yay for trying new recipes

For the past few years I have eaten a vegetarian diet (aside from my mission, when I did eat meat because of how dependant I was upon others feeding me).  However, as soon as I returned home from my mission I went back to eating vegetarian.  I had been hearing a lot about the negative side effects of dairy and was considering giving up dairy as well, but it was on the backburner of things-to-do.  Until I did a research paper for my rhetoric class last semester.  I started off researching about the rhetoric in Got Milk Ads (so basically anything Got Milk did to promote their product.  Including product placement, color choice, word choice, rhyming, use of authority or celebraties, vague or ambiguous language, and skewing of statistics, etc.).  I can post the paper on here if anybody would be interested in reading it....(seeing as I have a high rate of followers.. :)

Anyway, through the research I discovered a lot about milk and dairy in general that motivated me to stop eating dairy, and so I was on the look out for new recipes!!!  I have been trying tons of vegan recipes, some have been great, others disasters, but it has been quite an adventure! 

I wish I had taken more pictures of my food to post, but I was too hungry to do so.  This is a recipe I made last week...my own pita bread and hummus.  The hummus was really runny, but delicious!!  It tasted a lot like YUMM sauce from a place called Cafe YUMM I visited in Eugene, Oregan.  Sooooo goood!!

Whole wheat pita bread, frozen vegetables

and homemade hummus. 

Ingredients for Roasted Garlic Hummus Without Tahini

• 14 oz. can (about 2 cups) chickpeas/garbanzo beans
• 1/4 cup purified water ¹
• 3 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 medium lemon (about 3 tbsp juice)
• 3-5 cloves garlic ²
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 tsp. salt
• pinch black pepper

¹ Do not use the water from the can. It will bloat up your stomach. Use regular purified water. If you are using dried garbanzo beans, you can use the reserved broth from boiling them.
² If you don't prefer the taste of garlic, just use 1/2 teaspoon of granulated garlic instead for a more milder flavor.
Optional: Paprika, parsley, or cilantro (dried or fresh) for garnish
Optional: You can even use 1/4 cup of almond butter instead of water/broth for a really thick dip. It will add additional fat and calories.

I chose to do it without Tahini because I didn't have that lying around the house...
I also chose to do pita bread without yeast because I didn't have that either.  And come on, we all know pita bread isn't supposed to be leavened..

Pita Bread

500 g flour
2 teaspoons salt

4 tablespoons olive oil

300 ml water

1/2 teaspoon sesame seed

1/2 teaspoon nigella seeds (also known as black cumin) (I did it without any of the seeds, it was great)

Directions:

1. In a big bowl combine flour and salt. Mix in olive oil and water.
2. Knead into a soft and sturdy dough. It should be smooth. Cover the bowl and allow to rest for 40 minutes at room temperature.
3. Form dough into about 7 equally sized balls. Roll out the balls to 1/2 inch thickness (note: these wont rise much, so make them as thick as youd like them to be in the end.).
4. Place on a paper-lined baking sheet, brush with water and sprinkle with the sesame and nigella seeds.
5. Bake in the preheated oven at 200°C/400°F for 15 minutes or until tester comes out clean.

 

Sometimes cooking feels like learning a whole new language to me, but it's coming along!  This is the beginning of a long journey :)

 

What about you guys?  Any fun recipes or cooking adventures?

 

The Time I Twisted My Ankle and Was Immobile for Almost Two Weeks

It's been 4 weeks since the incident.
So here's the story:
A group of us kids got together to play soccer and practice for the upcoming season as many of us would be playing together as the Honey Badgers (go Honey Badgers!  Intermurral of course--because we're at BYU-Idaho).  Anyway, so near the end of the game I was trying to protect my goal and a very brick-like young man ran into me--or maybe I stuck my leg in front of him, which would have been very foolish as he was trundling at a pretty high velocity--and my ankle twisted.  It didn't just twist a little abnormally, but it like twisted, in a way it's never twisted before.  It popped about 4 times and then I was on the ground panting and grimacing.  And maybe yelling a little?  But definitely not crying...that would be emabarrasing....
So yeah, as I was laying there, not crying, my friends all circled me in that way you wish they wouldn't.  I mean, isn't that that cardinal rule of sports injuries?  You designate one person to go check if they're all right and everybody else nonchalantly looks the other way pretending like they didn't see what happened?  Well, that should be the protocal, because you know how it goes when you're hurt and you get too much attention.  
The irony is, not an hour before this happened my friend and I were talking about getting injured on the feild and whether or not that person would be thinking about what other people thought.  He argued that in an injured state you would not be thinking about how others were viewing you.  I argued that you might.  Only because sometimes if the injury is bad enough you can go into shock and think about things that are totally irrelevant.  Well..he was right.  I didn't care what anybody thought. 
Looking back I am glad I didn't.  Because my friend Kyle had to pick me up and carry me all the way across the feild like I was a damsal in distress, and I was trying to play it off like it was no big thing.  But it was awkward.  The cool part was I got to ride on his motorbike, but it's really not as fun when it's vibrating your throbbing and tender foot. 
So here's the damage. 

Day 1

 

 

Sometime after day one:

 

 

 

Sometime after this video:

 

 

And eventually......

It looked so much cooler in real life.  But you get the picture.

 

How about those bruises?  I think I found my new favorite color :) 

 

What about you?  Ever had a cool injury?

