Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Sunday, October 17, 2010
making spam musubi in a spam can...
i love spam musubi... but you know you can't always find the square mold at your nearest supermarket or even asian stores. well while i was in colorado a few years ago i had this idea about putting it together in the can itself. i'm sure someone else must have thought the same thing... but i decided to put together a photo tutorial for how its done.
best thing to do is to make sure the rice and spam is cooked and cooled or your seaweed will get soggy and hard to handle. also i found that cutting the seaweed sheet in half vertically made it the perfect size to fit in the can. i'll add more tips later because i'm gonna have to make 2 dozen or so of these this weekend for a halloween trunk or treat :D
best thing to do is to make sure the rice and spam is cooked and cooled or your seaweed will get soggy and hard to handle. also i found that cutting the seaweed sheet in half vertically made it the perfect size to fit in the can. i'll add more tips later because i'm gonna have to make 2 dozen or so of these this weekend for a halloween trunk or treat :D
my teriyaki sauce recipe (before i forget)
i tweaked the recipe i found online and here it is.
1 part soy sauce
2 parts water
2 parts mirin (rice wine, but can substitute brown sugar)
grated ginger (to taste)
grated garlic (to taste)
most american teriyaki sauce is sweeter so you may want to add more brown sugar.
add ingredients to a sauce pan... bring to a boil and lower the heat to simmer until the flavor you like. if too runny you can thicken it with corn starch. you can also use powdered garlic and ginger but i like to use the real thing.
1 part soy sauce
2 parts water
2 parts mirin (rice wine, but can substitute brown sugar)
grated ginger (to taste)
grated garlic (to taste)
most american teriyaki sauce is sweeter so you may want to add more brown sugar.
add ingredients to a sauce pan... bring to a boil and lower the heat to simmer until the flavor you like. if too runny you can thicken it with corn starch. you can also use powdered garlic and ginger but i like to use the real thing.
Sunday, October 10, 2010
parenting eats.
when you are parenting eats are a big deal. not only are you nourishing your child, but aiding in their development. i must admit, what i am going to feed my child? was a more stressing dilemma than whether or not i was going to cloth diaper or extend breastfeed. i didn't really expect that at all! there was a time when i thought that my child will only be eating local organic produce and non processed foods. of course it was only because wanted the best for my child. as i got in to the swing of things i realized that this was going to be no easy task... i stressed out over every choice i made
i think a lot of people forget that there is a psychological aspect to food also, to the parents and child. not only is this affecting the child, but the parents also. feeling guilt for not being able to give your child the best, stress to find the healthiest meals, alternatives to ordinary meals, finding time to cook a good well rounded meal, the list can go on and on! i was glad that attachment parenting touched on this because i don't think that a lot of parenting philosophies do. when i was working at the day care, i was still in that 'clean your plate' mentality. my boss would make children sit until they finished at least a bite of everything and i thought that was the best thing to go for a child. when i read about the AP principle of feeding with love and respect my eyes opened up. i thought, it doesn't HAVE to be that way. just like cosleeping, there had to be a way where i could let my son eat without having to make whirly noises, shove yucky wallpaper paste down jake's throat while making choo choo train out of a spoon while paul laughed and took silly pictures that we would hang on the mantle for his future girlfriend to see.
the more i read and researched i thought more about respecting all aspects of food, the good, bad, and the ugly. by withdrawing some types of food because of their tastes (such as sweets) i realized i maybe skipping the lesson in 'everything in moderation', putting sweets in a sort of pedestal that could control his eating habits. so by researching further - i decided to baby led wean my son. i don't know if that's the reason why but he loves food and treats food with respect. i don't really keep him away from sweets, at the same time i make sure all sorts of foods are available. i am amazed by the fact that he balances all these things at 18 months. he doesn't beg for a certain food because he knows it will be available to him at a later time. he could be eating a marshmallow, and the next minute a tomato, then some broccoli, then some cereal. to him its all the same, the marshmallow doesn't have any significance as a 'sweet' food or a reward... its just food and has a squishy texture.
i hope he continues to have this respect for all things food, salty, sweet, sour, and even the yucky. what adventure in food will we encounter next?
