Shrimps and Jobs

I'm a bad, bad blogger...

In my defense, I simply haven't had the funds to make anything out of the norm recently, and I wasn't going to bore you with my nightly routine (I'm pretty sure you'd get tired of hearing about spaghetti, fettucini and basic chicken dishes post after post.)

This last Monday, I started a new job. It's a pretty nice office job, with the county. I even get my own cubicle!
It's probably more a good thing than bad, but there aren't really any places around my office to eat. There are a few fast food places a couple blocks away, and a cafeteria. Neither are good options for different reasons; I'm trying to stay away from fast food as much as possible (and my lunch is only 30 minutes, so I'd rather not drive somewhere), and I've heard the cafeteria is pricey (so I've simply stayed away from it thus far.) What to do, what to do??

This sounds like a job for Brown Bag!!!
(Yes, that was dorky.)

I've done the whole 'packed lunch' thing before, but it was usually frozen meals I could pop in the microwave for a few minutes, and didn't really have to think about. And if I did think about it, I had a grand total of 4 options in my repertoire: PB&J sandwich, meat and cheese sandwich, tuna/chicken salad sandwich, or Pasta-roni with chicken (this one requiring more effort than I'd usually want to put in).
To me, that was enough to convince me that I didn't wanted to bring my own lunches to work. Seriously, who wants to eat sandwiches 3 days of the week?

Clearly, this was all going to be a problem.

So, I spent some time on the internet, compiling recipes that are specifically for making ahead, or that I thought would work for packing...


This recipe is by far my favorite so far! It's incredibly easy, delicious, and even fairly healthy.
It's technically two recipes, because the first calls for a peanut sauce but doesn't provide directions, so I had to go looking for my own. The best part is, I don't even have to heat it up when I pack it for lunch, because it's meant to be served cold!

It's basically shrimp, veggies, noodles, and Thai peanut sauce.


You can find the first recipe here.
And the second recipe here.


For the main part of the dish, I really didn't change much. The only thing was my grocer didn't have snow peas, so I used sugar peas instead. And you can always mess with portions to tailor to the things you like best. And I love shrimp, so I used extra. One other thing is when you're cutting the bell pepper, I find the dish is easier to eat if you cut lengthwise, and then cut those strips in half. Especially if, like me, the bell pepper you buy is closer to a large than a medium.

For the sauce, I cheated and used the JIF Creamy Peanut Butter that was already in my pantry, rather than buy more. It worked... But I think the sauce would have been even more amazing if I had used the recommended unsweetened, natural stuff. Because the sweetness of the JIF (and really any non-natural/organic peanut butter) almost overwhelms the curry flavor, there is so much sugar in it. It's not a bad taste at all, but after my 3rd bowl, I was wishing for a little more spice and a little less sweet.
And don't be chintzy with the curry paste! It would be really hard to overdo it, unless you use the whole jar.

Despite all this, I looooooooooooooooooooooooove this dish! I had it for dinner on Tuesday, lunch on Wednesday, and lunch again today. It's perfect for packing, because if you make a lot, and store in separate containers (noodles in a bag, shrimp/veggies in another, and peanut sauce in a bowl), it keeps really well. At least for a few days. And if you don't use a ton of noodles in the dish, there aren't too many carbs (they give me the post-lunch sleepies.)

I've got many more lunch ideas/recipes up my sleeve, so hopefully I'll have more posts very soon!

Until then,
Packed lunches and papercuts.