 

 

Secret Dream

Did you think I wouldn't return?  That I would post one hopeful-random blog in a comeback attempt and then relapse into a deep blog anxiety?  I thought so, too.  But here I am. 

Have you ever had a secret dream?  I am not talking about dreams to become the next Mary-Kate and Ashley Olsen (I mean hypothetically.  Who would dream that?  Weird.)  or the dream to someday grow your own garden with several greenhouses so you can grow exotic plants and fruits all year round and live off the land so that you never have to go into town to buy produce and face other people so as to satisfy your anti-social tendencies. 

I'm talking dreams that COULD come true, but would be very DIFFICULT or SCARY to turn into reality.  The first dream I had (or hypothetically somebody might have) about Mary Kate and Ashley Olsen, is one of the impossible type.  The garden one, is far too probable and common to be a secret dream. 

My secret dream is....dare I speak the words aloud???

(Oh yeah, I forgot, nobody reads this thing.  It's pretty much safer than my journal.)

I would love to be a comedian. 

It all started on my mission.  President Miller (love that man) commanded/instructed that all the missionaries under his reign become familiar with mormon.org to be able to share it with investigators. We had to be on it for one hour a week. On there is the story of a girl who has (openly) dreamed about becoming a comedian her whole life, and she talks about all the hard work she puts into it and how she develops her material and tries to become funnier all the time.  That's when it first hit me... you can become funny.  It's not something you're born with and that's that.  That was definitely a new idea. 

Well, a seed was planted and it's been festering for quite some time.  It's like that squirmy feeling you get right before you know you're going to do something you don't want to do, like jump off a very high bridge because a cute boy is watching.  (into water, of course, come on.)

So I turned to somebody I knew would understand.

Needless to say my brother was thrilled to discover that his sister was a closet-comedian-wanna-be.  Did he sneer up his nose at me and tell me I would never have the makings of an improvist?  He could have, but no.  That's how you know the measure of a man.  By the way they react to hearing your secret dream.  (remember that when you comment).  Anyway, I'll the keep the cosmos updated on my secret dream and if you happen to be really bored someday and desire to live vicariously through me, feel free to do so.  But please, let me know you've been here.  

Anyway, on to something more PRACTICAL.  

the 30x30 clothing challenge!  I have picked my 30 items, however, I have not had time to photograph them.  So you'll just have to trust me on that one.  Here are days 1 and 2 of the challenge.  

Day 1: black shade shirt, white cardigan, skinny jeans, and dance shoes :)  So cool.   Props to roommate, Becky, for taking the photo.  The second one.  Props to self-timer for taking the first one.

Day 2: blue button up, red cardigan, skinny jeans, and american colored boat shoes!  Preppy suits me, I think. And little Livvy definitely beats the accessories I had the day before.  You rock, Liv.  Thanks for making me look good ;)

Anyway, what's YOUR secret dream?????

Blog-itis and Family History!

okay.  breathe.  I can do this. 

I don't know if it has been scientifically coined yet, but I tell you there is a disease that I will refer to as "blogging anxiety."  It's very real and very serious.  And yes, my friends, I am a victim. 

I'd like to thank my beloved sister, Kimberly, for helping me take the first step toward blogging freedom.  She challenged me to the 30x30 challenge, which requires that you pick 30 items of clothing and mix and match them for 30 days, never repeating a single outfit.

It hit my weak spot.  I love mixing and matching.  And I love downsizing.  30 items isn't that many.  I guess that's what it took for me to be writing this..and the fact that it came from her means a lot. Kim is pretty much my best friend in the world. 

So ... I haven't yet picked out my 30 items, that will be my next post, promise.  (This is one of the reasons I hate blogging...here I am talking to somebody who probably doesn't exist...as if I have a following--HA! :)

However, I did have something on my mind to discuss. 
Family History. 
Yes.
Wonderful,
Amazing,
Addicting,
FAMILY HISTORY!!!!!

I went to the family history library on campus yesterday and the missionary couple stopped what they were doing to help me out.  I can understand why its

so hard for people to get started..it's so hard to know WHERE to start!!!!  I've been "getting started" for almost 7 months now, and I still have a bagillion questions and need lots of help.  But I am getting it, slowly but surely.

They always tell you that the best place to start is with yourself.  Scan your birth certificate, baptismal certificate, wedding certificate, all that stuff.  Write your life history.  So that's what I am going to do, start with myself.  You can then work your way through like a sly detective uncovering mysteries of the past and getting really good at recognizing subtle clues...it's wonderful. 

The couple at the library told me I was lucky to be starting so young because my grandparents are still alive.  There are so many things they wish they would have asked their grandparents about their lives!  And their parents as well.

I was pondering on this, when suddenly, on facebook of all places ;), I ran into my dad's old missionary companion.  He gladly sent me some pictures of my dad when he was on his mission in Ecuador!! 
Exhibit A:

This is my dad in the MTC.  He's the one in the front wearing the vest. 
Stylish.  Way to go dad!



Exhibit B:



Cool dad with Crazy-Eyes


So yeah.  That's family history in action right there ^^^^

Seriously, when you start finding things about your family you didn't know before you feel joy!!  It's The Spirit, but even those who wouldn't call it that can't deny the good feeling they get doing family history!  go to familysearch.org to get started for free!

What are your experiences doing family history?  You can share your fears, successes, questions, or anything!!