i think a lot of people forget that there is a psychological aspect to food also, to the parents and child. not only is this affecting the child, but the parents also. feeling guilt for not being able to give your child the best, stress to find the healthiest meals, alternatives to ordinary meals, finding time to cook a good well rounded meal, the list can go on and on! i was glad that attachment parenting touched on this because i don't think that a lot of parenting philosophies do. when i was working at the day care, i was still in that 'clean your plate' mentality. my boss would make children sit until they finished at least a bite of everything and i thought that was the best thing to go for a child. when i read about the AP principle of feeding with love and respect my eyes opened up. i thought, it doesn't HAVE to be that way. just like cosleeping, there had to be a way where i could let my son eat without having to make whirly noises, shove yucky wallpaper paste down jake's throat while making choo choo train out of a spoon while paul laughed and took silly pictures that we would hang on the mantle for his future girlfriend to see.
the more i read and researched i thought more about respecting all aspects of food, the good, bad, and the ugly. by withdrawing some types of food because of their tastes (such as sweets) i realized i maybe skipping the lesson in 'everything in moderation', putting sweets in a sort of pedestal that could control his eating habits. so by researching further - i decided to baby led wean my son. i don't know if that's the reason why but he loves food and treats food with respect. i don't really keep him away from sweets, at the same time i make sure all sorts of foods are available. i am amazed by the fact that he balances all these things at 18 months. he doesn't beg for a certain food because he knows it will be available to him at a later time. he could be eating a marshmallow, and the next minute a tomato, then some broccoli, then some cereal. to him its all the same, the marshmallow doesn't have any significance as a 'sweet' food or a reward... its just food and has a squishy texture.
i hope he continues to have this respect for all things food, salty, sweet, sour, and even the yucky. what adventure in food will we encounter next?
Friday, October 8, 2010
stew
i had the most awesome stew for dinner, lunch, and lunch again. i almost burnt it but my husband saved it. it had peas, corn, potatoes, onion, and beef. it was cooked just right that the potato starch had melted in the stew to make it just the perfect consistency. oh! its was so good!
it was definitely one of those meals that i wish i had company to share it with on a cold, dreary, rainy day, but fuck that! then i wouldn't have enough for 3 days worth of meals.
sorry ladies and gents!
it was definitely one of those meals that i wish i had company to share it with on a cold, dreary, rainy day, but fuck that! then i wouldn't have enough for 3 days worth of meals.
sorry ladies and gents!
guilty.
i need to post a pic of jake in the costume, but i've been lazy. i have 1 more bootie to finish that has been sitting on my crafting table the last 3 days.
october is adpot a shelter dog month.
in honor of adopt a shelter dog month, i would like to share the story of our beloved shelter dog mutt, katie.
we had been looking for a dog all over the place, even driving to the shelters in teller county, castle rock, and denver.
but i saw her miserable face at the window at the colorado springs humane society and instantly fell in love.
she came with a rap sheet of sorts, digs, barks, chews, leery of adults, leery of kids, leery of other dogs, the whole list of what made her one of the 'bad dogs'. i was leery of this dog but i still had to see her.
we went in to the meeting room with a handler and right away she begged paul to pet her. she was smart, nuzzled the handler's pocket for some milkbones. then she came to ask me for some pets. i did not want a problem dog, but i was in love.
i asked paul again and again if she was the dog. he said, if you want her lets take her home. i asked, you sure? yes. she came home with us that day.
the first few weeks were tough. she is half blueheeler and half australian shepherd. aussie shepherds are fiercely loyal dogs. they are called velcro dogs for 'sticking' to a person, needing constant companionship. being dropped off at the shelter, she was immensely stressed. she didn't pee or poop for 4~5 days straight until she couldn't hold it anymore and would proceed to pee and poop on the linoleum and freak out. we desperately tried to teach her what is 'right'. after the poor dog had done that twice i took a pee soaked paper towel outside where i let her smell it. it worked! that was the last time she ever peed in the house (well, poo wise she had gotten sick a couple times and pooped on the floor but that's not her fault at all).
as for the chewing i found out that her previous owners had punished her severely for chewing stuff, at the same time she was teething! i had to 'reteach' her what are the right things to chew and what not to chew. she even got that more teeth at 11 months (most dogs get their permanent teeth at 4~6 months).
we trained her the ceaser way and she flourished. she is SO smart. she is completely submissive and knows we're the boss. we don't have any problems with her whatsoever.
later i asked him, why? why did you let me adopt this best 'bad dog' in the world? paul remembered what her rap sheet had said. leery of adults? she came right away and begged him to pet her. barks at strangers? she did no such thing to us. paul deduced that there must have been something wrong with the owner to promote such behavior in katie, for in that meeting room she had shown that it wasn't her innate personality.
