#mine's usually smaller than a grain of rice
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Dear Sephiroth: (a letter to a fictional character, because why not) #87
I'm still going to procrastinate talking about ACEs. Though it's not because I'm too terribly frightened of writing about it at this moment; I have a vague plan about where I wanna start. No, today I'm procrastinating because Br is visiting my house for today!!! And this is the greatest thing ever all by itself, but!!! She brought over a thing called "Cream of Rice"!!
It is basically a box full of rice that has been ground into a fine powder, with vitamins and minerals added. I had never seen anything like it before!
Br prepared the cream of rice on the stovetop in my trusty wok with milk, salt, and butter! Then we put almond butter, blueberries, and sliced bananas in it! And I gotta say, the resulting stuff was SO AWESOME that we ate it all up before I even thought to take a picture for you. I'm sorry. I'll work on that.
At my house, we tend to get giant 50-pound (22.5-ish kilograms) bags of medium-grain rice (it's almost, but not quite like short-grain rice, which is the typical rice in Japan), which has a different texture and consistency than the typical rice that is available in the United States; I assume if I grind up this rice into a fine powder, it will have a slightly different consistency than the ground rice in the box.
…Oh right. You probably have no idea what my world looks like, so words like "United States" and "Japan" likely mean nothing to you. That probably doesn't seem very fair, given that I know very well what yours looks like by now. Here, let's fix that; you can use this to see how my planet is shaped:
I live somewhere around here…
...And Japan is over here:
…Unless your planet is comprised mostly of massive, giant oceans, I think your planet must be a lot smaller than mine. It seems likely that this would also mean that your gravity is weaker than ours. And since your planet still has stunning sunsets (despite the fact that your atmosphere is probably a lot smaller, if your planet is smaller, which means the light gets bent/filtered less), I assume your atmosphere must be a bit more dense than ours, too. And these factors combined might explain why you all can have such crazy-looking flying machines that would absolutely not be possible in my world. But I digress…
Anyway! So sometimes I like to make rice pudding in my handy-dandy rice cooker with regular ol' medium-grain rice; it's got a stickier consistency than the usual rice that's available here, which makes for AMAZING pudding! But with this new "discovery" (haha!) of powdered rice and knowing full well of its deliciousness, my mind filled with ALL SORTS OF POSSIBILITIES, oh my goodness!!
…So I took my medium-grain rice and used my handy-dandy spice grinder (got it as a prize at an old job I had!) to grind it into very fine powder! Here…
So then, I went and measured out two cups of the rice powder with my handy-dandy rice cup!
Then I filled the rice cooker with milk, up until the "2" line for white rice. After that, it's 1 tbsp of butter for each cup of rice! Easy peasy!
Once the rice is done cooking, you're supposed to add heavy cream and sugar - 2 cups of heavy cream and half a cup of sugar, in any case. But… well… it got weird:
It seems like the increased surface area of the rice, combined with the sticker consistency of short-grain rice, yielded a kind of… weird sort of rice cake? I broke it into pieces, but it's still pretty clumpy. It's not ready for sugar and heavy cream yet. After tasting some of it, it was pretty good, but I concluded that it was still a bit undercooked. So I added a bit more milk (I didn't measure; sorry...) and stirred it until it stopped being absorbed, and then added a little more milk after that, and I am putting the heat on it again as I'm writing this; hopefully that should soften any remaining clumps, but we'll see! I've never worked with powdered rice before, and I have no idea what to expect! Kitchen adventures! Now we wait for the rice cooker to beep!
That said, I am wondering if the nature of powdered rice makes it necessary to stir it continuously while cooking so that it doesn't clump like this. I imagine a wok and a whisk might be the thing to do for future iterations of "Cream of Rice Pudding". Also, Br brought some masala chai teabags in addition to the cream of rice, so I wonder what it would be like to cook the powdered rice with brewed masala chai and a little bit of honey instead of just milk or just water. I'm eager to find out!!! But not today! Next time!
...Okay! So the rice cooker beeped and is done, so I stepped away from writing to check it out, and!! Oh!! It turned out REALLY WELL. So I added the cream and sugar, and this was the result:
So, I think due to chemistry, physics, and surface area, next time I'll need to fill the rice cooker to the 3 line, or maybe even to the 4 line, for 2 rice cups full of powdered rice. From there, it's business as usual - 2 cups of heavy cream and half a cup of sugar. At Br's suggestion, I sprinkled in just a pinch of pink salt into my bowl (pink salt has iron in it!), and the result was EVEN BETTER. I wanna eat another bowl because it was THAT GOOD, but I know that if I do, I'm gonna end up feeling sick, so I'll make use of my impulse control skills and delayed gratification skills instead, even though that's really hard.
It's very tasty and VERY filling; I wish that I could give you a bowl of it. The fact that I cannot give you bowls filled with delicious things continues to be a source of very real grief for me. But it is what it is. I can only hope that my intentions reach you somehow, and that through this you can learn about all the awesome snacks and make them for yourself someday, as impossible as that probably is...
Well. My being here to begin with seemed like an impossibility at one point. So maybe I'll try to keep an open mind. Maybe I'll imagine that all these wonderful flavors and all these wholesome feelings can reach you and move you, somehow...
...Somehow...
Hey Sephiroth? I'm glad you're here, even if I can only know of you in an abstract sense. I'm glad you're here, even if you're just an art form. Even though you've been through so much stuff, and even though your heart and your mind probably hurt a lot right now... still I'm glad you're here. So please keep trying to learn about the kind and gentle things. Please keep seeking out the beautiful and loving things. And please try to make good choices so that no one else has to get hurt.
I love you and I'll write again tomorrow, so please stay safe out there.
Your friend,
Lumine
#sephiroth#ThankYouFFVIIDevs#ThankYouFF7Devs#ThankYouSephiroth#final fantasy vii#final fantasy 7#ff7#ffvii#final fantasy vii crisis core#final fantasy 7 crisis core#final fantasy crisis core#ffvii crisis core#ff7 crisis core#crisis core#ff7r#final fantasy vii remake#final fantasy 7 remake#ffvii remake#ff7 remake#final fantasy vii rebirth#final fantasy 7 rebirth#ffvii rebirth#ff7 rebirth#final fantasy 7 ever crisis#ffvii ever crisis#ff7 ever crisis#ffvii first soldier#rice pudding#cream of rice#wholesome
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An answer for the Brand new Year That can Aid Solve Global Problems
To solve our international problems, we have to get the Cultural Key
As global citizens embarking on another year, we find ourselves face-to-face using many of the same old issues: global poverty, sexual category inequality, high little one mortality, poor health care, environmental degradation -- as well outstanding unrest in Afghanistan, the Congo, the Middle East, and further than.
Why have all of us made so little progress on these types of issues that warned billions of individuals? What are we all missing? How might we find a method to create lasting transform?
I would claim that we need to reframe our outlook, and even our vocabulary, to be able to simply this: We face global difficulties. The keys words: "global" and "we. " The issues facing us usually are not confined to be able to a rustic, a certitude, a gender, a race; they deal with everyone on earth. In addition to as such, they will require international solidarity and teamwork coming from all of all of us. We cannot be defined and limited by the smaller things that specify us; our planet is too interconnected and interdependent.
Simple to say; precisely how do we progress? How do many of us find a way to know, respect, and even support one an additional?
We must discover the cultural key. Typically the cultural key unlocks cooperation at the transnational level-a stage where we can address the destructive challenges that threaten our world.
This is the key that cannot be found in any kind of one country, within any one traditions, in any one people. Rather, this can be discovered by assembling-gluing together-the most profound bits of cultural perception from every region.
This process requires deep reflection-no issue where we endure in the world.
To begin: How can easily we determine precisely why were the method that we are generally? A great deal shapes us all. It depends on exactly where and how we develop up. Our ethnicities are shaped by the experiences in our ancestors, their life-style, and their historical past.
While living and even employed in Japan, I actually gradually appreciated exactly what factors formed their culture and their own character - plus mine. Throughout Asian countries, largely agrarian societies have counted on hemp for centuries. Hemp has particular characteristics: unlike other plants, it cannot end up being cultivated by one particular farmer or 1 family. A grain field extends throughout the land involving many farmers, and requires constant irrigation. Water sources canals can simply reach individual harvesting if they pass all the way through the properties regarding other farmers. Rice cultivation is really a group effort. It is known as "ta-ue" in Nippon.
Survival depended on preserving strong relationships in the community. Necessity shaped the lifestyle and the way people interacted; plus shaped the values within the society. Throughout Japan, respect, opinion based decision-making, plus generosity are important. One Japanese saying says: the toe nail that sticks up gets hammered straight down. Individual desires and needs were diminished so the requirements of the local community could be served. In case one farmer tried out to take too much water, various other farms would suffer.
By contrast, in Europe, individuals won earlier. During the particular Renaissance plus the Professional Revolution, the very best successes of society had been not done by simply the numerous, but by simply the few. Works of art and sculpture famous individuals. In the West, folks dominated nature, characteristics did not dominate people. Competitiveness, individuality, and industriousness were celebrated.
In all countries, the approach we lived influenced the way we built relationships. Although individual countries no more live in remoteness; were exposed and intermingled. Problems experiencing our society extend beyond boundaries; they usually are transnational in range. The "environment" includes the globe, plus cannot be cleaned in one corner; conflict passes region which has a simple flight flight. We are one planet nowadays inside our history - and there is definitely no returning through that.
If we all aspire to live on peace as being a global community, then, we must unlock and promote the secrets of every culture. We must begin by acknowledging that will each culture features something to share. We all must accept of which "we" are certainly not greater than "them"; we all are just diverse. We must explore other cultures in order that we can draw out the very best parts associated with each, and bring that into our own own sense of being-into a greater global culture.
Make no mistake: we all don't have to abandon our own cherished ethnicities, and let this dissolve into a great melting container. Rather, we need to to create some sort of global mosaic inside of which each piece-each culture-is recognized, commemorated, and intertwined using others.
In the present altering world, we should get the best by the East and even the West (and elsewhere) in order to find the best solutions to our problems. We all can learn from co-operation -and competitiveness; individuality, creativity and innovation -and consensus-building; mother nature -and humans.
Each and every culture holds a piece of typically the key; the lock can only get opened when typically the pieces are introduced together. When this specific is done, the particular full landscape in our cultural wisdom will become apparent-as will the path to overcoming typically the impossible and hitting our fullest international potential.
This fresh year, I urge you to solve to find the cultural key. Attain out, learn, and share about your traditions along with the culture regarding others. Through undertaking so you will discover our typical human heritage.
Since an united earth, anything is feasible.
by David Santulli, United Planet Business Representative
United Earth (http://www.unitedplanet.org), an worldwide non-profit situated in Boston, MA, strives to create a globe by which all men and women understand, respect, and support one another. get more info of leaders and even volunteers fosters cross-cultural understanding and address shared challenges to be able to unite the entire world inside of a community beyond borders.
Over the particular past nine many years, United Planet has worked with nearby communities all above the world to look for meaningful work regarding volunteer travelers; in addition to has placed hundreds and hundreds of volunteers in those communities to have and work - for periods starting from a week to a year. United Planet could be the U. S. and Canadian member of the International Cultural Youngsters Exchange (ICYE) Federation, founded in 49.
