Stillllllll no internet. Just spent another 30 minutes on the phone with AT&T. Thankfully I am now in with the supervisor crowd and seem to be getting the message across that this is more than a broken remote control for a flat screen TV. Gosh, I have no idea what I’d do without my neighbor signal. Probably move in at Starbux. The problem is not at our house – it’s our whole STREET. That’s why it’s taking forever to fix – they keep wanting to send techs out to our HOUSE.
Tonight’s tech actually never showed and then canceled.
You can imagine how mad I was when I got a call that he was not coming at 7:45 after waiting since noon. I spoke to a very nice supervisor and they have all kinds of notes written down, which makes me feel better. It’s pretty funny to talk to someone new and have them review my notes and say, "WOW, you’ve had it rough." Glad they are starting to understand!
I asked him if there was any kind of temporary internet he could hook me up with (ahem, air card!?) and he said they’d try to work something out tomorrow if the problem takes a while to troubleshoot. I did research mobile internets today but they are all about $60 a month and considering I’d only use it for travel and emergencies, probably not the widest use of my money. Because I have the neighbor signal….
OK, so on to fun things!!
That veggie-filled lunch left me veggie filled till dinnertime!! That is if you consider 5:45 dinnertime 🙂 I never needed a snack this afternoon and came home and started on food prep. First packing my lunch, then preparing dinner.
I nibbled a slice from this beautiful Flax Oat Bran loaf while making my lunch that helped tide me over.
Dinner wasn’t half baked – it was whole baked!
Brussels and tofu going in. Just rubbed the brussels with olive oil (1 tsp), salt and pepper. And the tofu was bathed in some Apple Cinnamon BBQ sauce from Earthfare. These both got 20 minutes at 400*
We also baked some low + slow sweet potatoes. 15 minutes at 350* and then about 20 at 400*.
The tofu was soft – but it’s fun to eat that way sometimes.
Ketchup made an appearance late in the game!
We were done with dinner at Six Twenty!!!! We used to eat around 8PM!
So not surprisingly I did get hungry later on.
Made a cuppa tea – a new gourmet, hand-blended tea by Christina at My Tea Shelf. She has SUCH creative flavor combos!!! When I saw spearmint and cacao nibs and pineapple and carrot I knew it was for me. I like weird flavor combos – as you know!
I tried the Sol y Luna first: Basil, Spearmint, Nettle Leaf, Cacao Nibs, Raisins, Cinnamon, Cloves. (and no caffeine!)
I wish I had brewed it stronger – the flavor was great but 1 tsp was not enough for this palate! Loved all the different notes of flavor – and I can’t wait to try the rest!
So for my snack, I ate the last of the expired Caramel Oikos (had to eat these up quickly this week so they wouldn’t go bad). They really do make the best dessert!!
The secret topping was a crushed chocolate pretzel! Remember this fall when I got a gorgeous box of them to sample from Sweet N Salty by Design? Well I froze the last 3 and just pulled one out of the freezer tonight!
Crushed with the can opener…
Perrrrfect yogurt topping!
I have YET to watch the new Gossip Girl because I don’t want to abuse the neighbor with streaming 🙁 Cross your fingers it’s back tomorrow. GUF.
Daniel says
Sorry that you’re having internet troubles, that’s really frustrating. =(
Your dinner looks wonderful though, I hope that made up for some of the frustration. Do you prefer the tofu chewier rather than soft? I baked some today and I think I over cooked it because it wasn’t moist at all and was rather dry.
I also had my first (1/2 of it) kabocha today! I cut 1/4 of it into wedges and the other 1/4 of it stayed whole and I baked it at 425 for about 30 minutes. It came out rather crispy and very dry. Could I ask for a preparation method to get a nice, sweet, and moist other half of my squash? I think my temperature might have been too high D:
Kath says
I do like the tofu crispy and dry. Try bigger pieces next time to keep the inside moist.
Sounds like you overcooked the squash, but also, squash season is over 🙁 I haven’t had a good one since January – they are all flavorless and dry now. So it might have just been the squash.
Jessica @ How Sweet It Is says
That bbq sauce sounds awesome!
Heather (Heather's Dish) says
apple cinnamon bbq sauce?!?! holy yum! i feel so bad for you guys…especially with the tech canceling on you. hope you get hooked up big time and have fun watching TV tonight!
Food Makes Fun Fuel says
I love to eat my tofu a little soft 🙂
Anna @ Newlywed, Newly Veg says
We had sweet potatoes, tofu, and greens for dinner– great minds think alike 🙂
SO SO sorry about your internet troubles 🙁 Hope it gets fixed soon!
Whitney says
I hate to bring you down here– but I work at a call center, and a lot of the time when someone takes a “message”…it goes nowhere 🙁 Sorry, Kath! I hope your experience is better, but almost all of those cell providers are s^&* these days when it comes to actual customer service or getting anything done efficiently…maybe it’s a good thing you’re moving!
