Life In Limbo

Buddha Bowls

April 16, 2013

This isn’t really a recipe, but then, this isn’t really a normal week. Girl’s got mountains of work, which only means…uncontrollable urges to create things, apparently.

I’m trying to eat healthier these days (which reminds me, I’m plum out of spinach, must remedy!) and I’ve been enjoying trying to challenge myself to incorporate more veggies into my meals. I had a pleasant surprise when I realized I could just pack a big salad for work or for lunch and by pack I mean throw together and by salad I mean a handful of spinach + assorted veggies that are lying around + nuts + salad dressings = badda bing badda boom, a meal (!?!). That was a revelation! An epiphany! For a couple weeks now, I’ve chopped up and roasted a broccoli with an absurd number of garlic cloves, and then forcibly prevented myself from eating all of it in one sitting (which I would quite happily do), and I’ve loved having broccoli just hanging out in my fridge waiting for its purpose in life aka my salad or buddha bowl.

Do you guys know what a buddha bowl is? I didn’t, but I liked the name and googled it and lo and behold, that’s what this is. Kris Carr, Vegan Goddess, says that buddha bowls are veggies, a grain, and dressing – check out her recipe here. I started making these because I was inspired by eating bibimbap at a quaint Korean place and wanted to replicate it at home. Some other sources of inspiration: this homemade bibimbap, this sushi salad, and this sushi salad.

Like I said, this isn’t really a recipe. It’s a lifestyle.

..haha just kidding. But it’s pretty straightforward. Here’s what I usually do:

Make some sushi rice. I follow the directions on the package, then season with salt, a little sugar or sweetener, and rice vinegar to taste.

While you’re waiting for the water to boil and the rice to cook, busy yourself chopping veggies/roasting veggies/pan-frying veggies/assembling other ingredients. Some of my fave toppings:

Roasted broccoli: chop broccoli into small little trees. Lightly coat with oil, salt and pepper, and mix in a few crushed cloves of garlic. Roast at 400 for about 20-30 minutes or until you get the desired bite you want.
Roasted sweet potatoes: chop into small cubes. Coat with oil, salt and granulated garlic. Roast at 425 for 20 minutes, turning part way through if ya want to (works even if you don’t, but one side might be slightly darker)
Fresh or pickled cucumber
Lightly sauteed spinach, mushrooms, carrots, onions
Edamame: buy frozen, you can reheat/cook in the microwave!
Nori sheets, cut up (easiest to cut with scissors instead of a knife, thanks Shutterbean for the tip)
AVOCADO obviously!
Panko bread crumbs sprinkled over top
Gochujang, a spicy red chile Korean condiment
Drizzle of soy sauce
Put an egg on it! (fried)

Pile all your favourite ingredients into a bowl, layering the rice, then veggies and condiments, then the egg. I like to eat my buddha bowls the way I eat bibimbap: stir everything around all in a mush so that the egg yolk gets everywhere and the veggies get all mixed up with the condiments.

I love love love these things because I can load so many odds and ends of my refrigerator into one meal and it’s filling and oh yeah did I mention it’s insanely delicious! Om nom.

Ps. Can we collectively just get into this method for cooking fried eggs? I have tried it a few times now and it’s so crazy cool/effective!

Happy Tuesday everyone! Hope it’s pretty outside where you are and you nonchalantly sit on a curb with your best friend and don’t really think about it at the time but later realize “Spring Sprung! Happy day!” (true story).

Everyday Beauty

April 12, 2013

I decided that trying to keep track of which weeks my photos were from was a kind of cruel and unusual punishment to myself, so I stopped. I am already much happier. Henceforth I’m just gonna call it “everyday beauty” and be done with it. Huzzah!

Here are some photos from my life lately. I had a birthday, I recorded some podcasts, I’ve written thousands of academic words (my word..), I’ve read thousands of academic words (and a few non-academic ones, I’m currently almost finished this book!). My stress level has fluctuated, but remains on the relatively high side. The good news is that by this time next week, I will have finished my hell week and will only have two well-spaced-out, not-as-challenging finals to write. That’s the good news. The bad news is that I have a hell week ahead of me. Blurgh!