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can i request a yoongi chef au? i feel like yoongi's culinary skills are underrated, and I'm just a slut for chef aus in general
Anonymous said: Hi I saw ur request open posts for the new year!!! Could u write more yoongi stories🥺?!?! Your stories are so fantastic and i’m thirsty for more yoongi lolol🤪(hopefully u get enough votes to do more of him haha)
I feel like Jin’s the one who’s usually written as the chef, prob because he’s the better known chef in BTS, but you’re right! There’s gotta be more chef Yoongi!AUs, so here you go!!!
↳ Buttering Up
2.2k || 100% Fluff & Flirtation || Min Yoongi || Chef!AU
He clearly doesn’t know who you are.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
You hum, arms crossed as you eye him up and down. His black hair is practically a bowl cut, bangs covering his forehead. He’s in casual clothes — a taupe trench and black pants — looking like he’s ready for a trip to the grocery store rather than to cook. You wonder where this child crawled out from.
“You’re Yoongi?”
“That I am.” He approaches the door of the restaurant before plunging his hands inside his trench coat pockets. He fishes out the key and unlocks it, ushering you inside. “Hope you don’t mind that the restaurant’s closed down.”
You mind much more that he left you waiting on the cold city street for over ten minutes. You still can’t believe he was late. The audacity.
“I would’ve liked to see how you and your staff do your dinner service.”
“Unfortunately, we’re booked full for the next two months.”
You scoff — how doesn’t he know who you are? You’re a food critic who’s brought highly regarded restaurants to their knees through a review of five sentences. Your words alone has had rippled effects in the industry. Even the most talented chefs hold their breaths when you taste-test.
You make Gordon Ramsey look like Mother Teresa.
This Yoongi character is much too arrogant to not respect you. His new and upcoming restaurant might have raving reviews, but you’ll see what’s really going on.
“Sit wherever you’d like.”
There are no waiters in fancy garb, no hand sewn tablecloths made of silk. He doesn’t even pull out the chair for you. Instead, he’s off flickering on the lights of the restaurant while you choose a wooden table and chair right in front of his open kitchen — which is a horrible mistake in itself.
Open kitchens have always been a concept that has fallen short in your eyes. It’s much too noisy during dinner service and it gets smelly fast. Who actually wants to leave smelling like butter and oil?
It’s something you note as you get settled.
Your coat drapes at the back of the chair and then you watch him. Yoongi’s taken off his trench as well, revealing a white long sleeve that he’s beginning to roll up to his elbows. He’s lean and his build is small, but somehow, he’s far from being scrawny. You gawk at the veins running up his forearm until he casually asks—
“Do you have a preference for wine?”
“I’m fine with any.”
He hums and comes over from the glass cabinet with a bottle of chardonnay and a wine glass. Yoongi pops the bottle easily and pours into the pristine glass with a mere tilt of his wrist. You watch the stream fill the glass a quarter way full.
“Is there a menu?”
“You don’t need one.”
Your brows raise. “Excuse me?”
“If I were you, I’d put myself in the chef’s hands entirely and go with their recommendation.” He strides away, placing the wine bottle on the other table and then he turns with a glint in his eye and his mouth slightly crooked upwards. “Unless, of course, you don’t trust your chef.”
Oh. He’s confident.
You can’t wait for his ego to blow up in his face.
“Fine then.” Your head tilts upwards. “What’s your recommendation then?”
He rounds his way to go into the kitchen that’s only a few meters away from where you sit. “Risotto with grilled chicken breast, topped off with caramelized onions, mushroom, grilled zucchini and sautéed tomatoes.”
You roll your eyes. What a basic dish. Isn’t it just rice? And with chicken breast?! Ew. It's guaranteed to be bland.
“Alright then.” You give a smile that might be more mocking than intended. “We’ll see how it tastes.”
Yoongi starts and while sipping the chardonnay, you take a good look at the restaurant from your spot. The place is rustic with a hint of contemporary. There’s exposed brick, wooden tables and chairs, and low, yellow lighting. There’s nothing particularly impressive about the place.
Soon, the sound of rapid, rhythmic chopping fills the space and then sizzling. You watch him intently. And you’re appalled. This Yoongi guy commits the worst cooking sins — his pan is cold when he starts throwing on ingredients. He cooks with olive oil. He overcrowds the pan. And he doesn’t even taste test once as he cooks.
What the actual fuck.
There’s a line between arrogance and insanity, and he was crossing it.
You cringe when he starts using his metallic spatula on the non-stick skillet.
Is he even qualified to run a restaurant?!
Or maybe your assistant sent you information about the wrong restaurant? Or maybe this was not the guy you were supposed to be eating from. What if he poisons you or kills off all of your taste buds?! Your career would be ruined.
“Everything going okay?” you pipe up.
He glances up at you for the first time, eyes peering past his bangs. “Yep. Should be done in five.”
Food is simple. It either tastes good or it doesn’t. But the higher up you go and the fancier it gets, the more convoluted the food tastes with bland flakes of gold and the same old truffle shavings. That or it’s entirely boring and unoriginal.
Or in this case, it might kill you. Which would be the first. And you’re not happy about it.
You feel unsettled when he plops the dish in front of you.
“Chef’s recommendation.”
“Thanks.”
You feel unsettled because it actually smells good. The aroma that fills your senses is flavoursome and buttery, and the thyme on top adds a fresh hint. You’re also unsettled because the plating isn’t actually bad. It’s been presented in a pasta bowl with wavy designs and the chicken breast is thinly and neatly sliced on top. It’s clean. It’s bright. It’s colourful.
But the most lethal poisons are the appetizing ones.
“Are you going to wait until it gets cold?”
You look up, brows raising at how he’s gotten comfortable in the chair across from you. Usually the chefs and waiters or waitresses like to skedaddle off and leave you to your own thoughts, too afraid to stand in your intense scrutiny. But Min Yoongi twists off the cap of his water bottle and casually downs it in front of you.
“I’m just looking at the presentation.”
“Tastes better than it looks,” he exhales after swallowing his water.
Your expression becomes skeptical. But you take the silver spoon beside you anyhow and decide not to waste any more time.
The spoonful goes into your mouth. He watches you. You chew.
Instantly, you halt.
The flavour hits your tongue. Creamy. Thick. But each individual grain of rice still has some firmness with a discernible texture. It’s been done al dente. There’s sweetness from the caramelized onions. An earthy flavour from the mushrooms. A zesty touch from the thyme. The chicken breast is somehow still juicy and the tomatoes burst on your palate.
Suddenly, you’re thrusted back into your childhood. Those summer days spent in the cottage. Sun-kissed cheeks, dirtied knees, cotton dresses. You can hear your late grandmother in the kitchen. The way she calls out that it’s lunchtime. You can feel the comfort of family and love.
It feels like you’ve become the food critic in the ratatouille movie.
You almost cry.
“What do you think?”
You clear your throat. You have to be honest. There’s no way you can lie about something like this. “It’s good. I think...this is the best risotto I’ve ever had. You cooked it perfectly and the toppings you chose were absolutely immaculate with this dish—”
You look up at him. Min Yoongi has an enormous, cocky smirk plastered across his stupid face.
It’s entirely off-putting.
“But of course,” you quickly add, “there are many ways you could improve on it. You could add cilantro—”
“That would unnecessarily drown out the notes of thyme you taste,” he rebukes without a single beat and you scoff.
“I noticed you didn’t add any pepper to it which could deepen the flavour.”
“Except this dish doesn’t need it,” Yoongi deadpans. “You don’t need to help me make any adjustments. I think I know what I’m doing better than you are. Just do your job and I’ll do mine.”
You suck in your cheek and narrow your eyes on him before you take another bite of the risotto while it’s still hot. “The food is delicious, but I must say, the company really spoils it.”
Yoongi’s slumped with one cheek resting in his hand, elbow on the table. He lazily stares at you with that smirk of his. “Really? Because if I didn’t know any better, you look nervous rather than annoyed.”
You scoff for the second time. “Why would I be nervous?”
“Maybe you didn’t expect the food to taste as good as it does and that makes me unexpectedly attractive,” he states plainly. You almost choke. You hit your chest as you sputter. “Or maybe you’re intimidated by me. I’ve gotten both before.”
You wipe your mouth with the napkin. “I’m afraid you’re not very perceptive, Min Yoongi.”
“Really? I think I am.” He smiles, the corners of his mouth quirked. “I’ve read your reviews before.”
You’re unamused. “Have you now? So you must know how difficult I am to satisfy.”
His smirk is sly and it’s jarring against his softer, more tender features. He’s smaller than the men you’re used to being around, but somehow it feels like he’s taken up the entire space of the restaurant. His focus on you is sweat-inducing. Even if you don’t want to admit it.
“I don’t think so. You’ve just been eating shit food,” he says bluntly and your brow cocks. “You just need someone good you can trust. Someone who can take care of you properly.”
You’re not sure if the double entendre is purposeful. You wouldn’t put it past him.
“And is this someone you?”
Yoongi shrugs and sits back. “It could be.”
You grab your glass of chardonnay and gulp the rest in an effort to stop the conversation before it completely derails into a different direction. Yet, Yoongi’s half-lidded and darkened eyes stay on yours with each swallow. He’s unfazed. Unbothered. And that bothers you even more — bothered in a way that makes your face hot.
There’s a clack as you put the wine glass down and gasp.
“I’m a professional.” You won’t be swayed so easily. “I can’t be bribed.”
“Of course.” He blinks as if he doesn’t know what you’re talking about. You glare at him and he gestures to the dish. “Please. Keep eating.”
You finish the plate.
“Do you want any seconds?” he asks as he gets up.
“I’m fine.”
“Are you sure?” Yoongi lingers, all too brazen and fearless. “If you don’t get any more now, you might have to come back for more.”
This time, you don’t try to hide the roll of your eyes. “That’s a presumptuous assumption.”
Yoongi smirks and his voice is husky. “After getting a taste from me, everyone comes back for more.
You scoff.
Min’s Restaurant Review
Three nights ago, I ate at Min’s Restaurant and met the main man in the kitchen. Unfortunately, he is a difficult person to interact with. I hope no one has the disservice of having to speak to the chef behind the dishes. Doing so may as well ruin the experience. Furthermore, his cooking methods are unconventional and unorthodox. It was completely shocking to watch.
However, and what I would consider most important, the food at Min’s Restaurant is spectacular. What Min’s Restaurant lacks in likeable personnel, they make up in the served cuisine. The meal that was prepared for me not only subverted my initial expectations, but overcomes, what I consider, what the food industry is lacking in this modern age exactly. Without unnecessary garnishes and ingredients, the flavours of Min’s Restaurant are both light and deep. It was an undeniable delight to consume and for the first time, I licked my plate clean.
It is undoubted that the man behind Min’s Restaurant has the hands of god.
You should have pride.
But you’ve always loved good food. It’s your Achilles heel. It’s the one thing you’ve been passionate about since you were a kid. The reason why you love your job.
Even after writing such a review, you find yourself booking another reservation. But as a customer instead of a critic.
