I’m not sure that in itself, having a 12.99 purchase price is all that different from a 9.99 price. But when it wasn’t what I was anticipating when I looked at the Kindle store this morning, it stopped me short and I carefully considered whether or not it was worth making the purchase. Then I started to think that the last book this particular author wrote wasn’t up to par compared to her others. And then I thought that I could get this book from the library or borrow the hardcover from work.

That measly three dollars just cost Macmillan a sale.

The real reason that I ended up on here was because I was curious about the state of my 2009 Reads sub-pages. Then I realized that I hadn’t updated for a really long time. I’ve read a whole bunch of books since then. I was starting to wonder if I’d even posted since I got my Kindle, which was almost a year ago, but I posted “Mansfield Park” on there, which I think was my inaugural read. But then I felt sad, nostalgic and wistful over this blog, and decided to peek my head in and brush away some cobwebs.

Blogging regularly is hard work. You have to stay fresh and timely, and always have either amusing or introspective (or both) anecdotes to share. I’m either not that dedicated, or not that creative (or both). When reading something like “Julie and Julia” I always think to myself – Hey, I could do that! – but then I get all bored and on to the next hobby. Of course, cooking my way through “Mastering the Art of French Cooking” would be a bad choice, because, let’s face it, it’s been done (and it sounds like a horrible idea anyway). I suppose I tried to do that with my reading “200 books in 2008″ but that fizzled out around May and it wasn’t much of a human-interest type project anyways, since my reading a lot didn’t impact the people around me all that much, and THAT is what makes these life-becomes-blog stories interesting.

So, blogging for a living is out.

And if their coffee is so good because of the name (which is what the advertisement is implying, since they haven’t patented the production of good coffee – and many argue it’s terrible coffee anyways), then why are they opening non-branded locations?

I know I’m over-thinking it. I think that instead of focusing on their coffee (which isn’t so great), they should focus on what makes Starbucks successful. The atmosphere of the cafes themselves! I mean, really, if Starbucks was a crummy hole in the wall place or fast food-y dive like a Dunkin’ Donuts, they wouldn’t have become so successful. I feel that Starbucks has become a great Third Place, and they will lose whatever they have gained if they stop looking at that. In hard economic times, people don’t want to feel good or justified about purchasing a $4 cup of coffee.

I hope you all have enjoyed the previous two installments of “What’s For Dinner?”! I may make these a more regular feature later on, but unfortunately I’m “plum” out of ideas for the time being. So for now, this one will be the last.

So I hope you’ve been able to successfully implement meal planning and the “heat and eat” mentality to your life. This will probably be a lot shorter than the others, but hopefully just as informative. I know some people prefer to just buy lunch everyday while at work, but this can really become expensive. A five dollar meal can total up to $100 a month! And that’s if you are lucky enough to be well fed for $5. Armed with some planning and some ideas about healthy snacks are all you need to be able to make it through the work day without feeling the 2pm crash or the tummy rumbles.

First, lets start by figuring out equipment you might need. These are common sense basics and hopefully you are all covered here, but you won’t get far without them. Most importantly, you need an insulated lunch bag. I prefer a tote style because I can sling it over my shoulder and it doesn’t look like a lunch bag. However, if you do a Google search for “lunch tote” they have a wide assortment of neat styles to choose from, aside from the regular Insulated Lunch Cooler Bag. A water bottle is also a must. Most offices (I hope) have a place where you can fill up your water with clean (and preferably good-tasting) water. I have a Nalgene that I use that holds up to 16 oz of water. You want to pick one that will fit comfortably inside your lunch bag. If you are particular about the type of flatware you keep at home, you might decide to purchase inexpensive flatware to keep in your lunch box to avoid losing the good stuff. I also found a reusable ice pack to be very convenient. You can use the traditional brick pack or go with something interesting like Cubies.

If you’re a snacker like me, you’ll also want to come up with a plan for that. Bringing snacks from home is definitely a better idea than raiding the vending machine on a daily basis. Not only does the vending machine not have much choice, but the snacks are unhealthy and expensive. (If you do go for the vending machine, plain pretzels are your best bet.) I like to get a good variety that usually includes fruit, yogurt, and some kind of cracker or cookie. I also keep some unsalted mixed nuts on my desk (but to be honest, I never eat them). I try to bring fruit that requires little preparation. (No whole apples or oranges for me!) I also prefer to bring Go-Gurt yogurt because a) I’m really picky and prefer the taste of kids’ yogurt and b) it’s really convenient packaging. As far as cookies and crackers go, I really like the 100-calorie packs. Now there’s a lot of bad talk about these packs, but I find them worth the extra money you pay, personally. Of course, if you have the time and inclination, you can portion out your own, but I just don’t have the patience for that. I like to bring a variety of snacks every day.

Now for the actual lunches themselves. There is, of course, the old sandwich standard. My husband brings a peanut butter and jelly sandwich just about every single day. One week I livened things up by buying 12 fresh bakery submarine rolls (the slightly crusty kind… mmm…) and a selection of deli cheese and meat. The trick is to get a tiny bit of everything so you don’t end up 6 pounds of deli food, but in our case we still had lots left over with only 1.5 pounds each of meat and cheeses (after 11 sandwiches!). I also picked up some pre-shredded lettuce to make things even easier. A little mayo and extras (cucumbers and tomatoes for us) completes the meal, and you have plenty for the week. I wrapped mine in saran wrap and was good to go.

