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| On running. |
[04 Dec 2009|12:21am] |
I never thought I could run. I'm built all wrong, with my short legs. I was always one of the slowest runners whenever I had to run for PE or for Ultimate. So I gave up on it. Why do something I'm not good at? I'd run on the treadmill every once in a while and get discouraged at how slow I was.
Then a couple of my friends started doing triathlons. That was fine, they were all fit guys who could do that kind of thing, I knew I couldn't. No way. Then, one day almost a year ago when I was in Japan, I was walking on the treadmill and watching a show where a celebrity (I can't recall who, now) was challenged to complete a triathlon. So he trained like crazy for it, and did. I guess that never left me, because I started to think, "Why can't I do that?" My friends are completing Wildflower and other triathlons, and here I can barely run a mile. Hell, I couldn't run a mile without running out of breath.
On Thanksgiving, I completed my first 5K. I was painfully slow, it took me 39 minutes and 2 seconds. That's a 12:35 minute/mile pace. Still, I ran 3.1 miles. Never before did I think I could do that. I was too busy thinking I sucked at it to give it a try. Now I'm hooked on running. My goal is actually a triathlon (Eppie's Great Race) but that requires a 5.8 mile run, so why not work up to a 10K? And if I'm going to a 10K, why not do a half marathon? If I'm doing a half marathon, why not a full marathon, to say I've done it?
Why not?
On a related note, I always said I was bad at rock climbing cause I have short limbs. This is true, but for years I let that stop me. I am currently in love with climbing and wish I could do it more often.
I guess the moral of this story is, I need to stop letting my negativity stop me. Just cause I may not start out good at something, doesn't mean I shouldn't try it at all. Now I just need to follow my own advice!
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| On Freudian slips |
[16 Nov 2009|04:09pm] |
Last night Kaz and I were talking and I tried to say that I've never dated a suave guy as they aren't generally attracted to me. What came out of my mouth was "I don't date attractive guys."
Kaz was less than pleased. ;__; -50 approval rating.
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| Persimmon cake |
[25 Oct 2009|12:21am] |
3 c flour
2 c brown sugar
2 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup oil
3 cups persimmon pulp (I used super ripe Fuyu persimmons, but I don't see why the more traditional Hachiya pulp wouldn't work here. This came from about 6 persimmons.)
2 TBSP apple cider vinegar
Mix the dry ingredients, then slowly incorporate the wet (except vinegar) until "just mixed." Add the vinegar and stir to incorporate. (It will bubble.) Transfer to a greased and floured Bundt pan and bake at 350 degrees for 1 hour.
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| On SiO2. |
[08 Oct 2009|05:48pm] |
A large buyer of colloidal silica is McDonald's. What do they do with it, you ask? Put it in the milkshakes to improve mouthfeel. The thing is, silica is also known as SAND. And GLASS. D: (The amounts that are put in are harmless, but still. Principle.)
My mom's friend sells Herbalife and she gave us a sample of their weight-loss shake, and it had silica in it too.
The peril of being a chemical engineer is that I know what those chemical ingredients actually are. Like, after I synthesized one of the 23 parts involved in strawberry flavoring, I... can't have artificial strawberry flavor anymore. It smells like what I made in a test tube. That's just freaky.
Colloidal silica, I may add, gives a creamy mouthfeel (thanks to particle-particle interaction) without the fat. Don't say I never taught you anything.
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[06 Oct 2009|04:51pm] |
So last farmer's market I found matsutake for $30/lb. For those of you who don't know, (ie non-Japanese people) Matsutake literally translates to "pine mushroom" and as the name implies, only grows at the base of red pine trees. They're pretty much impossible to cultivate and thus are the Japanese equivalent of the truffle mushroom. $30/lb might sound like a lot, but most markets carry them for something like $100/lb and they're even more in Japan. These were small (early in the season) but the real thing. So I bought half a pound, and split them with my mother. We both made matsutake-gohan out of them. XD This is matsutake rice, where you cook the mushrooms in with the rice and let the aroma spread to all of the rice. I think I actually used more matsutake than I should, but that's okay!
In other food news, I went to VegFest over the weekend. It was pretty fun, especially since I got in for free as a student. I even got a free banana from the Rainbow Grocery table! I wore my tofu robot shirt which I think was well-accepted. (Maybe not from the raw people, I don't know.) I also had this vegan tuna sandwich that tasted really frighteningly like the non-vegan version. The food was fantastic! I got a vegan cupcake! The same stand also had vegan marshmallows, and Kaz was like "YOU MUST MAKE RICE KRISPIES TREATS OUT OF THESE" so I bought some for that purpose. We'll see how that turns out. I'm saving them for a DnD night so I don't eat a whole pan of rice krispies treats on my own. Because, you know, this can happen. Poor Kaz felt a little out of place, being an omni. I almost feel bad for him but I pass on stuff all the time cause it's not vegan, so =P to him.