Of course, they were booked full for the next six months, largely thanks to your review, and they swiftly refused you with numerous apologies. But they called back not ten minutes later. You have a feeling that your name finally sunk into them — that he had something to do with it.
That theory is confirmed when you arrive. The person in question is next to the seemingly nervous hostess as the noisy kitchen echoes throughout the busy restaurant.
In the low lighting, Min Yoongi stands there with a relaxed smirk. As if he was expecting you. As if he knew you’d come crawling back to him to eat out of the palm of his hand, literally and figuratively.
You hate that he’s right.
“Welcome back.”
#bts fanfic#yoongi fanfic#yoongi fluff#yoongi scenario#yoongi reader insert#bts scenario#bts fluff#bts reader insert#yoongi x reader#honestly this is one of my favourite drabbles out of the entire collection#I think someone else mentioned there's not enough flirty Yoongi out there#AND I AGREE#this man naturally has big dick energy and I love it lmao#jimlings#Anonymous
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Dragon Dancer II: The First Trial of Yamir
I settled on the couch eying the monitors in front of me. Caesar had everything set up, put his own headset on and took his place by my side. While he was also running logistical support for the expedition, his primary task was to keep me - the Asset - comfortable and available for work.
Johann, Lu and Nono were already down in the chasm and streaming their feed through body cameras so I could see exactly what they were seeing. It was standard operating procedure for these types of expeditions.
They stood in front of the main gate, the text I had translated written out in splendid carving underneath an arched depiction of the marine Dragon’s twisting body.
“Once we go in, there’s no coming out until the end. I hope you’re ready.” I said.
Master List
Johann Chu stepped forward, reading the text in his usual flawless pronunciation of draconic. The double leaved doors opened wide, letting them into the cavernous space. As soon as they opened, I felt a change in the atmosphere. I shuddered, a chill running up my spine. I took a cautious breath.
“The first trial is the rice field.” I said. “Can you show me the walls?”
Sure enough, all around them were stalks of grain, depictions of cranes, cats and terraced hills.
“This is where Yamir grew up.” I said.
Lu Mingfei looked around the cavern’s hieroglyphic paintings. “Is this going to be the dragon’s whole life?”
“Yes.” I answered simply.
“Keep chatter to a minimum.” Caesar growled.
“Yes, boss!”
They stopped, aiming their cameras at a giant human form ahead of them, a man, kneeling down. “What’s this?” Johann asked.
I squinted at it. “Yes, this is correct. Can you put me on speaker? Turn up the volume if you could.” I opened my mouth and began to speak the draconic as instructed by Ielia.
The millstone of life goes on moving, Yamir weeps as he is seated
Between the layers of truth and untruth, no one is spared
The millstone of life goes on moving, Yamir observes as he is seated
He who holds the anchor of His name, will always remain unhurt!
EVAs voice came through the computer. “The dragon palace mechanisms are activating and a new route has opened.”
A rumble underground shook the building. Over the speakers, the sound of a cataract as a torrent of water began to flow into the cavern.
Johann’s voice “We’re moving. The stone slab we’re on is sliding forward.”
His camera showed the statue of the man suddenly coming to life and standing up. It was about nine feet tall and bearing a large sickle but it turned its back to them and did not attack.
I kept my voice as soft as I could, mindful that deep breathing was painful, but still the twinging pain sparked in my chest.
Don’t leave me now, O Breath, I am a wanderer, a wanderer!
Still have to travel faraway lands
O the one who is asleep, awake!
Our Master has made this body like a palace,
And He played the instrument of breath within!
Our Master has made this body like a garden,
And how He's filled it with a bowl of flowers!
They were reaching the end of the passageway to another double leaved door.
“Okay… take me off speaker…” It hurt worse than I wanted to let on. I was starting to sweat from it, despite the high dose ibuprofen. “Repeat after me… all of you have to do it…”
"He who follows the truth will attain the kingdom of immortality."
The sound of their voices echoed through my headset. The power of the words made me dizzy as it was an active draconic speech, not just a pretty song. The doors lit up on the screen, bright light filling a winding pattern of vines and serpents. They opened. The team floated through them. Lu’s camera swung as he looked behind them. As soon as they were through, the doors shut and they were plunged into darkness.
“Oh no…” He whimpered.
Caesar was watching me, mindful of my deteriorating condition. “Can we break here?”
I shook my head but before I could answer, Johann spoke. “We’ve got trouble.”
Three pairs of bright red eyes blazed in the pitch black. These statues were massive, standing near twice the height of their current benevolent escort, with faces that grimaced with fangs and serpent tongues and multiple arms bearing scimitars.
Caesar’s crystal blue eyes met mine. “What do we do?”
The team all drew their weapons.
“Stop!” I shout and immediately regret it, doubling over.
The first and smaller statue lowered its sickle, then turned to look at them. It’s face was angelically calm and peaceful.
“When I say run… you have to run…” I gasp.
I stared at the screen. The smaller statue ran forward, sickle above its head. But all I could see was the image of Yamir’s father.
“Run!”
The massive statues swung their scimitars down on the sickle wielder with crushing force. Its weapon was tiny in comparison. Its gears groaned and began snapping under the pressure. Stones rained down on the crew as they sprinted through the behemoth legs towards the back of the cavern where the doors were sliding shut.
The guardian statue crumbled and the scimitar wielders were hacking it to pieces. I realized that the only reason I could see this was because someone had stopped and was watching.
“JOHANN! GO!” Caesar roared into the headset.
Why did he stop? Frozen in fear and desperation, I was silent until I saw him start to run again. The doors ahead were closing. Thankfully his body was thin enough to squeeze through the space left. The doors shut on his jacket, however.
He yanked at it while Caesar berated him. “What part of run do you not understand? Those things would have smashed you!”
Johann drew his sword and cut his jacket loose. “Sorry…” His quiet voice wasn’t as smooth as it usually was.
“Please don’t do that again…” I said, sitting up, cradling one arm around my chest. “There’s a break here. Do you see anything that looks like a fern or a bush? Go find it and wait under it.”
There was. A massive arching fern painting took over the entire wall on their right.
“Are you alright, Senpai?” Lu asked. Johann didn’t reply.
I wiped the sweat from my brow and got my glass of water.
Caesar crossed his arms, looking at the screen. Opposite the painting of the fern was the painting of a woman lying prone, eyes closed.
“Wait here…” I said. “Until it starts to rain…”
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Smart Kitchen Tools List: Every Thing You Need To Discover
When I moved in to my 1st house after college, my mother and also I made one epic vacation to Ikea to pick up life essentials. I'm discussing a bed framework, a night stand, some shelves, and also certainly, basic chef tools. And man, do I desire I had a kitchen area devices list such as this when we performed our primary tools haul!
Kitchen things is something you do not truly start to gather up until you've graduated college. Up until then, you are actually perhaps using what you took from property and also your college roomie's frying pans and containers. When you are actually eventually on your own, though, you need to start someplace, yet even the most basic checklist of kitchen fundamentals is actually still dauntingly long.
You may do a whole lot along with merely that unique kitchen appliances list, but most individuals usually tend to accumulate more than the basic minimum of equipment eventually. It goes without saying, it is actually difficult certainly not to when there are actually a wide variety of arbitrary kitchen equipments just a click away, and they're all quite alluring. Possess you been inside a Williams-Sonoma? Only the attraction of all the pasta machines as well as coffee add-ons will definitely possess you dreaming of coming to be that individual that makes lattes and spaghetti from the ground up.
As you start cooking more and more you'll discover that certain fundamental kitchen tools are actually way too fundamental for your needs. Anything that performs only something is certainly never going to cost the purchase, therefore keep your funds for something that will certainly be actually.
Considering that devoting more on the high-quality kitchen tools will certainly most certainly make your life easier. Think of for how long it needs to reduce anything with a blunt knife, as well as only exactly how frustrating that can be. Sure, it may not have actually set you back a lot loan, yet it will definitely cost you energy and time in the long run. Instead of making the same errors as I consequently numerous others have actually made, utilize this quick guide to understand what's required as well as what's not right coming from the dive.
Minimalist quality kitchen tools List
A Quality Chef's Blade
You only actually need to have ONE knife in your kitchen for cooking food which's an eight-inch chef's blade. Preferably, a pointy one that's easy to hold.
Afterwards, it's worth checking out a paring knife and also an irregular blade for basic cooking requirements in a minimal kitchen. Here's the malfunction:
A gourmet chef's knife is for many cutting and also dicing
A serrated knife is for dicing tomatoes and also bread
A paring blade is for cutting smaller sized gentle fruit and vegetables like strawberries or an apple
As long as I adore Ikea, I do not recommend their blades. They go blunt after simply a few usages, and you can discover technique better choices at a partially greater price
A Blade Sharpener
To keep your knives in leading shape, you require a knife sharpener! You simply require to utilize a whetstone enjoy this a few times per year.
A few great pots and pots of different sizes
A 3-quart pot will be actually terrific for factors like oatmeal, boiling eggs, quick sauces and also small batches of rice. The larger pot will definitely come in useful for cooking noodles, bigger parts of grains, chilis, soups, hashes and also for putting snacks! I got a 10-quart flowerpot as well as still have not utilized it, so I don't believe you require to go greater!
In regards to skillets, I suggest a 5.5 quart stainless steel pot as well as a 10-inch nonstick skillet. Possessing a quality skillet is necessary for cooking eggs, fish, tofu and also other healthy proteins-- particularly if you're a newbie. Do not invest extremely much on it considering that the finishing will not last for good.
Alternatively, definitely acquire a stainless steel pot because those can last decades. Mine is happening 5 years of ages as well as it remains in impressive form! Stainless-steel may be intimidating in the beginning, but it is essential to know just how to use as a property prepare.
A Blender or food processor with a vapor valve
Folks are actually nuts faithful to their preferred blender brands, however it truly does not matter which one you have as long as you possess one. The riverviewny benefited me for a handful of years, until I started mixturing soups.
Evaluating spoons as well as mugs
Directly, I just use determining mugs and spoons when adhering to a recipe-- an uncommon occurrence in my kitchen. Though I eyeball nearly whatever when I cook, these tools come in seriously convenient when I'm trying out a new meal and also I am actually not sure how it is actually mosting likely to try or when I am actually cooking something that's additional particular, like bread or birthday cake. As well as they're commonly fairly low-cost, therefore there's no justification certainly not to acquire all of them.
A minimal volume of preparing food tools
I recognize plastic isn't perfect, but great plastic cooking tools can easily last! They are actually simple to use as well as well-maintained as well as I adore the ones I possess. The trick is actually discovering a set that doesn't include a zillion items! I do not learn about you, yet there is actually a limit on the number of cooking utensils I can stuff in a drawer.
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Food Planning For Maximum Fat Loss In Minimum Time
Last chapter, we mentioned the "batch meal" process. This is my secret to eliminating anxiety around meals and having food ready at a moment's notice.
Here are the basics:
I'll then eat this same meal for lunch until Thursday.
Thursday night, I'll cook again to get me through the next few days.
I like Fage brand since they make plain full-fat and 2% greek yogurts. Chobani does not do this, from my knowledge.
