Monday, March 19, 2012

Cooking around the world -- Myanmar (Burma)

So one of the things I thought I would do during my break is to pick a few random countries and cook a dish from them. This is not as formal as the blog that I think Pink Audrey talked about where someone cooked around the world on a regular basis. This is just sort of random and obviously I can't do this super regularly because of time factors.

So yesterday I made a dry shrimp curry from Myanmar (Burma).

I used this recipe:

Dry Shrimp Curry

I did add a few things. I added about a half can of straw mushrooms and a handful of bean sprouts, just to have some veggies in there. Also, when it said to blend the onion, garlic, and ginger, I knew my blender wouldn't be having any of that without some liquid, so I added a bit of chicken broth to the blender. I only had brown rice to serve it on, and as healthy as brown rice is, I don't really like it that much and it takes forever to cook. Eh. But whatever.

Here was the result:



It was not fantastic and I probably would tweak a few things (less broth, maybe add some coconut milk even though it's supposed to be a dry curry). But it was pretty good. I enjoyed eating it. It is all I have in memory since today is a fasting day for me, haha.

Saturday, March 17, 2012

Happy to be home

The last week has been awfully busy for me, so I just haven't been in these here blog parts. I was at a conference for a few days and am SO happy to be home with my kitty and in my own private house with no crowds of people all around me constantly.

I am on the eve of my spring break right now, which makes me blissfully happy, but we all know that will pass WAY too quickly.

So I've taken to doing a few 36-hour fasts a week. I have heard that this is good for you, as far as getting rid of crap in your system and helping with digestion and even doing stuff with mental clarity. That latter thing? I need it desperately. Well, the first 36-hour fast I did was last Monday. I knew I had a wildly busy day that day, so it was a good day to start. I go through it with minimal pain. I mean, there were difficult times when I was thinking longingly of food during my usual meal times or when I smelled food. I did get very hungry a few times. I did go through a spacey time when I felt overly tired and out of it. But these things passed quickly.

Mostly any negatives I feel about it have to do with feeling uncomfortable about dealing with other people who don't get it, who think it's unhealthy or pointless to fast. Of course these are often very conventional people who think I'm a bit weird anyway, haha, so who cares, right? I've tried to choose fasting days based on times when I know I am unlikely or do not have any social plans that involve food so that it will not affect my social life at all.

The pros:
1. there are random times of absolute euphoria that you get while fasting
2. nice empty feeling in stomach, no bloating
3. feeling of accomplishment, like I have discipline
4. frees up more time (think of all the time you spend preparing, cooking, eating, cleaning for meals)
5. lots of research out there about calorie restriction and better health (like less asthma) in mice/rats
6. weight loss (I would really like to get back down to my ideal weight - it's tough to be short AND over 40 AND on hormone medication! You have to watch it like a hawk and I refuse to use my age as an excuse to let myself go)

The cons:
1. hunger on fasting days can be pretty intense sometimes and distracting
2. Stomach growling during inappropriate times
3. A few slump periods in energy
4. awkward for potential spontaneous social situations
5. I don't like dealing with naysayers
6. People think I'm weird enough, here I am doing yet another outside-the-box thing

Sunday, March 11, 2012

Speaking of vacations gone wrong...

With spring break coming up, I have to admit that I was craving an all-inclusive beach-bum sort of vacation again. You know, the kind where EVERYTHING is taken care of for you, and all you have to do is lie on the beach or go snorkeling.

Upon doing some research, I found this interesting site on traveling to Mexico.

Mexico Vacation Awareness

It's not your usual travel warnings...but the stories listed on this site are pretty horrifying in general and would make me think twice about traveling there, even to the resort town of Cancun (although I have been there before with no incident, but isn't that the case anywhere? Statistics don't matter when you're the victim). It's not so much about the fact that crime and accidents happen there. Those things happen everywhere in the world (muggings, rapes, robberies, accidents, drownings). It's just that in certain places, visitors are sometimes particularly targeted for crime OR when an accident or crime happens and/or you need medical help, the people you rely on to help you (police, EMTs, hospitals) are corrupt or incompetent. This can be especially true on resorts or places where tourism is heavily relied on because the authorities will want to push whatever happens under the rug as to not hurt their bottom line.


(Author's Note: Naturally, this is not a problem exclusive to Mexico. And I should point out that this is in no way a slam on average Mexican citizens, whom I have found to be lovely and warm. There are gems, turds, and everything in between in every culture, country, and place around the world.)

As for my spring break, it looks like I'm having a Staycation. I have some plans, such as possibly cooking around the world, doing a writing boot camp, catching up on some books and movies. The week will pass too fast, but you know what? Summer is coming. I am very lucky to have a very low-paying job where the one benefit is having 2 1/2 months off in the summer! My goal for this summer is to try not to get roped into much as far as professional development either. I'd rather just do that during the school year. Am I not going to a literacy conference this coming week? Why, yes I am! Professional development = CHECK.

Sunday, March 4, 2012

Timber Falls - yay, another Vacation Gone Wrong movie!

This one was. . .interesting, but definitely a vacation gone dreadfully wrong...

Timber Falls



IMDB says: A weekend of camping in the mountains becomes an excursion into hell for a young couple, who become pawns in a grotesque plot hatched by deranged locals.

In a horror movie, whenever a young couple are being all lovey-dovey and all excited to go into the wilderness on a hike together, it's just a matter of time before someone gets eaten by a bear or accosted by deranged locals who believe that you should be married before fornicating on their sacred lands.

Much like the vacation-gone-wrong scenarios that take place in exotic third-world countries, this is a home-grown version of the same kind of xenophobia. This takes place in exotic Appalachia where of course everyone is backwards and creepy. Yep, perfectly normal to kidnap a couple and force them to procreate for them and make them get married ahead of time so that the baby will be not born in sin.

That being said, this was actually a good horror flick that surpassed expectations. The SyFy channel had given it one star, which is pretty funny from a company that produces movies like Sharktopus on a regular basis. Now to be fair, there WERE things that were completely over-the-top horror movie tropes and ridiculous. There were times when I really didn't get why certain characters were doing certain things. However, the premise was actually very clever and terrifying. The acting was not too bad either, and I really did wonder up until the end how in the world the couple was going to get out of that situation (sign of a good story).

Vacation Gone Wrong Factor: * * * There was torture, there was over-the-top lunacy, there were fetuses in random jars, there was the creepy not-quite-right-in-the-head brother of the main antagonist with the distorted face and animalistic sex drive. The only reason I'm not giving four stars is that the main characters did escape in the end.

Did I Care About the Characters Factor: * * Somewhat. They seemed a little annoying and bland and self-centered, but they seemed to pull it together when the going got tough.

Verdict: * * I'm being far more generous than Sy Fy channel rating, but hey, it was okay entertainment. Do I want to watch it again? No, probably not.