janvier 2012
11 billets
1 tag
Spring semester's beginning.
I’m finally here. The last of my hard science nursing pre-reqs— microbiology and physiology— began last week. There’s a lot of memorization and a lot of application of concepts. Looking ahead, micro seems more interesting than physio. I’m especially looking forward to learning about prions, viruses, and all the pathology sections of microbiology.
In addition to...
1 tag
Happy Chinese New Year's!
Tomorrow is Chinese New Year’s. Keeping with tradition, we had a big family dinner tonight. We even set a spot on the table for my brother who’s currently in San Diego.
Last night, I made tong yuen with black sesame paste filling (peanut butter and red bean are also common fillings but black sesame is my favorite).
The ingredients are very simple…
Tong yuen: glutinous rice...
1 tag
Teff, Brown Rice, and Chickpeas.
On Saturday, we made peanut butter cookies with teff flour. Teff is the world’s smallest grain and is commonly used to make injera (a flat bread staple in Eritrean and Ethiopian cuisine). Anyways, our teff peanut butter cookies has got to be some of the healthiest peanut butter cookies on earth. We used maple syrup and agave nectar for sweeteners and we substituted the vegetable oil with...
2 tags
The Doctor Meets Van Gogh.
Last Christmas, I was talking to my friend about Doctor Who. (She first introduced me to Doctor Who a year earlier— hooked me with “Blink”.) She was watching all of series 5 in one go. I remember her saying that “Vincent and the Doctor” was one of her favorite episodes. So that gave me an idea for a drawing— which eventually became a Christmas present. Knowing...
2 tags
On Baking.
For dinner last night, my sister and I replicated Chipotle’s veggie burrito bowl.
Ingredients: black beans, corn, tomatoes, bell peppers, yellow onions, cilantro, cumin, lime juice.
We heated the burrito mix in a small pot on stove for about 5 minutes and ate our meal over cilantro and lime brown rice and homemade guacamole.
Very simple and inexpensive. The cumin and the cilantro were a...
1 tag
Wait No More!
I got into physiology! (I’ve been waitlisted since November)
Oh and happy new years.
décembre 2011
14 billets
Christmas Day.
I slept in this morning. Unusual for Christmas, but I’m still tired over the move. Luckily, since it’s winter break and with the exception of the days when I volunteer at the hospital, I can catch up on some much needed sleep.
We opened presents after breakfast. Presents on Christmas morning brings back memories of my childhood. One of the many reasons as to why I love this...
1 tag
These are a few of my favorite things - 2011.
I’ve done this every year since I first started on tumblr. Here are a few things that I received for Christmas this year.
Cafe du Monde coffee and chicory. I’ve heard so many good things about this popular coffee from New Orleans (or Noo-Awlins). I’m excited to try it.
Very dark chocolate. I like my chocolate fairly dark. :)
White wool yarn. It’s not vegan but...
“Rest, nature, books, music… such is my idea of happiness.”
– Leo Tolstoy
On Christmas Eve.
I wish this holiday season would be extended for a few more days. I’m going to miss the Christmas music and seasonal decorations.
I’m spending Christmas Eve marveling at the tree, eating hong sui (or red bean soup, a popular Cantonese dessert that brings me back to my childhood) and watching Christmas episodes of the Simpsons. My favorite one has always been “Marge Not Be...
1 tag
All Moved In.
What a busy few days. Finals and moving.
I aced anatomy and I think I did pretty well in biochem. :) I need all the A’s that I can get in my science prereqs. Right now, I’m looking at the University of San Francisco’s 2nd degree nursing program and it’s competitive! (Roughly 450 applicants for 40 spots). The program is for an Master’s of Science in Nursing (MSN)....
“It isn’t the big pleasures that count the most; it’s making a great deal out of...”
– Jean Webster
1 tag
Exams & other things.
I’m taking a break until tomorrow morning. I have tomorrow finals next week and then I’ll be done for the semester.
My family and I are moving tomorrow. We’re dismantling the heavy furniture tomorrow morning before the moving vans get here.
This weekend: Pack, move, and study for finals. Right now, I’m just moving things to the house. After finals, I’ll go and...
1 tag
There needs to be more hours in a day.
24 is ridiculous.
Especially since I spend 7-8 of those hours sleeping.
I have three more weeks of class. I don’t want the semester to end. I wish I had discovered how interesting anatomy is earlier on. Berkeley has so many more anatomy courses. Ah well, I can always self-study.
Last week when my sister was cleaning our her stack of books, she found an old anatomy and physio textbook and,...
novembre 2011
13 billets
1 tag
Let Them Eat Pie! (Of the pumpkin variety!)
We had two pumpkin pies this Thanksgiving: a store-bought one that was given to my Mom and a homemade one!
Our homemade pie was vegan, gluten-free, and is diabetic friendly (we used maple syrup and agave instead of white sugar or brown sugar).
Ingredients: pumpkin (15-oz), apricot-apple sauce, almond milk, agave syrup, maple syrup, cinnamon (both true cinnamon and cassia), nutmeg, ginger,...
1 tag
Tofurkey!
Our feast included a tofurkey, two gravies, and a medley of sweet potatoes (O’Henry), zucchini, and crimini mushrooms.
As always, in addition to the sauce that came with the torfurkey, we also made our own sauce using my Mom’s recipe. It’s our traditional “turkey” sauce recipe since we’d use it every year for our Thanksgiving and Christmas turkey meals...
1 tag
Happy Thanksgiving.
Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays because it’s so family-oriented. I spent the day with my family— cleaning, grocery shopping, and cooking.
I’m going bargain-hunting tomorrow morning at 5am so I’m going to bed early. I’ll post pictures of all our good Thanksgiving food tomorrow.