Note: Don't buy the large containers since it's such a pain to correctly measure portion sizes. Just buy the small containers.
It's easy, it's simple, and it makes life so much easier.
Oh yeah, before I forget. Here's...
A stupid simple food prep "hack" that 90% of dieters drop the ball on, but will guarantee you perfect portion control and effortless weight loss
When you want to weigh your food into portions, how would you usually do it?
If you're like most people, you'll simply take the prepared food, put it on a bowl/plate and pop it on a scale. Subtract out (or "tare") the weight of the plate, and voila, you have the weight of your food.
Perfect, right? Wrong.
When you weigh foods (especially meat) after they're prepared, they're guaranteed to weigh less. This is due to the water weight of the food that's been lost during the cooking process.
Studies show up to 33% of weight in meats is lost after cooking.
And if you're counting your food intake based on the post-cooking, post-water-loss weight, yet comparing the serving size to the numbers on the nutrition panel, you may be understating your calorie intake.
Sure, this isn't a make-or-break thing if it's a one-off occurrence. And sure you can get by guesstimating when you buy food outside (which is rarely, I hope!)...
But anytime you cook at home, I highly suggest you weigh food before you cook.
Think of it this way...
When you're cooking up 8 oz. of boneless skinless chicken thighs (300 calories or so) with 1 tsp of coconut oil (50 calories or so) and some other spices and whatnot, you're at about 400 calories. Sounds like a decent-sized meal.
If you did this the wrong way, though, by weighing after you cooked...
Your 8 oz. of chicken would probably weigh 5 or 6 oz. at most. If you assume 6 oz. of chicken (225 calories) plus 1 tsp of oil (50 calories), you're now at 275 calories for the meal. Already off by 125 calories.
Add the fact that you're eating this same meal for 3 or 4 days, and you're already eating a cool 600 calories more than you thought for the week. Even worse, you may be making the same mistake with another meal in the day, meaning you could be off as much as 250-300 calories per day! In one week, that's 1750 calories more than you'd pictured, making weight loss much more difficult if you ask me!
This is just one of the many reasons people stick to their diets, but still, fail to see results.
It's the little things that add up and throw us off track. Don't let this happen to you.
Simply weigh your food before you cook, and you'll be much happier with how you look and progress toward your goals.
If you're making large batch meals, follow this process:
1. Weigh out the whole size of the meat beforehand (3 lbs. for example)
2. Know how big your serving size will be for each meal (8 oz. for example)
3. Diving the whole size of the meat by the serving size, to know how many portions you'll need
3 lbs = 48 oz
48 oz/8 oz per serving = 6 servings
4. After cooking your food, weigh the whole batch.
Let's say the 48 oz. become 36 oz. after cooking
5. Divide the new sizes by the # of servings, and you have the new cooked-food serving size
36 oz/6 servings = 6 oz per serving
6. Now simply weigh and pack up the food into 6 oz. servings, and enjoy!
And, while we're on the topic of sizing up our food...
If you decide to grab some fast food for a change, keep decision making and unnecessary thinking to a minimum (and fat loss to a maximum), by eating one of these:
1. Chipotle salad bowls:
a) Chicken or steak (sometimes double), black beans, lettuce, pico de gallo, hot sauce.
b) If it's a heavy workout day, I'll sometimes also have some rice and a touch of sour cream.
c) I stay away from the cheese, guac, and other condiments since they can easily throw you out of your calorie balance.
d) I've read the nutrition panel on the Chipotle site like 50 times so I know this usually runs me around 450-650 calories depending on what I add in.
2. Subway
a) The food quality here is very poor, I'll admit, but it lets me count/control my calories which is a 100% win for weight loss
b) I'm a smaller guy and generally need 1800 calories or so if I'm looking to lean up a bit.
c) So I make sure my Subway lunches are right around the 600 calorie mark, for an even split of 1800 calories into 3 meals
d) This leaves me with a simple, but favorite choice of mine:
i. Black Forest Ham & Turkey on Toasted Footlong Wheat bread, with copious amounts of spicy mustard, tons of veggies, and no cheese. Perfecto!
e) I'll add in double meat sometimes for a protein boost, but for the most part, I'll keep to a single serving (try to avoid excess intake of processed, non-organic cold cuts)
3. Otherwise, you can stick to very simple sandwiches or salads
a) For sandwiches, have some simple cold cuts like ham, turkey or roast beef and some veggies on toasted bread or a wrap.
Skip the mayo or any dressing/sauces, since they are quick calorie bombs and it's hard to know how much of said condiment is in your meal.
Mustard and/or spicy mustard is my go-to condiment
You can get a sandwich with chicken breast too, and just have Frank's Red Hot or Cholula hot sauce
Skip the cheese, especially since I've seen delis put on 4-6 slices of cheese on sandwiches way too often. Gotta make sacrifices from time to time!
b) For salads, stick to veggies, chicken, eggs, or other protein sources, anddressing on the side.
Eyeball the protein portion in the salad which usually comes out to 1-2 palm sizes (about 20-40 grams of protein, or 200-300 calories at most taking into account oils used during prep or fattier cuts of meat)
Don't get breaded chicken or other breaded products. It's extra crappy calories and it usually has trans-fat (the worst kind).
Never, NEVER have them put a dressing on for you, or you can just about guarantee missing your calorie totals.
And do not pour the whole dressing cup over your salad
Get dressing on the side, dip your fork into the dressing cup, and then take some salad onto the fork.
You'll get the same amount of taste, but your salad won't be doused in dressing and you won't be eating 600 calories of sauce.
Follow the plans above, and fat loss will be a cinch. Eat right when you can and cook batch meals as much as possible, and if all else fail, eat from one of the semi-healthy options above.
Interested in losing weight? Then click below to see the exact steps I took to lose weight and keep it off for good...
Read the previous article about "If you want maximum results in minimum time you're going to have to work out (and workout hard, at that)"
Read the next article about "How To Lose Weight Fast If You're in Chronic Pain"
Moving forward, there are several other articles/topics I'll share so you can lose weight even faster, and feel great doing it.
Below is a list of these topics and you can use this Table of Contents to jump to the part that interests you the most.
Topic 1: How I Lost 30 Pounds In 90 Days - And How You Can Too
Topic 2: How I Lost Weight By Not Following The Mainstream Media And Health Guru's Advice - Why The Health Industry Is Broken And How We Can Fix It
Topic 3: The #1 Ridiculous Diet Myth Pushed By 95% Of Doctors And "experts" That Is Keeping You From The Body Of Your Dreams
Topic 4: The Dangers of Low-Carb and Other "No Calorie Counting" Diets
Topic 5: Why Red Meat May Be Good For You And Eggs Won't Kill You
Topic 6: Two Critical Hormones That Are Quietly Making Americans Sicker and Heavier Than Ever Before
Topic 7: Everything Popular Is Wrong: The Real Key To Long-Term Weight Loss
Topic 8: Why That New Miracle Diet Isn't So Much of a Miracle After All (And Why You're Guaranteed To Hate Yourself On It Sooner or Later)
Topic 9: A Nutrition Crash Course To Build A Healthy Body and Happy Mind
Topic 10: How Much You Really Need To Eat For Steady Fat Loss (The Truth About Calories and Macronutrients)
Topic 11: The Easy Way To Determining Your Calorie Intake
Topic 12: Calculating A Weight Loss Deficit
Topic 13: How To Determine Your Optimal "Macros" (And How The Skinny On The 3-Phase Extreme Fat Loss Formula)
Topic 14: Two Dangerous "Invisible Thorn" Foods Masquerading as "Heart Healthy Super Nutrients"
Topic 15: The Truth About Whole Grains And Beans: What Traditional Cultures Know About These So-called "Healthy Foods" That Most Americans Don't
Topic 16: The Inflammation-Reducing, Immune-Fortifying Secret of All Long-Living Cultures (This 3-Step Process Can Reduce Chronic Pain and Heal Your Gut in Less Than 24 Hours)
Topic 17: The Foolproof Immune-enhancing Plan That Cleanses And Purifies Your Body, While "patching Up" Holes, Gaps, And Inefficiencies In Your Digestive System (And How To Do It Without Wasting $10+ Per "meal" On Ridiculous Juice Cleanses)
Topic 18: The Great Soy Myth (and The Truth About Soy in Eastern Asia)
Topic 19: How Chemicals In Food Make Us Fat (Plus 10 Banned Chemicals Still in the U.S. Food Supply)
Topic 20: 10 Banned Chemicals Still in the U.S. Food Supply
Topic 21: How To Protect Yourself Against Chronic Inflammation (What Time Magazine Calls A "Secret Killer")
Topic 22: The Truth About Buying Organic: Secrets The Health Food Industry Doesn't Want You To Know
Topic 23: Choosing High Quality Foods
Topic 24: A Recipe For Rapid Aging: The "Hidden" Compounds Stealing Your Youth, Minute by Minute
Topic 25: 7 Steps To Reduce AGEs and Slow Aging
Topic 26: The 10-second Trick That Can Slash Your Risk Of Cardiovascular Mortality By 37% (Most Traditional Cultures Have Done This For Centuries, But The Pharmaceutical Industry Would Be Up In Arms If More Modern-day Americans Knew About It)
Topic 27: How To Clean Up Your Liver and Vital Organs
Topic 28: The Simple Detox 'Cheat Sheet': How To Easily and Properly Cleanse, Nourish, and Rid Your Body of Dangerous Toxins (and Build a Lean Well-Oiled "Machine" in the Process)
Topic 29: How To Deal With the "Stress Hormone" Before It Deals With You
Topic 30: 7 Common Sense Ways to Have Uncommon Peace of Mind (or How To Stop Your "Stress Hormone" In Its Tracks)
Topic 31: How To Sleep Like A Baby (And Wake Up Feeling Like A Boss)
Topic 32: The 8-step Formula That Finally "fixes" Years Of Poor Sleep, Including Trouble Falling Asleep, Staying Asleep, And Waking Up Rested (If You Ever Find Yourself Hitting The Snooze Every Morning Or Dozing Off At Work, These Steps Will Change Your Life Forever)
Topic 33: For Even Better Leg Up And/or See Faster Results In Fixing Years Of Poor Sleep, Including Trouble Falling Asleep, Staying Asleep, And Waking Up Rested, Do The Following:
Topic 34: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality
Topic 35: Part 1 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality
Topic 36: Part 2 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality
Topic 37: Part 3 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality
Topic 38: Part 4 of 4: Solution To Overcoming Your Mental Barriers and Cultivating A Winner's Mentality
Topic 39: How To Beat Your Mental Roadblocks And Why It Can Be The Difference Between A Happy, Satisfying Life And A Sad, Fearful Existence (These Strategies Will Reduce Stress, Increase Productivity And Show You How To Fulfill All Your Dreams)
Topic 40: Maximum Fat Loss in Minimum Time: The Body Type Solution To Quick, Lasting Results
Topic 41: If You Want Maximum Results In Minimum Time You're Going To Have To Work Out (And Workout Hard, At That)
Topic 42: Food Planning For Maximum Fat Loss In Minimum Time
Topic 43: How To Lose Weight Fast If You're in Chronic Pain
Topic 44: Nutrition Basics for Fast Pain Relief (and Weight Loss)
Topic 45: How To Track Results (And Not Fall Into the Trap That Ruins 95% of Well-Thought Out Diets)
Topic 46: Advanced Fat Loss - Calorie Cycling, Carb Cycling and Intermittent Fasting
Topic 47: Advanced Fat Loss - Part I: Calorie Cycling
Topic 48: Advanced Fat Loss - Part II: Carb Cycling
Topic 49: Advanced Fat Loss - Part III: Intermittent Fasting
Topic 50: Putting It All Together
Learn more by visiting our website here: invigoratenow.com
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Stonesoup
Classic Weeknight Dinner: The Stir Fry
Every week the boys and I head to town on a Wednesday morning and have lunch with my Dad.
