5 tbsp olive oil
  • 3-4 scallions
  • dill
  • cilantro
  • 1 cup salsa fresca (not the Tostito’s kind that’s thick)
  • 1 tsp sugar
  • 1/2 tsp salt
what “sliced thin” really means…

The recipe is as follows:

  1. Prep the onions — In a medium/large bowl:
    1. Save 1 half lime and juice the rest
    2. Add 3 tbsps olive oil to lime juice, 1 tsp sugar, 1/2 tsp salt & whisk
    3. Slice 1/4 red onion, very thin; separate and add to marinade and soak onion
    4. Chop up 2-3 stalks of dill, add, mix, soak, set aside
  2. Cook Shrimp:
    • Add raw shrimp to large pot, fill with water, cover and cook. Remove from heat, strain, and rinse with cold water when shrimp turn pink
  3. Prepare marinade for shrimp
    • In a blender: 2 cups orange juice, 1/2 cup ketchup, 2 tbsp olive oil, pulse to blend
  4. Add 1 cup salsa to shrimp marinade and mix
  5. Juice leftover lime and add to shrimp marinade
  6. Add in shrimp, soak and sit for at least an hour (not in fridge)
  7. Chop up some scallions (3), cilantro and prep some popcorn
  8. Serve shrimp marinade mixture with onions, add scallion, cilantro, with popcorn on side.

Other than letting the marinade sit for an hour, this recipe is super quick to make. You can also make extra of the onions and add them as a side to any other meal. It delicious and deceivingly filling, even without the popcorn. But the popcorn makes it extra good, so I definitely wouldn’t skip on that. Plus, how many meals can you think of that feature popcorn?

Thinking of posting one or two of the dinner recipes I’ve made this semester. To be honest, there’s a lot lined up for future weeks and there’s a lot that’s already been made! I almost feel like I’m falling behind. I’m contemplating upping how often I post, but I also don’t want to add too much to my schedule. So for now I’m going to stick to every other week, and we’ll see how it progresses.

Stay tuned for the next post!

To be continued…

Gabriela