Shaving for Donations

Posting on a Thursday, what has the world come to? Don’t worry, it will be a short one.

Last year Carlos shaved his head to help raise money for childhood cancer research, and now he’s doing it again!  You can check out all the info and donate anything you can here.

So why should you give to this cause? The short answer is you can play a part in research that will help kids. The long answer, there aren’t many people in the world that I respect more than Carlos. In fact, off the top of my head, I can’t think of anyone. If he told me I should give to a random charity I’ve never heard of his recommendation would be enough. If he supports something, I know it’s worth it.

If you can donate that would be awesome; if not, it would be great if you could pass this along.

4 Meat Spaghetti

Time for another recipe. I’ve been trying to reduce my sodium intake and increase the amount of potassium I get each day and have made decent progress with the sodium but potassium has been issue. So for now my best solutions is to start eating more tomato based foods. I’m also trying to build muscle so spaghetti provides protein and tastes great.

Now of course as with any of my recipes I need to put the salt disclaimer:  there is none. It’s not on the ingredient list but probably needs to be for most people. More on this later.

Ingredients:

• 8 cloves garlic minced
• 1 large onion diced
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 lb ground bison
• 1 lb ground lamb
• 1 lb ground turkey
• 5 cups tomato sauce (see note 1 below)
• 4 cups tomatoes diced (see note 1 below)
• 1 cup mushrooms sliced (see not 1 below)
• 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 1 tsp basil
• 1 tsp parsley
• 1 tsp thyme
• 1/2 tsp bay leaves
• 1/2 tsp marjoram
• 1/2 tsp rosemary
• 1/2 tsp savory
• 1/4 tsp cinnamon
• 3 tbsp brown sugar (see note 2 below)
• 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese grated

• 13.25oz spaghetti (see note 3 below)
• 1/2 tsp olive oil
• 2 1/2 quarts water

Note 1: I buy the ‘no salt added,’ canned variety.

Note 2: If you like the tart taste of tomatoes or don’t mind the acidity you don’t need to add the sugar.

Note 3: I use a whole wheat blend pasta and love it.

Note 4: One way to combat the lack of salt would be to just buy the canned stuff with salt added. Otherwise I would assume one teaspoon would be fine but I know nothing about salt so don’t quote me on that.

Instructions:

• In a large pot brown the meat with the garlic and onions over high heat, drain off any excess fat (or allow if to burn off)
• In a separate pot add olive oil to water and bring to a boil
• Add remaining ingredients to sauce and continue simmering over medium-high heat
• Prepare spaghetti according to package directions (11-13 minutes should do it for tender pasta)
• Optional: mix spaghetti into sauce

Enjoy! I mix the pasta with the sauce just so I don’t have to worry about running out of one before the other. If I wasn’t so concerned about the salt I would add the following to the sauce: one pound of Italian Sausage, and a half cup each of feta, Mozzarella, and Romano cheese. You would probably need at least one extra cup of tomato sauce to accomodate the extra meat but probably two. My spice rack isn’t very exotic so if I had some on hand I would have added a teaspoon of fennel as well.

Let me know if you try it!

Paige and Kavita, I tried to keep the number of steps down, what do you think?

No Fun League – Year in Review

As the NFL’s regular season wound down last Sunday, I found myself sorting through the memories of the ‘year’ gone by. One very interesting thing about sports for me, is that as seasons pass, everything blurs together. For those of you who know anything about my bionic memory, this should come as a shock. As such, I would be lying if I said I will remember the specifics of the past 17 weeks a year from now. But for some yet to be determined reason, this season felt very special to me. Here are my random thoughts and recollections of the season:

• The bringer of pain and destruction, aka DeAngelo Williams, one of the few draft picks my team has made that I have actually liked at the moment the name was read aloud. Everyone in the sporting world was shocked that we (yes I said we, deal with it) didn’t take Lendale White. When Carlos and I had a conversation about the upcoming season during the summer, he asked me if DeAngelo could succeed. My response was he can be great if we actually let him run. In 2007 he ran the ball 144 times for 717 yards and 4 rushing touchdowns. This year: 273 times for 1515 yards and 18 touchdowns (he tacked on two through the air as well).