Now my Dad isn’t much of a cook so I got the surprise of my life when he asked me for my best stir fry recipe.
So I spent a good 15 minutes talking him through it.
Dad taking comprehensive notes the whole time.
And it reminded me that stir frying is the best!
It’s quick.
It only uses one pan – so the cleanup is minimal.
It’s all about simple protein and lots of veggies.
There are endless possibilities so you’ll never get tired of the same old thing.
And there seems to be some sort of stir fry magic, similar to when you make a sandwich.
No matter what you throw in, the results are either pretty good or downright delicious.
Even if you’re my Dad. Who was very happy with his efforts when I checked in the following week.
So lets delve into the world of the stir fry.
Jx
The Secret to a Tasty Stir Fry
When I was researching the art of the stir fry I came across Eleanor Hoh, self proclaimed ‘wok star’. She’s super passionate about wok cooking and her philosophy is that you don’t need a recipe to make a great stir fry.
Like making a good sandwich, the secret to a tasty stir fry is to use ingredients that work well together.
And trust your instincts.
Remember Clancy’s Law of Cooking…
‘If you think something is going to be delicious, it probably will be!’
It’s a liberating way to cook.
The other secret is you don’t need a heavy Asian sauce to make a great stir fry.
I’d always thought you needed oyster sauce or something.
But in fact, some of the best stir frys are seasoned with a simple splash of soy sauce.
Or even more radical, they skip the sauce all together.
What You Need
A Pan to Cook In
Even as a minimalist, I’m happy to make space in my kitchen for a wok. But if you aren’t ready to make that investment, a large skillet or frying pan will do.
Woks are one of the rare cases of cooking equipment where cheaper is better.
I picked up a carbon steel wok online over 6 years ago for about $15 and then seasoned it following the method over here.
Don’t even think about a ‘non stick’ wok.
Stir frying is all about using temperatures well above the recommendations of non stick pan manufacturers. You don’t want to risk that non stick surface working its way into your food.
Something to Stir With
The only other business critical piece of equipment is a stirring utensil. I use a wooden spatchula or a nylon egg flipper. The wider the better for making your stirring more effective. A large wooden spoon will work.
Super High Heat
The reason stir frying is so quick is that the thin steel heats up almost instantly. It passes on the heat from the flame directly to the food. So it’s all about your heat source.
Gas is best, especially if you’re lucky enough to have one of those double ring ‘wok’ burners.
For those of you, like me, who are stuck with electricity and love your stir frys, it’s worth investing in a portable gas burner. I keep mine outside and it doubles as a gas BBQ.
Or you could use the wok burner on your gas BBQ.
The bonus of stir frying outside is you don’t have to worry about the house smelling like a stir fry. AND it’s great in Summer when you don’t want to heat up the house.
Ingredients Chopped & Ready to Go
Usually I’m a prep-as-I-go type of cook. When it comes to stir frying, I’ve learned the hard way.
It’s much better to have everything organized before the flame touches the wok.
The cooking happens so quickly, it’s not worth having to stop mid stir fry to rush and catch up with your chopping.
OR worse still, burning your dinner because you took your eye off the wok.
How to Stir Fry
1. Prepare Your Ingredients
Chop everything into bight sized pieces. Ingredients that take longer to cook should be chopped smaller. Or make a note to add the longer cooking veg like broccoli before you add the quick cooking veg.
2. Pre-Heat your Wok so it’s Super Hot
We’re looking for fierce heat. Thin carbon steel woks heat up fast.
If you’re using a heavy cast iron wok or a skillet or frying pan, best to take the extra time to preheat properly before you add any food to the pan.
3. Add a little Oil and Stir Fry Your Aromatics & Protein
Use an oil that is suited to high temperature cooking. I prefer refined coconut oil or ghee (Indian clarified butter) but I do use my refined olive oil when I’m in a hurry. You don’t need much oil.
Traditional aromatics include ginger, garlic and chilli. Some people add these before the protein. I pop them in at the same time to make sure you don’t end up with bitterness from burnt garlic or ginger.
On the protein front, tender cuts of meat are better suited to stir frying. Slicing finely across the grain of the meat or poultry will ensure tenderness and quick cooking.
If you’re cooking for more than 2 people, best to cook in batches to makes sure there is enough heat to quickly sear the meat.
A crowded wok will end up with stewed, tough meat.
As soon as the meat looks cooked, remove it from the wok and keep warm in a clean bowl.
4. Stir Fry the Veg
Start with the longer cooking veg like carrots and broccoli. Finish with the speedier leafy veg like bok choy.
Again, depending on the amount of food you have to cook, it may be better to stir fry in batches.
5. Return the protein to the pan toss a few times over the heat
Once everything is back in the pan it’s time to season with your sauce. If you’re not sure, go with a splash of soy and remember you can always add more at the table if needed.
Serve asap.
Too easy.
18 Simple Stir Fry Recipes
NOTE: My cooking school students get links to all these recipes on the Stonesoup Virtual Cookery School website.
Broccoli & Tofu Stir Fry
Winter Veg Stir Fry
Green Curry Stir Fry
Crunchy Snow Pea & Chicken Stir Fry
My Simple Kung Pao Chicken*
Chicken & Basil Stir Fry
Chicken & Broccoli Stir Fry
Chicken & Cashew Stir Fry*
Zucchini & Chicken Pad Thai
Summer Chicken Stir Fry
Sesame Pork Stir Fry
Ginger Beef Stir Fry
Asian Beef & Cabbage
Asian ‘Spag Bol’
Beef & Broccoli Stir Fry*
Chinese Chinkiang Beef
One Pot Beef, Zucchini & Cashew Stir Fry
* marks my all-time favourite stir frys if you’re looking for a place to start.
A Stir Fry ‘Formula’
Here’s my ‘formula’ or ‘template recipe’ for a simple stir fry. I’ve included these to get your creative juices flowing.
Quick Stir Fry
per person
takes: 20 minutes
150g-200g (5-6oz) protein, finely sliced
1/2-1 tablespoon aromatics
250-300g (7-10oz) vegetables, chopped
1-3 tablespoons sauce
small handful garnish / highlight
1. Heat a wok on a fierce heat.
2. Add a little oil and stir fry the protein and aromatics until no longer pink. Remove from the heat and place in a clean bowl.
3. Add the vegetables and stir fry until they are wilted or tender – a few minutes for leafy veg like bok choy, 5 minutes or more for crunchy veg like carrots.
4. Return the aromatics and protein to the pan. Add the sauce. Stir fry for another few seconds or until everything is hot. Taste. Season.
5. Remove from the heat. Serve sprinkled with the garnish / highlight.
Protein Options
minced (ground) meat – beef, chicken, lamb, turkey, pork, veal, buffalo.
tender cuts of meat, finely sliced across the grain – steak, eye fillet of beef (fillet mignon), lamb fillet or backstraps, pork fillet, pork shoulder, chicken breast, chicken thighs.
veggie protein – tofu, cashews, almonds, setian, eggs (cook as an omelette in the base of the wok then slice and stir through at the end), cooked or canned lentils, cooked or canned beans.
Aromatic Options
– Use one or a combo of finely chopped fresh red chilli, garlic and/or ginger. Deseed the chilli if you’re sensitive to heat. OR double it if you like it hot!
Vegetable Options
fresh veg – use one or a combo of zucchini, carrots, red capsicum (red bell peppers), bok choy, choy sum, other asian greens, spinach leaves, green beans, snow peas (mange tout), shaved cabbage, broccoli, broccolini, cauliflower, sugar snap peas, fennel, witlof (belgian endive), asparagus.
cooked veg – root veg are best pre-cooked – either simmered or roasted in bight sized chunks. Try beets, parsnip, swedes, sweet potato, pumpkin.
Sauce Options
Asian Sauces – my go-to stir fry sauce is just soy or tamari (a gluten-free soy). Other times I use oyster sauce, fish sauce, hoisin sauce or sriracha (chilli sauce). Or just serve with a good drizzle of chilli oil.
Non-Asian Sauces – don’t feel like your stir fry has to have an Asian vibe. Try worcestershire sauce, ketchup, mustard, BBQ sauce or pesto. Or serve with a big dollop of mayo or miso mayo.
Garnish / Highlight Options
herby garnish / highlight – try fresh coriander (cilantro), basil, mint, parsley, oregano, chives, green onions or even thyme.
crunchy garnish / highlight – roast nuts especially cashews, peanuts or almonds, super finely sliced red onion, sesame seeds, sunflower seeds.
other garnish / highlight – sesame oil, pesto, extra chilli, chilli oil.
To Serve
My favourite is to pile it into a bowl and eat with chopsticks.
Feel free to serve with Perfect Fluffy Rice or cauliflower ‘rice’ or any noodles cooked according to the packet.
Variations
more substantial – carb-lovers – toss in some cooked noodles, lentils, chickpeas or steamed rice. And cook until hot.
more substantial – low carb – nuts are your friend here. My go-to is cashews or peanuts.
less protein – feel free to reduce the protein and increase the veggies.
Leftover Potential?
OK. But best when hot from the wok. Just keep in the fridge for up to a week or two and reheat in the wok or frying pan. You could freeze but it’s not going to help the texture.
Problem Solving Guide
tough protein – it’s super important to use a tender cut of meat, or ground meat with stir frying. Cutting the meat as thinly as possible across the ‘grain’ (or muscle fibres) makes a big difference too. Over cooked meat will be tough and dry so make sure you only cook it for long enough to change the colour. Unfortunately there isn’t really anything you can do to ‘fix’ tough meat. Another cause is if the heat isn’t hot enough or if you add too much food to the wok and it ‘stews’ or simmers rather than being seared. If you find this happening, stop and remove the food from the wok. Start again and cook the food in batches.
burning – you’re not stirring fast enough! Adding the sauce too early can cause it to burn as well.
veg too crunchy – it’s important to finely slice your veg so they cook as quickly as possible.
too bland – season with more sauce or salt & pepper.
too dry – try adding a little more oil or sauce or both.
Source: https://thestonesoup.com/blog/feed/
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5 Reasons that counting calories will make you dumb and fat
New Post has been published on https://cialiscom.org/5-reasons-that-counting-calories-will-make-you-dumb-and-fat.html
5 Reasons that counting calories will make you dumb and fat
If you’re trying to lose weight, let me guess…
Have you weighed yourself too often? Counted food calories too often? Counted exercise calories too often?
