Cooking weekend

I've had a rare full weekend off (on a holiday weekend, no less!) and have been spending a lot of time cooking ahead. Not too much, though, because I've overdone it before and worn myself out. I wanted just enough to have plenty of meals for lunches and dinners ready and still get to enjoy my time ("Horrible Bosses" was very funny, and "Win Win" was great. Recommend them both).

So what have I been cooking? I tried some of the mason jar meals I posted about earlier: the sliders, corn dogs and creamy chicken curry with cilantro lime rice. I also made more chili and cornbread muffins (because CORNBREAD is what you serve with chili, dammit), and chicken enchilada soup. And I had already made some sloppy joe mix about a week ago.

Chili & cornbread muffins.

Chicken enchilada soup.

Here's notes on the others:

Corn dogs

I halved the recipe listed because I wanted to see how they turned out, plus by the time I got to this recipe on Sunday, I was down to just 6 mason jars. I ended up with batter to make only five, though (so that means Buster got half a frankfurter — he was happy!) They didn't quite look done at 20 minutes, so I put them in for another three and probably could have done another couple of minutes, really. I also forgot to grease the jar before pouring in the batter, but I just ran a knife sprayed with Pam around the edge as soon as I took them out of the oven, and they didn't stick too bad.

Sliders

These were pretty good right out of the oven. We'll see how they do after being frozen and reheated. I did forget to pat down the meat to get rid of the excess grease, but they turned out pretty good. I also had trouble getting them in jars, even the 16-ounce ones I have. Maybe it's because I used King's Hawaiian rolls for the buns? I bagged them in pairs in sandwich bags instead. Kinda defeats part of the purpose of using the jars, I know, but it's all I had.

Creamy chicken curry with cilantro lime rice

This was pretty good, but I'll have to do some tweaking. I made the rice a bit differently. First of all, I used brown rice, since that's what I had. And I made it more like the rice dishes at Something Edible, adding the cilantro & lime zest to the butter, browning the rice, then adding the water with the lime juice and salt in the water. It does give the rice a lot more flavor, but in this dish, it might have added too much lime flavor. Or maybe I needed more curry to balance out the lime? Haven't had a lot of curry dishes, so I'm not sure how spicy it should be.

So the final tally of my cooking weekend:
Sliders — 5 pairs
Chicken enchilada soup — 10 8 oz jars
Chili — 8 8 oz jars
Corn dogs — 4
Chicken curry & rice — 5
Sloppy joes — 7

So that's a total of 39 meals. Maybe along with the occasional turkey sandwich, and if I make some lasagna again later, I'll have enough variety to keep me from getting too bored and caving to a desire for going out to lunch or raiding the vending machine too often. It'll be interesting to see how my bank account shapes up later.

Nourish peace

Arun Gandhi concluded his speech here with this:

Grandfather liked to tell us the story of an ancient Indian king who was obsessed with finding the meaning of peace. What is peace? How can we get it? And what should we do with it when we find it? These were some of the questions that bothered him. Intellectuals throughout his kingdom were offered a handsome reward to answer the king's questions. Many tried but none succeeded. At last, someone suggested the king consult a sage who lived just outside the borders of his kingdom.

"He is an old man and very wise," the king was told. "If anyone can answer your questions he can."

The king went to the sage and posed the eternal question. Without a word the sage went into his kitchen and brought a grain of wheat to the king. "In this you will find the answer to your question," the sage said as he placed the grain of wheat in the king's outstretched palm.

Puzzled but unwilling to admit his ignorance, the king clutched the grain of wheat and returned to his palace. He locked the precious grain in a tiny gold box and placed the box in his safe. Each morning, upon waking, the king would open the box and look at the grain seeking an answer, but he could find nothing.

Weeks later another sage, passing through, stopped to meet the king, who eagerly invited him to resolve his dilemma.
The king explained how he had asked the eternal question but was given a grain of wheat. "I have been looking for an answer every morning but I find nothing."

"It is quite simple, your honor," said the sage. "Just as this grain represents nourishment for the body, peace represents nourishment for the soul. Now, if you keep this grain locked up in a gold box it will eventually perish without providing nourishment or multiplying. However, if it is allowed to interact with the elements-light, water, air, soil-it will flourish and multiply, and soon you would have a whole field of wheat to nourish not only you but so many others. This is the meaning of peace. It must nourish your soul and the souls of others, and it must multiply by interacting with the elements."

It was a nice bookend, actually, to how he opened his speech, with a story attributed as a North American Indian legend (you've probably seen this going around Facebook recently):

An old Cherokee is teaching his grandson about life. "A fight is going on inside me," he said to the boy.

"It is a terrible fight and it is between two wolves. One is evil - he is anger, envy, sorrow, regret, greed, arrogance, self-pity, guilt, resentment, inferiority, lies, false pride, superiority, and ego." He continued, "The other is good - he is joy, peace, love, hope, serenity, humility, kindness, benevolence, empathy, generosity, truth, compassion, and faith. The same fight is going on inside you - and inside every other person, too."