• Smash and Dash, DeAngelo is Dash, Jonathan Stewart is Smash. He rushed for 836 yards and 10 scores as Dash’s ‘backup’.

• Running back battalion, in other words, the running gods take revenge on Mike Shanahan. I don’t even know what to say.

  Denver rushing leaders by game: Andre Hall, Selvin Young, Selvin Young, Selvin Young, Michael Pittman, Michael Pittman, Michael Pittman, Andre Hall, Ryan Torain, Peyton Hillis, Peyton Hillis, Peyton Hillis, Peyton Hillis, P.J. Pope, Eddie Royal, Tatum Bell.

  Denver running backs on injured reserve: Anthony Alridge, Andre Hall, Peyton Hillis, Michael Pittman, P.J. Pope, Ryan Torain, Selvin Young.

  It didn’t seem as though the Broncos could go a snap without a back being injured.

• Three Arkansas running backs were taken in the draft this year. This is how they did:

  Darren McFadden (taken 4th overall): 499 yards, 4 touchdowns (285 receiving yards)

  Felix Jones (taken 22nd overall): 266 yards 3 touchdowns (1 kick return td)

  Peyton Hillis (taken 227 overall): 343 yards 5 touchdowns (179 yards receiving, 1 td)

  Peyton was the blocking back for Darren and Felix in college.

• Perfection, in other words, Detroit makes history. 0-16, ’nuff said. The only time this team got close to winning? Twice against division leader and NFC #3 seed in the playoffs, the Minnesota Vikings. In fact, the Lions only allowed less than 21 points in a game twice this year, the two times they played the Vikings. I’m not trying to bash on the Vikings here (a team that has my favorite defensive player in the league on their roster) as much as show how improbable it was for Detroit (a team with a surprisingly decent offense) to go winless. Considering they were dead last in net points (at -249) it is amazing that they lost four games by less than a touchdown (two of those against the Vikings of course). All in all I’m proud of Detroit and could probably blog about them forever. I do feel bad for them… sometimes… nah, not really.

• Rams go 2-14 and no one cares.

• Megatron, I have no idea where he got this nickname from or why it was given to him, but it has been fun to see the continuing emergence of Calvin Johnson, the receiver with the skills of Randy Moss and the heart of Jerry Rice. The fact that the Motor City Kittens lost every game makes this something we should all appreciate, Calvin had 78 catches for 1331 yards and 12 touchdowns. The passers throwing those scores: Jon Kitna, Dan Orlovsky, and Daunte Culpepper.

• This was quietly the year of the runner, specifically the new runner. Rookies Steve Slaton, Matt Forte (Carlos predicted his success), Chris Johnson and Kevin Smith burst onto the scene while second year players Adrian Peterson, Marshawn Lynch, Ryan Grant and Pierre Thomas continued their assault on opposing defenses. But don’t forget Michael Turner, the league’s second leading rusher is the result of leaving a backup role in San Diego and moving to the starting spot in Atlanta (I called this one).

• The wildcat offense officially made its debut in the NFL. Now we should take into consideration that teams like Carolina having been letting players like DeAngelo Williams take snaps for some time now. Regardless, it was fun to see the likes of Ronnie Brown, DeSean Jackson, and Joshua Cribbs get their talented hands on the ball in ‘new’ and different ways.

• Donovan McNabb didn’t know you could tie.

• 7 minutes, 33 seconds into the season the league lost one of it’s best players for the year (and possibly longer) to an ACL injury. When Tom Brady went down it seemed as though the Patriots season would be lost. This would have been especially disappointing for me since the Patriots and Brady single handedly saved my love for the NFL and sports in general with their bid to go undefeated last year. Fortunately, Matt Cassel, professional backup, salvaged the season and was a few Brett Favre mistakes away from leading the Patriots back to the playoffs. Wes Welker continued his pass catching dominance and was second in the league with 111 grabs.