Susan says
Sad to get your fears confirmed about call centers, but I will have to give a shout-out to AT&T and Uverse at least for us… we had some interference problems here in ATL too, but AT&T were great about keeping after it until it was fixed. What we did discover tho is that there’s a huge disparity in training levels/experience among techs, we finally got a senior guy out and he finally got it all fixed, no problems since. Maybe if you ask for a senior level technician? Of course, they may say “all our employees are well-trained” yada yada… Good luck though, we LOVE our Uverse service now that all the bugs have been worked out!
Estela @ Weekly Bite says
I had brussel sprouts for dinner too! I just can’t get enough of them 🙂
Samantha says
i’m going to beat up at&t for you!! 🙂 hahaha
Beth @ Beth's Journey to Thin says
mmm chocolate covered pretzels over caramel oikos!?! amazing
jaclyn@todays lady says
Ooooh those pretzels look so good!!!! Have fun watching GG!!
Sarah (Running to Slow Things Down) says
Ugh…sorry about the internet woes!! This is exactly why I hate technology so much sometimes. Hope it’s back and running for ya soon! 😀
Allie (Live Laugh Eat) says
Ya shoulda stretched dinner out for another 6 minutes so you could end at 6:26 🙂
Marisa (Loser for Life) says
Oooh, that bbq sauce sounds amazing!
clay says
I love the braised tofu with that apple cinna BBQ sauce! Looks great! That tea looks like marijuana though 🙂 I hope you get the web connection soon! Good luck! Or just buy out starbucks 🙂
Heather @ Health, Happiness, and Hope says
You know, it might be a good idea just to look into satellite internet services. That’s what I have and it really is quite reliable. Besides the occasional outage in a REALLY bad storm that lasts no more than an hour, I haven’t had any trouble. I know how essential the internet is to your career!
FABULOUS dinner!
Kath says
What’s the brand name?
Jil says
I have yet to see any of the caramel oikos anywhere! Ah! I want to try it so badly! I’m sorry your internet and whatnot is still giving you issues 🙁
Cynthia (It All Changes) says
I like strong tea too. I always use more than the recommended.
Ashley says
That tea sounds FABulous…holy moly!! Lame about the internet. We had ONgoing problems with time warner in charlotte. Man was it a pain. My mom told me about those pretzels last year…they look SO good…she was helping me find info about others that started small food businesses, when I was starting out w/ota.bars. I can’t even imagine how good that was on caramel oikos. Oooh would have been amazing on banana softserve as well!
Jenna says
Dessert looks yummy!!
Jessica @ The Process of Healing says
Your brussel sprouts and sweet potato is my go to dinner! So good, easy, and good for you!!! I can’t believe that I was afraid of Brussel sprouts for almost 21 years…
So sorry about your trouble with the internet!!!! You HAVE had it rough!
Meghan@traveleatlove says
Good luck with the internet! Waiting around for technicians can be AWFUL.
Those teas look so cool! I love new flavor combos, and herbal teas get my through the day.
Hannah and Esther says
Wow! Your dinner looks so good. Tofu with BBQ sauce sounds yummy, I’ll have to try it some time! And your yogurt topping, YUMO!
Esther
Julie @ Wearing Mascara says
I’m getting annoyed by your internet troubles and it’s you not me! Have you considered emailing AT&T… maybe find a bunch of their emails… and just forwarding this highly public blog? 🙂 Maybe that would get ’em.
kate says
Caramel Oikos + Choc Covered Pretzels sounds heavenly!
Stacey@http://stacey-healthylife.blogspot.com/ says
How frustrating with the internet. Tasty little dessert you have, I’m going to have to pick some up and try it out. Great tea infuser cup you have and tea leaf combination that you sipped on, sounds interesting but really tasty.
Candice says
So sorry about your internet – how frustrating! I hope it gets worked out soon.
Your dinner and dessert look amazing! You had several of my absolute favorite foods – brussels, baked sweet potato and yogurt with toppings – yum!
Do you tweet? You should tweet about AT&T. That might get ’em:)
La says
I love your square plates. I think food presents so nicely on square-shaped dishes.
Jenny says
I’m keeping your Internet connection in my thoughts tonight:)
Misty says
This is unrelated to this post, but you’re the best person I know of to answer this question: what’s the best GH bread? I just learned that there’s a GH not too far away from me (www.greatharvestspringfield.com), so I might stop by there this weekend, and I just KNOW I’ll be overwhelmed by the options, so I’d like to have some recommendations.
Kath says
Flax Oat Bran is my fav!! Also Cinnamon Raisin Walnut, High Five Fiber and Dakota.