because of my husband's insight we have the best dog in the world. she lifted me up while i was depressed (she was the only reason i would get dressed to go outside - to walk her). she has survived about 10000 miles worth of traveling by car (colorado to los angeles like 4 times and from colorado to north carolina), she is a great working dog (i've taken her sheep herding - the instinct is really strong in her), great at dog parks (leery of adults, kids and other dogs?), and a great companion to... our cat (i would never have guessed - they miss each other dearly when one is missing. one time kat got out and we caught katie howling when we left her by herself :( at the same time kat meows sadly when we take katie on walks and leave her at home. haha), a great companion to our family.
i LOVE LOVE LOVE my shelter mutt!
we had been looking for a dog all over the place, even driving to the shelters in teller county, castle rock, and denver.
but i saw her miserable face at the window at the colorado springs humane society and instantly fell in love.
she came with a rap sheet of sorts, digs, barks, chews, leery of adults, leery of kids, leery of other dogs, the whole list of what made her one of the 'bad dogs'. i was leery of this dog but i still had to see her.
we went in to the meeting room with a handler and right away she begged paul to pet her. she was smart, nuzzled the handler's pocket for some milkbones. then she came to ask me for some pets. i did not want a problem dog, but i was in love.
i asked paul again and again if she was the dog. he said, if you want her lets take her home. i asked, you sure? yes. she came home with us that day.
the first few weeks were tough. she is half blueheeler and half australian shepherd. aussie shepherds are fiercely loyal dogs. they are called velcro dogs for 'sticking' to a person, needing constant companionship. being dropped off at the shelter, she was immensely stressed. she didn't pee or poop for 4~5 days straight until she couldn't hold it anymore and would proceed to pee and poop on the linoleum and freak out. we desperately tried to teach her what is 'right'. after the poor dog had done that twice i took a pee soaked paper towel outside where i let her smell it. it worked! that was the last time she ever peed in the house (well, poo wise she had gotten sick a couple times and pooped on the floor but that's not her fault at all).
as for the chewing i found out that her previous owners had punished her severely for chewing stuff, at the same time she was teething! i had to 'reteach' her what are the right things to chew and what not to chew. she even got that more teeth at 11 months (most dogs get their permanent teeth at 4~6 months).
we trained her the ceaser way and she flourished. she is SO smart. she is completely submissive and knows we're the boss. we don't have any problems with her whatsoever.
later i asked him, why? why did you let me adopt this best 'bad dog' in the world? paul remembered what her rap sheet had said. leery of adults? she came right away and begged him to pet her. barks at strangers? she did no such thing to us. paul deduced that there must have been something wrong with the owner to promote such behavior in katie, for in that meeting room she had shown that it wasn't her innate personality.
because of my husband's insight we have the best dog in the world. she lifted me up while i was depressed (she was the only reason i would get dressed to go outside - to walk her). she has survived about 10000 miles worth of traveling by car (colorado to los angeles like 4 times and from colorado to north carolina), she is a great working dog (i've taken her sheep herding - the instinct is really strong in her), great at dog parks (leery of adults, kids and other dogs?), and a great companion to... our cat (i would never have guessed - they miss each other dearly when one is missing. one time kat got out and we caught katie howling when we left her by herself :( at the same time kat meows sadly when we take katie on walks and leave her at home. haha), a great companion to our family.
i LOVE LOVE LOVE my shelter mutt!
Thursday, October 7, 2010
interesting article on 'ancient parenting'
this is from notredame university.
http://newsinfo.nd.edu/news/16829-research-shows-child-rearing-practices-of-distant-ancestors-foster-morality-compassion-in-kids/
i grew up in a household where bed sharing and nursing was the norm. i have 2 younger sisters and a brother. my sister and brother were both nursed past 24 months. my sister unfortunately was not but still exclusively breastfed for 6 months which is more than most of the women do nowadays.
i didn't know about what it meant to be a breastfeeding, bed sharing, babywearing mom.
boy was i in for the ride of my life.
so i thought.
in the end i didn't get any of the stares or judgments - at least negative ones... but i don't know if its because i frequented places that where more accepting of my parenting methods and i'm so good at letting it in one ear and out the other. still sometimes i wonder if i am doing the right thing. i'm envious of friends who sleep through the night or leave their little ones in the care of grandparents to have time to themselves. jake still wakes up at least twice at night (which isn't a problem for me since we bed share) and he doesn't like to leave me, not even with daddy... but articles like this help me a lot... this too, shall pass... and looks like i'm doing it for the right reasons.
