Celery superfood

Growing up my mom would put cream cheese on celery, later I heard about peanut butter on celery ... and both of these so-called snacks, not only put a wad of bad fats in my mouth, but they damn near gag me to eat them.
But I crave celery.
So I searched the web to find out what this vegetable has, that I need ... and I did (find out):

1. Celery combats inflammation.   I battle inflammation all the time, from food, from alcohol, from working out ... it seems I'm pin-cushion material, maybe pop a naproxen and get it to chill ... but who wants to take drugs if a food can help out.
2. Celery is like crunchy water.   There is a high water content to celery, so it fills you up, but also hydrates you.
3. Celery has many essential salts
4. Celery is rich in flavonoids  (yes anti-cancer stuff, skip the glass of wine!)
5. Celery has lots of vitamin K, helps your bones

The list goes on, check out these two sites. for more info:
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/11-super-health-benefits-in-just-1-celery-stalk.html
and
http://www.nutrition-and-you.com/celery.html

So I set out to create some great celery salad, modified a recipe I found online and voila !  So happy to eat this salad I nearly wept, it was all-at-once, crunchy, salty, nutty, spicy, sour and felt very much a cross between Vietnamese and Thai, really, so here goes:

Thai Celery Salad

Ingredients
5 Stalks Celery, sliced on the bias (angle your knife sharply when cutting, while spinning the celery)
3 Green Onions, sliced thinly
3 tbs Red onion, sliced thinly, then chopped
1/2 Serrano Chile, sliced thingly
1/4 Cup Cilantro, chopped (stems and leaves)
3 tbs peanuts, halved
1 tbs sesame seeds
Salt and Pepper
Sauce
2 tbs fresh lime juice
1 tsp sesame oil
2 tsp fish sauce


Directions
Whisk together sauce ingredients with a fork.   Make sure the serrano is sliced very thin, and even then cut those in half so the heat is dispersed a bit.

Pour the sauce over the salad, and toss, then plate.

Note:  I sprinkle the sesame seeds and peanuts on each individual plate, just a little goes a long way with the peanuts.  Remember, this dish is all about the celery !

Enjoy!

Vegan Asian Salad

Asian Salad packs a crunch ! Yum!

I always likes the Wonton Chicken Salad at SoupPlantation/Sweet Tomatoes.  Perhaps it was the thought that "protein" could happen, if I could get some of that sweet, tasty chicken meat.  Maybe it was the cheap side of me thinking, wow, I can get meat at this salad emporium, cool!

Well those days are behind me, having joined the vegan revolution of health and well-being, and I'm still hankering for that sweet/sour crunch, nutty goodness. I found a vegan recipe online, modified it a bit, and made it my own.

I don't even miss the deep fried wontons!

Vegan Asian Salad

Servings: 6

1/2 Head Chinese cabbage, sliced thin

1/2 head romaine lettuce, chopped

1 cup red cabbage, sliced thin

1/2 whole red pepper, sliced

1 cup english cucumber, sliced

1 1/4 cups carrot, shredded

2 whole green onions, sliced

1/2 cup snap peas, halved

2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

2 tablespoons slivered almonds, roasted

2 tablespoons sesame seeds, roasted

1/3 cup rice wine vinegar

3 tablespoons natural peanut butter

1 tablespoon maple syrup

2 teaspoons sesame oil

1 tablespoon grated ginger root

1 teaspoon siracha

1 pinch sea salt

Mix ingredients for dressing: vinegar, peanut putter, maple syrup, sesame oil, ginger root, siracha and salt until fairly

smooth, set aside for flavors to meld.

Combine sesame seeds and almonds in small pan, heat until some become slightly browned. Set aside.

Mix all vegetables in big salad bowl, toss.

I put the salad in a bowl (individual) and gently spoon dressing on in appropriate amounts (noone likes over sauced chinese salad, so don't dump it all in), I mix the individual portion,

then top with Sesame and Almond slivers, give one more stir to incorporate.

Drizzle a bit more dressing on top, in spatter pattern.

Buckwheat fritter w/ Mushroom Gravy

Buckwheat - a work in progress

I got the wild idea that a gluten-free flour needs to come under my mastery. Dammit.

The one that popped into my head; grey, dense, really a non-riser was ~

Buckwheat!

