Jambalaya Recipe (or Generic Rice Dish, You Be the Judge)

Alright, so here’s another recipe.  Now, it was inspired by jambalaya, or gumbo; to tell the truth I don’t really know the difference.  But, now you have it, so you can say, when you make it, that it was inspired by Kevin.  No more confusion, and you don’t have to explain anything to anyone.  

I made this recipe one night when I didn’t have a plan for dinner, and when I had bits and pieces of random food items here and there.  That’s a great skill to have, making food with little on hand.  I acquired it, honed it, and mastered that technique while in college.  One does not have much money to spare when in college but one must eat, so you deal with what you got.  Now, the great thing about that is anything that I have in the recipe can be replaced with something else, or completely left out.  If you only have a little bit of this and that, use it; whatever you make will be good and it’ll fill you up.

Pressure Cooker Jambalaya Inspired dish

1 lb bratwurst, cut into chunks
0.5 lb shrimp (uncooked)
1 c. rice
2+ carrots (diced)
1 bell pepper
1 c.+ broccoli
0.5 onion diced
4 garlic cloves
1.5-2 cups chicken broth

(try 1.5 c first. If you’re using bouillon, dissolve them first! Ask me why I say that...)

1 tbsp cajun seasoning (I used hawaiian cajun seasoning)
1 tbsp chili powder
1.5 tbsp thyme
0.5 tbsp ginger powder
0.25 tsp cayenne pepper powder

Have chicken stock ready by dissolving bouillon cubes.  Chop all vegetables.  Saute garlic and onion.  After smell is right (5-10 min), add in rest of vegetables, meat, spices and broth.  Set pressure cooker for 18 minutes.

Now, if you don’t have a pressure cooker, I’d say make your rice first.  Then, cook your vegetables for a bit in a frying pan, until they get soft.  Add the meat and the spices; cook until meat is almost done.  Finally, add in the rice and the broth.  Just let that simmer for 10-15 min.

So, that boullion cube... I was making it for the first time, and I have rarely used bouillon cubes before.  Without thinking, I just threw two of them in the pot, thinking they would dissolve before I put the lid on.  As I was stirring, I saw both of them not really dissolving as quick as I wanted them too!  I didn’t want to have a really concentrated broth zone, so I tried my best, jabbing and scraping at the cubes to break them up.  It took 5-10 min. extra time before I could put the lid on the pressure cooker, and I was hungry! It was a journey I don’t really want to repeat, especially if I’m hungry.

Let me know in the comment section what you think this is more like: Jambalaya, gumbo, or something completely different.  Also, if you’ve made it and added something different to it, let me know.

Picture source:
http://www.picturesof.net/pages/090912-179092-448054.html

Keep It Simple Silly: A Guide to Simple Lifestyle Change

I think when dieting, one has to ask themselves, “Why are there so many diet plans or ideas to choose from?”  A very simple answer to this question is that we are all different from one another, and thus think that a different plan is needed to work for me.  We were raised differently; we have different environmental factors contributing to what makes us who we are.  One person may have been raised in a very affluent household and would have a plethora of foods to choose from to eat.  Another person could have been raised in the exact opposite lifestyle.  They would be trying their hardest to get the best bang for their buck, eating the 99 cent deal at the local fast food joint.  Then, we have genetic differences.  Our genes, either, give us a body that makes people envious with the little effort they need to exert to look fit.  And the rest are the ones that wish they had it that easy.  But, what if I were to say that the fit person and yourself weren’t too different?  The thing we need to remember is that we are all humans.  What does that mean for you?

It means we are all just about 99% the same as the person sitting next to you, or your neighbor or your boss, or even Arnold Schwarzenegger or that model from the magazines.  And, I think that’s great because it means that we can all achieve similar things as those prodigious people.  Now, I’m not saying you’re going to win the next ironman contest, I think that’s where we begin to see divergences in greatness.  But, if you can achieve just a bit of what makes a person great isn’t that, in itself, an achievement?  I think so.  And if you did achieve just a bit, I’d give you a thumbs up, and a high five.

Keep this picture in mind, I'm here to support you!

Now, you’re on your road to greatness, what do you do first if you want to lose some weight?  I’d say the simplest thing you can do is cut some calories out of your diet.  This may be real hard for some people.  So, start small, this is going to be a journey.  

