Haven't really made anything new this week, still eating the leftovers. Oh, but I made baked potatoes and some improvised tzatziki (SP?!) sauce (no cucumber) to put on them. It's good but I used WAY too much garlic. Had that last night with my salad with red onion on it right before I went out, and there was not enough gum in the world to fix that breath. But delicious!
Tonight I might try this ginger-orange sauce recipe I found on some broccolis. It probably won't be that interesting to look at, but I'll have to post a photo of my salad too, since I've been eating it a lot.
Went for a walk with Bella dog today, which was fun! She likes to lead... It's a little dangerous on ice. But fun.
Oh, the day before yesterday I was having coffee with a friend, and we got hungry, so we went to Ecopolitan. Although it's a few dollars more than we could have spent elsewhere, it was well worth feeling good about what I ate away from home. Delicious! I had a falafel wrap (not the best thing I've had there, but very good) and an awesome smoothie that had basil in it. Yums!
Last night I went out with another friend and had 2 beers AND some of her tater tots. They tasted good, but I felt it. Tummy was still kind of pissy this morning. But I don't feel that horrible about eating it, since it's the first fried thing I've had in weeks. A few tots every couple weeks is totally acceptable.
Oh, and for lunch today I had tomato soup (Campbell's) and some lite microwave popcorn. Not ideal, but part of the point of all this was to save money, and I have a ton of that still around, so I should sneak it in now and then and get it gone. Could be worse. Plus I don't want to OD on the yummies I made too soon!
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Monday, February 2, 2009
Dokus Malorkus
So, in honor of the rantings of the ashcan, this blog will now feature my adventures in health and sustainability. I'm going to post my food adventures, exercise (hopefully someday I'll do more interesting things that walks -- starting my yoga DVD again one of these days for sure, and that'll give me more to obsess about), and trying to be as green as possible on a tight budget.
Right now I'm making curry potato/leek/spinach soup, and it smells great! I've decided to become one of those people who post photos of their food. Because it really is more interesting when you can see it (though not as good as when you eat it!). I could post recipes, but I certainly didn't make most of them up, so I'm not sure if that's OK...
Some things to think about:
Composting in a rental property where there are dogs in the yard
Growing vegetables in said yard...
OK, soup is done, now I have to take and remember how to add a photo. Gotta say, the soup is AWESOME -- depending on your feelings, in spite of or because of its being very green (I forgot about all that spinach -- I was picturing it being kind of orange -- curry/potato).
I usually hate reading recipe reviews where everyone says "this is GREAT, I just substituted most major ingredients and did this and that and totally changed the recipe!" However, since there is a CRAP TON of this soup (I doubled what didn't look like a huge batch), I am going to modify. My ONLY complaint is that it's kind of thin, so I'm going to make some with chunks of potatoes and... Dammit, this is WHY I write stuff down, I forgot what else I was going to do with it! Oh, next time I would probably leave out the milk -- it tastes great, and of course in the end there's more soup, but I like to avoid dairy as much as possible (besides my copious yogurt -- which I plan to try again, yes!)
So I don't know how to use my digital camera -- it's out of focus, oh well. Also, because the soup is thin, this is after stirring my dollop of sour cream in. It was the least crappy photo :)
OK, HERE IS PART OF MY SOUP. Haven't used Photobucket in a while, and APPARENTLY I'm stupid, because when I resize it, hit APPLY, then hit SAVE, it keeps reverting back to its original size. I mean, duh, of course it would. So here's the edge of my giant soup.
Right now I'm making curry potato/leek/spinach soup, and it smells great! I've decided to become one of those people who post photos of their food. Because it really is more interesting when you can see it (though not as good as when you eat it!). I could post recipes, but I certainly didn't make most of them up, so I'm not sure if that's OK...
Some things to think about:
Composting in a rental property where there are dogs in the yard
Growing vegetables in said yard...
OK, soup is done, now I have to take and remember how to add a photo. Gotta say, the soup is AWESOME -- depending on your feelings, in spite of or because of its being very green (I forgot about all that spinach -- I was picturing it being kind of orange -- curry/potato).