I've tried many times to make a morning buckwheat pancake. They always taste the same:
yuck, ancient grainy-sawdusty-cant-put-enough-syrup-on-this-to-choke-it-down-yuk.

I like a challenge.

Buckwheat

So I'm thinking, break that density up with vegetables that have some carmilized brown on them, and put it in the batter, then cover it with mushroom gravy.

So basically for the mushroom gravy, you can find Mushroom Broth (near the Chicken and Vegetable broth), mince 1/4 cup of onion, slice up 1/2 cup Cremini mushrooms, add a dash of wine, salt+pepper, I put some almond milk (like a tablespoon, for color), reduce and at the end thickened it with a teaspoon or two of cornstarch and a little water.

While that's simmering, slice 1/2 a zuchini, thinly. Cut the bottom off an ear of corn and microwave in-the-husk, for 3 1/2 minutes.   Squeeze from the tassle end, and out pops your ear (or use canned corn, drained).   I added some yellow pepper, and a few Crimini mushrooms too.

Saute those sliced vegetables. Mix the buckwheat with flour and almond milk until the right consistency add some sweetener (agave, or sugar), 1 tbls of cornstarch and 1 tbls of baking power (dammit, didn't have the baking powder this time. They were F-L-A-T, and got no rise out of me either)

Center the batter in a hot pan (sprayed with some cooking spray), cook and keep watch; you want to add the vegetable before the pancake sets up completely, but the bottom side is cooked.

Press the veggies into the batter a bit, then you can put a lid on (for about 15-30 secs), before flipping.   Remove lid, and flip.

Let cook a few minutes more, cover if you like. Then flip onto a plate (veggie side up!).

Spoon mushroom gravy over and server.

So how was it?   eh.   The flavor of the other stuff was great, the veggies, the corn with a bit of caramelization, the mushroom gravy fantastic.

The buckwheat needs help.    Maybe it was the non-stick pan, ick.  Nothing better than the iron skillet for this. Maybe its the lightness on oil, of which I'm trying to be very light-to-non-existent. Likely it was the lack of a rising agent (baking powder or yeast).  Probably a combination of all of the above.

Conceptually this can work, I don't know if the "pancake" is the right format, and I will think about other ways to present the batter part (and crisp it up a bit, thru likely some time in the oven), I just don't want loaves or muffins or some-such thing.

I'm thinking thin the heck out if, get it to crepe up, and roll it.  May play with that, buckwheat crepes a bit.

Anyway, that's it for the Buckwheat Pancake Fritter ... to be continued.   Humphhhh.,  buckwheat wins again.

Let's go Buffalo (Wings)

I can't remember exactly how many $.10 cent wings I would down, at the Inn Between in my college town of Geneseo, NY on Tues. (or was it Thurs.), I do know that if I got 'hot' or 'suicidal', the pitchers of beer were hardly enough to douse the flames of eternal buffalo wing love ...   I would down them until it hurt, something like $2.00 worth (20) comes to mind.

Many years later (lets call it shy of 30, wow slash ouch) I'm reticent to discuss the effect that amount of deep fried chicken skin and fat, has on my digestive system.   Not because I wouldn't like to, or because I pull punches when talking about the more unsavory aspects of my gastrointestinal tract ... its because I'm going meat-free lately and looking for better options.

Enter Frank's Hot Sauce ...

I could put this on a piece of tree branch, and chew on.  Seriously, wear gloves lest you find yourself gnawing on your own finger, thinking "hmm, this doesn't taste too bad, with some Frank's".

Here's a recipe I found online, for Buffalo Cauliflower "Wings" that came out really good!

Are you ready for some football?   Find some celery, and bleu cheese and a friend that likes spice ... and enjoy!

Buffalo Cauliflower Wings

Ingredients

Cauliflower - 1 large head, pieces fairly large (1+ inches)

Milk - 1 cup

Flour - 1/2 cup

Panko Bread Crumbs - 1/4 cup

Garlic powder - 1 tbs

Black pepper - 1 teasp.

Franks Hot sauce and 1 tbs melted butter in a bowl (to toss)

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 deg

Cut Cauliflower into large flowerets (1-2")

Combine milk, flour, bread crumbs, garlic powder and pepper in bowl

(note:  add milk slowly, and stop when the batter seems about pancake batter consistency, you don't want it too thin.  If less than a cup, then that's ok.)

