Tuesday (5/19):

It’s day two of the New York Times Student Journalism Institute at Dillard University and I head out early to devour my favorite meal of the day – breakfast, that is.  On the menu was cheese grits, eggs, bacon, and sausage, pineapple juice, and raspberry lemonade.

I love juice; I would drink that faster than I will water. So I grabbed a cup of pineapple juice and filled it to the brim. To my dismay, the juice was extremely watered down. Ouch!  So I recouped and got raspberry lemonade. Oh yeah, oh so tasty. That hit the spot.

I’m not a fan of grits, but I will tear up some cheese grits. The cheese grits were so good, I left no evidence that they were ever in the bowl.

The eggs and bacon were a little lackluster, but I was happy to receive a meal. So I cleaned my plate and went on about my business.

They lunch menu was much tastier: Spaghetti and meat sauce, baked cod with herb crust, Asian vegetable blend, a bacon cheeseburger and steamed corn.

I chose a different plan today, instead I chose to attack the main course first, and then work my way around to the sides.

The bacon cheeseburger was all right, nothing spectacular. If the cheese would’ve been melted, or gave the illusion that it was melted, it would’ve been better.

The spaghetti was pretty good. It was the good spaghetti that mixed, not the kind that still separates after 5 minutes of mixing and stirring.

The baked cod was little dry, which was disappointing. I had to grab the sweet tea to assist me in washing it down. Yes, I love seafood, so I’m quite critical. I’ve come down to the equation that, if anything is steamed, it isn’t seasoned, hence the word steamed. The Asian vegetables were good, but I don’t think it was anything Asian about it. It seemed like a big compilation of vegetables.

For dinner, I had absolutely nothing. I was busy working on a story, and told myself to leave the newsroom at 6 p.m. for dinner. Little did I know, dinner was over at 6 p.m. Ouch! Yes, so I just relied on the infinite supply of snacks and goodies the newsroom has. A special shout out to Merrill Perlman, who is one of the Institute mentors, for keeping the stock well supplied.

Wednesday (5/20):

Ok, let me share something about myself:  have a hard time waking up in the morning. With that being said, breakfast didn’t happen. I had a granola bar, and PowerAde. If you didn’t get the memo, it’s the new breakfast of champions.

One good thing about the New York Times Student Journalism Institute is sometimes when we’re out on a reporting or photo assignment, we may miss a meal in the cafeteria and have to pick up something in the city. Who says change isn’t good?

On my plate were grilled chicken, steamed carrots, green beans, and crawfish etouffee. I don’t drink soda so my beverages choices are really limited.

The grilled chicken was perfect — it wasn’t dry or oversaturated, but right in the middle. As we learned earlier, if anything is steamed, it isn’t seasoned. Yes, it hurts, but I guess it’s better for you in the end. The green beans are always promising, and indeed they delivered.

Now, what I was holding out for was now about to get devoured. On a scale of 1-10, the crawfish etouffee was a good 6.5. It wasn’t seasoned too well, and the crawfish tails were about as small as the trackball on my Blackberry. I was appreciative of the meal, though. But I’ll continue my hunt for some good crawfish etouffee.

I had three photo assignments today (Saints bash, a hotel lighting, Penguins), so I missed dinner in the cafeteria. But I had a unique experience instead.

I and fellow journalist Jamila Williams walked to the Insectarium after leaving the Autubon Aquarium of the Americas to shoot a penguin naming ceremony. To our amazement, we saw they had a kitchen where they cooked bugs…Yes, that’s right, cooked bugs. You may be looking at me crazy now, but don’t sleep. You only live once, and I guess so did those bugs. But they were very delicious. I tasted the apple, mango, and papaya chutney with wax worms, a cricket herb dip, a six legged salsa, and wax worms flavored with cinnamon, barbecue, and a few other spices. You only live once right?

Since the city of New Orleans was awarded the 2013 Super Bowl, they had a celebration in Lafayette Square. I was on assignment and taught to never eat. After I got what I needed, I decided to live up my experience. A vendor saw my New York Times Student Journalism Institute press pass and gave me a free Bourbon shrimp po’boy. So do I thank him or the New York Times? Either way it goes, it was free, and I wasn’t complaining. The po’boy was a sliced baguette that was shaped like a cup with shrimp stuffed inside.

Next, I was on to the Roosevelt Hotel. Hunger showed its face once again, so I landed at the McDonalds on University and Canal Street. Um, it’s McDonalds, but there was nothing fast about my food being served. I waited at least 10 minutes for my food. Of course it may just be 10 minutes, but we’re journalists, we always have to be on the cheese: 1) shame on you and 2) You’re really missing out on life.

Thursday (5/21):

After a long day of walking, shooting and editing, morning came a lot faster than I thought. I knew I wasn’t going to make the cafeteria in time, so I grabbed a chewy chocolate granola bar, and yes, a PowerAde. When I got to the newsroom, a few mini Mr. Goodbars gave me my daily serving of peanuts.

I needed to get headphones and a new jump drive, so during my lunch break I went to RadioShack. So while I was out, I walked around, but didn’t go too far. I had a few choices and landed on a medium oversaturated bubblegum snowball (snowcone). I now needed some sustenance — you know, something that will stick to my ribs. So my feet wound up at Burger Orleans, where I got a shrimp and catfish platter. My food was fresh out of the grease! I had to give it a couple of minutes to cool down, but once it did … I didn’t do too much talking. I was too full with food.

With missing so many meals in the cafeteria, I was very optimistic to see what was in store for dinnertime. Drum roll please … Lasagna, green beans (Yes!), chicken tenders with ranch dipping sauce.

As the stress mounts, it was quite relieving to share some good and hearty laughs with the others at the Institute. We all share the same experiences, so this added something extra to dinner. The lasagna was really good. It actually surprised me. I guess too many bad lasagna experiences at my school brought that about. The green beans were flavorful as usual, and the chicken tenders held up, but the ranch dipping sauce just fell short. So I had an empty feeling after I ate. Sad, I know.

I haven’t had dessert in the cafeteria in awhile. The selection is really minimal. Either it’s some dry chocolate chip cookies, or some cake that has been there since yesterday. The selection is like watching the Titanic, its sad. You want to help, but you can’t.