Pasta

Over time, I’ve started keeping a few essential food-related items at my desk at work to make myself more comfortable.

My essential kitchen items to keep at work list includes:

• A ceramic bowl
• A ceramic mug
• A ceramic plate
• Pretty napkins
• A personal sponge

Ceramic Plateware

So…why all the ceramic? Well, if you’ve ever tried to microwave food at the office, you may have had a tupperware or two melt on you, depending on how long you were trying to heat said food item. There are some things you just can’t heat up in plastic. Beyond that, I’m trying to move away from plastics in general. I feel like when I heat food up in plastic that poisonous chemicals are slowly leaching into my food. Not sure if that’s real or not, but if you’re not sold, read the first reason of this paragraph.

And why not paper plates or other disposable items? I think it’s more eco-friendly and cost-effective to simply re-use plateware.

Currently, I am using disposable forks, knives, and spoons, but I would like to get a set that I can keep at the office and re-use.

Additionally, I brought in some of my favorites for my work-plateware. I mean…you have to look at your plates etc at work than you probably do at home, so they may as well be something you enjoy seeing and using. I brought in items that were colorful and pretty.

Pretty Napkins

This is the same reason I have the pretty napkins. On most days, I use whatever paper napkins I’ve collected from getting food out, but the pretty ones are nice to have when you want to use them.

Personal Sponge

Ok, and so what’s up with the sponge you ask? If you’re going to keep re-usable plates at your desk, you’re going to need a way to clean them. Sure some places have a sponge in the kitchen, but…Well, have you ever seen the community sponge at the office? You know, the one that is multiple colors, has remnants of someone else’s food on it, and smells funky? Yea…there’s no possile way I’m using that one. I’ve seen offices with clean-looking sponges, but as a germiphobe, I have a hard time using something that has been used to clean things that have touched half the office’s mouths. Ew. I keep my own little sponge in a cup at my desk so I know exactly how clean it is and where it’s been used.

Be sure to check out my other Work Chic Post: Best Healthy Snacks to Keep at the Office  and stay on the look out for more office tips coming your way soon.

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After my fabulous oatmeal-on-the-go breakfast, I moved on to a new twist on stir-fries…

How’s about stir-fries with a new healthy addition – sea vegetables!

I learned from my acupuncture appointment that most Americans are deficient in iodine, which sea vegetables are high in. I think I’d heard this before from reading random news articles…and I’d heard that in general, they were good to eat, so I’ve been adding them to my pantry. I currently have: nori, wakame, and now dulse in my pantry.

I first learned about dulse from Brendan Brazier. The ingredient is commonly found throughout his book Thrive. I ended up picking some up with a health food store groupon and have been wondering how to use it.

I like to find easy ways to incorporate healthy foods into things I already eat (like sprinkling nutritional yeast on steamed veggies or salads). So, on Wednesday, I figured…what the heck, why not toss some into my lunch time noodle stir fry?

In my stir fry, I have: tofu, edamame, udon noodles, soy sauce, chicken broth, sesame seeds, and of course…dulse.

The dulse added an interesting flavor to the stir fry, but nothing bad. Just different. I think I’ll have to keep up this new habit in future versions.

Hubby also brought home this giant churro from Costco. It was truly huge.

So large, this sweet tooth fan and churro fanatic couldn’t finish it.

After work, hubby and I went out to run errands and stopped by IKEA.

We decided to just go ahead and eat dinner there. He had the pasta combo and I had the veggie soup, which I think is pretty good.

And what meal wouldn’t be complete without an IKEA cinnamon roll. It wasn’t nearly as good as the one I had last time, and I only ended up eating about 3/4 of it. I think I’m losing my sweet tooth touch. First the churro, then the cinnamon roll. Whoa! lol But, I wasn’t going to force myself to finish eating something when I was already full either.

We also stopped by Crate and Barrel and I got some fab goodies that I can’t wait to share!

Do you keep any kitchen items at work?

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