Dredge Cauliflower pieces in batter and place them on a foil-lined cookie sheet (important, it'll stick)

Bake for 18 min. turning once.

Meanwhile, combine butter and Frank's in a large bowl  (I melt the butter in microwave)

Coat cauliflower in sauce, and bake 2-3 more minutes to set the sauce (I like it wet, so don't dry them out by baking too long, after tossing in the sauce)

Serve with Blue Cheese dressing (Marie's) and Celery sticks.

I like them wet and glistening with Frank's and Butter, Yum!

Take care of yourself

... because no well else will."

end-quote, who says this?  Who does this?   Everyone. Noone.

What does it mean, though?  To take care of yourself.

Let's state with what it isn't:

1. Its not:  Putting others first
   Ouch!   That hits the 'givers' right in the loin chops.  This is a weird paradox, to be sure.  Leads to Martyr Syndrome.
2. Its not:  Partying until you puke
   Ouch!   Food, drink slovenly, stupor.   Minimialist, easing your digestion and keeping the chemical balances from food and drink, so your brain and body feel ok.
3. Its not:  Doing nothing
   Ouch!   Relaxing, lazy-boy, lounging, sleeping more.   It's about restoring vitality to your soul, through movement.

So I guess I've inter strewn some positive reinforcement in saying what taking care of yourself is not, from my perspective.

Negative mirrors reflect truths.   Changes, revealed ... easier.

One right form, for the Story

So I posted a quote, which I read from Betsy Lerner's "The Forest for the Trees" book, an editor's Advice to Writers which reads

There is only one right form for a story, and if you fail to find that form the story will not tell itself.

Not knowing what that means, or even having an inkling, I write this up on my whiteboard to ponder, become my own muse and contemplate what my answer to this would be.   I'm a hack of a writer.  I have no idea what "form" means for a story, 1st person, 3rd person, poem or prose ... I'm clueless, so I figure I need to have some time to mull over the possibilities.

One day, I walk in, after my cleaning girl (my daughter, Grace) has finished cleaning, apparently she has inspiration to fill in the answer, and fills the rest of the board with this:

"I think of every life as a story and one author, God.   Each day, year, week, hour, minute and second we learn what's right and what's wrong. Each page that you're turning is supposed to be the BEST and each minute you are in the story all about you.    Make it about others, too. "

So a tear came, as I thought how profound this girl of 9 is.  The right form for the story is self relative, but also includes others.   It's told from the perspective of our creator who watches down on us, and we self-regulate our actions, learning right and wrong as we go.

It seems from this explanation, writing can commence.  Sure there'll be blunders in grammer, syntax and the like, but the right form for the story... the right perspective and voice has been found.

I love you Grace.

Peaking at the right time

peak¹

pēk/

reach a highest point, either of a specified value or at a specified time

Some of us are late bloomers. In our own way of dancing this mess around, we've been to the party, been to the edge, been over the top and still never really peaked.

I can't say what is the 'problem' quote, un-quote with others, and really if I'm honest, can't really diagnose what my own problem(s) have been.

But I do know, that my friend Tom Ustach, told me once "You were an athlete, you'll figure it out".

I drank another beer, and thought about it.   Thought about my troubles, with weight, alcohol, drugs, anger, and all of those things that hold me back from attaining real success.

So I've been enlightened to the answers, ignored them, scoffed at the possibility, hid, ignored and otherwise just tried to put aside the truths lying there, ready for me to pick up and utilize.

So I go all the way back, to when I had a goal.   One goal, based on love and loss, was to clean up and find a way back into the life of the girlfriend in college I had lost, due to some of the afformentioned problems.

But on circumspection, that was not the case ~  what "really happened", is I had not "cleaned up", over the summer of 1982, but rather, smoked, drank, and didn't eat (and jogged 5 miles a night) to a svelt 195 lbs, had a motorcycle and imploded the relationship, due to my ego.

That's right, I peaked too early, and supernova'd my first love into non-existence. Ouch.

Like a sick puppy, I tried to prove I was that clean guy, that this anger, and physical outburst was an aberration of my true self, when sadly, nothing I could muster about being "that guy", rang true.  It was as transparent as saran wrap, the likes of which I would likely have suffocated myself by wrapping it around my head.

I had suicidal thoughts, after this breakup, I had my whole life ahead, yet was devastated, maybe from the loss, maybe from my father leaving, maybe that love itself was an illusion.