I don't look to jump over 7-foot bars: I look around for 1-foot bars that I can step over
-Warren Buffett

Cut out some sweet stuff that you enjoy: candy bars, sugar laden lattes, pops or similar things.  Notice, I didn’t say cut out everything, cold turkey.  I think this is where a lot of people fail, they just go cold turkey.  Then, your brain goes through withdrawal symptoms and you eat or binge on whatever it was you were craving.  This doesn’t help you, at all.  It also messes with you emotionally.  You have feelings of failure and regret.  Then, somehow, you see that you’ve failed that diet and you are back to your old habits.  What, I believe, is better is to think this as a process.  You don’t fail the end goal in a process if you achieve it, they can just be viewed as missteps or miscalculations along the way.  One good thing to remember is that it’s OK to screw up along the way, if you keep your eyes on the goal and know what you need to do.

See, this road has ups and downs, too!

Here are some things I think will help to keep you on track:

• Keep a food log
• write down everything you eat and the approximate amounts of food
• Keep a photo food log!
• I think this is the easiest way to keep on track; everyone has a phone with a camera on it
• Just take pictures of foods you’re about to eat
• look at it at the end of the day, see if there was one thing you could have done without
• Keep track of your waistline, or another part of your body that you feel is in need of help
• As you do this, your weight is going to fluctuate, and it may not feel like you’re getting anywhere.  
• It may even go up (I’ll talk about why this isn’t bad, later)
• Get a flexible tape measurer
• or get some string/twine and wrap it around yourself and mark the place where it meets with permanent marker

Now, as everything in life is so easy and fast, you may get disappointed that results don’t occur very quickly.  This may have prevented you from finishing a diet in the past.  The one thing you’re going to have to come to terms with, is that this is going to take time!  Weight loss doesn’t happen overnight.  Did you get to the state you’re at now, overnight?  I’m going to have to go with no.  So, don’t get disgruntled with the slow pace of things... you’ve heard of the race between the hare and the tortoise, right?

Once you feel comfortable taking some things out of your normal diet, and maybe you’re seeing some results, you could be feeling that you want to do something more.  Enter exercise.  Just as with cutting some calories out, start small.  Walk around the block, do some stretches, dance.  Whatever it is and you like doing it, do it for 5-10 min.  
You’ll feel refreshed, and you may even release some endorphins (the things your brain releases that make you feel good and happy).  Here’s a word of warning: let’s say you’re feeling really invigorated and just want to go balls to the wall and work the heck out of your body.  DON’T DO IT.  Spread that vigor out over 2 days or more.  If you work out real hard after being sedentary for a long time, you’re going to get sore (I know, I’ve done it before).  And, most likely, you’ll be sore for the next few days.  This means that you’ll have an excuse to not work out, and that does bad things to your motivation.  Just use the mantra: KISS (keep it simple silly).  After a while of consistent effort is when you can bump it up a notch.
You can do your walks in the style of the Ministry
of Silly walks... or not.

Remember when I said your weight may go up if you start this plan and you exercise?  It’s because muscle weighs more than fat!!! If you’re working out, walking, or dancing, you body is going to build some muscle.  So, don’t freak out if you put on a bit of weight.  Also, for the ladies out there, you’re not going to look like a man, either, with your newly made muscles (it takes a long time for this, even with the help of steroids). In actuality, you’re going to look great!

I’m going to leave it at that.  Just start out small.  Little puddles are easier to cross than oceans and lakes, and you’ll always be on your way to your destination.  It’s going to take time.  Be truthful with yourself in the beginning, this isn’t some quick fix.  You’re also going to screw up (maybe a lot), but tell yourself and know that you haven’t failed, it’s just a hiccup in your process.

This is not a diet, it’s a lifestyle change

It took a lifetime to get where you’re at, so give yourself some time to get where you want to go.

I hope to continue providing this sort of information as an ongoing theme throughout this blog.  So, check back for more!  I only have a few outlets for the thoughts in my head, as my girlfriend is getting tired of my ramblings (and trying my weird concoctions, e.g. garlic tea...more on that later) :)
Leave some comments about things that have worked for you or observations that you think would help others in the comment section.  The more the merrier.

Image source: http://thegreensamaritan.com/2011/07/summer-road-trip-4-ways-to-maximize-your-fuel-efficiency/
23 Mar 2005, Hawaii, Hawaii, USA --- Hilly Road --- Image by © Royalty-Free/Corbis

http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/SillyWalk

Homemade Food is Great!

source

Here are my ideas on why I think it’s better to make your own food.  Now, as a warning, I’m not saying that everything is backed by evidence,  but I believe for the most part everything I say is reasonable.  I’m planning on taking some classes and may eventually become a registered dietician, so these things interest me.  I think food is awesome.  I also think that cooking for yourself or others is going to allow for you to make better decisions about food.  

