Breakfast Porridge

I have started mixing up my breakfasts. Goodbye oatmeal, hello quinoa and brown rice! And the recipie is SO easy! to make 2 servings: 1/2 cup dry quinoa or brown rice (or if your feeling crazy, mix them) 1 cup water 1/4 fuji apple diced cinnamon apple pie spice pinch of salt Boil it up until the grain is fully cooked and the excess water evaporated Serve warm with a splash of milk and a stevia if you need it to be sweeter. Enjoy!

Kung Pao Tofu

A delicious classic American Chinese dinner.

Stir Fry Ingredients:            Sauce Ingredients:                          
4 T. Vegetable Oil                  3 T. Soy Sauce
1 C. Peanuts                          3 T. Rice Wine Vinegar
2 Garlic Cloves                      1 T. Cornstarch
1 Medium Onion                    3 T. Hoisin Sauce

1 Thumb Ginger

3 Dry Red Chilies

1/2 Bell Pepper

2 C. Broccoli

1 Zucchini

1 Can Baby Corn

1 Can Water Chestnuts

1 Package Firm Tofu

1 T. Sesame Oil

1 or 2 Spring Onion

The Process:
1. Cut tofu and remove excess water.  Important note: only use firm or extra firm water pack tofu.  Silken tofu will fall apart during the cooking process.
2. Make the sauce.  Whist together all the sauce ingredients and set aside.

3. Get your wok "screamin' hot" and roast the peanuts in sesame oil

4. When the peanuts are almost done add in the onion, garlic, ginger, red chili and "tish tish" (as my hubby would say) In English, "tish tish" is a high heat saute or stir fry.
5. Add in the bell pepper, broccoli, water chestnuts, baby corn and "tish tish" again until they are about 85% done.
6. Add in the tofu, water chestnuts and zucchini a little sesame oil for flavor.

7. When the zucchini is 98% done, add in the sauce, and toss it around in the pan. Transfer to a bowl and get ready to serve.

Peanutbutter Noodle Salad

Ingredients:

1. Spaghetti or Soba noodles
2. Peanuts - 1 cup
3. Peanut Butter - 4 tablespoons
4. Onions - 1 chopped
5. Garlic - 1 clove minced
6. Red bell peppers - 1 julienned
7. Carrots - 1 julienned
8. Peas - 1 cup
9. Salt - to taste
10. Pepper - to taste
11. Peanut butter - 2 tablespoons
12. Chilly Oil - 1 teaspoon (for mild)
13. Soy Sauce - 4 tablespoons
14. Cooking oil - 2 tablespoons

METHOD:
1. Boil Noodles with little salt.
2. Warm peanut butter, mix with soy sauce and chilly oil. Set aside.
3. In separate pan add cooking oil and saute the peanuts.
4. Add in the onions, garlic and bell peppers and toss around. If you are looking for a spicy dish, add some chopped green chilies at this step here too.
5. Add all the other veggies and cook till they are just done and crispy.
6. Toss the veggies, noodles and sauce together.
7. Serve warm or cold and enjoy!

Book Review - Olive Kitteridge

Without the tele on all the time, I have been voraciously reading. So, I am taking this opportunity to give my 2 cents on Olive Kitteridge. It is a nice book. Well written and enjoyable that it is a novel comprised of short stories. I was disappointed at times because I wanted more involvement in some of the characters in the short stories that revolved around Olive. likewise, there were some short stories where Olives presence seemed contrived and out of place.

All in all, it was a good story, I enjoyed reading it and was left with an indelible impression of how you remember your life and how others think of it can be so different.

It is worth reading again, or as part of a book club. There are may parts that are worth discussion with other like and un-like minded readers.

Going Strong, Getting Easier

Day three and still going strong. Started reading a Olive Kitteridge. Ive had the book for months but could not get past the first sentence with all the other stimuli in the house. Two chapters down and about to start the third with a nice hot cup of tea. (As a tea aside' I am looking for some nice loose leaf teas that do well without milk or cream... any recommendations?)

As for the other part of "we". He appears to be holding strong, but has greatly increased his time on the computer and ipod touch. He has a new found interest in posting comments to everyone on facebook. We watched Avatar last night and since then all dialogue from him has been about eastern and western philosophy, psingulatiry, everything and nothing... If you ever need to know his 'hot' button... there it is.

So, that's all for today. Work starts tomorrow... lets see what happens then!

Day Two

12:23pm today's mantra: you can do it, you can do it, you can do it

the insides of my head sound like the freaking little engine that could.

last night there was a party... told all the friends about the resolution... total support. Many reflected on their beginnings when moving here... living for several months without it.

finding industrious stuff to do. more dishes, finished a book, put away the christmas lights... in their original packaging...

is it determination or boredom?

you can do it
you can do it
you can do it

you
can
do
it

New Year's Resolutions

New Year's Resolutions... to be honest i hate them. They have always seemed to me like a dreamy wish list of things that you SAY your going to do but never actually do them. For that matter, if they were things you were really going to do, you would have done it already...right?

Over the past year i have taken note that we watch a lot of tv. It is always on, with a mindless drone of unnecessary chatter. Nothing new, interesting or groundbreaking ever happens from the tele, it just kills braincells.

We have been considering getting rid of the tele. I don't know if we can do it. And frankly, i cannot commit to such a drastic change. However, in the spirit of just doing what we say we want to do, and with this convenient day of new years here, we have made a pact that we will not watch* TV for the next thirty days.

*tv can still be used for wii, ps2 and the occasional redbox.
*if the tv is on at someone elses house, that does not break the resolve.

So. It has started. Day One. We are 8 hours in... think i am feeling withdrawals. We have each reached for the remote several times, but stopped ourselves just in the brink of time. There will be no failure on Day One.

I preoccupy myself with other things... dishes, laundry, exercise...arg.

Here's to anything that is worth doing... at least for 30 days!