• Larry Fitzgerald, Anquan Boldin and Steve Breaston each went over 1000 yards receiving. They all play for the Cardinals.

• The Dallas Cowboys audition for a remake of the hit soap opera Dallas but get beat out (and down) by the up and down Philadelphia Eagles.

• Over the last few weeks of the season we were all fortunate enough to witness a monumental collapse in Denver, but I’m not sure if anyone really paid any attention to the one that went down in Tampa Bay. Well in any case, trust me, it was awesome.

• The league’s highest scoring team, the Saints, failed to make it to the playoffs (or even finish above .500). The Cardinals, a team with one net point and one more win than the Saints is a divisional leader and the 4th seed in the playoffs.

• On the other end of the spectrum, after starting 3-7 the Houston Texans finished at 8-8. The 49ers somehow finished at 7-9 despite never actually playing a game. Honestly, if it wasn’t for the fact that I’m forcefed their games almost every week I wouldn’t know they exist anymore.

• Wes Welker scores a touchdown against Arizona and gets fined $10,000 for making a snow angel in celebration. Shaun Ellis throws a snowball at a fan in the stands after New York implodes in Seattle and gets fined $10,000. No Fun League indeed.

• I have a question. Did anyone hear about the snowball thing? I honestly didn’t until Welker’s fine. If this had happened in Dallas all we would hear about is Terrell Owens crying after being left out of the snowball fight. Well at least it didn’t happen at a Patriots game, snowballgate, I can hear it now…

• In other news it snows in Seattle all of  a sudden. Next you’re going to tell me it rains in Chicago…

Resolutions

The thing I’ve niether liked nor understood about New Year’s resolutions is why wait until the 1st? Okay, so if you are going to use the remaining time in the year to for instance, indulge in something you have resolved to stop indulging in, then I guess I get it. But that just seems like a bad idea anyway, oh well.

So my New Year’s eve, eve, eve, eve resolution is to eat better. I eat pretty well as it is, but there are definitely changes that I need to change. Most of these just revolve around consistency, hence the resolution. Here is what I want my daily diet to look like (consider this the base):

• 1 egg, slice of cheese and ham on an English muffin (I fry the egg in olive oil)
• peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
• cereal with soy milk and whey protein powder
• South Beach Diet high protein cereal bars (I only like the chocolate flavor)
• fruit

Some things to note here:

I’ve included everything food-wise above, so for instance there is no butter or margarine on my English muffin. The only beverage I drink is water (1 cup of milk only goes down with the cereal). For those of you who don’t think I eat enough as is (which is pretty much everyone who reads this blog), I eat multiple peanut butter and jelly sandwiches every day. The number usually depends on how much exercise I’ve done.

I would like to point out that I think I eat like a king with this plan. The fat content is hidden from the untrained eye (or mouth I suppose) but don’t worry, the olive oil and peanut butter have loads of (good) fat.

So if I eat so well, why do I need a resolution to eat better? Good question. My problem is I like eating out (at a short list of specific places). I’ve noticed that when I eat out just for the sake of eating out and eating ‘eat-out’ food I always regret it and it never tastes as good. But when I go out just because someone wants to go out it is always great. So the moral of the story is I’m allowed to eat out (I’m allowed to anything I want) but I shouldn’t deviate from my diet just for the sake of eating something different.

As with the walking, I’m going to try and keep a food page updated so everyone who is so inclined can keep tabs on my eating habits. (I will update the walking page as well, there have just been some external issues interfering with that).

Now just so we’re all clear, here are some things that are NOT my New Year’s eve, eve, eve, eve resolutions:

• Blogging every week (who are we kidding)
• Shaving every -insert time frame here- (see blogging every week)
• Losing -insert pounds here- (I’m still losing weight but it is not a priority)

And to update everyone on my January 20th resolution from 2007 (which was to lose 50lbs) I have lost 75.5lbs since.

