election propaganda part 2

election propaganda #3 - Who? Will Protect Our Children; made from June 5, 2012 election mailers

10 on 10, June 2012

10 on 10, June, 2012

feeding the rattie breakfast : going to the farmer's market : at the farmer's market : breakfast - whole grain waffles with strawberries and peaches from the farmer's market : painting : tiny cactus : poking my head outside : watching the sun on my plants : no june gloom! : errands

a reusable bag!

As a fairly eco-conscious person, I am aware of both the possibly of reusing and recycling plastic bags, but I also know I bring way more than I can use into my apartment. To reduce my use of the bags, I've been using reusable bags for a while. One of the big problems with them is actually remembering to bring them along or having them with you for spontaneous trips. Most people mention to put the bags back in your car as soon as you're done. As someone without a car, this doesn't really work. And those giant, 99 cent bags you find or are given for free every place don't fold up well and are rather bulky. Same with canvas bags or even ones made from most cotton-knit material. Reuse tshirts for a bag? So now I'm carrying an equivalent of a few days worth of shirts with me all of the time? I also have to say, I hate all of the advertisements, logos and words that come on the bags. I regularly turn them inside out (including my "Brag about your bag!" from the Coastal Cleanup events...)

Over the years I've found that the bags that seem to make it back into my purse, backpack or pocket are the tiny, nylon ones that fold up into a little ball of some sort. I've also realized there is such a wide variation in design - some force you to carry them on your shoulder, hold them in your hand or give you the option of both. Some also have their "holder" as a separate piece vs. being part of the bag itself. Since I've aquired sewing machine skills in the past year, I decided it was time I tried my hand at making my ideal bag, using some discount nylon remnants from Joann's.

I did a lot of browsing online for shapes and designs and used my own experiences to come up with this pattern. I'd definitely tweak it some for subsequent bags, but it's working out well so far. I made the bag a few weeks ago and have tried to use it as often as possible without any problems. Next up, I get see how it stands up in the wash after a smoothie jar leaked onto it in my backpack yesterday! It is a little larger than some bags when folded up, but that also makes it easier to handle than some that require a particular folding method. It still squishes down in the pouch, it's just fluffier, like a marshmallow instead of a rock! Or something. I ordered 10 yards of nylon to play with and have come across some worn-out items that can be chopped up and used for these bags as well. Joy for custom bags!

Yummy Kale & veggies

I've made this dish of kale and veggies probably 7 or 8 times in the last few weeks. To say the least, it's one of my favorite meals recently. It's pretty filling and a super fast recipe, especially if you cheat and clean the kale ahead of time or get the pre-washed and chopped kale from trader joe's ($2 for about 3 meals worth!)

Yummy Kale and Veggies (1 serving)

1/2 to 1 whole onion, depending on your mood
handful of mushrooms of any type you want or have
1/2 cup of frozen or fresh peas
4 cloves of garlic
a few leaves of kale or about 4 ounces of chopped kale
pepper
olive oil
soy sauce/salt
optional:
sesame seeds
sesame oil

Heat a cast iron pan. While warming, begin cutting onion (I usually just slice it into long thin slices, but do whatever you want!) Once the pan is warm, add a little bit of olive oil. After a few seconds, add the onions into the pan and stir. Begin cutting the washed mushrooms into slices of semi-uniform thickness so they cook evenly. Add to pan whenever they are cut. Let the mushrooms and onions cook for a few minutes until the onions are translucent and the mushrooms cook down. Add the peas and stir.

While that's cooking, crush garlic & prep the kale. When the veggies in the pan are almost done, add the kale and garlic. Especially if you used pre-washed kale, add a little bit of water to the pan to keep things from getting to dry. Cover the pan to let the kale steam for 30 seconds or so. Remove the cover, add a few splashes of soy sauce or salt to your taste & pepper at this time along with sesame oil if you want and stir. If I am adding sesame seeds (recommended!), I make a little hole in the middle of all the food where I drop the sesame seeds to let them toast a little.

I let everything cook for about 30-60 more seconds until it looks good to you. Stir in the sesame seeds and serve! I find this meal very filling, but if you want, you can also add in something like bread, crackers or rice. You can also easily add in cooked chicken, salmon or tofu. It's infinite recipes! In one!!! Feel free to tweak the veggies to what you have on hand or prefer! This would be good with most any type of mushrooms, spinach, red & yellow bell peppers, leeks and beans.

