Summer: Jobs and Salads

Tomorrow starts the first day of the rest of my life!

I know, I know - pretty melodramatic. But for reals (that phrase always makes me think of Apol btw), I start my first legal internship tomorrow! I'm clerking for the Missouri Public Defenders Office. My alarm is set for 6 a.m. and I will be in the gym by 8 ... then, when I'm done on the tread mill, I will have to suit up (literally!) in time for class. When class ends, I will fly back to Kansas City for work.

6:00: Wake up, make breakfast
7:00: Leave for gym
8:00: At gym, on treadmill
9:15: Shower for work/class
9:40: In class
11:00: Lunch time
11:20: Second class
12:45: Head to Kansas City
1:35: Afternoon snack
2:00: At work
5:00: Off work
6:00: Eat dinner
6:30: Homework!
9:30: Bedtime

Just typing it out makes me tired! But to be honest, I just went over my training regimen and it's only going to be that bad on Tuesdays and Thursdays. And that's *if* I work 5 days a week - which I'm not certain will be the case. I'll know more tomorrow.

What is certain, however, is that this summer is going to be crazy! Time for cooking will be minimal. And time for researching recipes and such will be even harder to find! It's a bummer too because summer is finally finding Kansas - and with this heat comes an intense desire for cold foods! I don't have a pile of yummy salad recipes and stuff and I could really use a few.

Tonight I defrosted boiled shrimp and ate a plate full of watermelon. I just couldn't bring myself to turn on the oven - it's so hot in my house! If anyone wants to take it upon themselves to find yummy summer dishes that are cool and crisp, I would be very grateful! Clearly, no one needs a new lettuce-based salad, but other summer food is very welcome! So far I have a great tuna salad recipe (the secret is garlic powder), a wonderful stoplight salad made with peppers, and a fantastic black bean and corn salad.

In that spirit, here is the recipe for the Watermelon "salad" I had with my shrimp tonight.

Cut watermelon in 3/4 inch pieces - removing rind in process. Spray with Balsamic Breeze spray dressing. Enjoy. :-) That's all. Simple and lovely. This is the recipe that inspired me, but I was missing a couple of ingredients and didn't feel like sorting out the nutritional stats. The version I made was only 60 calories per cup of watermelon. YUM!