I strive to eat only food that I make, however, I admit that sometimes it is just easier to buy pre-made food items.  But, why do I strive to make all of my food?  I mean, many foods today are fortified with vitamins and minerals that we need.  That, supposedly, means that when we eat frozen foods, like...(I can’t think of many)... Hungry Man, we’re eating a large portion of our recommended daily intake of nutrients.  But, look at the salt content, or the sugar content, or look at all the chemicals that you don’t know of and have never heard of before on the ingredients list.  Sometimes there is close to a gram or more of salt in some of these foods.  And this is for 15 oz of food!  That’s a bit disproportionate.  Salt is a taste intensifier, it is almost indispensable when making food.  But, like everything else, too much is not good.  And, since you bought a pre-made food item, you can’t control how much salt you put in your entree.  

Next, there are about 60 grams of sugar in the 15 oz package, about the same amount of sugar as there is in a 20 oz can of pop! That’s just ridiculous.  The reason why it doesn’t taste overly sweet is mainly due to some of those chemicals.  A few of them are acids that help dissolve the sugar and give the food a tangy taste.  Sugar is not good for you!!  And we’re bombarded by it.  

Just imagine if you’re drinking pop:

Look at how much sugar that is!!!

Source:

Or another way of thinking about it, is about three Cadbury Bunny Eggs have the same amount of sugar that’s in a 20 oz. can of pop.  I remember when I was younger and my sweet tooth was in full effect, I could barely finish two of those things.  So, if you’re actively trying to lose weight, stop drinking those pops, even the diet ones.  Here is a list of problems that can be caused or exacerbated by sugar: http://rheumatic.org/sugar.htm
Also, check the label of food you buy regularly, you may be a bit surprised by how much sugar is hiding behind it’s exterior.

And, the chemicals, what exactly are they?  Some are fine, just the scientific name for a common ingredient.  But, others are preservatives, or additives.  The worrying thing here is that many additives or preservatives, like anything else, can be detrimental to your health and not just your waistline.  In those diet sodas, the sweeteners have been shown to cause cancer, or even to promote weight gain.  “Sucralose is marketed under the name Splenda. Some studies have suggested that although it is used as a sugar substitute it may actually promote weight gain. There is also some evidence that sucralose could have a harmful effect on the digestive system.” (http://www.notjustthekitchen.com/health-beauty/what-is-sweetening-your-diet-soda/)  

Now, I hope you understand why I strive to make all of my food.

1. I know what goes in, and how much
2. I don’t add barely researched chemicals to my food
3. I can monitor what goes in my food
4. It’s fun, especially if you have somebody helping you
5. Finally, I can make it taste good!!!

That’s got to be one of the most important things there is about making food for yourself.  You can make it taste good.  And, if you can’t, experiment with it until you do; that’s what I did.  I can look in my fridge and take anything out, season it with something familiar or try some brand new combination of herbs/spices and it’ll taste good.  (In fact, I may just write down a few of my spice combos for you to try later.)

To bring this back full circle about the fortified nutrients in pre-made food.  Why would they have to be fortified?  Are the foods stripped of those nutrients, then added back in later; and why would they do this?  I don’t know.  I like to remind myself of a simple quote, “Quality in, quality out.”  Quality foods, like spinach, don’t need to be fortified because, naturally, they already are.  
So, eat food you make.  You’ll be healthier, you’ll know exactly what you’re eating, and you’re setting a good example for those that may be watching and looking for inspiration.  A good recipe was my last post :) mmm... beans.

Tell me in the comment section if dieting, or losing weight is on your New Year's resolution.  Or, if you have a different resolution, you can post that, too.

In my next post I’m going to go over how I believe we can lose weight.  It may not be as exciting as saying you’re on the newest fad diet.  But, at least, if you stick to a simple enough routine, you can say after one year that you have probably kept off much more weight.

My Bean Recipe - Mexican Style

So, as you will find out eventually, I like to cook.  I guess I need to let this out since it isn’t, in the American sense, a man’s role.  But, I like to cook, and the desire to cook well has been growing since I have been in college.  My cooking has definitely evolved, though.  In college, I was a bigger baker than I am now, since I’ve kind of gotten on the Paleo diet bandwagon.  I’ve stopped buying bread, aside from hamburger buns.  But, I am a half-assed paleo eater, if anything: I eat hamburgers with buns, I eat sushi, and I eat tortillas.  So, I guess you can say I don’t do paleo, but my bread and grain intake has gone down a lot since high school.  Anyway, let’s get back to cooking.  