Do you have a resolution? Post it in the comments!

A Picture Perfect Walk

I’m taking a day off from walking and feeling extremely guilty about it, so I’m hoping this post will help me justify my laziness. Today we’re all going to take my walk, by the pictures.

Depending on the time of year I either guzzle down the water or barely take a sip. But regardless most walks usually start with a trip to the water fountain. I’m starting this particular walk in the Ansari Business Building. This is probably where 95% of my walks have started, but once I move to Cain Hall that will change. As you’ll see shortly we can start almost anywhere on the path.

On this particular day I exited Ansari on the second floor and went down into Hilliard Plaza (also known as the lower quad, because ya know, I went down to get there).

And now the first climb, the stairway to heaven as I call it. It leads up to the College of Education and Cain Hall (heaven refers to going up, not the COE or Cain). On a typical walk I run up climbs and walk everything else.

Don’t worry we’re going the right way.

And now the hardest part of the walk: the ramp to Lombardi.

Around Lombardi we go and down next to the Joe Crowley Student Union. From here we can see the Legacy Hall Clock Tower, a constant companion (although sometimes off an hour).

And up the Lawlor Stairs we go!

The single most asked question that is ever asked of me while I walk is “Where is the ticket office?” Unfortunately this door is no where close.

But lets forget about the crazies on campus and continue on to the West Stadium Parking Garage.

We’ll enter on the second floor. Paige takes these stairs two at a time… showoff.

Ok time to get out of the sun.

Oops.

Up we go to the 5th floor.

I must say I’ve never seen a single stair all by itself… still haven’t

Anyway, back down to the second floor and out of the garage.

Around to the Rose Garden.

Heading back to Lombardi. No tennis players today.

Back down past the JCSU to the Brian J. Whalen Parking Garage.

Up to the fourth floor here.

I think we’re good.

Lets check up on Cordy. This was a Saturday so shes gets to stay in the shade.

Out of the garage and up to the COE.

Back down to Hilliard.

Behind Mona Mack Social Sciences and up the stairs to Getchell.

Ah the JTSU, we hardly knew ye.

And more pretty flowers.

Did I mention this is a histroric walk?

The quad rocks!

Around Orvis and down to the Agriculture Building.

Along the Great Wall of Evans.

And up to Morril Hall.

Over the moat.

I love this fountain.

Back through the quad.

My former home.

Ansari again (be careful in the wind tunnel).

We’re done!

Next post: a walking update.

Tautastic!

Hi everyone, I’m back! For those who don’t remember, it’s me, your friendly neighborhood spider-dog, Tau (the dog)! I’m supposed to be relaxing so I can recuperate after having surgery, so I decided I better usurp Amit’s blog again! Here is my thrilling story of adventure, betrayal and sleeping.

It all started, as most stories do, with a dog (me) eating a rock (pictured below).

As an enemy of the state, it now has to stay in that prison. But its suffering is nothing compared to mine.

If I’m alone at home I have to wear the cone and stay in my own prison but I get over it when my family and friends come back!

But I’m not allowed to go outside; I miss the freedom!

But for the most part I’m the same young puppy, although I did get a little shave.

But now I get to eat cool stuff like cheese balls!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And even though I’m not supposed to be eating that much, I’ve managed to sneak in some good bones every now and then. I don’t think my parents even know they are lying around the house!

But never fear true believers, my spirits are high!

And I’m still the number one sleeper in the world!

Amit even tried to get me to learn some trig-o-no-nometry tonight but I said, “No! I have to rest and be a good boy.”

Well I hope everyone is having a good weekend! I’m going to sleep…

Next stop: TV Land

I’m going to try to ease my way back into blogging so today we have our first Top (insert random number here) List! We’ll continue with the Tour de Amit with a look at my favorite tv shows of all time.