One midterm down, two to go. Ugh.
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| On being at Peet's |
[02 Sep 2009|04:05pm] |
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Iced coffee makes me happy. People leaving their trash on tables does not.
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| On school starting again. |
[27 Aug 2009|05:11pm] |
I never thought I'd be so interested in ceramics. They're actually really interesting! And processing them is cool, too, since it's so different from anything else. Also, I may have a class without homework. This...this scares me. It's so different! WHAT IS THIS CRAZINESS. (Though there will be hundreds of pages of reading and a term paper. You gain some, you lose some.)
So I finally got Ubuntu Netbook Remix on Toaster (my hand-me-down netbook) and it's been going well. That thing definitely couldn't handle WinXP. It runs great with UNR, though, and I've been carrying it around everywhere.
I need a new backpack. My current one is falling apart. ;__;
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| On being unable to replicate results. |
[20 Aug 2009|09:01pm] |
I just made rice and black beans and somehow it tastes...meaty (to me). I cooked it with an 8 oz can of tomato sauce, totally forgot about seasoning, and added some chili powder, paprika, oregano, red pepper flakes, and salt at the very end and stirred it up. XD It's ridiculously comforting food and I don't know why! Good thing I made so much, I can freeze the rest and eat it whenever I want a quick, satisfying meal or snack. Mmmm.
I spend so much less on food when I'm just cooking for myself, cause I don't mind eating beans and rice forever. Kaz does. Though, I'm pretty sure he could eat mac n' yeast all day for a couple days and still be happy.
I need easy, frugal, vegan recipes that don't contain: beans, tomatoes, or mushrooms (I don't get why Kaz doesn't like these, they're all so delicious!). Talk about impossible. All the ones I know use beans. ;__;
Also, I got my mom hooked on this one Thai place. Their Pad Kee Mao is to die for. It's addictive, I swear. We were both full but we kept eating it. Also, they make the best sweet sticky rice with coconut milk. It's amazing. I don't know what'd happen if I move away from here-- I'd miss all the good food.
On a different note, I've concluded that Berkeley Ironworks rates their courses on the hard side, so a 5.4 there could be like a 5.6 elsewhere. I still fail at anything that isn't all feet, though. Still, I'm hoping that one day I can lead climb. I'll get back to you in a few years about that.
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| Age+ |
[06 Aug 2009|10:07pm] |
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Kaz bought me Rhythm Heaven and Pikmin (Wii version) for my birthday! (Along with a chair, but I have to go pick that out.) Anyways, I fell in love with this one picture from the cover and from one of the games (OHMYGODSOCRAZY) and so now it's my new icon. Enjoy.
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| What to feed a Kaz. |
[26 Jul 2009|10:03pm] |
Mac 'n Yeast
I really need a more appetizing name for this, but it's not actually Mac 'n Cheese nor does it really taste like it. What it does taste like, however, is delicious.
Ingredients:
1 lb pasta of your choice (I've been using quinoa elbows recently, but sometimes I use white flour shells. Whatever you like.)
1 cup water
1 cup soymilk (I use soymilk powder and water)
3/4 c. nutritional yeast (This is NOT baking yeast, nor is it brewers' yeast. It's bright yellow. You can find it at a lot of health stores.)
3 TBS. corn starch
1 TBS. apple cider vinegar or lemon juice
1 TBS. onion powder
2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. tumeric
1/2 tsp. paprika
2 tsp. salt
Black pepper, to taste
3 TBS. tahini (I tried to sub this with almond butter, no dice. Can be found at middle eastern groceries.)
1 TBS. white miso (or more salt. The miso adds a nice fermented flavor, though.)
1 c. frozen green peas
Boil pasta in plenty of salted water. As pasta is cooking, mix the rest of the ingredients other than the peas in a blender. Drain pasta, and return to pot with sauce and peas. Cook, stirring frequently, until sauce thickens. Serve. Enjoy.
This is my go-to dinner because Kaz and I both love it and it comes together in the time it takes to make pasta. Feel free to add other veggies or whatever. I hear you can also pour the sauce over the pasta in a baking dish and bake it, but I've never been a fan of that so I've never tried.
Feeds 4, or 2-3 really hungry people.
