Yama Sushi + Semi-Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup

Posted by Lauren

Yesterday was a long workday… driving yourself to work can have that effect, especially when you don’t have to worry about catching the 5 pm van when you’re “in the zone.” I think my “zone” kicks into overdrive around 4 pm (I wish it was closer to 9 am heh heh). What time do you “get in the zone”? Morning? Afternoon? Late at night? 

Wednesday Morning

Tea stop at the Starbucks drive-thru! I checked my emails in line and saw that Krish already put our Vegas video together!!!! Krish – you’re so speedy and the video ROCKS! Is there a way I can put it up on the blog?

Some Eats

Peanut Butter & [Strawberry] Jelly Cake Oatmeal – oatmeal/oat bran combo, ground flax seed, About Time cake batter protein powder, PB2, strawberry preserves

Semi-homemade Chicken Noodle Soup
Let’s beef up a can of chicken + rice soup to make it last longer!
Prep Time 10 minutes – 3 Servings

• 3 cups frozen vegetables (I used organic carrots, broccoli, and cauliflower)
• 2 servings thick noodles (I used Carba Nada noodles)
• 1 can of chicken + noodle/rice soup (I used Progresso Chicken + Rice)
• Tahini
• Cayenne pepper + black pepper

Heat 3 cups frozen vegetables in the microwave according to package instructions. Meanwhile, cook the noodles al dente in boiling water. Drain the noodles and return to the pan along with the can of soup, tahini (eyeball the amount you want to add), and cayenne pepper. Cover and let sit on medium high heat for a few minutes. Add in the black pepper before stuffing the soup into a tupperware for work!

That was such a silly “recipe”… basically do whatever you want and turn one can of soup into three lunches!

Dinner – Sushi Time!

SSUUuuuussSSHHHHHIIiiiiiii. < < What the little girl in my head whined for the past two weeks. I promised myself that I would wait to eat at Yama Sushi Bar & Restaurant (1290 Del Monte Center, Monterey, CA) sometime this week to satisfy my sushi craving.

I blogged about this gem before, on my 32 Above (old blog) Yama Sushi post. I mentioned how I’m not picky when it comes to sushi, and that’s still totally true, but I realized that I actually do have a checklist:

• Must have spicy tuna
• Must have unagi
• Must have either baked scallops or crab
• Fake crab is totally cool with me
• One roll is never enough
• Sriracha is your friend

Tyler (you guys know him already), Clay (he went to Cal Poly and is Tyler’s new roommate), and Dave (coworker originally from Michigan) joined me for dinner.

Sake used to be 1 cent Monday – Thursday, but they upped the price to $1 for a small and $2 for a large. I ordered a large sake and a large Sapporo. I made sure to share the sake with the guys so we could “cheers” to Clay’s big move and Victor’s big lips. Ha ha…. Anyways…

I chose the simple Spicy Tuna Roll ($6.50 aka $3.25) AND a roll with crab, avocado, and cucumbers inside with unagi and avocado on top (Highway 1, I believe?) for $13.50 aka $6.75. I enjoyed both checklist-approved rolls while chatting away with three dudes about work, life in Monterey, and Phineas & Ferb. < < That’s right.

Borders Adventure

All the Borders are closing and many of their books are deeply discounted. Most of the San Jose stores have already shut down, but there are two in Monterey that still have books stocked. After sushi, I walked next door to the Borders To Go and searched for a book on SQL.

While I had no luck locating a SQL book, I did purchase three useful items:

1. Mama Pea’s Peas and Thank You: Simply Meatless Meals the Whole Family Will Love
2. Superconnect: Harnessing the Power of Networks and the Strength of Weak Links by Richard Koch and Greg Lockwood
3. Some type of Princeton Review GMAT prep book with lots of sample questions. I will use it as a supplement to the Manhattan GMAT Complete Prep Set - once I locate a cheaper set on Craigslist that is ;)

I searched Borders #2 before heading to Tyler and Clay’s house (they let me sleep on their couch to avoid the drive home). When I arrived, Clay gave me an impromptu SQL lesson and lent me one of his books! Score! SQL Server really didn’t seem that bad… If you’re reading this and are some hotshot SQL lover, can you recommend any SQL websites/books/references? Just thought I’d ask!

Question: What’s your sushi checklist look like?

-Lauren