This quickly became quite a lengthy process and my initial list consisted of more than twenty shows. Here are some that didn’t make it:

Shows that didn’t make it because I only watch them with Paige:

American Idol (Simon Cowell is a god), Grey’s Anatomy (the cast in this show would probably be in the top two of my favorite tv show casts list), American Idol Results Show (not nearly enough Simon anyway), and House (Dr. House kicks butt).

Shows that didn’t make it because they take themselves too seriously too often:

The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air (the last episode rocked), Family Matters, Home Improvement (Wilson is the best), Boy Meets World,  and Step by Step.

Shows that didn’t make it because every episode was either perfect or just flat out horrible:

Family Guy

Shows that didn’t make it just because:

Futurama, Beverly Hills 90210, Murphy Brown and The Brady Bunch.

So finally, here it is:

Amit’s Top 10 Favorite TV Shows of All Time

10. Saved by the Bell: Zach Morris and Samuel “Screech” Powers, what more do I have to say? In all honesty this show could have easily gone with the “taking itself too seriously” or “didn’t make it just because” groups, but I had to start somewhere right?

9. The Simpsons: I’m failry positive that there is a federal law that prohibits top tv show lists that don’t have The Simpsons on them, so I’m covering myself now. Springfield just has too many great characters with too many interesting stories to just simply ignore. I’m sure most people are surprised that Family Guy and Futurama didn’t make the cut, but animated shows have way less acceptable excuses for not being perfect. The Simpsons come close enough.

8. Angel: A spin-off done right. When Angel left Sunnydale I was skeptical, but there is something about a paranormal detective agency working in Los Angeles that just works. Throughout the entire series the casting was brilliant but the stories were even better. I’ve always liked epic stories and the vampire with a soul certainly had an interesting one to tell.

7. Just Shoot Me: Now we’re getting to the good stuff. I love comedies and I can turn this show on anytime just to laugh. At times it could be accused of being too serious, but I’ve only had to turn it off once or twice for such a thing.

6. NewsRadio: Another comedic gold mine with a great cast. One of the two shows in the top 10 that my mom also likes. Who would have thought working at a news radio station could be so exciting?

5. Two and a Half Men: A gem that I just recently started watching. I suppose I might come upon some serious moments eventually but if they’re there I haven’t found them yet. First show on the list that gets extra credit for long running, subtle jokes.

4. That 70’s Show: This show is probably the biggest offender of the whole “taking itself too seriously thing” that I hate so much, but it does so many thing right that I can overlook that. In terms of making me laugh this is second only to the number 1 show. Hyde, Kelso, and Fez make this show one of the best but even they can only come a close second to Kitty Foreman.

3. Pardon the Interruption: The only non-sitcom/Angel show on the list. PTI typically features Tony Kornheiser and Michael Wilbon bickering about the latest news in sports and “other stuff.” If teaching ever didn’t work out I would kill for a job like this. The only thing is I’m not sure who my other half would be. Kavita would be the obvious choice but I really don’t think she is mean spirited and loud enough for the role. She would be great as the producer who keeps everything on track and adds random bits of useful information. I also think Paige and I could do a cool spin-off called Pardon the Teaching. When we talk about sports one of us is usually explaining something to the other.

2. The Cosby Show: The other show my mom likes as well. It has always been my dream to have a big family where the house is always full and everyone sits down at the table for dinner together. This show is just simply amazing.

1. Arrested Development: As if there was any contest. The funniest show ever, period. If you like comedy, or good acting or just watching tv in general you need to try this out. If you like watching great comedic acting on the tv then you definetely have to see this show. Unfortunately it only lasted for three seasons (all available on dvd and often for cheap) but I blame America for that one. The large majority of people out there are either too stupid, don’t have attention spans long enough, or are otherwise lacking the required sense of humor needed to truly enjoy this show. Fortunately no one that reads my blog falls into any of those three categories. Everyone should watch the pilot right now. This is a show that takes care of its fans. If you watch all the episodes in order not only will you laugh constantly, but other random viewers will only understand half of what your laughing at (I always like to feel superior). I’m sure one day I will have to have a series of posts dedicated to only this show, but until then, start watching!

