Friday, January 30, 2009
Memo to the internets:
Please cease and desist using the word "recycle" when you mean "reuse" or "re-purpose." I am trying to find out if the round cardboard containers oatmeal comes in are recyclable, and all Google is giving me is page after page of "recycle your oatmeal containers into stupid, ugly craft projects!" I know I'll be looking up more recycling tidbits in the near future, and I'm irritated already. Hey, soccer moms, you're screwing up the internets! And your crafts are stoopid!
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Hey, it's me!
After a year of not blogging. Because, really, this is an online diary, and if anyone is still out there, (whazup?), I'm gonna go ahead and bore you, because it's really for myself. (Partly because I have a terrible memory! Some of the stuff I read back on doesn't really ring a bell...) And yes, I deleted some stuff I'd rather pretend didn't happen. It's my blog and I'll cheat if I want to!
So... After 2007, I have to say that 2008 was one of my worst years. Bad things happened, work slowed way down, and I pretty much didn't deal with it well. Gained back probably 10-15 lbs. Just ugh.
BUT, that's what New Year's resolutions are for! I know they're cheesy, and it really is arbitrary to put any sort importance on any certain date, but if one chooses to look at it as motivation to change, there's nothing wrong with that.
So far, I am on a giant health food (and exercise, when it's not freaking below zero) kick. I want to look better, feel better, save money, save the earth, and occupy my time with more productive activities.
I'm all about superfoods, whole foods, making stuff myself (this is relatively new), and my ultimate goal is to buy only things that contain only one ingredient (I would say not processed, but pasteurized milk for my yogurt and dried herbs and spices are fine by me, and those are processes.) I don't know if I'll make it that far -- easy enough when I'm not busy, but I'm getting busier already (mostly Guthrie, unfortunately), so it might be hard to be 100% strict about that. It'll also be nearly impossible on set (though I am going to start bringing some of my own snacks), but at least I can think about what I eat instead of shoving in whatever looks yummy. But for now I'm loving this.
Since that's my obsession, here's what I've been doing: For breakfast, oatmeal (I just discovered that it's delicious with cinnamon and a little honey, and yes, that's good for you); a smoothie made from yogurt (Stonyfield farm fat-free plain is the only way to go -- 6 cultures instead of 2 or 3!), blueberries, strawberries, pineapple and OJ; and a hard boiled egg. (ALL superfoods, I might add, except honey.) And of course coffee, I cannot give that up. Lunches and dinners so far have been: spinach salad (the best is my supersalad with walnuts, red onion, a sprinkle of gorgonzola, with olive oil and red wine vinegar drizzled on top -- also have used carrots, egg, cucumber); squash soup from scratch (thanks for the recipe, SB!); just big bowls of frozen vegetables (frozen is no worse than fresh, and sometimes better because they're flash-frozen while "fresh" has been around a while, leaking nutrients); grapefruit; and before the one-ingredient obsession, tomato soup with a little feta, and I can't remember what all else. Point being, incredibly healthy and DELICIOUS.
Today I tried to make my own yogurt. It didn't work, so I need to invest in a thermometer. I think I can handle making it once I get my process down, and it's about half the price and I'm told tastes much better.
Other things I'm going to try: sweet potato "fries" (baked, of course -- my brother's recipe which is really good); baked potato with seasoned yogurt; garlic mashed potatoes (potatoes are surprisingly healthy and very cheap); a salad of grated cabbage, beet, carrot, diced cucumber, and a dressing that will hopefully resemble Thai plum sauce (I made this up in my head -- I hope it turns out as good as it sounds, because whenever I've totally made a recipe up, it's SUCKED!); baked green bean "fries;" curried spinach potato soup; broccoli with orange sauce (sauce reportedly good on many vegetables); toasting my walnuts to bring out the yumminess (so I read); a baked tofu recipe with some good-lookin' seasonings. More to come as I find more recipes, and I have others up my sleeve to try. (Summer? Gazpacho and taboulli!)
I plan to make my own vegetable broth as soon as I find a good soup pot at Goodwill. AND, I'm going to make Labneh, a soft (Lebanese?) cheese made from basically draining yogurt, then mixed with spices, garlic, etc. I've never had it, but everything I see describes it as delicious. Then I can put that on my salads instead of buying cheese! If I ever make more money, I may try fish. Not sure on that, though, as I'm getting good protein from other sources (I also want to try a pureed edamame recipe I found, and hopefully can use my homemade cheese for -- soybeans have a ton of protein). I might try to find out how Ecopolitan makes their raw "bread" and put the cheese on that.
