I threw together some random stuff and ended up making an awesome dinner last night. I also have a work-related situation that I need advice on, so that’s beneath the recipe if you’re interested or just want to skip down.
Spinach Fandango! (Aaron says I had no choice but to name it this)
5oz Piccolini Farfalle
7-8 cups baby spinach
2 tbs lemon juice
2 tsp garlic
1 tbsp butter
5 Laughing Cow Babybel Light rounds
Get the water heated and boil the pasta per the package directions.
In the meantime, add the spinach to a large skillet or saute pan. A friend who doesn’t like spinach suggested substituting arugula here, so if you try it (or kale, or anything else) please let me know! Give the spinach a few minutes to wilt down a bit, then add the lemon juice, garlic, and butter.
For the record, I used the fake butter spray, but you could use any butter.
Let the spinach wilt down, cooking it until the liquid is mostly cooked off.
Break the cheese into small pieces, just to make it melt easier. I happen to think you could try all sorts of other cheeses as well, and I have plans to try goat cheese next time.
Once the pasta is done, toss everything together. For me, this made 2.5 servings since I made a smallish one for the Toddlerette.
This turned out so well, and it was surprisingly filling too. Evi loved the pasta, but hated the spinach… so maybe we’ll try it with something else too. She’s usually a veggie fan, so I was surprised she didn’t just love it.
Here are the stats per MyFitnessPal:
Since we broke it out into 2.5 servings, each of the two larger servings had 351.2 calories, 46.8 carbs, 7.6 grams of fat, and 24.4 grams of protein. The smaller half serving had 175.6 calories, 23.4 carbs, 3.8 grams of fat, and 12.2 grams of protein.
It was seriously delicious, so much so that I am seriously considering a lunchtime grocery stop to get some goat cheese and more spinach.
So… on to the work dilemma I’m having…
I’m in this weird place at work, mostly thanks to the organization undergoing some pretty serious restructuring. It’s really a good thing for me though, because it’s giving me a chance to take a super active role in defining what I will do for the company moving forward. The day-to-day responsibilities of my job won’t change, which I’m happy about because I actually *like* my job, but I’ll have the opportunity to focus specifically on one of two paths moving forward. The reason I have to choose a path is because the focus on one or the other will mean conferences, seminars, classes, committees, and meetings that further my knowledge on the path, increase my exposure to that aspect of the company, and (along with my other work tasks) will be too time consuming to choose both options.
So it’s really a great place to be… except I’m having a really hard time choosing the direction that is best. Path #1 means a great fit for my current position, making me indispensable to the company and following a tech-related path that I find interesting; it means guaranteed job stability and a clear path to a bigger, better position at the company. Path #2 means pursuing more of a communications path, adding in some marketing that I’m not sure I have the aptitude for, which gets me much closer to my bigger picture, longer term personal/professional goals; it means being useful to the company but not in a groundbreaking, can’t-be-fired sort of way.
So do I choose what benefits me most now, or what most fits my long-term goals? What if Path #2 takes me too far into marketing, pulling me away from the writing/communications path I really want? What if Path #1 leads me to being “stuck” in a position I don’t want just because I have indispensable skills?
I hate big choices.
