All week I've had pretty good sleep, relatively low stress levels, sliiiightly more carbs than normal, and I've had pretty decent energy - probably a 9 out of 10 for most days.
I've always held that I NEED nine hours of sleep to keep me sand and humanable, and that a loss of half an hour of that sleep leads me to catastrophe. That's always just been the norm for me, but in the last few weeks I've actually thought about that in a logical manner - this ain't normal.
Last night, I meditated for the first time in yonks and went to 'sleep' at 5 past 9, 5 minutes after bedtime, which doesn't affect me. By 'sleep' I mean I shut my eyes and started to get to sleep, but couldn't actually get to that stage because my train of thought is a fast moving, never stopping, loud and unignorable steam train rattling down a bumpy road. It probably takes me an hour to get to proper sleep every night.
Anyway, I woke up at my normal time this morning - 5.55am - and felt dead as a doornail. WOD not started. Food eaten miserably. Calculated correctly, I had the same 'nine hours of sleep' I have every night, but for some reason this morning, life just wasn't working for me. As I was leaving, mum said that I looked tired too, with a bit of an air of 'are you sure you slept at all?'
Something's wrong here. The government recommendation of 7-8 hours, and my personal recommendation of 9 hours, obviously doesn't solve the complete sleep and energy puzzle. There must be something deeper and more important to the hours of sleep you sleep for. I know that quality of sleep is really important, so I'll have to somehow fix that.
Goodnight.
Thursday, 30 May 2013
Tuesday, 28 May 2013
Assessmentless
Or rather, what I do when I procrastinate on a bit more of a sophisticated level when the assessments/exams I have aren't impending and looming behind me.
I grow, of course! I showed you my shallots on Monday, and look how much they've already grown in three days. How crazy are they?! I've also tried some dirty English spinach this morning from a terribly gritty breakfast (how traditional peeps had a pica habit for health I'll never know) and I just made a jar of cucumber because a. we have no pickles left b. my intestines... ahem... would like some pickles c. I didn't know how the hell I'd for the cucumbers into my non-cucumbers meals d. I wanted to experiment a little. So nothing's really certified 'sterile' but I'd really hope a knife, a jar and some cuckes will be pretty bacteria-free (for now), and I added white balsamic vinegar because I couldn't find white vinegar and the last batch of just brine was boring.
Now, back to work!
I grow, of course! I showed you my shallots on Monday, and look how much they've already grown in three days. How crazy are they?! I've also tried some dirty English spinach this morning from a terribly gritty breakfast (how traditional peeps had a pica habit for health I'll never know) and I just made a jar of cucumber because a. we have no pickles left b. my intestines... ahem... would like some pickles c. I didn't know how the hell I'd for the cucumbers into my non-cucumbers meals d. I wanted to experiment a little. So nothing's really certified 'sterile' but I'd really hope a knife, a jar and some cuckes will be pretty bacteria-free (for now), and I added white balsamic vinegar because I couldn't find white vinegar and the last batch of just brine was boring.
Now, back to work!
Sunday, 26 May 2013
Extra Day
Pupil free days are like a breath of relief and give me time to do random stuff I'm too busy to do during the week. Since we haven't got any impending assessments coming up, I decided to spend a few hours in the kitchen making stuff - mostly just because I can.
I started off with a batch of shortbread cookies to take down to half star, where s'mores aren't only a tradition, but a NECESSITY. So I needed a graham cracker to put my future chocolate (coconut oil and cocoa) and marshmallows on. I found a fantastic recipe over at Paleo Spirit and whizzed it up. Only problem was, she said it would be super crumbly, but mine was a pretty wetish dough. So I had to keep sprinkling coconut flour and arrowroot on until it became a little drier. It was still a dough when I sliced it up, but it did start crumbling a teeny bit when I tried to put it on the baking tray. And the batter tasted good. And you know what that means...
After cooling, they turned out FANTASTIC. Ok, so I burnt them a wee bit, but I always burn shortbread. But like I said, they were uber tasty and shortbready. Guess who's ready for some arrowroot cookies made with actual arrowroot???
Then I transformed half-eggs into a half-jar of mayonnaise (this emulsion baffles me every time I make it). I'd bought some mustard powder so I wanted to try it out, because it's what people seem to be putting in their mayos. And I added three yolks and less oil because... why not? Yolks are probably better than oil, and I didn't want to use up all the olive oil (which probably would've happened if I was allowed to keep going). The mustard added a bit of a chilli kick. You'd take a lick of the stick blender and then wonder if your tongue is burning slightly from the mustard or the blade. But you'd continue licking it anyway.
