I ran 7km today so I did 20km total this week.
I have been building up my stamina and have been able to run longer at a time than before, so I think it will be easier to run 20km a week from now on.
I've been enjoying running, which is great more than anything.
Yes! :)
Monday, January 14, 2008
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Today’s dinner
Turnip and carrot in tahini Miso sauce (The recipe follows below)
Brown rice porridge with wild herbs and azuki beans (by my dad)
Miso soup with shiitake mushroom and tofu
Grated daikon radish
So here comes more about the turnip dish.
I made this with whatever I could find in the kitchen. The inspiration comes from the dish a friend in Canada made out of the dumpstered turnip.
Any way it turned out great and my mom liked it a lot too so I’m going to write the recipe so any of you can try making this if you want to.
I rarely measure ingredients when I cook so the list of ingredients is kind of rough, just so you know…
INGREDIENTS:
3 turnip root
1-2 carrot
A bunch of turnip greens
2 tbs tahini
2 tbs Miso
1 tbs Mirin, or maple syrup
1 tbs grated ginger
2 tbs rapeseed oil
1 tbs sesame seed oil
DIRECTIONS:
1. Slice the turnip root and carrot and chop turnip greens.
2. Combine tahini, Miso, Mirin and ginger in a small bowl.
3. Heat oils in a pan, add turnip root and carrot, then turnip greens and fry them for about 5 min.
4. When the veggies are cooked and soft, add the tahini sauce, stir and cook for a few more min.
That’s it! Pretty simple huh? It took me only 15 min or so to make this.I like it that I can use the whole turnip (both root and leaves) in this recipe.Turnip greens are rich in vitamin C. It’s better not to waste it, isn’t it? :)
Thanks for reading! See you again!
Brown rice porridge with wild herbs and azuki beans (by my dad)
Miso soup with shiitake mushroom and tofu
Grated daikon radish
So here comes more about the turnip dish.
I made this with whatever I could find in the kitchen. The inspiration comes from the dish a friend in Canada made out of the dumpstered turnip.
Any way it turned out great and my mom liked it a lot too so I’m going to write the recipe so any of you can try making this if you want to.
I rarely measure ingredients when I cook so the list of ingredients is kind of rough, just so you know…
INGREDIENTS:
3 turnip root
1-2 carrot
A bunch of turnip greens
2 tbs tahini
2 tbs Miso
1 tbs Mirin, or maple syrup
1 tbs grated ginger
2 tbs rapeseed oil
1 tbs sesame seed oil
DIRECTIONS:
1. Slice the turnip root and carrot and chop turnip greens.
2. Combine tahini, Miso, Mirin and ginger in a small bowl.
3. Heat oils in a pan, add turnip root and carrot, then turnip greens and fry them for about 5 min.
4. When the veggies are cooked and soft, add the tahini sauce, stir and cook for a few more min.
That’s it! Pretty simple huh? It took me only 15 min or so to make this.I like it that I can use the whole turnip (both root and leaves) in this recipe.Turnip greens are rich in vitamin C. It’s better not to waste it, isn’t it? :)
Thanks for reading! See you again!
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Running in the snow
I went running with my dad today. We ran 7km total.
It snowed today and the streets were partially icy. I had to be very careful not to slip or fall.
But it’s so much easier and more fun to run with somebody.
I’m so fortunate that my dad comes running with me sometimes.
I have to run 7 more km tomorrow to achieve my goal of 20km a week.
I can do it!
It snowed today and the streets were partially icy. I had to be very careful not to slip or fall.
But it’s so much easier and more fun to run with somebody.
I’m so fortunate that my dad comes running with me sometimes.
I have to run 7 more km tomorrow to achieve my goal of 20km a week.
I can do it!
She is so sweet
I prepared Amazake last night.
Amazake literally means sweet sake, but it's non-alcoholic and is a sweet, cultured grain drink, usually made using rice and Koji (=a mold or Aspergillus oryzae).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazake
It's pretty easy as long as Koji is available to you.
Basically you need to make rice porridge, let it cool a bit and mix it with Koji then keep it at around 60C or 140F for about 6 to 9 hours.
I used brown rice and kept the rice-Koji mixture in a thermal water bottle over night.
It had turned unbelievably sweet when I tasted it this morning. No wonder some people use Amazake as a sweetener.
I put some in a blender and made it smooth, heated it up a bit and drank it with a pinch of cinnamon.
It was so good :)
I want to make it with some other grains maybe millet the next time I make Amazake.
Here you can see how exactly to make Amazake.
http://www.cybermacro.com/Macrobiotic_Recipes/From_Cookbooks/How_To_Make_Amazake_by_Sandor_Ellix_Katz/
Cheers!
Amazake literally means sweet sake, but it's non-alcoholic and is a sweet, cultured grain drink, usually made using rice and Koji (=a mold or Aspergillus oryzae).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amazake
It's pretty easy as long as Koji is available to you.
Basically you need to make rice porridge, let it cool a bit and mix it with Koji then keep it at around 60C or 140F for about 6 to 9 hours.
I used brown rice and kept the rice-Koji mixture in a thermal water bottle over night.
It had turned unbelievably sweet when I tasted it this morning. No wonder some people use Amazake as a sweetener.
I put some in a blender and made it smooth, heated it up a bit and drank it with a pinch of cinnamon.
It was so good :)
I want to make it with some other grains maybe millet the next time I make Amazake.
Here you can see how exactly to make Amazake.
http://www.cybermacro.com/Macrobiotic_Recipes/From_Cookbooks/How_To_Make_Amazake_by_Sandor_Ellix_Katz/
Cheers!