G’night.
1 tag
Three Grain Peanut Butter Pancakes on a Rainy...
I had a gluten-free weekend— including some awesome three grain pancakes this morning.
Ingredients: oat flour, brown rice flour, garbanzo bean flour, soy milk, peanut butter, sugar, baking powder, and maple syrup for drizzling.
It rained for most of today— a good reason to stay indoors with some good food and good books. I started reading Wicked Bugs by Amy Stewart. I’m...
1 tag
Blackberry Tea Biscuits.
Made tea biscuits yesterday using my favorite gluten-free tea biscuit recipe.
Ingredients: garbanzo bean flour, brown rice flour, vegetable oil, organic cane sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, non-dairy milk (soy milk), and berries (blackberries).
The blackberries turned magenta in the oven.
MWAHAHAHAH.
Next to the oat flour chocolate chip cookies… (also...
1 tag
Mid November.
This first half the month has flew past.
I have about one more month left for my classes. I don’t want them to end yet. I’m learning so much.
While I value my undergraduate education and I do not regret studying political science, I sometimes wonder why I never even considered majoring in a hard science. Now that I’ve taken science classes again, I realize it’s both...
1 tag
Veganopolis: SF Green Festival - Fall 2011
Today, I went to my third Green Festival. It was the Green Festival’s 10th anniversary. Needless to say, I sampled many different (vegan) treats: from raw chocolate with maca to pili nuts to hemp seed butter on toast.
Anyways, here are some pictures (mostly of food stands) that I snapped during the festival. (Too busy sampling goodies to take too many though!)
The “Magic...
1 tag
Baked Samosas and Potato Curry
I LOVE samosas. But they’re usually fried. SO, here we have baked samosas.
We sort of made up the ingredients that we used for the filling: potatoes, peas, and a whole bunch of random spices and seasonings (including cumin, turmeric, coriander, chili powder, paprika, mustard seeds, black pepper corns, and sea salt).
Folding the samosas was the fun part.
1. Reverse triangles:
2. Fold...
1 tag
Raw truffles and Banana bread.
One of the foods that I’ve missed the most since going vegan is chocolate truffles. Truffles remind me especially of Christmas because my brother and I would always buy two boxes of Hershey’s Pot of Gold for my sister as “medium” gifts. On Christmas Day, after we’d all opened our presents, she’d share some of the Pot of Gold with us.
Anyways, today we made some...
1 tag
Bibimbap.
Today we made bibimbap, which is a popular Korean dish of steamed rice topped with various vegetables with gojujang (a chili paste) mixed in. In traditional bibimbap, there are meat and eggs. As usual, we used tofu as a kinder substitute. We also lightly steamed our vegetables and tofu instead of sautéing them so our meal is almost macrobiotic (the gojujang isn’t macrobiotic but everything...
1 tag
November.
I’m pretty excited about this month.
I have midterms for anatomy and biochem next week on the 8th and the 9th. Not so excited about those, but I am ecstatic about the SF Green Festival which takes place the weekend right after (the 12th). The Green Festival will be my motivation for studying my butt off this weekend for both midterms.
And, there’s Thanksgiving (the 24th)…...
1 tag
On Halloween.
My plans for this Halloween: watch the classic “Treehouse of Horror” and other Halloween episodes of my favorite childhood sitcoms.
Oh and I will also be studying brains.
Happy Spookins’!
octobre 2011
17 billets
1 tag
Spiced Pumpkin Loaf.
October is coming to a close and today, we made pumpkin bread. :)
Ingredients: whole wheat flour, pumpkin, brown sugar, soy milk, vegetable oil, cinnamon (cassia), cloves, ginger, nutmeg, lemon peel, cardamom, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
The bread was very moist and crumbly. We cut a slice to share and it literally fell to pieces (And yes, our “eat the ugly pieces”...
“This is why we read, and why in moments of darkness we return to books: to find...”
– Alberto Manguel
1 tag
Tomato Beef Chow Mein (minus the beef)
My parents used to sell tomato beef chow mein at their restaurant. So today, we veganized it (subb’ing beef with tofu). It’s sort of a Chinese-Italian fusion dish. Also, since we used a corn/quinoa blend pasta, this dish is gluten-free.
Ingredients: corn/quinoa blend pasta noodles, seven campari tomatoes, ketchup, evaporated cane juice (or sugar), firm tofu, crimini mushrooms, onions,...
1 tag
Whole Wheat Corn bread!
Corn bread is one of my favorite traditional Autumn foods.
Ingredients: Coarsely ground corn meal, whole wheat flour, evaporated cane juice, soy milk (homemade!), apple cider vinegar, vegetable oil, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
The bread rose a lot!
Considering that it’s only mid-October and we’ve got the entire holiday season ahead of us, I foresee many more...
1 tag
Muscles and brains.
Had my chem midterm today. My anatomy midterm/lab practical next week is on muscles but we’ve already begun learning about the nervous system and the brain (much more interesting than muscles).
We dissected a sheep’s brain on Tuesday. Their brains are so tiny! It was really interesting to see the structures that I read about in my textbook up close and in my hand. I was especially...
“Good friends, good books and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life.”
– Mark Twain.
1 tag
Jook, Pancit, Eggplant, and Oat: A day of food.
My mom is eating vegetarian (vegan) today.
This morning, we had jook (rice porridge) and pancit for breakfast.
I woke up to the smell of jook (my Mom was already brewing it when I got out of bed)
I haven’t had jook in so long! Jook is such a autumn/winter. When I was a kid, I used go to my parents’ restaurant after school everyday. On cold wintery days, my brother and I would eat...