Cucumber Sesame Salad

Ever since Lemonade opened up near my work, we've made it a semi-regular lunch spot. Essentially they have a lot of items to select from that you pick and choose to make up a meal. I almost always go for the salads. Most are pretty simple, without too many ingredients, but they are very fresh. There's lot of citrus flavors, crunch, a variety of vegetables and no creamy ranchy-sauces. Inspired by my lunches of little piles and a variety of salads, I started doing this at home. I find the process of making salads for dinner to be relatively fast since you aren't cooking much, nice in the summer when you don't feel like turning on the stove, refreshing and a good way to highlight flavors. There are a few salads from this particular photo, but I am just going to talk about the cucumber salad today (the green & orange one on the left).



Cucumber Sesame Salad; a few servings depending on appetite and number of veggies included
Crunchy, light. versatile and a perfect snack, none of this salad has ever gone to waste in my home. All quantities are approximate and should be adjusted according to taste and the ingredients you have on hand.

3 medium Japanese cucumbers (or probably at least 6 Persian cucumbers or English cucumber with the seeds removed)
1/4 a cabbage
AND/OR
2 large carrots
sea salt
agave syrup
~2 tsps rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sesame oil
1 teaspoon sesame seeds (black or white)
additions: green onion, garlic powder, ginger powder, soy sauce

Peel the cucumbers and deseed it, if using English cucumbers. Cut in half or quarters length-wise. Slice the cucumber into very thin semi-circle shaped slices, pretty much as thin as you can. Toss in a large bowl with a generous amount of salt (at least a teaspoon). If using cabbage, slice leaves as thinly as possible & toss with cucumber and a little more salt. Put a plate on top of the cucumbers and cabbage and place a heavy jar filled with water, canned goods, etc. on top to press the cabbage and cucumbers. Let it sit at least 30 min, but preferably an hour or more, stirring a couple times along the way and draining water from the bowl.

Towards the end of the pressing time, warm a cast iron pan and lightly toast sesame seeds. In a small bowl, prepare the salad dressing (if you are using cucumber, carrot & cabbage, I recommend making a bit more dressing than what is described, but adjust to your tastes.) Add a few teaspoons of the rice vinegar to sesame oil. Mix in agave syrup & spices like garlic or ginger powder to taste. If adding green onions or carrots, prepare them at this time. You can use a box grater or even just a peeler to shred the carrots and just cut the green onions into rings. Drain off all of the water from the cucumbers and cabbage. Add the additional veggies and the dressing to the cucumbers, mixing well. Taste the mixture, adding soy sauce if any additional salt is needed. Serve with sesame seeds sprinkled on top.

This salad keeps in the fridge well. Just make sure to stir before serving. It will still be crunchy and flavorful after a few days!

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles

Natural History Museum of Los Angeles and the Butterfly pavillion!

10 on 10, May 2012

walking to the train, enjoying walking past the traffic jam : don't cry over spilled coffee : spring : walking for lunch : looking out the window : nature again! : walking in downtown LA : looking out the window, again, this time at the artwalk : city alley :  on my way home

Another weekday 10 on 10, and another erratic execution, but I got 10! This time the 10th fell on the same day as the downtown LA artwalk! 

a tiny pancake

a tiny whole wheat strawberry pancake for a tiny little friend!

While making strawberry whole wheat pancakes this weekend, I decided to make a little pancake for my little rat instead of just handing her little pieces. She immediately ran off with the pancake and ate it someplace where no one could sneak up and steal it from her.

I used the Martha Stewart pancake recipe from here. It's a pretty easy and reliable recipe. I simply replace the flour with white whole wheat flour and some ground flax seed, just because. I also ran out of buttermilk, so I used pureed strawberries for about half of the buttermilk. Also, since I'm only making breakfast for 2 at the most, I usually make a half recipe. Then again, if you have extras, they freeze really well. I served the pancakes with some sliced strawberries (and a little bit of sugar when you maybe forget to put any sweetener in the pancakes themselves. Oops.)