I like to cook mexican style foods.  I think the style provides a lot of flavor.  The major spices I use to get that mexican flavor is: cumin, cayenne pepper powder, oregano, garlic, onions, and paprika.  It is not, by any means, 100% authentic, but I like it.  It allows for variability, which is right up my alley because I like to experiment with adding different concentrations of spices and herbs.  However, this has gotten me in a bit of trouble.  Mainly, because one day I can make an awesome dish of fajitas, or beans and think to myself, “Oh, man, I’m the best; I’ve conquered this dish.  I won’t need to write anything down, it’s all in my head, safe and sound.”  Then, two weeks or a month goes by, and I feel like making the same thing again.  I dive right in; doing my best to remember what, and how much I added, and what the heck I’ll add something else.  It can only get better, right?
Wrong. It can get worse...

When I don’t write something down, and I go for it again, the main things that happen are: the dish tastes bland, or it has too much salt, or it’s too spicy, too dry, it’s just missing something... The list goes on.  So, I started writing my marvelous creations down, with the help of my girlfriend, who, actually asked me to write thigns down for quite a long time.  Just in case she wanted to make something, if I wasn’t home.  So, thanks to her, you can now have my awesome Mexican style bean recipe.  You should thank her if you like them :)

Soak pinto beans for one day (or what I’ve been doing lately is putting them in the pressure cooker for 15 min. And now they’re essentially soaked!)

Sauté 3 garlic cloves

1/2 an onion in some bacon grease

2 1/2 tablespoons of cumin

1/4 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tbsp salt

1/2 tbsp pepper
2 tbsp oregano

Add enough water to cover the beans by about ½ - 1 inch of water
(Too much, and you’ve diluted the flavor... it doesn’t taste as good)

Cook for 50 min in pressure cooker

When finished, either, let it naturally come to normal pressure or use the quick vent.

Well, I hope you like the recipe.  And if you’d like, you can post in the comment section what you thought of them.  Maybe you can, also, add something to make them and make them perfect!
Kevin

Kefir Debacle

I really don't remember where or when I heard about kefir.  I think it was about half a year or a year ago, but ever since I hear about it I knew that I wanted it.  And, that happened, about 2 months ago.  It’s great; time consuming, but great.  I finally feel as though one of my hands on projects is actually working, being as gardening hasn’t really kicked off for me, yet.  But, seeing these live little jelly bean like buggers grow and prosper gives me a good feeling.  On top of that, they supposedly help out with making me feel good!!! Who’d of thunk?

These kefir grains are a bit of work, though.  Since, I have my grains in a larger, quart-sized container I can let them be for about 3 days before, I think, they’ve used up most of their nutrients.  But, a person can get lazy, and I did, just once (that included a span of a few extra days).  So, how I check if my grains are ready to be moved into a new batch of nutrient rich sugar water is

1. By the amount of days it’s been sitting
2. By the smell

Well, I knew that it was beyond a reasonable time limit of 3 days, but it still smelled good, so I let it go for one more day.  I probably got home late or something, and I didn’t feel like doing anything.  Well, that probably happened for one or two more days.  Then, I finally checked it on the weekend, whew, did it smell bad.  But, I was not going to let this resource go; I didn’t want to throw it all away.  I did all the necessary things: saved the water from the grains, gave them some new nutrient rich water and set them aside.  Now it was the moment of truth, the tasting.  Keep in mind the smell was pretty bad; it had a very yeasty sort of smell to it, a bit like a sour bread starter with something else mixed in.  I did my best to cover it up as much as possible.  I added some grenadine syrup to it, maybe a bit of sweet and sour mix; it was like I was making my own little kefir margarita.  
 

Bottom’s up.  It didn’t taste bad, it was just the smell that got me.  And I knew of most of the bad things that could happen to me if my kefir did go bad: upset stomach, exhaustion, nausea... But I still took that risk, because I made it, dammit!  Well, I got through a quarter of it, and I couldn’t handle it anymore, the smell had just overwhelmed me.  I threw it out.  I was tempted to throw everything out, too.  But, I didn’t.  The next batch was fine, and the batch after that was good, as well.  To lessen my worry about whether or not I should throw the whole thing out, I looked online for some anecdotal experiences and some research about kefir going bad.  What I found was a paper where scientist gave kefir, on purpose, some harmful bacteria to see if it would contaminate the entire process, and it turns out that the kefir’s good bacteria kills off the bad bacteria!! I was very excited when I found this out.  And, to top it off, I did not get any of the symptoms I thought I would get by drinking the bad smelling concoction that I made.

If you make kefir, you should try making your very own kefir margarita:
It’s all to taste, but I add:

• Sweet and sour mix
• simple syrup
• grenadine (only if you’re feeling feisty!)