Obviously, if you burn more calories than you consume, you’ll lose weight.
But how do you do it? What healthy habits can you create to lose weight and keep it off?
A lot of weight loss programs focus on empty processes going for instant calorie deficit. You know the fatigue and epic binging that follow. The orange Cheetos stains might still be on your fingers.
You’ve always felt there should be a healthy AND satisfying way to do food and exercise, but we’ve lost it.
Until recently.
“Ancestral” diets have surfaced, as well as new exercise and lifestyle methods.
If you want to silence the calorie-counting health app on your phone, there are truly effective concepts for weight loss.
Let’s start with these five…
1. Modern wheat was invented in the 1960’s to slow starvation in third world countries. Great idea, iffy results.
Wheat, corn, and soy are out of control.
Understanding that our bodies are the same now as they were 30,000 plus years ago helps guide new research. We evolved as hunter-gatherers with wild sources of food that were scarce.
Farming started only 10,000 years ago. Yet Homo sapiens like us were thriving and evolved eons before.
The Primal Diet, Bulletproof Diet, etc. have preached omitting most grains completely. Research has shown that grain has led to modern diseases for various reasons.
Are you grain-sensitive? Meaning you’re sensitive to me telling you not to eat bread or pasta?
Grain is now 20–50% of the diet in most modern populations. If you’re not eating it directly, you’re eating animals that eat it and taking in lectins and toxins either way.
The current version of wheat grain was invented in the late 1960’s. Norman Borlaug won the Nobel Prize for the new hybrid and his production methods. They would help limit starvation.
It led to a much bigger yield and then over-consumption. Gluten is but one of the lectins in grains. Actually, “whole grains” have even more lectins than white grain products. Lectins cause auto-immune diseases and increased intestinal permeability (leaky gut.)
Lectins upset your body’s internal communications, and hormonal functions get disrupted. That makes weight management and other functions more difficult. Arthritis, Alzheimer’s, Diabetes, and autoimmune diseases are linked to the lectin situation.
Have you tried stopping all grain consumption for a bit? Also, stop the grain-fed dairy you’re consuming. Try it for a month. Switch to grass-fed butter. Eliminate milk and cheese. Double or triple your veggies (not nightshades) and add a little fruit.
Some of these “healthy whole wheat” products are packaged as low calorie, but their lectins make you fat and diseased. It’s easy to be tricked by calorie talk. Artificial sweeteners have zero calories, but study after study prove that they make you fat and diseased.
So, in case of starvation, eat wheat. Other than that, let it die on the shelf. Should take a few months.
2. I can’t get no… satiation.
Don’t you feel like food should be tasty and satisfying. Shouldn’t that lead to not overeating? Why do we want more and more? And more.
Satiety and satiation refer to nutritional signaling to the brain to give you happy satisfaction from your food choices. The signals will tell you to stop. The signaling may also say “Put the pie and the vodka down, you freak.” It depends, your signaling may be a little sassier than mine.
Satiation makes you stop eating, and satiety keeps you feeling satisfied for a while.
For the two S’s you need high-fiber foods, protein, or fat. The fiber and protein might make sense to you, but some of us still think fats are unhealthy. I get it, you’re a bad girl or boy, and you don’t want to be too good to yourself. Keep reading.
Choosing the right fats (non-toxic ones) is huge for being healthy and having satisfaction. Again, the ancestral diets have this down very well. Toxins are stored in fat and meat on animals. So, eating fat from toxic animals will transplant the toxins to you.
Guess what’s wrong with fat from healthy, pastured, grass-fed animals. Nothing.
The toxic fats will start a fat storage process in your body. These inflammatory fats have the same 9 calories per gram as healthy fats. So again, staying lean will not happen from focusing on calories.
Toxic, oxidized oils like soybean and canola will make you fat from inflammation and oxidize your cells, placing you squarely in free-radical city. Free radicals cause inflammation and disease. And they will rip your cardiovascular system to shreds.
There are truckloads of soybean oil and canola in grocery store and restaurant product. These two oils alone might make up over 30% of your total calories! That crap is in everything.
If you want to stay lean, you gotta eat your veggies and leafy greens. Veggies provide satiety from the fiber. They’re also super low-calorie if that still turns you on. The mass of fat-soluble vitamins and minerals in veggies are absorbed if eaten with fat. Plus, the fat makes a veggie portion even more satiating.
Make veggies as delicious as they’re supposed to be. Most of them need to be cooked. Season them nicely, and butter them up. Cook them slowly without killing them completely. Or make a huge salad with lots of olive oil. Remember to stay away from the nightshades with lectins. All ancestral diets will agree.
Are you feeling me yet that only focusing on the number of calories in your food is dumb at best? Satiating, non-inflammatory foods will keep your appetite and fat storage down.
Don’t delete your health app just yet. I’ll show you, it is good for something.
3. Cavemen cooking with fire is what evolved our big ole brains.
Believe it or not, modern humans didn��t evolve to our state until after we began cooking with fire.
That’s right. Our brains didn’t finish their growth past other humanoids until after cooking. The book “Catching Fire” by Richard Wrangham goes into great detail.
The caveman version of chef Gordon Ramsey was cranking up his fire pit and cursing out his entire clan even 40,000 years ago.
We couldn’t scarf enough calories to feed this big ole brain without some cooked foods. Beginning to cook and process more calories is what gave us the larger brain and also guts that were smaller than apes.
The right raw foods are awesome as well, obviously. Avocados, and salad greens come to mind. Some of the diets focusing too much on calories try to use mostly raw foods because they’re so low in calories. They ignore poisonous lectins and think that raw is natural. But cooking, which we’ve done at varying levels for 200,000 plus years is also natural.
Most fruits are going to be good in limited quantities, in season. If fruits or veggies taste good raw, they’re usually good for you raw. If not, they are probably slowly poisoning you with phytates, protease inhibitors, or lectins. Those are the protectants used by plants to slowly poison their predators. Believe it. These little green guys are trying to kill us!
Take a bell pepper for example. It doesn’t seem to taste very good raw, but you may be on the fence. That bell pepper has a lot of the poisonous demons I described. Cooking and removing skin and seeds will help, but some lectins will remain. In Italy tomatoes are deskinned and deseeded to be rid of most lectins.
Gluten is the most famous lectin, and lectins are the reason that almost any wheat, corn or soy product will be harmful with regular use. I refer to Dr. Steven Gundry’s extensive work and helpful lists when it comes to lectins. Lectins aren’t only making us fat. They’re truly killing us.
There is a long list of produce that carry the especially dangerous lectins that includes nightshade vegetables as well as squashes, legumes, cereal grains, white potatoes, soy, corn, and others. This would be why everyone is telling you sweet potatoes are okay but white potatoes are the devil. Nothing to do with calories. The lectins are in fact, the devil.
Here’s some good news while I’m ruining your day trashing all the foods you love. White rice has less lectin than brown rice, and white bread, especially sourdough, is better than whole wheat. Feel better?
4. Mitochondria are so important, humans are mating with them.
You heard me right. Two people use their DNA to mate with a third person’s healthy mitochondrial DNA. Test tube style.
A 3-parent baby. The last time this was legal in America or the EU was back in 2000 when a now 17-year-old named Alana was born.
Mitochondria are unique organelles in most of our cells. They are the power plants of the cell. Uniquely, they have their own DNA. They were originally bacteria hosted in our bodies that became part of us.
Recently, nutrition experts Dave Asprey, Mark Sisson, and Robb Wolf have told us that modern mitochondria are struggling. They need improvement for optimal energy, metabolism, and disease prevention. Food, sleep, drugs, stress, and even artificial light are harming our little partners.
Nutritional ketosis and intermittent fasting are being used by people to reprogram the DNA in mitochondria.
Imagine your mitochondria being so powerful that you can utilize 600 calories a day from compounds called ketones from the liver. That’s 600 less food calories you need for energy. That results in less oxidation, better energy, and better weight management.
With too much carbs and also frequent meals, we’ve created weak and scarce mitochondria that are not burning as much fat as they could.
That’s why everyone is talking about intermittent fasting and ketosis, two methods that build mitochondria. See my article about how I was tricked into nutritional ketosis here…
Clearly, if couples are adding a 3rd anonymous parent to the mix, there’s something to the mito-hysteria.
Would you skip breakfast or decrease carbs every now and then to boost mitochondria and become a fat burner?
It’s not about calorie counting and doesn’t require going hungry. It’s about boosting mitochondria. No need for test tube polygamy, unless you’re just into that.
5. Your prehistoric ancestors never did Pilates or circuit training.
I’m a former Certified Strength & Conditioning Specialist (CSCS.) I was a full-time strength & speed coach, mainly for a major college football program, and I’m telling you, we were not meant to exercise.
Great news, right?! Well hold up, don’t strap up your hammock yet. We respond better to lots of “physical activity” than to lots of intense “exercise.”
Physical activity as light as walking or mild yoga is awesome for us, but too much strenuous exercise can be detrimental. Walking is good for fat burning in a hormonal way, not necessarily for the calories burned.
Obviously, athletes the world over are doing frequent, intense work with great success, but they are usually in their teens and 20’s. They usually don’t have insulin resistance yet from all the carbs and protein required. They can also afford to sleep like crazy, supplement like crazy, and do any modern training methods to recover and get the job done. They’ve had hundreds more ice baths than you.
Do not train like an athlete unless someone is paying you handsomely. And get a good, guaranteed contract.
Nothing good happens in your body without hormones. Growth hormone, for example, burns fat and builds muscle. Deep sleep is a big factor in growth hormone production among other things. Many factors affect testosterone production, and it’s also a crucial hormone, and there is much more to the endocrine system than just these two.
If you’re doing things right, you aim to do the minimal effective dose to get the hormonal results you want. Too much training can stimulate the stress hormones like cortisol. That’s bad unless you like more sugar in your bloodstream. The Russians did oodles of exercise research in the 1980’s as they were going to ridiculous measures to win the Olympics. I think they won a few medals, and much research has been done since.
We’ve learned that time under tension in a weight-lifting workout drastically improves the hormonal response that will build muscle and burn fat.
The time under tension workout in Dr. Doug McGuff’s book “Body by Science” will do in 12 minutes a week what you accomplish in three 45-minute workouts. It does more actually, and yes, that’s 12 minutes per 7 days. I still do a second lifting session, with a few heavy lifts and a lot of stretching and maintenance work. Nothing intense.
I can’t believe I used to do 3–4 long lifting sessions a week for worse results. Too much lifting also got me into sleep deprivation and adrenal fatigue, which increased food cravings and fat storage.
Those McGuff workouts include all of 5 sets total, one set of each exercise. Each set is about 5 super slow reps(about 10 sec up/10sec down) with the set lasting 90 seconds to 2 minutes. You get to failure on each set with very little time between sets. Believe me 90 seconds is an absolute eternity, much less 5 of those back to back. Go for it, you’ll see.
The hormonal response to this workout is off the charts for muscle maintenance or growth as well as fat burning and a cellular aerobic benefit.