As I thought about how one would secure a rope on the Geneseo pagoda, that was above the student union, I snapped my head out of this (as a coward, that I am), to hear the Devo song, "Its a beautiful world" in my head.

Music saved the day, I lived to party once more, and fuck this I'm on a mission, to enjoy life.

And enjoy I did, to excess more than not, too much wine, women, song, smoke and anything I wanted ... my mantra "Nothing is out of bounds" (save Heroin, wimp that I am, needles and physical addiction seemed too much even for me), but anything else, was fair game.

Flash to 30 years later, with a beautiful wife, four beautiful and smart children, great income, real estate, and everything my anger and drive could muster, I have it all, except for that missing quotient. Love.

Yes, I have people who express love for me, yes my children need me ... that's not what I'm talking about. I'm talking about that stirring in the soul that is reserved for only the most intimate encounter, that of self.

I watched a show yesterday, that Johnny Carson, would like to be alone, kind of a loner, and made use of that time, to which I thought - "Yes!", that's exactly correct.  I never had a problem being alone, I had problems understanding other people in this quest for love experience, love action ... I didn't see it.  Songs like "Where is the Love", come to mind in almost every human encounter ... it hurts to see.

Then I hold the "Man in the MIrror" Michael Jackson up to my own sad self, and look at the mess I've created and again, where is the love?  Self-love.

So its time, to peak.     I've peaked so soon, felt so highly of myself, that I almost supernova'd out.  You know the type, the Robin Williams, the Phillip Seymour Hoffmans ... its not that these people had deep problems, its that they had such peaking ability there wasn't realistic limits or peers to relate to.  Everything was a compromise, everything is diluted in the world of those that peak so early and so often.  (you can only handle so many "atta boys" before you want to punch that complimenter right in the face, for not feeling or treating you like a person, not a superstar).   So I get this, loners, can be depressed.  Its called the human condition, that's the source of most depression.   Nature, is very hard to be depressed at, its too awe inspiring, mountains, insects, fruits, the form of a woman's body ... these things are nature's blessings.

Its the uglier side that gets to you, but I digress.    This is about peaking at the right time.

At (over 50), without all the accolades, no trophies to speak of, no real proven things (the children are small, and just emerging), with some of the wealth being in the category of "a little success is a dangerous thing", ie; you don't try any harder because, enough is there already ... 

It's time to peak. 

In twenty or thirty years, I see the decline of the body is such that you are really done.   So forgetting the previous thirty, and looking to the next thirty ... the slow methodical peaking process has to be model'ed perhaps after the runner-athlete.

Phase 1 - start out slow, and steady with base training.  This has been going on, I've stabilized my life to the point where the "base" is not quaking and shaking out from underneath me.  Its hard to rock the world-Mazurik. We've been there, done that, what's next, we're ready.  This phase of getting mental, muscle and spiritual things aligned in my life to make them strong enough to endure the further stresses involved in peaking require me to:

- stop drinking (and smoking)

- eliminate meat from my diet

- eliminate sugar and white flour from my diet

- move daily

- drop the first 25% of the weight gain, immediately. Move through the next 75% in the coming year, to goal.

Phase 2 -  Aerobic, this is the sweating part.    "Never let them see you sweat", but you must sweat!   The skin is the biggest organ, and it will relieve your liver (as will the things in phase 1) to help it do its job.  Sweating will remove toxins so the liver works less hard at that, and can help with the fat conversion as you lose weight.

This is the 1 hour of physical activity to sweat.

Phase 3 - AnAerobic, high intensity interval - weight training.  This will help the muscles clean out the gunk, help get more burn and build strength.

From a physical and mental aspect, of peaking at 52 or so, it will be good to get all the "stars aligned", from ego, to self-love, to physical conditioning.   Peaking and then maintaining.

What comes after, is apparent, and inevitable ... the decline ... but having lived the life fantastic, and undisciplined, it is time to get the handle on the concept of peaking.

Trying to hold onto the peak condition can lead to injury, burn-out or overtraining.  The plan is that the instilled life changes will help, reduce the pain through the aging process and allow for a better interaction with those around, it starts with self-love.

There will be a downhill slide, but getting muscles and body in tune for this ride, and having pride and love of self will assure this ride is the best it can be.

And that I peaked at the right time.