The grandson thought about it for a minute and then asked his grandfather, "Which wolf will win?"

The old Cherokee simply replied, "The one you feed."

As you stop to give thanks on this day, and as we celebrate the holidays or vow to make resolutions for the new year, I hope you'll stop to think of what you are nurturing in your life — and how that affects those around you.

Happy Thanksgiving.

Passive violence is violence, too

More thoughts on Arun Gandhi:

Gandhi spoke a great deal on his grandfather's philosophy of nonviolence. And I found myself nodding right along with what he said. It coincides so much with what I have been reading lately. But there were some new things I managed to glean from what he said, too.

He spoke about avoiding physical violence, obviously, but he also spoke about passive violence. Having negative thoughts, speaking negatively about others, acting negatively are all forms of passive violence. And passive violence leads to physical violence.

And passive violence comes in forms you might not have thought of.

Arun Gandhi told a story about how one day he realized the pencil he was using for his studies his grandfather was having him do was getting short. It was still usable, but he wanted a newer pencil, so Arun just simply threw the pencil away while outside, then went to ask his grandfather for a new pencil.

Instead of just giving him one, Gandhi began asking him a lot of questions: What happened to the pencil he had? How short was it? Could he still use it? Instead of a pencil, young Arun got a flashlight and was ordered to find the pencil he threw away and use it until it was no more. He said it took him about two hours to find the pencil in the dark, and when he did, he took it to his grandfather.

Gandhi then explained to Arun that things like pencils, or our food or clothing, come from Earth's natural resources, and to waste them — as Arun did by throwing away a pencil he could still use — is violence against nature.

Additionally, as people of some means who could afford such things, to simply throw away usable items or uneaten food is taking them away from the less fortunate, and that is violence against humanity.

"Passive violence fuels the fire of physical violence," Arun said. So we should do what we can to not create violence in the first place, and also learn to channel our anger so that it leads to positive action instead of physical violence.

He told another story from his 18 months living in India with his grandfather.

Gandhi had many programs going on to help create freedom from India's caste system, suffrage for women, helping the poor, etc. These needed to be funded. Hundreds of people came every day for the interfaith prayer sessions Gandhi would conduct, and many wanted his autograph. So, to help fund his programs, he would charge people for his autograph.

Part of Arun's duties was to collect the autograph books, papers, etc. that people wanted signed, along with the fee. Arun thought to himself that he wanted his grandfather's autograph. But he didn't think he should have to pay for it. So one day, he snuck his own autograph book into the stack, but did not include any money.

When Gandhi came across that book while signing autographs for that day, he stopped and asked why there was no money with it. Arun spoke up that it was his, and that because he was family, he should not have to pay. His grandfather said no, that he would not get any special treatment and had to pay. Arun vowed he would get his grandfather's autograph somehow without paying for it. His grandfather said he would not.

Mohatma Gandhi would often have meetings with important political leaders at his home, and Arun though this would be a way to get his grandfather's autograph. He would walk into the meetings, and demand — in front of all these dignitaries — that his grandfather give him his autograph for free. Gandhi would merely put a hand over Arun's mouth, and with his other hand hold Arun's head against his chest and continue the meeting. He never — during the meetings or after — expressed any anger at Arun for the interruptions. Even when the visitors objected to having the boy interrupt the meetings and then Gandhi holding him quiet, Gandhi would simply explain that this was just a joke between he and his grandson and go on with the meeting.

If we can learn to control our anger half as much as Gandhi did, Arun said, it would do much to decrease violence in the world.

(Arun Gandhi said he never did get his grandfather's autograph, by the way.)

The thing we need to ask ourselves about our own actions, Arun said, is "If someone were to do this to me, would it hurt me or help me?"

I would add, that if the answer is it would hurt you (make you angry), then you need to examine why are you doing it, then. (And when I say "you," I'm not meaning any one specific. I mean myself as well. It's just easier to say "you." So if that makes you angry, channel it, dude).

If you say abusive things like someone is stupid, why? Why do you say negative things about how people dress, how they have their hair or if they have tattoos?

If someone's beliefs about religion or politics or social issues are different from yours, do you direct derogatory remarks at them? What does that do for you? Does it make you feel better about yourself? Why? What are your insecurities about yourself that you think tearing other people down will make you superior to them?

At the heart, we are all the same, all part of the same energy of the universe. When you put that kind of negative energy out in the universe, it doesn't come back to just you. It's felt by all. "Passive violence fuels the fire of physical violence."

Next post, maybe some thoughts on controlling your mind to channel that anger.

Back on the juice

Ooh, look, two blog posts in one day!

I haven't juiced for awhile, and after and long and tiring walk with Buster, decided it was a good time to get back into it.

So here's today's offering.

There's one each of a granny smith apple, cucumber, celery stalk and a carrot from a friend's garden; a quarter of a small watermelon also from a friend's garden (seeds removed and saved); a small piece of ginger; and the leaves from a couple stalks of kale.

