Salad Time baby rocket aragula

Just to give the bagged salad another chance I got a bag of unwashed baby aragula to try it out last week. The sales person showed me his product and as you can see it was labeled pesticide free, and unwashed. Both are good indicators, since A no chlorine soak at the factory and B no pesticides (re:nervous poisons) during plant growth and development. It seemed good on paper so i gave it a go...

And was very disappointed. Its possible that it just didn't keep well in my fridge overnight since it was a bit wilted when I served it, but even then it was too bitter. It tasted flat and bitter, not to mention it had bad texture.

I would suggest you buy leafy salad veg from Rustance Fresh. There are a couple of organic brands, clearly marked and labeled as organic in the fresh veg area. Either brand is only 50PHP. "Zacky's Farm" brand I have mentioned before is very good. The flavor is good and when i eat it i can feel that my body LIKES it and thinks its good for me.

Zackys farm is located in Tagaytay, they used to sell at Market!Market! I particularly like this brand because they provide fresh quality herbs, at reasonable (30-60PHP thats .75 - 1USD) prices and it is a relatively new and small company (re: not overly commercialized). I like to support sustainable, and non commercialized products and companies. I hope you do too, since they provide a good service. You can find out morehere at Market Manila's post on Zacky's Farm.

Check out Making your own pre-washed salad and Making your own veg wash.

Crisp salad, every time! Prewash your own salad.

You will need:

Your prefered salad leaves

Herbs you enjoy

A salad spinner, for crisp veggies.

Vegetable washing solution

• (try 1tablespoon lemon juice, 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar, and 1 cup cold water in a spray bottle. There are other varriants of vinegar, lemon juice, and basking soda wash recipies available on the net.)

Procedure:

1. Wash

• Spray the leafy veg with your vegetable wash.
• leave for 3-5 min
• rinse off or soak (if carrots or potatoes, they take a while)
• let drain in a colander for 1-2 min.

2. Spin

• When the cleaning agent has been washed off, place your leaves in a salad spinner and spin.
• This is crucial for good salad, the veg will absorb the excess water that doesnt drip off and will be soggy if you dont spin it.

3. Chill & Store

• Line a container with a paper towel (use PET plastic or PET density varriants, glass or BPA free plastic please, unless you want plastic toxins and chemicals seeping into your food)
• Keep chilled in your refridgerator's crisper (the bottom pull out bin).

It should keep a week. and you took care of the hassle ahead of time.

And thats it, easy 1-2-3 your own stock of nutritional veg, waiting for mealtimes. Just take the hassle out of the way ahead of time.

Be sure to use unwashed, fresh, loose (non-vaccum sealed) packed leafy veggies. Usualy i wash a couple packages at the same time, since its just Mr. Catfish and I this lasts us a week to a week and a half. You can definitely adjust this amount to three packages (for 3-4 people, 2 salads a day for 3-5days) or five (for 6 people and above 2 salads a day for 3 days). The amount you make really depends on how much your family or guests like salad.

I like leafy lettuce and aragula, if i'm bored with it i add some fresh basil or rosemary to the wash bin. You can serve it as is leaves and herb with some dressing or add more veg to it. Sometimes I add cucumber, olives and capers or onions to it before serving. Try your own combo of leaves and herbs and tell us about it!

Check out making your own salad dressing.

Why pre-bagged salad is bad for you.

Bagged leafy veg is misconceived as healthy for you when it's actually toxic! Many of the mass produced conveniently bagged salads are pre-washed, thats why they are so convenient. You aren't told though that the veg is washed in chlorine. Doesn't sound so bad? It's a helpful chemical for cleaning and home maintenance. Remember you use it to kill microbes and keep the bugs out - which die when they get into chlorinated water. Chlorinated water also kills plants, so how would it affect you? Chlorine is a poison, the gas of which was also used in warfare as a poison.

The best way to support services you appreciate or want to see more of is to put your money into it. Economically speaking if people do not buy an item, the item will either lower in price or no longer be sold, however if people buy the item it will be made more available. Lets support smaller non commercialized and sustainable buys from companies that care about the consumer's wellbeing.

So the next time you see a bag of salad... just say no.

SM Organics

Stumbling into SM supermarket's organic section was a pleasant surprise. SM organics are priced well for organics and depending on the item it can be anywhere from a third to half the price of its counter part at Rustance fresh. Rustance produce keeps longer and is isn't as shocked by the change of temperatures during transport. Some of my SM organic section purchases have had a bit of spoiling or partial softening, but you can cut it right off and keep the extra savings.

They have carrots, cucumber (both white and green, the white is just a bit sweeter and crisper), bell peppers, celery, cherry tomatoes, squash cabbage, chinese cabbage, broccoli, baby corn, and lemon grass. The produce is affordably priced - the baby corn and squash is at just 17 pesos, two pieces of carrots or a bundle of celery is 20 plus pesos, a bundle of three cucumbers of either variety is 50 pesos and so on.