Lauren says
Dinner looks good!
I missed Gossip Girl too. Where do you watch it online?
Kath says
Hulu.com, which takes me to the CW.com site
Janet (Pantry Bites) says
Your dinner looks great. I first got the idea to bake tofu from your website. I love how crispy it goes- you can’t get that kind of texture by using a pan.
Erin (Travel, Eat, Repeat) says
Oh man, Internet problems are the worst. You feel SO cut-off. 🙁 At least your dinner looks delish.
lynn (The Actors Diet) says
yeah, sometimes soft baked tofu is a-ok!
Tracie @Hollafoodzone says
Internet troubles drive me crazy – I battled it earlier this winter too. Apple cinnamon bbq sauce sounds good!
Freya @ Brit Chick Runs says
Ooohh your dinner looks like my kinda meal! As does your snack 🙂
My mum would so know where you’re coming from with the rough time on the internet – our hoover is broken and she’s been on th phone for HOURS, expecting it to arrive then it not, not being sent replacements etc etc since CHRISTMAS! Yes, we haven;t had a hoover since then 🙁 gah!
Caz says
First of all just to say i think your blog is fantastic Kath, one of the best ive come across. I have so much respect for your hard work, honesty and the positive influence you have on so many people, about the real way to eat and enjoy it, including myself!
Secondly, the reason ive commented is because im reading from England, Uk and wonder if you or anybody else knew of any good health/food blogs written by British publishers? Or from the Uk? Im having trouble finding any i am really interested in reading something from someone a bit closer to home! (Also im getting jealous of all your great health food brands and products that arent available here!!)
Kath says
I don’t know of any off the top of my head!
The Paris Food Blague says
so lucky to have a blog to vent about crappy internet. public shaming for bad internet providers!
you made me start eating brussel sprouts btw!
a bientot
the paris food blague
Jenn (www. j3nn.net ) says
I’d switch ISPs at this point, that’s ridiculous!
I have lots of tofu waiting to be bake BBQed, it looks so good! 😀
Jenn
Hannah says
It’s been awhile since we’ve seen baked tofu on your blog! Yum! Oooh, is there a new gossip girl? I shall be taking up my Florence hostel internet with streaming, methinks 😛
Chelsea (Chelsea's Chew and Run Fun) says
Everything here looks amazing, but I’m most mesmerized by that pretzel crumble yogurt dessert. That actually looks better than ice cream, not to mention it’s way more satisfying.
Best of luck regaining internet access. I commend you for keeping your cool with the AT&T people. I would’ve released my inner b*tch once the guy decided to be a no-show.
Kalli@fitandfortysomething says
So sorry about your Internet problems! Hope thing are better today 🙂
Dawn Hutchins says
Such a great idea for dessert! It looks amazing. I can not believe you are still having internet problems. I feel for you as I recently did too and after getting through to a rep we got cut off just as he was in the middle of trying to tell me the next step! SO frustrating.
Paige(Running Around Normal) says
Geeeez what a hassle!! They better comp you SOMEthing. Dinner look great! Haven’t had tofu myself in a while. Dessert looks even better though. I still haven’t tried the caramel Oikos!
Lauren @ Eater not a runner says
Sorry to hear about the internet….that sounds SO frustrating! At least dinner looks amazing 🙂
Kati says
Kath, have you ever tried Melinda’s habanero ketchup?? I got some the other day and I’ve been eating it with EVERYTHING..including “low & slow” sweet potato chips. It’s SOOO good – and no high fructose corn syrup!
http://www.melindas.com/products.html
Kath says
I haven’t seen that before!! Sounds interesting 🙂
Michele | aka Raw Juice Girl says
Brussel sprouts and sweet taters – yum!!! 😀
And actually, I have an air card as my only source of Internet. I live on an Amish farm and high-speed Internet companies won’t come out this far. AND the air card is like high-speed Internet. I’ve had very few problems with it and love it a lot. It can work as my full-time Internet access at home – or go on the road with me. LOVE it!!
Just thought I’d let ya know…. You may not be able to afford both – but with all the problems you’ve been having, you may consider switching to the unlimited air card. 😉
Kath says
Which kind of air card do you use?
Michele | aka Raw Juice Girl says
Alltel, but they were bought out by Verizon. 🙂
heidi says
Sorry to hear about your internet troubles. Have you ever used your iPhone to tether for access? We use it when we travel and it is a life saver!
Kath says
Please email me on how I can do that!??!?!!?! (Or send me to a website that might explain?)
Lisa says
I love tea. My favorite is a local Portland company called Tao of Tea. They have amazing loose teas! Check out their website. My favorite flavor is Jasmine Pearl. It smells amazing. Sorry about your internet connection (or lack there of)! It’s frustrating when stuff doesn’t work.
🙂 Lisa