All that turned into this:


This is what's left:

I've read tips that you can put the pulp through the juicer and get a little more juice out of it, but what I get is just fine. I put this out in my compost bin.

This batch, I can really taste the watermelon, and there really wasn't that much of it, but it was awful juicy, obviously, compared to the other ingredients. Could've used a little more ginger, but it was good.

Brown bag blues? Mason jar solution

I live in a different town than I work in, so running home for lunch — or dinner on weekdays I work both of my jobs — is usually out of the question. I try to take my lunch as much as possible to save money, but it seems like I fall on the same-old standbys for brown bagging it and get bored after awhile. Then that leads to eating out for lunch, which often leads to bad things for my bank account.

What to take lunch in can be a problem, too. I don't like using plastic containers. Being a cancer survivor, I've become pretty concerned about the kinds of things I put into my body. Plastics, especially when heated, can leach carcinogens like Bisphenol A into food. You can argue it's not enough to really do anything, but I'd rather not take the chance.

So I got rid of all my plastic containers with the idea of replacing them with glass. I have some Pyrex containers I got for Christmas that I use, but they are kind of expensive. Then I came across an idea while surfing for some recipes — using mason jars for soup and so forth. It makes sense. They're cheap, for one thing. I got a dozen 8-ounce jars at the grocery store for about $8. The Pyrex is great for storing larger amounts of leftovers or foods that don't freeze well, but the jars have been great for freezing single-serving sizes for lunches.



But I could see where I could get a little bored with the chicken tortilla soup, chili and sloppy joe mix I made big batches of for the jars (even though they're all much better than store-bought or fast food). Then Beau at Somethingedible.com shared this recipe recently, and I gotta say I'm pretty excited at trying some of the rest of her mason jar recipes.

I've got my shopping list made up and will be adding to my inventory of canning jars. I might try the sliders tonight, and will probably do a few others this weekend after Thanksgiving.

Meaningful Coincidence?

I've been reading a lot lately about Veda, the ancient Indian philosophy from which came yoga and Hinduism, so I was pretty excited when I heard last week that Arun Gandhi, grandson of Mahatma K. Gandhi, would be speaking at the local university.

I was afraid I would miss part of his speech, since this is my month on rotation for working the Tuesday "late shift" in my department preparing three area weekly newspapers for the press and sending them to our printer. Sometimes, it means staying at the office til 7:30 or so, and Gandhi was to speak at 7:30. Fortunately, all the work was done by 7, and I got to hear his hour-long speech; I also stayed for the meet & greet afterwards til they wrapped it up about 9:30. Even asked him a question and shook his hand!

I'll probably write more on his speech and my thoughts, but it's getting late and no late shift tomorrow at work, so I need to head to bed. But I thought I'd share some of the things that struck me tonight.

• Anger is not a bad thing. It fuels us into action. Learning to channel that anger into something positive is the key to nonviolence, however.

• Scholars have said Mahatma Gandhi's approach of nonviolence is a tool for conflict resolution. Arun Gandhi said he disagrees — you either accept nonviolence or you don't.

• Passive violence fuels the fire of physical violence. In all our actions, in the things we do and say and think — we should ask ourselves "If someone were to do this to me, would it hurt me or help me?"

• I think this was one of my favorites: Arun Gandhi said his grandfather once told him your mind should be like a room with many open windows. Allow the breezes to blow in, but do not be blown away by any one of them.

BE the Change

“If we could change ourselves, the tendencies in the world would also change. As a man changes his own nature, so does the attitude of the world change towards him. ... We need not wait to see what others do.” ~ Mahatma Gandhi

This is, near as I can tell from an hour or so of research, the source of the quote often attributed to Gandhi, "Be the change you want to see in the world."

No matter which he really said, Gandhi's point is obvious: If there is something you don't like about the world, in order to change it, you have to start with yourself.

Michael Jackson echoed the thought in "Man in the Mirror." Carl Jung had the same thought, but started with the external: "Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves."

So when something irritates you about the world, take a good look at yourself. If you look at someone who appears different from you — wether it be the way they dress, if they have (or don't have) tattoos or piercings, the color of their skin, how they have their hair, if they follow a certain fashion trend — and your first reaction is to make fun of them or look down on them, you should ask yourself "Why should that bother me?" How someone else creates their appearance does not have any effect on your life. If you laugh at them or trash talk them for it, YOU are the one with the problem.

If you think we have fallen down a slippery slope away from respect and civil discourse in our discussions of politics, religion and social issues, then look at your own behavior. How do you address others? If you continually post things in social media or say things among friends friends just to say "Look how stupid/evil/crazy the Republicans/Democrats/Christians
/Muslims/hipsters/jocks/nerds/whatevergroupIdon'tlike are," then you're not exactly contributing to civil discourse and respect, are you?

The kind of attitudes and energy you put out in the world have an effect on the rest of the world. We are all connected. If you don't like the state of the world, there is something you can do about it. Start with yourself. BE the change. Don't wait to see what others do.