There is a bit more than that, but off the top of my head thats what I remember. There are herbs and bagged salad leaves right after it. Don't get tricked by bagged salads though! (more on this in the next post). There are several publications that have discussed the "dirty dozen" and its clean counterparts. Most of the dirty dozen is made available at the SM grocery stores.

Check out the dirty dozen.

Bug fix 1.0

This blog was initially intended to be on observing cultures, cliques, and hallyu. However it has not lived up to this purpose, but rather has ended up being a 'dump' for the recent cooking odds and ends i have picked up.

The bottom line is this, i collect hobbies, and skills. Aside from this i have many interests, so this will now be my web haunt dump for all of this. There isnt really a following of any sort here - its just a semi dilapidated and unvisited dank corner of the net-verse, so i have the liberty to do what i want without anyone expecting anything from it.

In the event that a soul does brave these parts, i have streamlined the labels. So just pick a topic of interest at the side and read on. Or you can read it chrnologically and trace a hobby ebb to another's flow. Do what you like, i will.

EverQuest junkie

So i was looking around and i found ...

Everquest MAC edition! i cant wait to play it. Sem break just started, and in good time too - i was under so much stress i was ready to give up on uni all together. And i was thinking of trying out a private EQ server but then i saw this. The monthly rate is $13/mo thats about P500 for me so not too bad - if they will accept my card.

It has a separate server, and its only up to planes of power - but there is so much content now that i would be too confused if i played it straight up. There is so much i want to explore, and so much i want to do on eq. I have good memories of EQ, but i also know i used to be pretty bad at playing. And there was so much i havent explored yet. I am very hopeful right now. So my tune my change after a while, but i'm very excited.

So thats what i wanted to post. Everquest. For Mac. heart.

SM Beef and Bento #3: Burger steak, penne bolognese, with rice and veggies

The bolognese sauce was the winner in this batch. Its easier to make pasta in large batches and just freeze the extra for the rest of the month. I added a tea spoon of herbs de provence to it and it was amazing! I got my herbs de provence from Healthy Options in Shang ri-la mall. Its a bit pricey since its organic but i think its worth it, P550 (about $12) for a bottle that lasted me a year. The also have pre-ground black pepper, its in an orange bottle and its very good too! its only P220 (about $5-6) but organic produce makes so much of a difference in flavor and health benefits.

I packed in a lot more treats than i usually do since i wanted to try a couple of new products. The meat i used is ground beef from SM super market, whil i was cooking flys were attracted to food near the meat but not the meat itself. This was not something i liked, since it probably means that the meat is GMO or genetically modified. GM foods have been linked to organ failures and a whole other pleathora of health issues so suffice to say i wont be getting ground beef from SM anymore. Dont get me wrong, they have some good products and are afford-ably priced. But affordable now, can be a long term stay in the hospital much later on in life.

Compartment a:

Plain rice, Soy rice and strawberry rice with carrots and ham. a strawberry and soy and mayo containers.

Compartment b:

Mini-Hamburger steaks

Penne bolognese

cauliflower, snow peas, carrots

mini- cupcake

a piece of candy

Bento #2: tonkatsu with vegetable rice and soup

For this bento:

My goal here was to make a nutritious meal for my guy and bentos cheer him up a lot. I tried to sneak in as many veggies as i can by adding string beans, and i used the water broccoli was blanched in to cook the rice. Traditionally for man-bentos you put the rice in the larger compartment. Here i used the smaller compartment for rice, so it has less calories. For a little treat, i added a shortbread pie i got from choto shop on sale! it was only 10 pesos! thats about $.20. It was really tasty and i wish i bought more now.

I got the tonkatsu from the SM Mega Mall supermarket, it was about 10 pesos per tonkatsu. I was quite disappointed with this buy. The breading didn't have enough seasoning (pepper in particular) and the meat is so thin! I have six left in the freezer and i really don't want to touch them.

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Bento break down:

Compartment a:

Brown and red rice with broccoli, broad beans, and salmon furikake.

Compartment b:

Tonkatsu strips

Boiled egg

Spaghetti with Japanese mayo and cherry tomato

Cauliflower and bell peppers.

Soup bowl:

nilagang baka (boiled beef with saba bananas, cabbage and potatoes)

Bento #1: broccoli rice,tuna soboro, chicken curry, egg salad, Green tea furikake, Brocolli and red peppers

Bento 1:

• Mixed broccoli rice (3 parts Japanese rice, 1 part brown rice)
• Chicken curry with carrots.
• Tuna soboro.
• Nori, ham and cheese decoration.

Bento2:

• Broccoli "water sautéed" with garlic and red bell pepper
• Cherry tomato
• Egg salad
• Apple bits
• Green Tea Furikake (the bottle with a yellow cap)
• Soy sauce (the bottle with a pink cap)
• Chili paste (in a monkey case)
• Japanese mayo (in a monkey case)

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This is my second attempt at a kawaii bento. My guy liked it -he said the egg went well with everything and he felt really healthy and energized after. I think there is still something missing though.