Raise your hand if you’ve had a trainer, or a machine, or a phone app telling you how many calories you’ve burned. Let’s say it’s 600 calories over forty minutes that your trainer jumped, twisted, rolled, punched, and lunged out of you.
A long, intense workout like that will cause a need for extra food calories that surpasses the calories burned in the workout. So, you went backwards. There’s no way to green smoothie your way out of it either. The craving for extra calories is now there. Better make sure it’s the type of workout that gives you massive hormonal benefit.
Keep it short, very intense, and infrequent versus long, torturous, and often.
And what about that extra sleep the long workouts cause a need for? Yes, that’s a thing. Do you have 9 hours of sleep in your time budget? You’ll cause a need for 8 or 9 hours with the long workouts but probably only get your normal 6 or 7. Now you’re sleep deprived. Here come the extra food cravings and insulin resistance.
One or two short, intense lifting workouts a week with one or two 10 to 20-minute, high intensity interval runs would be ideal for most of us.
Fitness Master Thomas Delauer
I also recommend light jogging or something in the morning on an empty stomach. Keep it around 120–140 bpm depending on age and go 15–40 minutes. Very effective fat burner and toxin mobilizer, and it’s very mild. You should be able to have a conversation. It’s not the long tortuous, detrimental workout I described earlier. Thomas Delauer agrees.
Strenuous activities for extended periods every couple of weeks are great. Maybe a 1–3 hour mountain biking trek or random adventure. The rest of the time, lots of general physical activity like walking will be better for you. And that’s where your phone’s health app comes in. The step counter or mile counter will let you know you’re being a Home sapiens and moving around enough. Health apps have some very smart features, but too much focus on calories does more harm than good.
As a hunter-gatherer you didn’t have to chase down a bison 5 times a week. We walked a lot, climbed, carried stuff, slept a lot, and we did some intense activity every now and then. Your hormones respond well to that life with movement. It’s not about the calories in or out.
“Make your long, easy workouts longer and easier, and make your short, intense workouts even shorter and more intense.” -ancestral living guru Dr. Mark Sisson
https://www.marksdailyapple.com/introducing-the-new-primal-blueprint/
If you are here, and you are… then you were meant to really punch it every now and then to survive something serious. As a hunter-gatherer, if you didn’t go with max intensity when it counted, well that genetic version was eaten by a tiger. Or evaded by the bison you were hunting and starved. That version of us was naturally deselected out, plucked out of history. Those genes are gone from us.
So, keep that in mind when doing the “Body by Science” workout and getting to failure on each set. Your genes are made for it. Consult your physician first.
Make America Human Again
Things as holistic as nutrition or exercise are tricky to optimize. Our bodies, stresses, relationships, mentality, and proximity to Whole Foods Market are ever-changing.
You want to find simplicity, but you need to learn some sound concepts and see if you can execute them with satisfaction.
Focusing on an instant net calorie deficit is far too simplistic and not truly satisfying or effective long term.
Imagine that caveman version of yourself again. Add a smartphone and some clothes, but everything else about your vision is Paleolithic.
What preserved, boxed foods are around? Where are all the caged chickens cooped up? All the antibiotic-laced, GMO-fed livestock? Where are all the refined carbs? Or the year-round fruit? Where are the three meals a day? Where’s the office chair and the car? Where’s the 5 days a week at the gym?
Recently, we have tested some sound ancestral concepts with modern, tech-savvy methods. You can even keep more than just your phone and clothes, and you can still hit the gym.
Join millions of people who are using science and anthropology to pioneer their way to health and satisfaction. You’ll really enjoy being a human for a change.
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TEMPEH
HOW TO MAKE TEMPEH – EASY METHOD
Ingredients
2 cups [400g] dried soybeans (or 5 cups [900g] cooked soybeans)
4 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
3/4 teaspoon rhizopus mould (tempeh starter)
Directions
Soak the beans overnight or for at least 8 hours. Then drain the water. (You may keep this water and feed it to the plants).
Rinse the beans a couple of times with fresh water then place them in a large pot and fill with fresh water to cover them so that the water level comes to about an inch above the beans.
Cover and cook on medium heat.
Keep an eye on the pot and if the water starts to boil over, place the lid at a slight angle to let more of the steam escape. Then lower the heat. Once the excess steam has gone down, you can cover the pot again.
Check for the water level every now and then. Check the beans for doneness as from 30 minutes. Add more water if needed to cook the beans for longer. Soybeans may take from 30 minutes to one hour to cook.
Cook the beans until they are almost done or to about 80% done. Then add in the vinegar. Continue to cook the beans until they are soft but not mushy.
Once the beans are cooked, drain almost all of the water.
Once drained, return the beans onto the heat and evaporate the remaining liquid from the pot. Make sure not to dry out the beans but all the liquid should be gone.
Allow the beans to cool to about 35°Celsius (or 95°Fahrenheit).
Then add the rhizopus mould to the beans and mix well.
If using a zip lock bag:
Perforate the bag at one inch interval all over. Divide the beans in the portion size that you wish and fill them into perforated plastic zip lock bags. Close the bag and fold if necessary to reduce the size so that you get a nice thickness for the beans. Distribute the beans evenly.
If using banana leaves:
Cut the leaf to the required size (note: leave the stem of the leaf attach; this will prevent the leaf from being torn). Place a portion of beans on the leaf and fold the ends over to enclose them. Secure with a toothpick.
Place the bags or wrapped leaves in between two chopping board and keep in a warm place. You may place them in an incubator or in the oven with only the lights turn on for 12 hours.
After 12 hours, remove from the incubator or oven and keep in a warm place for the rest of the fermentation.
If using a glass or ceramic dish:
Get the dish and a large plastic box ready.
Place the beans in the dish and level them out. Place the dish uncovered inside the plastic box and keep closed in a warm place for 36 – 48 hours.
After 36 to 48 hours (in either of these methods), the spores should be fully grown and the tempeh is ready. Cut and divide into smaller portions if you wish for storage.
Tempeh will keep for a week in the refrigerator or for several months in the freezer. I freeze mine for up to 6 months.
Tempeh has to be properly cooked before consuming. It can be steamed or boiled, marinated and pan fried or used according to your favourite recipes.
Observações
Tempeh is one of the most rewarding things to make at home. I can truly say this now after several years of regularly making it. The initial method that I used, which I blogged about in 2012, were the directions from the shop where I get the rhizopus mould or tempeh starter from. Over the years, through the experience that I have gained, I have been able to improve the process into a much less laborious one with equally satisfying results.
First thing is to get good quality organic and non-gmo soybeans. I buy mine in bulk at the health store. You can also get them online if it makes life easier. Good quality soybeans not only means it is better for your body but it also cooks better and tastes more creamy.
HERE ARE THE THINGS THAT I DO DIFFERENTLY NOW:
No dehulling of the soybeans.
If you don’t have a grain mill, after soaking the whole beans overnight, the original method instructs to dehull the beans by hand.
This is done by massaging them into the water until the hulls would float up. Then pour them out and keep doing this until most of the beans are dehulled. But this is very time consuming and as it turns out, a rather unnecessary process as I’ve made successful tempeh even without dehulling the beans.
In fact, what I have noticed is that the dehulled beans take a whole lot longer to boil and they do not become as soft and smooth as when they are boiled with their hulls on.
Cooking the beans to be how you like them.
I like to cook the beans until they are soft but not mushy. The previous instructions I used to follow would get the beans to remain at a crunchy consistency. I figured since I am making my own tempeh, I might as well make it the way I like it. So, I cook the beans to the softness that I would usually consume them. This results in a smooth and creamy texture; something that you will not get with store-bought tempeh.
Adding vinegar at the last stage of cooking.
When vinegar is added at the beginning, I’ve noticed that the beans take far longer to cook. The acidity considerably slows down the cooking process. I guess if you are using a pressure cooker, you can add the vinegar right at the start. But if you are using a pot like I do, then I find it to be a lot more efficient to only add the vinegar at the last stage of cooking.
Not adding the vinegar at the start does result in a slightly different tasting tempeh. The fermented taste is less pronounced but I do not mind this at all as once the tempeh is seasoned and cooked, this is barely noticeable.
The vinegar is needed to provide a slightly acidic environment that favours the growth of the mould. It also adds to the characteristic nutty mushroom flavour of the resulting tempeh.
WHERE TO BUY THE RHIZOPUS MOULD?
I really recommend buying the mould from here. This is from where I buy mine and I have always gotten excellent white tempeh with no black spots. They ship internationally. Else you can also find it on Amazon for Canada and the US. If you plan on making soy-free tempeh, you may want to get the soy-free starter in Canada from here and the US from here.
TIPS
Feed the bean soaking water to the plants.
Keep this water that the beans have been soaking in overnight and feed it to the plants. This water is not good for us but it’s a good source of nutrients for the plants. This is better used for outdoor plants rather than indoor ones as the liquid might smell after a day or so.
Alternative to plastic bags for the fermentation process.
I have been using plastic zip lock bags that I usually perforate at about an inch interval all over the bag with a bamboo or metal skewer.
However, I can now find frozen banana leaves at my local Asian store. So, they make a great alternative to using plastic. Banana leaves are porous and do not need any perforations.
What I have also found to work is to just place the beans in a glass or ceramic dish. Then place the dish uncovered in a closed large box. I have one of those cake boxes with a lid that seem to work great for that purpose. Otherwise, you can just use any large plastic box. You need to keep the lid on though except when you are checking on the tempeh. The spores tend to go a little out of control with this method though. Also, the resulting tempeh is a little less compact and drier than when using a bag or wrapped leaf. But the tempeh cake still holds together well. Make sure to thoroughly wash the box afterward to clean it of all remaining spores.
Alternative to using an incubator.
I have actually never used an incubator when making tempeh. I either leave the bags or wrapped leaf sandwiched between two board close to a radiator or I keep them in the oven with only the light turn on for about 12 hours. After 12 hours, the beans should start to generate their own heat from the fermentation. Then, they can be removed and placed outside in a warm place. You can cover the boards with a tea towel.
MAKING TEMPEH WITH OTHER BEANS, LEGUMES OR GRAINS
Apart from soybeans, tempeh can also be made with other beans, legumes, grains, or a mixture of these along with some seeds added in for extra nutrients, taste and texture.
If you make soymilk or tofu at home, a good way to use up the okara, that is the leftover soy pulp, is to make tempeh with it. This works out to be very economical. In fact, this is how tempeh was discovered in Java, Indonesia, during the production of tofu. The discarded soybean pulp caught the spores and grew around the pulp. It was found to be edible and tempeh was born.
Okara Tempeh
If using okara, you would just add a quarter of the amount of vinegar to the pulp and warm it up to about 35°Celsius (or 95°Fahrenheit). Then mix in the mould and proceed as for the rest of the recipe.
Chickpeas along with lentils and other legumes make great soy-free options for tempeh. The procedure is pretty much the same for these.
Other variations that I have not personally tried make us of seeds like sunflower or sesame seeds (to which I am allergic) and rice combined with the soybeans. Apparently, adding brown rice with the soybeans, produces a somewhat alcoholic tempeh from the fermentation. I haven’t given this a try; I am not sure about a boozy tempeh! But some might like it. If you have attempted the mixed rice tempeh, I would love to know what you thought of the taste.