http://newsinfo.nd.edu/news/16829-research-shows-child-rearing-practices-of-distant-ancestors-foster-morality-compassion-in-kids/
i grew up in a household where bed sharing and nursing was the norm. i have 2 younger sisters and a brother. my sister and brother were both nursed past 24 months. my sister unfortunately was not but still exclusively breastfed for 6 months which is more than most of the women do nowadays.
i didn't know about what it meant to be a breastfeeding, bed sharing, babywearing mom.
boy was i in for the ride of my life.
so i thought.
in the end i didn't get any of the stares or judgments - at least negative ones... but i don't know if its because i frequented places that where more accepting of my parenting methods and i'm so good at letting it in one ear and out the other. still sometimes i wonder if i am doing the right thing. i'm envious of friends who sleep through the night or leave their little ones in the care of grandparents to have time to themselves. jake still wakes up at least twice at night (which isn't a problem for me since we bed share) and he doesn't like to leave me, not even with daddy... but articles like this help me a lot... this too, shall pass... and looks like i'm doing it for the right reasons.
we're not immune!!!
i was playing WoW today in a random dungeon... and jake poops. i forgot that he wasn't in his diaper, just his shorts (his choice) so there was poop on the floor. whoops. so i typed /p afk need to deal with poop. brb. ok so that was that and the healer in my group was like oh god... when i came back to the group (since he wasn't in his diaper and the poop was solid it took like three minutes) the healer was like oh god she wasn't kidding. um... yeaaaa i wasn't kidding. then she proceeded to tell me that i should be 'watching my son and not playing'. really?
this is kind of funny especially if you do not know me. i've been playing since open beta, 2004... and this character is basically my first 80. i only have 2 60s. some 50s. i was level 69 on archimonde for the longest time. i got to 69 because jake was little and paul was deployed. then after that i couldn't play much because we were moving and he got older. who is parenting now? haha.
i didn't have time to explain to her that i also sew and knit and if that is more acceptable, or if parents are supposed to succumb to what is parenting like zombies... zombie apocalypse anyone? we got guns, ammo, and armor here.
this is kind of funny especially if you do not know me. i've been playing since open beta, 2004... and this character is basically my first 80. i only have 2 60s. some 50s. i was level 69 on archimonde for the longest time. i got to 69 because jake was little and paul was deployed. then after that i couldn't play much because we were moving and he got older. who is parenting now? haha.
i didn't have time to explain to her that i also sew and knit and if that is more acceptable, or if parents are supposed to succumb to what is parenting like zombies... zombie apocalypse anyone? we got guns, ammo, and armor here.
Sunday, October 3, 2010
jake's halloween conquest set
jake's helm of halloween conquest
25 armor
+10 to cuteness
equip: improves loot drop by 10%
{2) +100 resilience.
(4) improves loot drop by 30%
(4) morph in to JAKEZILLA
jake's armor of halloween conquest
50 armor
+10 to cuteness
+15 to stamina
equip: increases your resilience rating by 25
equip: improves loot drop by 20%
{2) +100 resilience.
(4) improves loot drop by 30%
(4) morph in to JAKEZILLA
jake's shoes of halloween conquest
15 armor
+5 to stamina
equip: improves loot drop by 20%
{2) +100 resilience.
(4) improves loot drop by 30%
(4) morph in to JAKEZILLA
halloween bag (trinket)
equip: improves loot drop by 20%
{2)+100 resilience.
(4) improves loot drop by 30%
(4) morph in to JAKEZILLA
jake's helm of halloween conquest
25 armor
+10 to cuteness
equip: improves loot drop by 10%
{2) +100 resilience.
(4) improves loot drop by 30%
(4) morph in to JAKEZILLA
jake's armor of halloween conquest
50 armor
+10 to cuteness
+15 to stamina
equip: increases your resilience rating by 25
equip: improves loot drop by 20%
{2) +100 resilience.
(4) improves loot drop by 30%
(4) morph in to JAKEZILLA
jake's shoes of halloween conquest
15 armor
+5 to stamina
equip: improves loot drop by 20%
{2) +100 resilience.
(4) improves loot drop by 30%
(4) morph in to JAKEZILLA
halloween bag (trinket)
equip: improves loot drop by 20%
{2)+100 resilience.
(4) improves loot drop by 30%
(4) morph in to JAKEZILLA
Saturday, October 2, 2010
you're being thrown in to the fire....
welcome to my blog.
i'm gonna introduce myself with a simplicity 2506 craft along (dino) because i am so bad at updating any kind of blog.
i'm gonna introduce myself with a simplicity 2506 craft along (dino) because i am so bad at updating any kind of blog.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)