recipe round up

What I've been eating:

This "Cowboy Caviar"  is officially a winner recipe. Made it twice now. Easy, just some minor vegetable cutting, and it's done. Pretty decent source of veg and meal filler that feels healthy. Not a huge fan of the black beans, but it's necessary to give it extra sustenance. I really like it with guac and some protein and rice. Or even on top of a hobo quesadilla. Or just with tortilla chips.

This dakdortitang is also pretty killer. Recommended by a friend, I think it's super easy (one pot) and really good for a hot meal. The level of spice is a bit much for me, but the flavor is worth it.

This is my go to banana bread recipe. It's the fluffiest, lightest banana bread ever. I haven't tried any other since. .... it's also a bit like banana cake though. But... yum :D

Also my go to recipe for pot pie. Super easy (which I need, otherwise I will not make it more than once), filling, and good for a couple of meals. Also pie crust is just delicious.

Red wine poached plums and plum greek yogurt cake make for a surprisingly amazing combo. I would not really suggest making this unless you have excess plums and excess greek yogurt. But on the other hand.... I did get quite a few compliments on the cake and plums.

This vegan corn chowder (just replace milk/half and half with coconut milk). I surprisingly liked it more than I expected. I don't usually eat vegan (heck I add meat to the meatless recipes), but my friend was trying. Tasty, but I think it needs some sort of toasted bread with the chowder. I'd make it again though. But I really might just add some sausage :O

A combo of these two recipes (indian style creamed spinach and chicken saagwala) to make a chicken saagwala. Combined because I liked the looks of the spinach portion of the former, but wanted to add chicken to make it a complete dish. It turned out really well. My first foray into Indian cooking. 100% would do it again. 

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To make:

This soup (dakjim?), but I need to go to my asian market and get some starch noodles.

My mom's chicken soup

A daikon soup

I really want to try to make an indian dish, but there are so many components that I don't have. Have to think on this.

food wants

i want to eat a whole can of pringles.

i want to eat saag paneer || chicken sagwala || pad thai.

i want a tin of elderflower tea.

i want to learn how to use a grill.

i want to eat a caprese salad.

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i think i'm hungry right now :/ but it's also 1130 pm and i should be going to sleep.
problems.

Strengths

Went to taco tuesday with a friend at a place with very few parking spots. I saw a woman get in her car and I signaled for the spot. She didn't end up leaving and multiple cars were stuck behind me. A car drove next to me and yelled at me for not moving. Well, sucks. For everyone.

He later saw me in the restaurant and apologized. I accepted.

Here's the thing: Everyone has good points and strengths. It's just a matter of when and where you see the person. Maybe that horribly rude person was just having a bad day.

Or maybe some people just shine in different environments.

I wonder what is the ideal environment for each person. If I could have a greenhouse with the ideal conditions for myself, what would be there.

just random musings.

hair catastrophe

Had a hair incident in which I ended up losing probably more than a foot of hair.

Regardless, I am almost apathetic about my hair... which is really weird because I used to cry over hair cuts. In a weird way, these days I've been thinking about my body as just a vessel to get the things I need to do done. Just feed it and water it a bit and make sure it doesn't get hurt, but otherwise, what does it really matter what happens if hair is short or long, if it's tall or short, if there are eleven fingers, or random moles. What does it really matter. As long as it's healthy and functional. Somehow I don't think these are exactly normal thoughts though.

Went to a gym and they gave me a fitness test. In which they called me "skinny fat". Thanks. 22% body fat, thank you very much. But it's probably true. I definitely don't have enough muscle mass to be at peak functionality. They talked about calorie intake to help increase lean mass gain. .... I honestly don't think I eat enough for real "gainz". O.o But maybe I should calorie count? Except it's so darn annoying.

Half thinking about doing 5x5 or something like that. Now, to just get over the shyness of using the weight lifting section of the gym. I wish I got into weight lifting in college, tbh.

But the point is this: the body is just a vessel.

Birthday

Yay I'm 26 now. I certainly don't feel it. I think of myself still as... 23 maybe? Out of college, but barely. Regardless, I'm on the other side of my twenties now, and isn't that strange. But such is life and such is time and everything keeps on moving regardless if you do or do not.

I had a pretty lovely day. Went to happy hour with friends and got a free drink and free cake from the waiter (!). Seriously though, is it because I wore make up? If I think back on the times I've gotten free things (not including job fair-esque free stuff lol), it's because there was some form of make up. Would a guy have gotten a free drink? I wonder.

A friend also baked me a cake. She's so talented. Earl grey cake. Soooo delicious. And presents. And well wishes. And messages.

Gah. I feel positively loved. Because birthdays really aren't that special in my mind. It's just another day, isn't it? But having even people come to happy hour to wish me happy birthday is really, really sweet. And if I compare this birthday to last year, gah the difference is immense.

I think I need to learn how to give better gifts. Everybody likes receiving something, right? Clearly this is one of those love languages that I have neglected from my end.

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I have a fig tree in my backyard now. I am seriously in love. I want a fruit tree in all of my backyards now! I want a hammock in my backyard!

I love just walking outside and picking a couple of ripe figs and eating them within minutes. Sun ripened, soft and sweet, the curl of seeds a pale pink when you bite into the center. Gosh, the perfect snack when I don't feel like preparing anything.

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I have roof access. I sorta love it. I really, really like sitting on roof tops. There is something about heights. Whether it's perching on the kitchen counter top or climbing up ladders that weren't put away yet, I just want to sit somewhere high. Sitting on the roof... you stare down at the world from a higher perspective, you can lie back and watch the clouds, or you can just enjoy sitting and watch the birds on the fig tree. I want to bring tea and book out there soon.

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Analogies never work.

Anyone can say
Life is like a free cosmopolitan, or
Life is a never ending race, or
Age is like fine wine, or
Age is like fruit on a tree, or
whatever the hell you want.

Sometimes it just is what it is.

These Days

These days are all about the searching.

The search
for meaning
for beauty
for mercy and grace
for God
and his hand in life and what is moving
for peace and acceptance
for joy
for satisfaction in the things i do
for comfort and warmth

I am searching for all these things daily. Even when I am talking to friends, or walking down the stairs to the fridge of this new place. It's all a reminder, it's a new territory.

There is so much beauty in the world. After Alaska, I think that all the more. Snow covered mountains that stretch across the entire horizon, the crisp air and chill at my fingertips, the mist of the clouds hanging so low, the waves underneath my feet, the sunset turning the entire sky orange and reflecting off the ocean for miles and miles, the spray of ocean. I just wanted to close my eyes and turn my head towards the sky and soak it all in until these moments are buried in my heart. Because oh, the world is worth it. Because there is still beauty and lovely things to be seen.  

Poetry

...Don’t you ever feel
like you’re just
a story someone is telling
about someone like you?...

- What the Dragon Said: A Love Story, by Catherynne Valente