This past summer, my dad and I enjoyed many raw meals of mainly different salads, zucchini/squash pasta, cauliflower rice, raw lasagna, etc..We were eating incredibly healthy and thus we felt better about ourselves. Usually we'd fry an egg or two to round out our meal.
OJ, Spinach, Broccoli, Avocado
Today I wanted to challenge myself by eating only raw vegan food. It proved to be a challenge, a tad bit more difficult than I had anticipated. I wasn't sure if my oatmeal is raw so I couldn't have my normal breakfast. I ended up making a green smoothie which was a delicious way to start the day.
I had to pack a lunch for my afternoon class and was pretty disappointed with my choices. Meanwhile my mom questioned my motive When I looked at the hummus I was saddened because it's made from "Freshly steamed chickpeas". I couldn't bring my daily intake of a couple handfuls of nuts as all of our nuts are roasted (le sigh). I couldn't eat anything in our upstairs nor downstairs pantry. Needless to say, I was pretty hungry when I got home.
For lunch:
Luckily I found this in the fridge which held me over until dinner.
Originally my dad was going to make a raw meal for dinner. He borrowed a raw recipe book from the library and I was excited to see what he'd come up with. Unfortunately he came up short as his plans fell through. I ended up making another green smoothie except my dinner looked like puke. I can't wait until tomorrow.
Breakfast smoothie
By the way, I was peeing about 4 times as much as normal. Something about eating so many fruits and veggies.
Watching Sunday night football gives me the munchies. I scanned Instructables.com for a yummy and more importantly, a simple recipe. A yummyness caught my attention and my eyes feasted on chocolate covered almonds. I turned on the gas to start the double boiler before collecting all the ingredients.
This recipe is extremely easy, even for someone who watches more Food Network than does actual cooking (me). With some freshly popped popcorn on hand, I dumped some in to soak up the excess chocolate. I chose to put less cocoa powder and formed an extremely large cluster. Luckily we snapped a picture before it got finished.
I have been looking forward to a day devoted to eating with my hands for a few years now. While in the Philippines, I was eager to try eating with my hands at a restaurant but unfortunately the opportunity never arose. The day that I thought would never come--is finally here.
In preparation for the day's lesson I watched the above video several times. It is obvious that decades of practice has molded this gentleman into an eating machine that understands the nuances of eating with his hands. He is a figure skater performing triple axles and Lutz jumps before an astonished crowd--10's from the judges across the board.
My breakfast normally consists of oatmeal with an assortment of nuts and raisins. Today I opt for a sunny-side egg and a peanut butter and banana sandwich on pita bread. The first meal was safe and easy.
Remember dear reader, the world's strongest men don't get jacked riding ellipticals. They use steroids. For me to even breathe the same air or God forbid, eat in the same room as the gentleman above, I had to challenge myself and thus I did the unthinkable. For lunch I packed quiche and rice.
Sweet Jesus was that a mistake.
As I sat down to eat my zapped lunch, a stock exchange ticker tape scroll on repeat through my head reading, "Please don't see me. Please don't come in." My double edged sword of an office desk allows me to see out the front door but at the same time allows incoming people to see me shoveling my slimy fingers into my pie hole. This was the most excruciating meal experience I'd ever had.
I recognize the faux pas of eating with your left hand in India but 1. I'm not in India, 2. I'm a lefty, and 3. I wipe with my right hand. But even with my left hand, I have trouble comprehending why it was so difficult to eat with my hands. Watching me eat is like watching a whale explode in Taiwan. If you think eating chocolate covered strawberries with your hands is sexy, I don't suggest you watch the video.
Note: This is the remaining half of the coffee brewed yet to be stored in a vacuum flask
In preparing for my weekend jaunt in Albania, I've seen more references to coffee than our ill fated friends of the Birdpocalypse. As a current non-consumer of coffee, I figured it's best to learn more about coffee before I leave. Coffee seems to be the Facebook of Albania: 1. People sitting around 2. People occasionally making comments 3. People spending a great portion of their day doing so.
At this point in my life, I've only drank one complete cup of coffee (I'm working on making that 2). For that first cup I give my thanks to my coworkers in Salzburg who strapped me to a chair (figuratively of course) and proceeded to record and document me as if I were the last unicorn drinking a cup of joe.
This morning I committed a monstrosity of unparalleled proportions in the world of coffee by adding 4 times (read: FOUR TIMES) the appropriate amount of coffee grinds. Even after my dad added a 1:1 ratio of milk, the semi-liquid sludge did not change in color (contrary to our expectations).
For those of you not paying attention, the lesson learned is that you can still salvage a ruined pot of coffee by brewing more coffee until the proper proportion (1 Tsp of grinds : 1 Cup of coffee) is reached. If your math is good, you'd realize that we ended up brewing 16 cups of coffee. It should last the family for the rest of the week.
