Get your calcium!

Today I discovered little ways to increase your calcium intake without knowing it. I needed to think of these things because my doctor told me to take 1000 mg of calcium a day and I hate tums. TUMS: I hate you.

Oh yeah and I also don't like milk to much cause it tastes like chalk/the inside of a cow's tummy.

1. Order a cafe latte instead of a cappuccino. A cappuccino is made with equal parts espresso and milk with yummy foam on top. nom nom. A latte is made with three times as much milk as espresso. Drink your milk without noticing the difference. Same caffeine intake!

2. Like cream sauces in your pasta? make them with milk not cream and REDUCE it! then you concentrate the vitamin D ANDDDD decrease your calories too.

3. Eat more cookies! Eating more cookies means you will WANT milk. Cookies are nummy. Milk and cookies is extra nummy.

4. Loads of recipes call for milk like cooked spinach (which I have just discovered I LOVE, so don't be all judgey-face at me), and lots of chicken a la "stuff" things. They give you calcium and you don't even know it. Plus, Spinach has secret Calcium, like other leafy greens.

5. Other things with calcium: CHEESE, salmon, kale, broccoli, sesame seeds, peanuts, peas, black beans, yogurt, almonds, brown sugar and milk byproducts... like oh right we covered CHEESE. Can I have cheese? I LOVE CHEESE! Mmmm.

So these are my tips for eating more calcium so you can be healthy and strong and not get osteoporosis/ have bone loss without eating yucky tums! ENJOY!

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

Thanksgiving

This was a decent Thanksgiving. I just ate so much turkey I'm gonna pass out.

Happily I was able to both be helpful in the kitchen allllll day, and also not get so angry that the parents refuse to feed me! Victory is mine.

We had so much insane food. Pies and seafood and turkey... nom nom nom.

It was so strange that my dad decided to tell everyone he worked with that I was joining the Navy. They all had questions and when I asked, "dad, how many people did you tell?" only then did people seem to understand that perhaps I didn't want to talk about this...

The strangest part of the night however was when someone at the table asked if we could make a toast to the troops defending our country. My father looked at me, dead in the eyes, and said, "I won't mind if people feel like they want to do that."

The other odd thing was that a former Department of State employee was there. He and I started speaking in French, and we had our own conversation about Bantu languages and living in Africa and the Comoros (he's been there and I work at the Comorian U.N./ U.S. Embassy). It was bizarre to see other people try to join into this conversation. As if they understood any of the linguistic roots of Malagasy, Kicomoro or Kiswahili... why do people need to participate in EVERY conversation?

My mom does this all the time. I'll have a conversation about African politics or economics, and she'll interrupt and go "Well, You know what my favorite country is?" And some unsuspecting person will try to be inclusive and say "what?" and she'll break out into song. "Zanzibar, Zanzibar, Can't go far in Zanzibar! Don't need a car in Zanzibar!" Etc. etc. etc. until I die of mortification and have to say "You know Zanzibar is NOT a country, it's a protectorate of Tanzania, and since I'm the only on at the table who has ever BEEN to Zanzibar, I can tell you that the island is QUITE big, and we needed a car." I mean... I wish I could add, 'Do we need to go look at pictures on my computer to get you to stfu?' BUT I don't.

Zanzibar, Zanzibar, Can't go far in Zanzibar! Don't need a car in-- crap now it's stuck in my head. Stupid song...

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

Procrastination

I have so much trouble sitting down and getting my work done when I've had a huge portion of coffee. Pretty sure this mug about sums up how I'm feeling about the whole thing right now.

I'm supposed to be reading books/writing books but I can't concentrate. As a result, I am listening to old episodes of This American Life and figuring out how to make the Crystal Noodle packaged soup taste better... I'm thinking some sauteed leeks, cilantro, scallions, peanut butter, coconut milk, chili peppers, srirachi, and garlic. Check out Recipe Stockpile once I've perfected this.

So, I'm supposed to be reading the MILPERSMAN: Naval Military Personnel Manual. It's 3160 pages long.

Okay seriously, I'm gonna try to get the coffee out of my system and then write more of the book.