Goals of the month
run 20km (=12.5mile)a week, 80km (=50mile) a month at least
do all the power yoga sequence in the book I have everyday before bed
complete "Energy Flow" on piano by Ryuichi Sakamoto
I will add more later.
do all the power yoga sequence in the book I have everyday before bed
complete "Energy Flow" on piano by Ryuichi Sakamoto
I will add more later.
Reading report
Of January 8th 2008
I’ve been going to the library and reading a lot lately. The library system in Sado is so much better than I had expected: they not only get books from other branches in the island for you but also from the main library in Niigata city on the main island. I want to make use of the library in Sado more from now on.
In the last 3 weeks, I’ve read books on jogging and triathlon training, sport science, yoga, brain science, aging, the environment, macrobiotics, female bodies and sexualities, etc. The encyclopedia of current world situations such as terrorism, environmental issues, underground markets, globalization and corporations, was pretty interesting.
I read a book on food mileage today. Food mileage is a multiply of the quantity of food and the distance the food had to travel to come on your plate. I knew that Japan is importing so much food (about 60%) from overseas but I didn’t know that half of it is corn to feed cattle. That means if people in Japan cut back on meat consumption, we can be much more self supporting on food source than we are now, and reduce ecological foot print that results from food import. It’s so sad that the diet of most people in Japan has changed completely from pretty-much-vegetarian to meat eating in the last fifty years or so. I personally don’t eat meat but still there is so much I can do to reduce the “food mileage” of what I eat daily. I can think of the following 3 ideas now. I’d appreciate it if you have any other ideas and possibilities. Thanks!
1. Eat locally:
There’s abundance of local, seasonal, fresh food around me. Persimmons, apples, kiwi, fig, mandarin oranges, lots of kinds of vegetables, beans, seeds, nuts, sea vegetables, sea salt, etc. are available on the island. My dad’s friend grows brown rice organically so we get brown rice from him. We can also go foraging in the nearby woods for wild plants and mushrooms mainly in spring and fall. It’s nothing to go without avocado from Mexico or bananas from the Philippines. I don’t think it’s a good idea health wise either to eat food from far away places, especially from different climate zones.
2. Grow my own food:
I definitely should do this. Growing season starts in March or April here but I can start making good soil by taking care of the compost we have in our front yard, NOW.
3. Dumpster dive:
Dumpster diving surely is great as a way to reduce our ecological foot print. It’s not an option for me right now but I do it when there’s accessible dumpsters and food thrown away near me.
I’ve been going to the library and reading a lot lately. The library system in Sado is so much better than I had expected: they not only get books from other branches in the island for you but also from the main library in Niigata city on the main island. I want to make use of the library in Sado more from now on.
In the last 3 weeks, I’ve read books on jogging and triathlon training, sport science, yoga, brain science, aging, the environment, macrobiotics, female bodies and sexualities, etc. The encyclopedia of current world situations such as terrorism, environmental issues, underground markets, globalization and corporations, was pretty interesting.
I read a book on food mileage today. Food mileage is a multiply of the quantity of food and the distance the food had to travel to come on your plate. I knew that Japan is importing so much food (about 60%) from overseas but I didn’t know that half of it is corn to feed cattle. That means if people in Japan cut back on meat consumption, we can be much more self supporting on food source than we are now, and reduce ecological foot print that results from food import. It’s so sad that the diet of most people in Japan has changed completely from pretty-much-vegetarian to meat eating in the last fifty years or so. I personally don’t eat meat but still there is so much I can do to reduce the “food mileage” of what I eat daily. I can think of the following 3 ideas now. I’d appreciate it if you have any other ideas and possibilities. Thanks!
1. Eat locally:
There’s abundance of local, seasonal, fresh food around me. Persimmons, apples, kiwi, fig, mandarin oranges, lots of kinds of vegetables, beans, seeds, nuts, sea vegetables, sea salt, etc. are available on the island. My dad’s friend grows brown rice organically so we get brown rice from him. We can also go foraging in the nearby woods for wild plants and mushrooms mainly in spring and fall. It’s nothing to go without avocado from Mexico or bananas from the Philippines. I don’t think it’s a good idea health wise either to eat food from far away places, especially from different climate zones.
2. Grow my own food:
I definitely should do this. Growing season starts in March or April here but I can start making good soil by taking care of the compost we have in our front yard, NOW.
3. Dumpster dive:
Dumpster diving surely is great as a way to reduce our ecological foot print. It’s not an option for me right now but I do it when there’s accessible dumpsters and food thrown away near me.
Friday, January 11, 2008
Restart
I decided to start writing in this blog again.
I want to make it clear why I keep this blog, so I can hold on to it and get back to it whenever I become weak or lazy.
So, the reason why I keep this blog:
1. I want to stay motivated in life and I think keeping this blog will help me do that.
2. I want to be able to express myself better in English and I think keeping this blog in English helps.
3. I want my friends to be able to stay updated on my life when they want to.
4. I also hope that this blog could become a place where I can exchange ideas and opinions with people who read my blog.
Welcome! and I hope you will enjoy!
Thanks a lot for visiting.
I want to make it clear why I keep this blog, so I can hold on to it and get back to it whenever I become weak or lazy.
So, the reason why I keep this blog:
1. I want to stay motivated in life and I think keeping this blog will help me do that.
2. I want to be able to express myself better in English and I think keeping this blog in English helps.
3. I want my friends to be able to stay updated on my life when they want to.
4. I also hope that this blog could become a place where I can exchange ideas and opinions with people who read my blog.
Welcome! and I hope you will enjoy!
Thanks a lot for visiting.
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