It snowed last night, but I’m in denial and besides, I’m not leaving my house today anyways because it’s exam season. Ha! Take that, snow. (In actuality though, my soul is crushed by the sight of snow and grey, grey skies…). Just gotta keep my head down, keep calm and carry on, celebrate the little things, be proud of tiny accomplishments, cross things off my to-do list like a crazy person, and never forget that I have only 18 days left in my undergraduate degree and I shouldn’t wish it away.

Okie doke, back to the schoolwork grind. xo.

Classic Poutine

April 10, 2013

I swear, I’m having a salad week. No, really. I really am. I sauntered over to the grocery store yesterday with visions of veggies dancing in my head, and I packed myself a massive layered salad in a jar for lunch today. I think it has something to do with saying the phrase “plant-based” approximately one bazillion times this week on the podcast. It also probably relates to the fact that this past weekend I ate like as if I was a four-year-old who is allowed to drink alcohol. I basically consumed carbs, sugar, salt, and alcohol. And a whole lot of goldfish crackers. Oops. It was my birthday. Yolo?

Clearly, vegetables are the move in this situation.

So, I promise to share some of my fave veggie-heavy recipes and salads and all sorts of delicious rabbit food soon. But until then, will you hate me if I unload some poutine onto your Wednesday?? (sidebar: it’s Wednesday already? double take)

This poutine is actually not totally *un*healthy, because the fries are simply baked potato wedges and there is only a small amount of cheese (which I bought local, holla!), and as for the gravy: it’s homemade, contains a plethora of mushrooms, and you can control the salt content. See? Guilt-free snacksies.

I loosely used Joy the Baker’s recipe for baked french fries, but didn’t use most of the spices she did. I used salt, granulated garlic, pepper and cornstarch! I basically followed this recipe for wild mushroom gravy but adjusted the proportions because I only needed a small amount. I ended up with a not-very-liquidy gravy, but I liked the taste a lot. The thyme made this dish!

I’ll leave you with a happy (for me) little anecdote about shooting these photos. It was late in the afternoon when I decided I wanted to make this poutine, and was immediately bummed out (as I usually am when I spontaneously decide to make food that I want to photograph late in the day) until I realized that I had enough daylight hours left to make poutine and take photos of it! So then I did, and it made me very happy. The end. Not much of an anecdote, I guess, but I was happy and grateful and noticed that taking food photos while listening to This American Life made me feel just like myself. Hallelujah, thank goodness for Spring.

Happy Wednesday!

22

April 7, 2013

Today I turned 22.

I have had such a lovely weekend. I’ve seen so many great people, heard from so many people I care about, and had a few nice surprises. A few: claiming balloons left behind at work, a rose-petalled-covered cake, getting an *adorable* home movie of my sisters singing me “22” and then being hilarious, getting a paper done in a short burst of productivity this afternoon, receiving some sweet cards with sweet words.

If you’re lucky and you know it, clap your hands. (I’m clapping).

It was a wonderfully low-key, perfect birthday filled with all the things one needs.

I realized today that I didn’t make it to the end of my 22 before 22 list, but I’m okay with it. The point of those lists is always to push me to try new things and challenge myself, and I did that a few times over this past year. Most of the things I didn’t get done are things that I sort of chose arbitrarily. But the things I did get done – most of them are really important to me. The book club, the podcast(s), being a penpal, running a race, even making sushi – those were all great experiences that stand out to me from this past year. I haven’t yet decided if I’m going to make a 23 before 23 list (spoiler alert: PROBABLY), but if/when I do it’s going to include more of those kinds of creative projects, more things that bring me closer to other people, more trying new experiences that seem impossible.

I watched this TED Talk today that just perfectly sums up the sort of attitude I’m trying to cultivate in my every day life. Going into 22 I want to be more grateful, and less bitter or angry. I want to complain less. I want to be more generous – not just with money, but with love and patience and understanding. I want to be more clear about what I need, and be more direct with people. I want to pay attention. I want to be better, I always want to be better.

I also want to read more (always) and run more and talk to my family more and take more photos and see new places and be more inspired and laugh a lot. All these things are possible!

Thankful, as always, to have a place to just be myself and share my thoughts. Merci. Je vous aime.