I usually hate reading recipe reviews where everyone says "this is GREAT, I just substituted most major ingredients and did this and that and totally changed the recipe!" However, since there is a CRAP TON of this soup (I doubled what didn't look like a huge batch), I am going to modify. My ONLY complaint is that it's kind of thin, so I'm going to make some with chunks of potatoes and... Dammit, this is WHY I write stuff down, I forgot what else I was going to do with it! Oh, next time I would probably leave out the milk -- it tastes great, and of course in the end there's more soup, but I like to avoid dairy as much as possible (besides my copious yogurt -- which I plan to try again, yes!)
So I don't know how to use my digital camera -- it's out of focus, oh well. Also, because the soup is thin, this is after stirring my dollop of sour cream in. It was the least crappy photo :)
OK, HERE IS PART OF MY SOUP. Haven't used Photobucket in a while, and APPARENTLY I'm stupid, because when I resize it, hit APPLY, then hit SAVE, it keeps reverting back to its original size. I mean, duh, of course it would. So here's the edge of my giant soup.
Sunday, February 1, 2009
Hm, maybe interesting (maybe too much time on my hands)
So TMI time. Today I am feeling very bad, I think because of that time of month. Very weak, run-down, feel like I'm going to faint every time I stand up, no appetite most of the day.
I finally started to feel hungry, and was going over in my head what I have to eat (not a ton, since I needed to go grocery shopping today and didn't feel up to it). I thought I'm probably iron deficient and should have some of my yummy spinach salad -- sort of the most "naughty" thing I've had lately, as there's a little gorgonzola on it, always tempting. But right now it didn't sound good at all. I thought the spinach was probably good, but the rest sounded bad, and spinach by itself never sounds good (I'm not there yet -- hopefully someday I'll eat spinach leaves like chips!).
So I thought, tuna? Processed, yes, but I'll eat a can plain if it'll help. Eh. Smoothie? Neh. Corn! Eh, corn is good, but I don't think I could eat a bowl right now. Suddenly I thought of the bag of frozen peas, and thought, PEAS, I need PEAS. Now, I eat frozen peas because freezing them doesn't screw them up, but I'm not a huge pea fan (though I do like them fine). And I decided I could handle a couple walnuts.
So I looked up the nutrients in peas, and guess what? Excellent source of iron! Also vitamin c (which I haven't really had today) and whatever-whatevers that help process protein -- from... the walnuts! Anyway, I think, MAYBE, that was my body telling me what it needed. We'll see, I need to less type-y more eat-y.
Ooh, and I just saw that The Princess Bride is on Bravo tomorrow night. SWEEEET.
I finally started to feel hungry, and was going over in my head what I have to eat (not a ton, since I needed to go grocery shopping today and didn't feel up to it). I thought I'm probably iron deficient and should have some of my yummy spinach salad -- sort of the most "naughty" thing I've had lately, as there's a little gorgonzola on it, always tempting. But right now it didn't sound good at all. I thought the spinach was probably good, but the rest sounded bad, and spinach by itself never sounds good (I'm not there yet -- hopefully someday I'll eat spinach leaves like chips!).
So I thought, tuna? Processed, yes, but I'll eat a can plain if it'll help. Eh. Smoothie? Neh. Corn! Eh, corn is good, but I don't think I could eat a bowl right now. Suddenly I thought of the bag of frozen peas, and thought, PEAS, I need PEAS. Now, I eat frozen peas because freezing them doesn't screw them up, but I'm not a huge pea fan (though I do like them fine). And I decided I could handle a couple walnuts.
So I looked up the nutrients in peas, and guess what? Excellent source of iron! Also vitamin c (which I haven't really had today) and whatever-whatevers that help process protein -- from... the walnuts! Anyway, I think, MAYBE, that was my body telling me what it needed. We'll see, I need to less type-y more eat-y.
Ooh, and I just saw that The Princess Bride is on Bravo tomorrow night. SWEEEET.
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!
Friday, January 4, 2008
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