Shows I think I would love if I watched them:

Monty Python’s Flying Circus: Come on, how could I not?

Heroes: I really wish I had started watching this when it first started.

The Office: I’ve seen bits and pieces of a few episodes. It does take itself too seriously at times but seems decent overall.

Well that’s it for this week. Next post: the return of our favorite guest blogger!

Kaeng Ped

The first stop on the Tour de Amit is Thailand, the place of origin of my favorite food, Red Curry. For most of my life I never had a favorite food. If pressed on the issue my default reply was always my mom’s Indian style Chicken curry, but nothing was ever worthy of the word ‘favorite.’

That all changed when I tried Steve Lafleur’s Red Curry. It was amazing to say the least. Chicken, bell peppers, and coconut milk, what more could you ask for? Well most of you know that after years of eating my mom’s food, I’m not really affected by hot spices (unless I’m sick) so when I went out for Thai food with Luke, Steve and Heather, I ordered the Red Curry and at Luke’s behest tried some chili paste… it was heaven on Earth! I have now been known to go a whole week at a time with only Red Curry for lunch, and I’m in the process of lenghtening that record. But I’m taking time now to bestow the awesomeness of Kaeng Ped on all of you, with a recipe.

When I cook I don’t usually follow original recipes, and Red Curry is not an exception. So just to be safe I’ll give both my recipe and the one Steve originally gave me. Mine first:

Ingredients:

• 3 (13.5oz) cans coconut milk (see note 1 below)
• 3 tbsp red curry paste
• 2 (8oz) cans bamboo shoots
• 1 lb chicken
• 1 lb shrimp (see note 2 below)
• 1 heaping tbsp sugar
• 2 tbsp dried basil
• 3 bell peppers (see note 3 below)

Note 1: Since I’m still trying to lose weight I usually use two cans of light coconut milk and one regular. If you use want to save a little bit on the calories and fat as well then start with this substitution because trust me, you won’t want to go back if you use 3 cans of regular milk.

Note 2: I use precooked shrimp, to each his own.

Note 3: My personal preference for bell peppers is Red, Orange, Yellow, Green. Use whatever combination you want!

Instructions:

• Preheat oven to 350F (325 if using convection)
• Rinse chicken and place in your favorite oven dish, when the oven is preheated cook chicken for 30-35 minutes (25-30 for convection), cut into 1/4 x 1/2 inch pieces
• Rinse and peel shrimp
• Chop bell peppers and slice into 1/4-1/2 inch squares
• Drain bamboo shoots

• Pour 1 can of coconut milk into a large pot, add red curry paste and mash well, bring to a boil
• Add remaining two cans of coconut milk and return to boil
• Lower heat to medium and add bamboo shoots, cook for 3-5 minutes, return to boil
• Lower heat to medium and add chicken, cook for 3-5 minutes, return to boil
• Lower heat to medium and add shrimp, cook for 3-5 minutes, return to boil
• Lower heat to medium and add sugar and basil, return to boil
• Lower heat to medium and add bell peppers, return to boil
• If serving immediately lower heat to medium and cook while preparing rice, otherwise remove from heat and leave covered for 15 minutes to an hour.
• Serve with long-grain rice (see note 4 below) and chili paste

Note 4: Long grain rice is freaking fantastic. I’m not sure if it is something in my head or what, but it seems like it soaks up the flavor of the curry. I’ve tested this with my mom’s Indian curry as well.

Well there it is. Obviously you can add or remove any type of protein you want. I’ve always wanted to throw in some steak but have never bothered trying. I’m not entirely sure what the sugar is for but I’ve made it a habit to never remove sugar from a recipe that is not for a baked good (if you like tomato sauce for things like spaghetti and lasagna but hate the tartness of tomatos add a tablespoon or two of some brown or white sugar).

Now the real treat: you can see how I’ve altered the original recipe. In the grand scheme of things I’ve barely touched this one.