I'm not about raw at all, and this isn't remotely vegan with the eggs and yogurt (although you CAN make it out of soymilk, so maybe I'll try that). I am trying to cut out wheat for a while to see if that's causing my acne. But when I have more money I definitely intend to buy more responsible eggs and milk. I feel bad not doing so now, but money is about to get VERY tight for a little while, so after that I'll take a breath and reassess.
Tonight is my lovely spinach/walnut/onion/gorgonzola salad with sweet potato fries and ketchup homemade by my dad! Nyum nyum!
So... After 2007, I have to say that 2008 was one of my worst years. Bad things happened, work slowed way down, and I pretty much didn't deal with it well. Gained back probably 10-15 lbs. Just ugh.
BUT, that's what New Year's resolutions are for! I know they're cheesy, and it really is arbitrary to put any sort importance on any certain date, but if one chooses to look at it as motivation to change, there's nothing wrong with that.
So far, I am on a giant health food (and exercise, when it's not freaking below zero) kick. I want to look better, feel better, save money, save the earth, and occupy my time with more productive activities.
I'm all about superfoods, whole foods, making stuff myself (this is relatively new), and my ultimate goal is to buy only things that contain only one ingredient (I would say not processed, but pasteurized milk for my yogurt and dried herbs and spices are fine by me, and those are processes.) I don't know if I'll make it that far -- easy enough when I'm not busy, but I'm getting busier already (mostly Guthrie, unfortunately), so it might be hard to be 100% strict about that. It'll also be nearly impossible on set (though I am going to start bringing some of my own snacks), but at least I can think about what I eat instead of shoving in whatever looks yummy. But for now I'm loving this.
Since that's my obsession, here's what I've been doing: For breakfast, oatmeal (I just discovered that it's delicious with cinnamon and a little honey, and yes, that's good for you); a smoothie made from yogurt (Stonyfield farm fat-free plain is the only way to go -- 6 cultures instead of 2 or 3!), blueberries, strawberries, pineapple and OJ; and a hard boiled egg. (ALL superfoods, I might add, except honey.) And of course coffee, I cannot give that up. Lunches and dinners so far have been: spinach salad (the best is my supersalad with walnuts, red onion, a sprinkle of gorgonzola, with olive oil and red wine vinegar drizzled on top -- also have used carrots, egg, cucumber); squash soup from scratch (thanks for the recipe, SB!); just big bowls of frozen vegetables (frozen is no worse than fresh, and sometimes better because they're flash-frozen while "fresh" has been around a while, leaking nutrients); grapefruit; and before the one-ingredient obsession, tomato soup with a little feta, and I can't remember what all else. Point being, incredibly healthy and DELICIOUS.
Today I tried to make my own yogurt. It didn't work, so I need to invest in a thermometer. I think I can handle making it once I get my process down, and it's about half the price and I'm told tastes much better.
Other things I'm going to try: sweet potato "fries" (baked, of course -- my brother's recipe which is really good); baked potato with seasoned yogurt; garlic mashed potatoes (potatoes are surprisingly healthy and very cheap); a salad of grated cabbage, beet, carrot, diced cucumber, and a dressing that will hopefully resemble Thai plum sauce (I made this up in my head -- I hope it turns out as good as it sounds, because whenever I've totally made a recipe up, it's SUCKED!); baked green bean "fries;" curried spinach potato soup; broccoli with orange sauce (sauce reportedly good on many vegetables); toasting my walnuts to bring out the yumminess (so I read); a baked tofu recipe with some good-lookin' seasonings. More to come as I find more recipes, and I have others up my sleeve to try. (Summer? Gazpacho and taboulli!)
I plan to make my own vegetable broth as soon as I find a good soup pot at Goodwill. AND, I'm going to make Labneh, a soft (Lebanese?) cheese made from basically draining yogurt, then mixed with spices, garlic, etc. I've never had it, but everything I see describes it as delicious. Then I can put that on my salads instead of buying cheese! If I ever make more money, I may try fish. Not sure on that, though, as I'm getting good protein from other sources (I also want to try a pureed edamame recipe I found, and hopefully can use my homemade cheese for -- soybeans have a ton of protein). I might try to find out how Ecopolitan makes their raw "bread" and put the cheese on that.
I'm not about raw at all, and this isn't remotely vegan with the eggs and yogurt (although you CAN make it out of soymilk, so maybe I'll try that). I am trying to cut out wheat for a while to see if that's causing my acne. But when I have more money I definitely intend to buy more responsible eggs and milk. I feel bad not doing so now, but money is about to get VERY tight for a little while, so after that I'll take a breath and reassess.
Tonight is my lovely spinach/walnut/onion/gorgonzola salad with sweet potato fries and ketchup homemade by my dad! Nyum nyum!
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