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

Now That's a Tasty Dumpling!

Firstly, Happy Halloween, or as they say in Kenya, Halloweeni Njema!

Actually, I made that up. They don't have Halloween in Kenya, but if they did, that's how you'd say it in Swahili. ===-* The More Your Know!

ANYWAY... (back in Awkward Town)

Later this weekend I'll be making dumplings. Now this is my last attempt at dumplings because the previous ones have failed miserably. Epic failed. If I fail this weekend I vow to never make dumplings again.

Until I really want dumplings. BUT srsly, it's pissing me off.

I have got the dipping sauce DOWN. Dipping sauce and I are best friends. We love each other. We're getting married. Dipping sauce is: 3 parts Soy sauce, 1 part fish sauce (or sesame oil if you wanna mix it up!), 1 clove garlic, a little bit of fresh ginger, scallions, cilantro, a little rice wine vinegar, and the secret ingredient... a pinch of brown sugar! And if you wanna get spicy, throw in some diced chilies or some chili paste and basil. Oh the combinations are endless and DELICIOUS!

But dumplings and I have issues. (Note for the future: don't use that "I have issues" bit out of context)

My main issue is the dumpling wrapper. I know I could go and get pre-made won-ton wrapper but that just feels like cheating. You don't see Masaharu Morimoto using pre-made won-ton wrappers. I mean even Bobby Flay made his own dough, and he lost a dumpling challenge!

Right. So it's just flour and hot water and some salt. And I've tried different kinds of flour, and different purification levels of water.

My other issue is the filling. My ingredient proportions come out chunky not creamy and smooth. they also fall apart rather than stay together once cooked. If I add more binder, they get eggy.

When I'm cooking, the dumplings ALWAYS stick to the pan and they never brown up properly. I know this is a temperature issue but I have no idea how to fix it. When I turn it down they don't cook, when I turn it up they stick. I've tried in a frying pan, a baking pan and a wok.

So if it doesn't work out this weekend then I will just have to admit the reality that is inevitable... I'm just not Asian.

If I succeed this weekend, expect photos. This will be proof that I am secretly Asian.

For my recipes and other successes and failures in cooking visit my Recipe Stockpile.

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya

Edited: GREAT SUCCESS!!!! I am officially Asian! Okay, maybe not quite.

For recipe and photos please visit: Recipe Stockpile

Letting Go of the Lobster

This past Memorial Day weekend my mother decided to have lavish lobster dinner (because the lobster was 6.99 a pound, not THAT lavish).

In order to combat sentiments of omnivore hypocrisy, I felt that it was necessary for me to kill my own meal. After boiling the water, I took my lobster out of the bag, and really struggled with putting it in the pot. I had a conversation with the lobster about it being quick and painless and him joining his long lost lobster love in lobster heaven.

After the lobster tried to claw me, only then did I feel his death was justified as "revenge." I stared into his little lobster eyes and counted to three and dunked him in head first, hopefully to his instant death.

How to cook a lobster:
1. buy lobster
2. boil big pot of water
3. put lobster in head first to minimize lobster pain
4. cook 9 minutes per pound
5. eat lobster with butter and side dishes like baked potato, corn on the cob or salad for you healthy people.

I ended up not even eating him, I ate the other lobster. I couldn't eat my lobster, because of the guilt associated with his death.

This experience has in no way hardened me enough to join the armed forces. Just to be clear I am not planning on killing anything else to prepare myself for the marines, it simply makes me think maybe I'm too wimpy.

I did however run five miles on Monday, and felt very motivated by the idea of being a reservist while doing so. In the past few week's I've been going between 3.5 and 4.5 miles and never did 5, so it was really exciting to reach that mark.

In regards to this reservist plan, other things like the Peace Corps, and my top secret "Plan A" (ooooh a blog with mystery!), are still in motion so I plan to talk to a recruiter and see what my options are, but I'm not signing up before I know the results of the other options.

We should end this with something upbeat and funny. *fake fart noise* Too juvenile?

Thanks for reading and best regards,
Alya