You say Gross…I say…Well, I’m Hungry!
Today marks another busy morning serving numerous tourists, then taking the afternoon hours to study for my final licensure exam. It has finally begun to feel like a pattern of work and school, jumping between the two comfortably (just in time for summer to be over, might I add!). On a typical day, I wake up by seven, get ready and complete my blog post, grab a cup of coffee, and head up to work. A single shift for me lasts from about 9 til 3 in the afternoon. However, on two or three days of the week, I work what we call a “split shift,” which qualifies you to have a one hour break between 3 and 4, when you come back in to work until 9 pm. Crazy, huh? I find myself having little time to do much of anything during the week, but the biggest challenge on a daily basis is finding time to eat nutritious meals with little to no time to prepare them. I have, however, found some creative and probably comical quick-fix meals to compose during a busy work shift. Add them to your own list if you want! They are…
Desperate PB and J
Grab two slices of bread that we have in excess (so as to not steal the last pieces of a potential order). Grab two packets of jelly from a jelly holder on a nearby table and spread on one slice of bread. Then, search for a jar of peanut butter in the kitchen (there may or may not be one, depending on who is cooking). If there is, mission accomplished! If not, take peanuts used to garnish dishes and smash them into a powdery consistency and mix with a honey in the jelly dispenser. Attempt to spread on the other half. Yummy?…depends on the day!
Bacon Wraps
Take a pickle spear from the prep table and a piece of bacon that has been fried and ready to be used for garnishing and topping dishes. Attempt to wrap the crispy bacon around the pickle and enjoy. If the bacon is too crisp, just eat them separately and save yourself some work.
Eggs Over Overhard
Sometimes, if you’re lucky, the cook with mess up cooking one of the eggs for an order. The yoke will break when cooking an egg that is meant to be over easy or over medium, and he will need to make another one. In this case, you are in luck! Have the cook complete cooking the broken egg (that has by now been accruing grease and getting hard from sitting over the flame for so long), place it on a plate, and enjoy for a protein-rich snack. It may be a little rubbery in texture, but at least you can get some food in your tummy!
“Crispy” Toastwiches
Take a packet of Crispy saltine crackers and top each with a dab of jam, butter, or mustard on a nearby table. Smash the two together and eat. Easy to eat on the go….but lacking some major flavor. Not my first choice on most days.
Chocolate Mints
Alright, you got me. There is no creative recipe that goes along with this one. Sometimes, if I really have a sweet tooth at work and there is nothing around, I will just eat the thank-you mints to get me by. Not quite as chocolatey as I would like, but they are a temporary solution.