I know, it’s been ages since I shared my last food adventure with you, but this one is definitely worth sharing! You might be wondering where this blog series went, whether I stopped eating whole grains or *gasp* stopped eating all together. No no, nothing like that, but I definitely wasn’t eating anything exciting. In fact, I’d fallen into yet another food rut, resorting to the same simple weekday lunches, day after day. And I’m not even going to tell you what I’ve been eating – believe me, it’s just too boring to tell.

So what’s shook me up and broke me out of my food blah? Well, I don’t recommend this for the average person, but it certainly worked for me…

1. Travel and work so much that you rarely go grocery shopping, ensuring that you start eating into the surplus in your freezer and pantry.

2. Go grocery shopping at totally random intervals and in less-than-cogent states, i.e. on the way home from a late night at work, super early on a Saturday morning before having coffee, etc.

3. Live with someone whose caloric intake is easily twice your own, such as a teenage linebacker or a husband who runs seven-plus miles a day.

4. Work from home the morning before a work trip, decide to eat something at home before going to the airport… only to look in the pantry and find nothing is jumping out at you saying “Eat me!!!”

Like I said, I don’t exactly recommend this as an ideal way to inject a little excitement into your food routine. But I’ve said it before – if necessity is the mother of invention, then hunger must be her Master Chef. I wasn’t hungry yet, but I knew if I didn’t eat a satisfying and balanced lunch before running out the door, I’d end up walking through my layover airport thinking of all the less than healthy options that could quite the munchy-hungry feeling stirring in my stomach. Oh I almost never eat that, and I’m so hungry, maybe just this once… There’s nothing wrong with the “just this once” mentality, and I do believe that denying occasional cravings can do more long-term harm to your psyche than good. That being said, my “I’m hungry” layover cravings tend to be salty then sugary, and once I’ve given in to one, it can be a challenge to say no to the other.

Anyhow, back to my pre-travel food dilemma. After scrounging through my pantry and gathering some refrigerated items that needed to be eaten, I found myself with the following:

 — Dried red quinoa
 — One somewhat sad looking apple
 — A double handful of baby spinach
 — One tiny clove of garlic and an equally tiny shallot
 — Very picked-over remains of unsalted trail mix (in other words, a scant handful of pecans, dried cranberries, and cashew halves)
 — Half of a roasted butternut squash, leftover from last night’s dinner
 — Plenty of spices, oils, and sauces

I knew I needed to eat the apple, the spinach, the shallot, and the butternut squash. Add in the dried cranberries and nuts and you kind of have a winter squash salad-type thing going on. Quinoa is a cinch to make – did you know it only takes 15-20 minutes to cook two cups of dried quinoa? Heck, it takes me longer to pick out shoes to pack, and even longer to convince myself that seven pairs is plenty for a four-day trip! (FYI, if flip flops don’t count, then I’m only packing six pairs of shoes. Yes, really.) Olive oil, red wine vinegar, fresh ground pepper, a small clove of garlic, a little lemon juice, and a few other spices can be whisked together to make a bright dressing to bring out the nuttiness of the quinoa (and hide just how tired that poor sad apple really is).
 

And look! Look how pretty it all turned out! And so tasty too! Not only did I make enough to keep my tummy happy from house to layover airport, I packed a small container with the leftovers to take with me. I figured, who not be prepared in case the layover munchy-hungry kicks in? Homemade and healthy trumps “Just this once” any day! (Kara)