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Credits:

Tuna soboro and furikake recipes are from Maki of justbento.com

She has alot of good resources there for any aspiring bento maker. She doesn't focus on chyraben or kawaii bento, but has alot of recipes, health facts, and bento making information.

Go have a look: http://justbento.com/

Food picks, Silicone cups, Bottles, bentos: bought from Saizen (Robinsons Galleria and Trinoma)

Bento

A recent thing that i have discovered and found interesting is making bentos. I do this mostly to cheer up my boy friend who has been very stressed lately. He lived in japan a few years back and has many good memories from his stay. He says it makes him feel special and that its always nice to know that someone cared to put a lunch together for him.

I don't have any photos at the moment, i don't feel like they are photo-worthy yet, but i will post them eventually.

The past couple of weeks i have gone on shopping excursions to find the tools of the trade. that is: picks, silicone cups, bento boxes, chopsticks, cookie cutters, egg molds etc. There are still a few things im on the look out for (namely the facial expression nori cutters and a certain set of cookie cutters).

I got most of what I needed from Saizen. Its the *real* daiso here in the Philippines. Another company took the name Daiso before the actual Daiso (as known in Japan). Its hard to get alot of things here, so I'm so glad that bent making materials aren't hard to gather here.

Many of the things i saw on ebay and bento retailers online are priced from .99USD to 12USD. Everything in Saizen is priced at 85 pesos, (roughly 2 USD). So sometimes its a bargain, other times its not. Another place you can go to look are Daiso and Japan home center - they also have friendly prices (66 for 1 item, 66 for buy one take one, 88 for one item or 88 for 2, the 88 for 2 is a bit tricky though because the item is actually tagged at 44 for one).

Saizen : bento accesories (picks, bottles, may containers, silicone cups, silicone molds for cakes and divider cups, a few nori punchers and cookie cutters) the only thing they dont have are certain cookie cutters and nori punchers. They also have different Japan imports like cosmetics, table ware, gardening supplies, art supplies, some clothing accesories,

Robinsons galeria, 3rd floor.

Trinoma, ground floor inside true value.

Daiso - toiletries, some kitchen ware, hardware, some DIY things,

St. Francis square - ground level

Alabang Zapote wing, Alabang Town Center

Japan home center - japanese table ware, nice place mats, some kitchen supplies, some toys, and toiletries

Market market

Robinsons Galeria 3rd floor before sai zen

I hope that helped, if i dont post for a good long while after this thats becaouse my net is a bit wonky =O

Ragnarok Online

I have a simple excuse for not posting.

Ragnarok Online.

I know there are some new and international games that have more quests, and rich story lines. But Ragnarok is a game I remember from late grade school and throughout high school.

Its classic.

and if you play on Valkyrie or Valhalla, its free.

(well.. that depend on how much premium you buy but you get my point)

I have several easter eggs from talking to NPCs, and have compiled lists for the trades skills. I have been intending to put those things up but never found the time. And I want to see which would be better to put up.

K dramas and Dramione

I haven't posted in a while, and i figure i ought to have at least some form of regularity in posting. I got a break off of school (about two weeks).

So since then i have been bumming around to:

"IRIS"

Torrents: http://www.d-addicts.com/forum/torrents.php?search=iris&type=⊂=View+all&sort=

(download the ones that have "KOR" in the title there are more seeds for it as of Jan'2010)

Fan subbed at : http://withs2.com/view/iris

(they do real good soft subs at withs2 so if you want to keep em coming visit their sponsors or donate)

with a side of "Princess Hours"

I got a Tagalog dubbed DVD. Its kinda bootleg so the quality was very low, but i could keep it running while playing FB games so the poor video quality and excessive (dubbed) breathing didn't bother me too much. I stopped in the middle though. I guess i could only take so much. I'm trying to get a download of Goong (the original Korean name of the series) but i haven met any luck finding any that are decently seeded.

-o-

and reading Dramione (Draco/Hermione) fan fic.

I just finished a particularly well written "Hermione is a pure blood betrothed to Draco" fic.

"My Brother Blaise by Charolette Black"

you can read it here

http://grangerenchanted.com/enchant/viewstory.php?sid=763

You have to make an account with Granger enchanted to view it but its free (you only need a valid email add and two min to pick a name and password.) There are alot of Hermione/other character pairings and stories there that range from G-NC17. So until Contra Veritas and Coloured Grey come up again i think il be hanging around there for a while.

For other Dramione

there is also

"Fanfiction.net" - of course, is a large database that has much of whatever you want. G-R

Fanfiction.net

"Accio D/hr" - a dramione fan fic and fan art indexing site

http://dhr.accio.nu/

"its always the quiet ones" - a fan fic story base centered on Blaise Hermione and Draco and the (relation)ships between them (last i recall its R-NC17).

http://quietones.org/

"The Restricted Section" - has some romance and NC17 stuff too.

http://www.restrictedsection.org/

There are others Of course but in my recent search for some good 'ol draco-love thats what i have run into. I can wait for CG and CV to come back up though. But for now others will do.

*i put the URLs up so you can cut paste them, i sometimes have trouble with hyper links so just in case.

Enjoy,