I also like a hot meal on occasion so I bring a lot of leftovers to work. The basic leftover structure is simple and hardly needs an explanation. You find plastic container, put leftovers inside, snap cover on and heat while at work. Of course, if your office has no microwave this can be a problem. Pretty much any hot meal requires a microwave (unless you have a hot pot at your desk, but you’re on your own for that one). To avoid getting a splattered microwave, set the cover loosely on the dish or use a splatter screen.

To avoid embarrassing myself by over-explaining how to properly reheat leftovers, I’ll share some tips on tricks I’ve picked up over the years in getting leftovers to taste better or work more conveniently without the use of the stove. One of my favorite things to eat is pasta, and most favorite would be spaghetti. However, reheated spaghetti noodles taste horrible to me. I get my noodles to taste great without cooking them fresh at lunchtime by cooking them in the morning and then immediately running them under cold water to stop the cooking process. Then I put the noodles in a baggie and store them in my lunch box along with a separate storage container for the sauce. At lunch time, I transfer noodles to the dish with sauce and heat. Another trick I like to use is quickly steaming food in those Ziplock bags I mentioned in the previous post about meal planning. I wasn’t joking, you CAN cook hot dogs in those things. 2 dogs takes 45 seconds. Bring some rolls and tiny jars of condiments (or bring fast food packets) and you have an entire meal ready to go. But you can also use them for their intended purpose and bring fresh vegetables to steam as a side to last night’s chicken. What I like to do is set aside a small portion when I’m prepping for a recipe and then just store it in the baggie in the refrigerator until I’m ready to bring it to work.

And to wrap things up here, a few things that I like to keep at work so I have them on hand. I always keep salad dressing, a small tub of butter, jam, tea and hot chocolate, coffee creamer, and a couple snacks at the office. If you don’t have a cool place to place things that must be refrigerated, then you may need to go the dry goods route. The dressing, butter or jam can be replaced with individually wrapped pats found at any discount warehouse or restaurant supply store, and there is non-liquid coffee creamer (which is horrible in my opinion, but some people like it). Sometimes I like to bring in some soda or juice, but if you are watching your caloric intake or budget, I would stick with the water.

This should give you some ideas to be able to eat well while at work without having to go out to lunch or be stuck with the dreaded sandwich on a daily basis. Try to remember to do what works best for you, and fits best within your schedule. You don’t want to pile on added stress but at the same time you need to consider your dietary and budgetary needs.

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I hope that you have found the past 3 What’s For Dinner? posts interesting and helpful. I promised that I would include a short list of my favorite cookbooks at the end, so here goes. Don’t forget you can also check out my RSS feed or create your own from your favorite cooking websites.

• Fix-It and Forget-It Cookbook: Feasting with Your Slow Cooker
• New Cook Book, 75th Anniversary Limited Edition
• The Taste of Home Cookbook- New Revised: One Recipe four ways

Today I took my doggie, Suzi, to the vet. It was supposed to be a check up and booster shot appointment, but it ended up almost reaching $300. And to add to it, another $300 on the 26th when we bring her in for a dental cleaning. I really didn’t want to do it, but she has an abscess tooth! And worms! That explains my Twitter: No such thing as a free dog. Although she was given to us, we’ve still had to pay our share of vet bills. It’s times like this that I wonder if pet health insurance is worth it. Probably not.

I just got a new job! I have no idea when my start date will be. I’m just kind of waiting and seeing how things go. But now I have two jobs, since I am keeping my job with Barnes & Noble. I hope that it doesn’t get too stressful, but it’s it’s bad, I can always drop a class or something. A full time job in a library would be optimal, but it doesn’t seem to be working out for me. So I will take what I can get for the meantime. I feel like just giving up on the job hunt for awhile. It’s exhausting. I may even stick with this set up until I finish my degree. I’m just tired of it all.

Another exciting thing that I’m doing is editing my mom’s novel. Yes, my mom wrote a novel! She finished it many years ago, when I was a kid. I read it through once, but it’s been so long I barely remember the story. So I’m going through it one chapter at a time. So far, I have to admit, I’m very intrigued in the plot. Who knows, there may be a free download in the future… At the very least, I can hook up people with an autographed copy!

Prejean’s Story Points to Deeper Issues in Evangelical World

But I love this book. Most of the time, I’ll warrant, those tiny gift books that are 200 pages or less (this one is 160) are usually a waste of money and time. But I guarantee if you purchase this one or even just sit for 30 minutes in a book store and read it cover to cover, it will enhappy you. As cheesy and corny as it is, I think it truly has some valid points to make on being happy. Enjoy the things you have. Treasure your friends. Take time to rest. Eat cookies. What else do you need?

Sometimes I think I’m immune to self-loathing, and I have conquered a fair bit of it due to my awesome husband who constantly reminds me that he thinks I’m a babe. I do notice that when I start picking up the fashion magazines or watching beautiful people on TV I start thinking that I’m not good enough. There are so many better things to focus on rather than looks. At the same time, I want to be well-dressed and not sloppy when I go out into the world.