Vegan Lentil Soup

the leeks disintegrate after cooking for a while....

I love beans, but for a while, I just couldn't find it in myself to cook and eat lentils. Every time I cooked them, they just seemed too dry, gritty and just generally unpleasant in texture. After trying some canned vegan lentil soup from Trader Joe's and realizing that I could like lentils, I decided I needed to figure out how to make lentils work. So far, I've made this lentil soup a few times and none of it has gone to waste. I like that lentils don't require the soaking of dried beans, which makes this a more spontaneous meal & still keeps it pretty cheap (dried pulses are usually cheaper than pre-cooked canned...) They also have the bonus of less associated trash and no potential chemicals leaching from the can lining. This recipe was inspired by the ingredient list on the Trade Joe's soup, but I generally like more veggies in mine. The recipe is super flexible and you can add, remove and replace items according to what you have on hand or don't like.



Vegan Lentil Soup (~4 meal sized servings); ~2-3 hours

1 cup dry black lentils (or whatever kind you have)
3 carrots
3 stalks of celery
a few mushrooms
1 small onion
1 leek (or, if you have no leeks, use 1 large onion instead of a small one)
2 medium tomatoes (or substitute sun dried tomatoes or tomato paste)
frozen or fresh chopped spinach
tablespoon olive oil
1 bay leaf
salt & pepper
garlic/garlic powder
other desired spices like: thyme, paprika, cayanne, basil, rosemary
garnishes (I used green onions and pan-toasted croutons from stale whole wheat bread)

 Warm oil in a soup pot. As it is warming, begin chopping onion and leek. Once warm, add the onion and leek to the pot. Continue chopping items in this order, adding & stirring them in the pot as you go: carrot, celery, mushroom, tomato. Finally, dump in the lentils. Add at least 5 cups of filtered water & the bay leaf, cover and allow the pot to simmer for at least 1.5 hours. Keep stirring it every 10-15 min, making sure there is still enough liquid and adding more as necessary.

Once it simmers for 1.5 hours, check the lentils for doneness. I like them kinda mushy, so I usually keep on cooking for a while, but I'll start adding in spices at this time to desired taste. If you are adding fresh garlic, I'd recommend cooking it just until fragrant in a pan in a little oil (I've learned a key to cooking garlic is to not overcook it!) and adding it to the soup. Keep adjusting the water according to desired consistency. This is also when I usually add the spinach -add as much as you want. Keep monitoring the taste and liquid amount until things taste and smell good to you!

Remove bay leaf. If you used sundried tomatoes that couldn't be cut before adding to the soup, I fish them out now, chop them and add them back to the soup. Serve with croutons, crusty bread, green onion, cheese (vegan or not) & whatever else you want. This makes a filling meal on it's own!

a batch of soup without leeks and with more tomatoes and paprika

doodle face 2

pen and reclaimed photo, april 29, 2012

about 3 hours of non-stop work. pens are awesome because they never get dull.

doodle face 1

pen and reclaimed photo from a catalog, april 27, 2012

not a bird or rat

Recently my friend, one of the few people that I know that appreciates bats as much as me, was celebrating his birthday. After making bird heads, and getting some feedback on how weirded out some people were by disembodied bird heads, I had the idea to make a bat with a similar head, but a soft body as a gift.

I really loved working on this project. I got to sculpt, paint, sew, scrounge around to come up with parts that had the desired outcome and learn even more about bats! My apartment was scattered with bat books that I was reading closely to discover all the variations on bat colors, wing shapes and finger configurations and it was awesome!

I learned a great deal and would do some things differently next time, but that's always how it goes. This process has a lot of flexibility and possibility and I am sure I will make more of these or other animals!
 

10 on 10, April 2012

Another weekday 10 on 10 meant.... non consecutive hours. Honestly, I forgot this time at various points throughout the day. As it turns out, I was actually distracted by work at work, which meant I missed some hours in the middle of the day. I try.

smoothie experiments : southern california in the morning : spring flowers + magnifying glass : remember at work about 10 on 10 : still working.... : spider cruising around on a bike lock + magnifying glass : afternoon starbucks trip : more spring flowers + magnifying glass : and even more spring flowers + magnifying glass :  playing with shadows