Surviving on Sandwiches

I never ate breakfast on school days as a kid. A half-chilled, half-microwaved chocolate milk concoction gave me my early morning buzz for as long as I lived under my parent's roof. The thing was 60 percent milk and 40 percent Hershey's chocolate syrup -- I have yet to meet anyone who can handle the Levitin family's version of chocolate milk. But to us, it was kiddie coffee.

Two things got me up on the weekend: Saturday was breakfast day and there were to be cartoons to watch. Mini-microwaveable pancakes, fresh french toast a la challah, and microwaveable bacon are just some of the the weekly rotation of Saturday breakfast meals. My sister could cook. I could microwave. It worked for us.

Now I know what some of you are thinking: no scrambled eggs? That's so un-American!

Well not to worry, reader! The standard "All-American" meal of scrambled/fried eggs, buttered toast, and a tall glass of pulp-free OJ was a staple of the Levitin family breakfast tradition -- complete with eggs for the two dogs (Coco & Rizzo) -- on Sundays.

But I digress ...

My time spent as "Saturday morning breakfast chef for a party of one (i.e. moi)" conjured up a few meal ideas for the future. My middle school self convinced her young mind that the future would house a rather ristricting diet.

"You can't survive on microwaveable food," I thought. "There's no way."

That's when I decided: One day I will survive on bread, cheese, deli meats, and condiments alone. That's it. That will be the extent of my diet.

Fast-forward a decade. The truth is -- I don't live off that diet. Sandwiches, although delicious, are boring if eaten for every meal. I do, on occasion, consume the pre-packaged frozen dinner that does need to be microwaved, but not to the extent that you could consider it a staple of my diet.

But here's the bigger truth -- I'm an unemployed '09 college graduate with no potential job options on the horizon and I am running out of money. I have faith that all this will turn around. I've got the skills and the confidence to make a living so I'm not worried. It's all the waiting around that's driving me mad and affecting my dietary choices.

I've been subjected to the world of Ramen noodles and various Campbell's soups due to a lack of an expendable income. And, although I find these food choices to be a jolly reminder of my years as a college freshman, I'd rather not be re-living them at the moment.

The job search is brutal. There are no jobs. And if there are, they're not ones I want. It's too bad that being selfish in a job hunt is occupational suicide.

I long for the days that I believed you could survive on sandwiches. Things were easier then.