Ingredients:

• 2 (13.5oz) cans coconut milk
• 1 or 2 tbsp red curry paste
• 1 lb chicken, cut into 1/2 x 1 1/2 inch pieces
• 3 to 4 tbsp fish sauce
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 2 (8oz) cans bamboo shoots
• 1/2 cup fresh sweet basil
• 3 fresh chili peppers, cut into strips (Thai chilies are small and VERY HOT, remove peppers before eating!)
• 1 green and 1 red bell pepper cut into strips

Instructions:

• Pour half can of coconut milk into a medium saucepan or wok, add curry paste; mash together well
• Using high heat, bring to a boil, lower heat to medium and continue cooking until coconut milk becomes oily
• Add rest of coconut milk and continue to cook 20 to 30 minutes
• Turn heat to high; add bamboo shoots and cook for 10 minutes
• Add chicken; stir until all meat pieces are separate, continue cooking 10 to 15 minutes
• Stir in fish sauce and sugar, add basil and chili peppers
• Turn off heat, let cool 10 minutes then add bell peppers
• Serve with long-grain rice

There is absolutely nothing wrong with this recipe. I personally just cannot stand in front of the stove for that long after a day of walking. Also the thing about Thai chilis being that hot is complete and utter nonsense.

I removed fish sauce from my recipe because it does nothing to the flavor in my opinion. Other than that there is just a lot of difference in how I prefer my chicken and bell peppers cut.

If you try either version out let me know how it goes. Most everything mentioned above can be found at Walmart. They don’t have red curry paste but if you don’t want the spicyness anyway they have a great golden curry paste that is an excellent substitution. The only thing you should consider buying at an oriental grocery store is the fresh basil (now you know why I use dried basil). Walmart also stopped stocking the chili paste I use, Sambal Oelek but it isn’t for the faint of heart anyway!

One last thing I should point out is people have told me this is a little bland in terms of salt. I’m not big on salt anyway and unlike those people who pointed that out, I use chili paste. So if that is something that will bother you then adjust for it however you salt lovers do. I’ve heard the salt complaint with and without the fish sauce so that omission is not the cause.

Happy cooking!

Tour de Amit

Another short one this week. My new router was part of an Independence Day sale at Fry’s, and since we have no Fry’s around I had to order online. As expected I recieved an email saying shipping was delayed due to high demand. So still no internet at the Saini house.

As such here is a preview of things to come: I’m not a very open person and most people who know me only do so through school. So to remedy this I’ll start posting more about myself. Next week we’ll start with my favorite food, recipe and all.

I finished teaching on Friday so I’ll have some more free time now. The next post will be ready for Sunday, I promise!

Hiatus

As you can all see, I didn’t post anything last week. The wireless at my house is down, so I can’t blog from my room like I usually do. I’m in the office now, and I just can’t bring myself to do a full out post. I think all of my creativity is still at home. I have ordered a new router, although I’m sure it won’t get here before our current one randomly starts working again anyway. Regardless, I’m hoping next week I can get back to blogging.

Just so you all know, I do have a lot of material plotted out, topics include: food and recipes, the infamous sports post, a ton of ideas about a topic only I’m interested in, and what kind of name is “The Awesome” anyway? I also have a “walking” update planned probably for sometime during August.

But in the meantime I will leave you with something: I had been craving a peanut butter and jelly sandwich for about a week, and picked up the needed supplies when I went grocery shopping this last Friday. Peanut butter is something I had been planning on reintroducing to my diet anyway, so the craving worked out great. When I got back to the office to drop off the food, I made a sandwich, and it was absolutely awesome! I’m usually the type of person who dwells on the smallest thing when something goes wrong, but as I was eating that incredibly tasty sandwich I started thinking that the small things can make you happy too, if you let them.

So since I’m not blogging this week, you guys can do it for me. I think it would be great if everyone leaves a comment about something that makes them happy. It can be something small, like PB&J, or if you’re so inclined, please talk about something more serious! That is of course, only if you want to divulge anything at all…

I hope everyone had a great Independence Day!