I started off with a batch of shortbread cookies to take down to half star, where s'mores aren't only a tradition, but a NECESSITY. So I needed a graham cracker to put my future chocolate (coconut oil and cocoa) and marshmallows on. I found a fantastic recipe over at Paleo Spirit and whizzed it up. Only problem was, she said it would be super crumbly, but mine was a pretty wetish dough. So I had to keep sprinkling coconut flour and arrowroot on until it became a little drier. It was still a dough when I sliced it up, but it did start crumbling a teeny bit when I tried to put it on the baking tray. And the batter tasted good. And you know what that means...
After cooling, they turned out FANTASTIC. Ok, so I burnt them a wee bit, but I always burn shortbread. But like I said, they were uber tasty and shortbready. Guess who's ready for some arrowroot cookies made with actual arrowroot???
Then I transformed half-eggs into a half-jar of mayonnaise (this emulsion baffles me every time I make it). I'd bought some mustard powder so I wanted to try it out, because it's what people seem to be putting in their mayos. And I added three yolks and less oil because... why not? Yolks are probably better than oil, and I didn't want to use up all the olive oil (which probably would've happened if I was allowed to keep going). The mustard added a bit of a chilli kick. You'd take a lick of the stick blender and then wonder if your tongue is burning slightly from the mustard or the blade. But you'd continue licking it anyway.
Better than Baba Ghanoush
The Middle Easterns have their dips down pat. Just look at tahini. Isn't that a fantastic little spread that's a great creamy addition to a lot of stuff? If I don't put olive oil on something, I'll probably drizzle and dollop some tahini on it. But then there's baba ghanoush, which is fantastic made right (or bought) or bad. Real bad.
Ages ago, I came across another dollopy spready purée thing that hails (or seemed like it would hail) from the Middle Eastern area. It was called avjar (pronounced av-yar), but because the blender and I don't have the best relationship, and I'd just eat it all out of the blender as soon as it was made anyway, I gave it a miss.
Today, I was desperate for food so I strolled into some place called 'deli' and picked up some sliced salami and marinated olives, and as she was slicing up my future taco shells (deli meat is THE best for holding food), I turned around to find red jars of, you guessed it, delectable avjar. Take note that I've never tasted it before today, I already knew it would be a spoon of divine Middle Easternness.
And then I looked around a bit more. And I found another jar called malizzano. There was no way I could leave this shop without both jars. Even with the evil oil (sunflower). Sometimes I think it's better to taste things to know what they taste like, even if it means going against ideals you'd normally not stray from. And the jars are from Macedonia, and it looks like they've been made with love.
I should probably mention what these jars are made of before I tuck in with a spoon. They're very similar; they're both a simple blend of roasted capsicum and roasted eggplant, but obviously the avjar is red capsicum and the malizzano is green. It's quite strange, though, how they taste a lot different to what they're made of. I reckon they'd both taste good mixed with either roasted tomatoes, tahini or maybe paprika or cinnamon or some other spices, or maybe all three. Oh and garlic. It almost tastes like it already has garlic in it. Or some soft white cheese if dairy's your style.
I'm not quite sure what to eat it with, but my options so far are from a spoon, simmer and cook eggs in it like shakshuka, or obviously as a dip with some veggie sticks. I had a google search around and found that it's good for salad dressings, meat marinades and as a lasagna sauce. Can't wait to try it all!
Ages ago, I came across another dollopy spready purée thing that hails (or seemed like it would hail) from the Middle Eastern area. It was called avjar (pronounced av-yar), but because the blender and I don't have the best relationship, and I'd just eat it all out of the blender as soon as it was made anyway, I gave it a miss.
Today, I was desperate for food so I strolled into some place called 'deli' and picked up some sliced salami and marinated olives, and as she was slicing up my future taco shells (deli meat is THE best for holding food), I turned around to find red jars of, you guessed it, delectable avjar. Take note that I've never tasted it before today, I already knew it would be a spoon of divine Middle Easternness.
And then I looked around a bit more. And I found another jar called malizzano. There was no way I could leave this shop without both jars. Even with the evil oil (sunflower). Sometimes I think it's better to taste things to know what they taste like, even if it means going against ideals you'd normally not stray from. And the jars are from Macedonia, and it looks like they've been made with love.
I should probably mention what these jars are made of before I tuck in with a spoon. They're very similar; they're both a simple blend of roasted capsicum and roasted eggplant, but obviously the avjar is red capsicum and the malizzano is green. It's quite strange, though, how they taste a lot different to what they're made of. I reckon they'd both taste good mixed with either roasted tomatoes, tahini or maybe paprika or cinnamon or some other spices, or maybe all three. Oh and garlic. It almost tastes like it already has garlic in it. Or some soft white cheese if dairy's your style.
I'm not quite sure what to eat it with, but my options so far are from a spoon, simmer and cook eggs in it like shakshuka, or obviously as a dip with some veggie sticks. I had a google search around and found that it's good for salad dressings, meat marinades and as a lasagna sauce. Can't wait to try it all!
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