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| Per request |
[12 Jul 2009|09:10pm] |
Super Simple Blueberry Muffins
1.5 cups flour
scant 1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 cup almond or other non-dairy milk
1/4 cup oil (I've subbed half of this for applesauce with no ill effects.)
1.5 cups blueberries
Preheat oven to 400F.
Mix together flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder. Add milk and oil. Mix until "just mixed" (a few lumps are fine). Fold in blueberries.
Distribute into muffin tins, and bake for 25-30 minutes, or about 17 minutes for mini-muffins, until tops spring back when pressed lightly. Makes about 8 regular sized muffins.
Optional! Crumb topping:
3 TBS margarine
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup sugar
Mix above three ingredients with a fork or pastry blender until it resembles coarse crumbs. Spread over raw batter, bake as usual.
I added the crumb topping for a DnD session and one of our members was eating the leftover topping out of the container. It's delicious. XD It does, however, make the muffins harder to take out of the pan if you don't use liners.
More recipes to come!
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| On random food. |
[02 May 2009|12:59am] |
Vly's "Hey look, I have stuff in my pantry" chili
1/4 c diced onion (I use frozen)
1 tsp minced garlic (once again, frozen)
1 TBS oil
1 15 oz can tomato sauce
3 15 oz cans kidney beans, rinsed and drained (I don't really like kidney beans, why do I have a flat of them in my cupboard?)
1 15 oz can corn, rinsed and drained
1/2 tsp paprika
2 tsp chili powder
1 tsp chipotle chili powder (A dash of liquid smoke could work, too)
2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1/2 c water
1 TBS blackstrap molasses
1/4 tsp black pepper
Saute the onion and garlic in oil until onions are soft and translucent. Add everything else. Bring to a boil, then lower heat and simmer for ~30 minutes or however long you feel like, stirring occasionally. This makes a pretty serious amount of chili... about 2 quarts.
I made cornbread, so I figured I'd make some chili to go with it, but I don't have all the requisite ingredients for a lot of chili recipes. So I just threw together what I had and it was surprisingly good. (The cornbread was...less than stellar. But good with the chili.)
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| This entry powered by tofu. |
[28 Apr 2009|02:27pm] |
I opened my purse to find my bottle of Benadryl...with the top off. It probably had at least 50 pills still in there. This isn't the first time this has happened, either. Sads.
Kaz and I went to the farmer's market on Saturday, and saw a booth for the Cannabis Action Network. Oh, Berkeley. I had a veggie muffuletta at Angeline's and it was delicious, but I was sad cause there was vegan soul food at the market and I'd always wanted to try that. Oh well, next week, I guess. The haul included red kale, asparagus, organic strawberries, and maitake. Mmmm. Also, they started charging for bags, so I guess it's a good thing I bring my own.
I was wearing my Tofu Robot shirt and I didn't really think about it until I got asked about it. Soy powered, bitches. I even fried tofu for dinner that night. The first time I used firm tofu and it was...not too good. The texture was too soft and smooth. The next time I used extra firm tofu and it was great, but I didn't flavor the coating enough. Oh well, live and learn.
Man, can I even make a post that doesn't have to do with food?
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| On illnesses. |
[18 Apr 2009|01:38am] |
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I hate being prone to head colds. My right ear hasn't cleared in days.
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| I kinda wish someone had sent me this for Valentine's |
[09 Apr 2009|03:17pm] |
You know, cause I play a shaman and all. Though the only time I Frost Shock is in PvP. And occasionally for Gluth, but then I get a zombie chow eating my face. D:
Hands up, everyone who didn't get that.
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| A Public Service Announcement |
[02 Apr 2009|02:56pm] |
Also, I'm so glad that I don't have to put up with things like "But you eat chicken, right?" Yaaaaay Berkeley.
I have a fridge full of fake meat products that I ended up buying when I went to Whole Foods. (I just can't resist the siren call of vegan things I've never tried before!) But all I want right now is a simple pasta marinara. Gah.
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| On trying to make a difference. |
[29 Mar 2009|12:24am] |
It irks me when activists for any cause alienate the people they're reaching out to by resorting to name-calling and insults, fear-mongering and hate. Pointing out and complaining about all the things people do wrong isn't going to get anyone to see your point of view-- you just come across as a whiny bitch. Scorn doesn't help, either. I'll admit, it's hard as hell sometimes to step back and look at all sides of the argument. It's hard to not just get mad at the people who don't agree with you. Hell, I fall into these traps all the time. It sucks.
Sometimes it all feels so overwhelming, especially when some of the people you're fighting are technically on your side.
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