Some nice information on water kefir.

Thoughts on Buddhism

During the past few years, I have sought a greater understanding of buddhism, zen, meditation and the likes.  I’ve liked the idea of both buddhism and zen, but it’s been meditation that has kept me going in trying to understand these philosophies.  I have yet to master my time, and I’m not sure if I ever will, and so my practice of meditating consistently is varied.  But, I’ve recently read the Dalai Lama’s book, “An Open Heart,” and it’s opened up my mind to more questions about buddhism and meditation.
The book is great and full of wise words, but one thing that stuck out to me is that, even though, Buddhism is more open minded to many things, it seems like a slight repackaging of other religions.  Maybe that isn’t the best way to put it, but this is what I mean:  it is as rule oriented as any of the major religions out there.  And that if we do not follow the rules then we go to a “hell.”  Is stating rules and tenets always required to survive morally as a human being?  I feel my moral code would not be very suspect if I had no environmental factors contributing to the way I think.  I feel that, intuitively, we are social creatures that can, without the guiding help of some divine creature or philosophy, live just fine.

 Then, on top of that, buddhism basically tells the practitioner to conceal all of their feelings in a way, to reduce suffering.  This, to me, is a double edged sword.  Sure, I can rationalize not getting angry at things that are inevitable, but to do this consistently without a let out of emotion looks like a break down waiting to happen.  Now, I haven’t studied it exhaustively and I have read a few times if something malicious is happening to me then I can do something about it, but little things can and will add up, I feel.  However, maybe it’s all better to go about your life this way.  I do feel as my understanding has progressed I have been a lot more impartial to incidences that may have sparked unreasonable rage/hatred/anger in me before.  So, it’s probably better to have the impartial attitude, in the end.
I guess questioning is the only way to move forward in whatever goal you have.  And this post was partially inspired by a few events in my life that have seemed to go wrong.  But, they are only coincidences and, in actuality, not very big problems.  I can envision what or how I might have felt without taking the impartial attitude I have now towards the problems.  And from what I envisioned, I definitely fared better than what I would have.  I think this topic isn’t over for me, and I’ll come back to meditation later on in my posts.

First Time for Everything

Being as this is my first blog post, I was hesitant to make it about anything less than some spectacular topic.  But, let’s just make this a tribute to what could have been, in the same theme as Tenacious D’s song, “Tribute.”  In actuality it’s not even a tribute, it’s a little primer on myself and what I intend to blog about.  First of all, many of my opinions, even though they are dear to me, can change and will change either by persuasive debate or experience.  “The man who never alters his opinion is like standing water, and breeds reptiles of the mind.” - William Blake.  With that being said, I will probably talk about things that may vary quite drastically from what you think, however I won’t try to get too involved in the hot topics of the time... maybe.  I think i’ll write a lot about doing things for the first time.  I started getting into gardening and hydroponics for the past few years, but I have never had anything to show for the hydroponics; all my plants have been attacked by bugs.  As for the gardening, this is the first year (2012) that I’ve really tried to do it, but it’s container gardening because I don’t have land, yet, that I can use.  That has been a real trial and error process much unlike I’ve experienced before.  For both, hydroponics and container gardening, I think it has something to do with not having all the right equipment, e.g. lights, and climate control. But, I will get it one day.

And that brings me to my next topic I will probably write about: sustainable living.  I’ve only scratched the surface with (trying) to grow my own vegetables.  Since I’m still learning about this I’m not exactly sure what I’ll write about dealing with this, maybe helping raise chickens (my mom’s), talking to neighbors about bartering and trading things, and if I can ever get to the mountains, foraging.  With foraging, I’m both excited and apprehensive about the idea.  I’d like to find things that are useful to me in the wild, but I’d be worried about getting something I think is useful and finding out later that I gave myself a stomach ache or something worse.  So, I won’t do that until I have a knowledgeable friend; maybe that could be you!!
Another topic of interest will be nutrition, eating right, and eating foods that can help with common ailments.  In the past year or so, I’ve gained interest in nutrition and how that affects our bodies.  Then, that stemmed to what can I eat that will help with headaches or chest colds or just plain eating things that will provide me with similar things that probiotic/vitamin supplements purport to provide.
Now these are just a few things that I will be focusing on, and I hope that you will take an interest in what I have to say.  One thing that should be known is that I’m not a professional in anything I write about.  So, I won’t advise anyone do anything that I’ve done, but if you want to give it a whirl, go right on ahead (I’m just not liable!!!)  
In the next post I will write a bit more about myself. Doesn’t that make you excited :)