Spring Chicken

And other foods. I don't know about you, but research makes me hungry and good food makes me happy. Since all I do at my "9 to 5" is tap at the keyboard and squint at the screen all day long, I gotta entertain myself. I've got three essential methods that get me through 8 hours of work: tunes, exercise, and food. I'ma start breakin' it down for ya, startin' with food.

My coworkers marvel and comment endlessly about what they perceive as my endless capacity to eat. I think I've mentioned before that my cubicle office has windows all around, so it's true that nearly every time someone walks by, I'm stuffing my face. However, I don't think I over eat. It's more that I eat small portions of this and that throughout the day, and I eat a lot of "weird" stuff, which mainly means that I don't eat "breakfast things" at breakfast.

Currently I'm lucky because several healthy and relatively inexpensive meal options exist near my office. I'm sure I eat better during the day than I do at home, which is just plain sad, but the truth is, by the time I get home, I have neither the gumption nor the wherewithal to shop and/or cook. I hope this will not always be the case because I actually miss cooking, and I'm not too shabby of a cook, but I am lazy when it comes to it. Being a hungry, lazy chef is not a good combination. I'm hoping that in my next abode I'll have a more inspiring kitchen (gas stove, counter space) with the right equipment (I don't even have a full set of cutlery anymore let alone the right cooking utensils). As for shopping, the big chain stores like Cala and Safeway are out of the question. Aside from last Sunday's escapade, I really don't know how to shop at those places anymore. I walk through the aisles amazed by the overabundance of product choices, 99 percent of which I don't eat (anymore).

Rainbow, the local co-op, is too hippie for me, and Trader Joe isn't that convenient for me plus I think it's highly overrated. If the Albertson's of the world offer too many selections, Trader Joe's is the opposite. I don't like shopping where I can't make brand comparisons and they only carry their own stuff. I don't care if it's organic. I can't tell if it's a good bargain if I've got nothing with which to compare it. Plenty of independent produce markets and mom and pop groceries are scattered througout each city, but as luck would have it, none of the one's near my house work for me. (I miss Golden Produce on Church St. for veggies and Courtney's at Duboce and Castro--or is it Divis right there--for the fruit). San Franciscans also have access to farmer's markets on various days of the week, but again, the locations/dates no longer work out for me. So what's a hungry girl to do?

Article Author: mpho

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