NUTRITIONAL BENEFITS OF TEMPEH
Apart from protein and fibre present in soybeans, tempeh offers a much more nutritious and digestible way to eat soy if you are not intolerant or allergic. The fermentation process reduces the phytic acid in the soy and this allows the body to better absorb the minerals. The gas causing substances are also considerably reduced by the rhizopus mould.
There may also be some vitamin B12 present in tempeh (according to Wikipedia), although it is quite hard to determine the quantity as this greatly vary with the starter culture itself and the environment. Overall, tempeh offers a much more nutritious and digestible way to eat soy.
Recipes using tempeh from the blog:
Tempeh Sushi
Low Calorie Shirataki Spaghetti Stir fried with Vegetables & Tempeh
https://veganlovlie.com/how-to-make-tempeh-easy-method/
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Written by R. Ann Parris on The Prepper Journal.
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For a lot of us, companion animals are as much family as the people we don’t really want to see even on the holidays. For some of us, they are working partners, part of our mental well-being, and our therapy all rolled into one. While most of our companion animals are going to be cats and dogs, there are also birds, pigs, goats and even horses that fit the bill of a pet as opposed to solely being livestock. Livestock or pets, we took responsibility for a feeling creature’s life, and we owe it to them to take care of them.
That means adding to the long lists of things we need to do, buy and plan for should our worlds fall apart on either a small-scale or a large-scale.
I’ll mostly focus on the cats and dogs, but a lot will apply to anything, from ferrets to pot-bellied pigs.
Water for Mr. Whiskers
Just like people need food and water, so do our animals. Ferret to bunny, pony to puppy, if the animals dehydrate, we’re in a world of hurt.
Water is going to really be a biggie should the world or nation ever collapse. Try to monitor the water use in winter and in summer, or in high-activity seasons, so we keep at least a week or so on hand for them (ideally more).
With animals, we also have to remember that a lot of them pant. Whether it’s a stress action or cooling action, panting will dry them out and we’ll need to allot extra water for them.
It may be possible to do sub-cutaneous fluids for even very small livestock if it becomes necessary, but ideally, it’s not necessary. In an emergency, we’ll have to monitor our animals just like we do small children and seniors.
Bathing animals may take an even lower priority, but in that case, we may need to come up with a smell and-or pest plan.
Commercially Available Long-Storage Foods
Food might be simple, or it might be more complicated.
There are “normal” commercially available freeze-dried pet foods. There is no way I’d buy them. I’d be totally broke and then my beloved fur-balls would be in a shelter anyway.
There are long-term storage foods available in buckets. The Ready Store sells one, and MayDay makes another. One of the wholesale bulk warehouse stores sells a bucket of food for cats or dogs as well.
I consider them about on par with Ol’ Roy, on top of being expensive. I do have a couple of buckets of cat food (I really think they came from Costco) but I have every intention of using a Pearson Square to make it part of the protein component and it’s mostly there for helping to clean their teeth.
MRE Depot sells doggy biscuit treats and at one point sold those “quart” #2.5 cans of dog and cat food. However, MRE Depot tends to … think very highly of their products, and I have dogs who consider those single-serving cans.
Plus, again, this is not Blue Buffalo or Nutrish level dining here.
Therefore, I tend to avoid the commercial long-storage options. I either repackage, or I create “normal” food storage for my furry friends.
Repacking for Rufus & Rex
I pack Milky Bones and Alpo squares in mylar and oxygen absorbers, and in canning jars with oxygen absorbers. I keep in several bags of food that get rotated, even with the oil-rancidity risks of our hot Southern summers. (Wowser article that I ignore)
I have tried to repackage bagged pet food in Mylar with oxygen absorbers, but it tends to barely extend the life by 2-4 months – which is not overly worth it to me. In cooler climates, with fewer or smaller animals, it might be worth it to be able to open smaller increments.
Stocking Up for Socks & Spot
I could just buy cans of cat and dog food, but we rarely feed it. That means whole stacks of flats end up donated on a regular basis as it comes time to rotate, and the deductible barely dents replacement costs every year.
While I don’t mind giving some extra love to unwanted shelter animals, I need to be able to take care of mine.
Years ago when imported foods started making animals sick, I started making homemade food. There are a million and five recipes available, with the best options very home and animal-specific.
We had incredible results from it. The older dogs perked up, leaned down, tightened up, and played more. Periodic tummy sensitivities and Gassy Gus went away almost overnight. Attention, retention, and stamina went through the roof.
I no longer make all of our pet feed, but I do still make a portion of it and I tend to make extras of certain foods to add to the scraps our animals get.
For us, a casserole or soup worked best. I make up enormous kettles in one go, freeze a portion, and pull out three days’ worth at a time to defrost. It’s then as easy as scooping.
For an emergency, it won’t be quiet that easy, since I won’t have fridge and freezer space for the pets’ foods, but I will still be making them basically human foods.
Storage Foods for Pets
Powdered Eggs make up the backbone of the protein and fats that are stored for the dogs and cats. Commercially, they’re available as whole eggs or scrambled egg mix. They can also be dehydrated at home if inclined.
Oatmeal, barley, brown rice & white rice are my go-to feeds for the dogs, both in daily life and in the stored foods. The oatmeal especially is cheap, fast, and easy. The grains make for a decent calorie base and belly filler for dogs and rodents.
Potatoes are stocked for both the cats and the dogs, home-dehydrated as well as commercial buckets and #10 cans of slices, dices and grated shreds. I even can baked potato skins, although the cats won’t touch those. They’re full of good nutrients for the dogs.
Apples, Carrots & Sweet Potatoes are present for the cats and dogs, with the dogs a little heavier than the cats on the apples and sweet potatoes or sweet African yams. Again, I can dehydrate them at home, or buy them in affordable bulk to repackage or already set in cans and buckets. The veggies give the animals much-needed vitamins, just as they do us.
Peas are no longer part of my animal-diet plan. Some dogs handle them, some don’t. There are enough other options, I tend to just skip them now, but for years I included them.
Berries are fine for cats and dogs most of the time, but they tend to be expensive and human favorites so with the exception of copiously producing cranberry-equivalent bushes, I don’t allot many to the animals. Cats and dogs are less likely to eat the bitter berries than birds or ferrets.
Greens are dehydrated, purchased dehydrated, and grown in tin soup cans, small Dollar Tree cubes and planters, and outside. They’re also foraged wild. While the animals may not be super wild about them, and the greens should represent a smaller proportion of feed than even something like apples or carrots, they are another one that is stacked-legit with nutrients – especially the nutrients we’ll find lacking in lean animals and winter.
Boiled with something meaty or flat-fried or baked-and-chipped eggs, our cats, dogs, rats, and ferrets will dive on greens just as fast as they will a chunk of salmon jerky or broth from meat trimmings.
Milk gets stored as a calcium source and calorie boost. My animals handle whey milk and soy milk without any problems, so I can buy whatever’s cheapest at the time. Previous animals have handled raw milk and goat milk even if pasteurized was off the table.
Most long-storage milk is fat-free, so I have to be aware and get their fats in from something else.
When’s lunch?
Fish is a major part of my dogs’ and cats’ long-term food storage plan. For a few dollars a year, I can spend days in the sun collecting dozens and hundreds of pounds of feed for them. Skins and some of the organs we don’t even want help boost proteins and oils for the animals.
Especially important with cats, pressure canning or drying fish for storage creates something I can open or soak-and-simmer to create an enticing scent. If cats can’t smell food, they won’t eat.
Without a fishing license or with prohibitive keeper restrictions, tuna in oil and then tuna in water (which will last longer) can make somewhat less-expensive food-flavoring options. There are places that sell cod, shrimp, and salmon, but it tends to be freeze-dried and pretty pricey.
Repacking well-dried jerky-like treats to extend the storage life might be another option to consider to induce kitties to eat.
Peanut Butter Powder is also in my storage for the animals, but it’s there mainly to make them homemade doggy “biscotti” biscuits that will give them something to gnaw and help keep their teeth in better shape.
Wheat & corn are in my storage, but not for my animals. A lot of dogs and cats don’t actually process much corn, and some are sensitive to wheat. With potatoes, rice, and oats inexpensive and compact, I can easily avoid having wheat and corn be their base calories.
Transitioning Foods
Pets or people, we’ll want to plan transitions between foods – almost always. While some animals don’t need it, even transitions between types of kibble or canned foods should be done slowly.
You replace 1/10 to 1/4 the feed for 2-5 days, then another 1/10 or 1/4. If an emergency requires it, you can go ahead and skip to 50-50 blends or 70-30 new-old blends.
My preference is to have dry food as a finisher or by itself at least several times weekly, because it really is better on their teeth. When we transition to smokes and raw bones, we use a step process as well.
It’s my personal belief that because my animals do get scraps and leftovers, and do get trimmings and bones stewed for them, their guts stay ready to process more foods. Skipping a meal or a few days of their usual feeds doesn’t bother my animals’ stomachs at all.
Just like people, animals vary widely, so consult a vet and add those transitions slowly.
Goodies for Evac Kits
Red Cross and FEMA sites are happy to list out supplies to consider for our animals. Whether we’re evac’ing alone, with a cat, or with a trailer of six crated dogs, two goats and three horses, there are some goodies we might want to add to make everybody more comfortable, both during the trip and after.
Portable, battery-operated fans (blow into crates)
Misting systems/bottles
Umbrellas, portable pavilions (shade, rain coverage)
Animal entertainment
Spare towels
Tarps
Treats (even hooved livestock like treats, such as applesauce or sweet pellets)
Hoods
Fly screen/fly hoods/mesh, and-or tiki torches or various Off fan types (flies and mosquitoes are bears)
Pool mattresses (elevated bedding)
Nail trimmers & file (to save the air mattresses)
Garbage bags, kitty litter, shovels (waste cleanup)
Medications
Remember that cats, especially, can’t take a lot of human or dog medications. Those need to be sourced and stocked separately. There are, however, a lot of overlaps between species, fish to humans, pigs to dogs.
We have to research any meds our animals are on or can be anticipated to be on, just like with humans. Contraindication can delay recovery and set animals back if we combine the wrong things, or push them at the wrong intervals. Just like human meds, we’ll want to stock up on prescriptions and OTC drugs our animals have used in the past, or that we can anticipated them needing in the future.
Flea and tick preventatives, dewormers, heartworm preventative, mange washes, lice and flea dips, and ear cleaners are just a few of the things we might consider stocking up on.
Prepping for Furry Friends
There’s a lot to think about with our family disaster plans, big and small. Figuring out how we’re going to take care of our critters – pets or livestock or working animals – just adds to the headache. The moisture content in animal feeds and the expense of some types of feeds can make it seem impossible at first, but with some twitches, we can use standard, inexpensive storage foods to keep the animals fat and happy. There are also things like a water plan and sport umbrellas or mesh screens that will not only make us and animals happier, they can help reduce diseases, illness and heat stroke. It takes a little forethought, be we can absolutely prepare to keep our animals in personal crises or nation-altering events.
The post Prepping for Our Furry Friends – Stuff for Spot appeared first on The Prepper Journal.
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