Food/Drink

Let Me Pop Down To The Tea Cellar

by

 

 

I’ve been finding that I need more caffeine to get my ass motivated in on workdays. I’ve been sticking with black tea, mostly pu’erh in different incarnations. For the hell of it I calculated how much tea I consume in a week, and I have a consistent 5 litres a week for work alone. That’s not taking into account the afternoon/evening tea, which will be anywhere between a cup or another litre. I really do enjoy my tea, and since I’ve returned from vacation I’ve really been hitting the tea reserves hard! I used the last of my Cranberry Blood Orange black tea, and had to use some pu’erh to make up the difference. Last night I also drank the last of my apricot and watermelon collections. I’m still nowhere near low on tea either! I want to drink as much as I can before the holidays, or before I order more tea again. So many tea gifts and sales go by and things just add up after awhile.

Purging just gives me an excuse to buy more anyway. 😛

Vacation Day 13: Vacation Recovery

by

Today my body reminded me that it has anger issues with me. Having been traveling my diet consisted of whatever takeout we all agreed on for that evening — ranging from fast food to restaurants with curb side pickup, and there was also dehydration during travel. The first tea I made once setting foot in the house was Sweet Watermelon mixed with Jasmine Pearls; it was a perfect finish to a summer like evening and a nice taste of summer when the autumn fog rolled in. I didn’t get out of bed until afternoon hit. It also took me awhile to get my stomach to decide on something to eat, there was so much salt going through my body that you’d swear I drank tears from the Fortnite community or some shit. I’m finally starting to feel better, and I’m fortunate that digital shopping doesn’t require getting out of chillin’ clothes.

As predicted I’ll be jumping back into the hole come Tuesday… I should be fully recovered from my vacation to return by then. 😛

The Quinoa Is Strong In This One

by

This weekend’s breakfast needed some Asian flair. I was wanting to make a Thai hard boiled egg dish, but opted to poach some eggs instead! Served over some quinoa and fried shallots, and topped with spring onion and a little cilantro. I made a sweet and tangy Thai inspired lime sauce to serve over it. It made for a quinoa bowl I might have to make again in the future! If you ever want to make the sauce yourself just use:

  • 1/4 cup of lime juice
  • 1/4 cup of fish sauce
  • 1/4 cup of water
  • 1/4 cup of brown sugar
  • 2 tsp of cornstarch mixed into a fine paste with water or lime juice

In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch with just enough lime juice or water to make a fine paste (about 1 tablespoon) and set aside. Mix everything else in a small saucepan until well combined and bring to a boil over medium heat. Reduce the heat to medium low, and grab the small glass bowl of cornstarch mixture to give it a quick stir before mixing it into the rest of the sauce. Keep stirring until sauce is thick enough to stay on your mixing spoon without running off.

I’ll have to think of what to use it with next; I still have quite a bit left from breakfast. It would probably taste good on some meats, or maybe mixed in with some hot chili sauce. I bet it would taste really good with some spicy ramen.

Pre Weekend Open Thread

by

I’ve been mapping out my weekend, or at least the start of it. I’m thinking of doing some Thai stuff, and maybe a few other random things this weekend. There might even be food porn if I can exercise some self control, and take a picture BEFORE eating it… I can’t help it if I wake up hungry on the weekends.

Italian Eggs Benedict?

by

The last couple of weekend breakfasts have been quinoa experiments, this weekend I returned to the basics; white sauces and eggs! I made a cream sauce with spinach and marinated artichoke hearts, and some Mascapone and Parmesan cheeses for extra creaminess. Poured over poached eggs sitting atop an English Muffin. The sauce is easy to reheat, and if you’re well versed in the art of poaching eggs in a microwave it makes for a nice quick and easy breakfast the next day.

I have a small amount of sauce left; I might re-purpose it for after work lunch tomorrow for a pasta or quinoa bowl.

Hungry For Hungarian

by

Every once in awhile when the weather is cool and I want to make some comfort food I make a pot of lecso; a tomato pepper stew of Hungarian origin. This time around I wanted to try it with Quinoa, which turned out to be a success! When serving lecso as a lunch dish it is common to top it with a fried egg, I don’t get to make it quite as often as I’d like, but that could also be said of many other dishes I like to make. 😛 That’s what I get for trying multiple things!

TOWER OF LUNCH

by

With just a few ingredients and a careful selection of whatever I have lying around in the kitchen, I’ve put together the perfect bento for tomorrow morning’s snackage.

Tier 1: Snacks

I have a lineup of fruit and protein for when the first break hits. Some beef jerky, sliced medium cheddar and homegrown strawberries. This will be plenty enough to tie me over until half time, then I’ll have this:

Tier 2: Mediterranean Salad Swag

I have a bed of spinach, with some Tzatziki (also known as cacık, or tarator depending on what part of the world you’re in) dressing and Kalamata Olives (right) and Feta Cheese (left). Tzatziki is a yogurt based mixture usually consisting of herbs and cucumber (there are many kinds), and is served either as a dip, a cold soup, a sauce, or in this case a salad dressing. For added protein I always go for greek yogurt, when I’m not making it as a soup.

Tier 3: That’s a wrap!… and more fruit

My brother was nice enough to buy me watermelon while I was sick. You can’t see it, but I have a smoked salmon wrap ready to go, rolled with most of the ingredients you see for the salad. I also included a satsuma mandarin because hey, you can never have too much fruit… unless you start pissing fruit juice.

Memorial Day Brunch With a French Twist

by

I wanted to make a more fancier brunch than usual, being it’s a holiday and everything… I made an omelette filled with blue cheese, and topped with grape tomatoes and onions cooked in oil and balsamic vinegar. I also bought some French Bread made with cranberries and blueberries, layered with some sweetened cream cheese and berries. The bacon is there by default. 😛 With their powers combined, they gave me Memorial Day Itis.

Smoked Salmon: Bacon Of The Sea

by

This weekend’s Brunch was a Frittata! I was actually going to make this recipe, but decided to change a couple ingredients, as well as add some extras. I still had leftover spinach that needed to be used, along with some grape tomatoes. I traded the cream cheese for feta, and used kalamata olives instead of typical black. I also added a garlic clove and cooked it in a little remaining marsala at the bottom of a wine bottle. I had it along side some sourdough bread and it was real flavourful. The smoked salmon with the feta and olives really paired well. It looks like I’ll have a fancy breakfast to pack for work for at least a couple of days! 😛