Workout

Last night~

x30 2-handed swings with the 12kg kettlebell
x20 1-handed swings on each side
x15 a cable cross-body exercise, with each arm, once with the arm near the weights and once with the arm far from the weights as they cause you to use different arm muscles
x15 jump feet back, push-up, jump feet forward, jump up, repeat, holding onto two small 9lb weights (I think?).

Moderation

I made garlic cheese biscuits on Saturday.  They were absolutely delicious.  I tried not to, but I scarfed down a few.  This was a couple hours before we went out for Korean BBQ, and I just couldn't help myself.  :O  I had to finish off the last bite of biscuit before we stepped out the door.

Paula Deen's Garlic Cheese Biscuits

Cooking [almost] every night?

I'm on a cooking roll!  I think what really kick started it all was when I subscribed to several cooking blogs.  They'd have really awesome sounding recipes, often using foods I never considered cooking before.  Before long it turned into a culinary adventure!  :)  I can't even keep up with tracking all of it here.  These are a few recipes I made lately that I ended up really liking:


smittenkitchen: moroccan-spiced spaghetti squash

The Wednesday Chef: carmelized corn with fresh mint

Just Hungry: new potatoes with butter and soy sauce

Spiced Pumpkin Ice Cream

Monday workout

Circuit of 3 exercises, repeated 3 times:

15x Circular push-ups on the Smith machine bar in each direction.
15x Circular inverted rows on the Smith machine bar in each direction.
15x "Asterisk lunges" in each direction holding two 15lb dumbbells (lunge forward and touch dumbbells to ground, lunge to the side with the same leg bent and touch dumbbells to the ground, lunge backward with the same leg and touch dumbbells to the gound)

Rye Bread

I baked some rye bread last night.  This was with dough I had prepared nearly 2 weeks ago.  I'll probably bake the rest of it today as 2 weeks is the maximum they say you should store it.

The first thing I noticed was that the dough was very wet and sticky.  I also wasn't paying that much attention to the instructions so I forgot to dust the top of the ball of dough with flour before I started stretching the surface dough.  I also put it directly onto my peel (aka bamboo cutting board) with what was apparently not enough flour or cornmeal.  I should have put it on the counter first, making sure to throughly flour the sticky outside, then put a ton of cornmeal on the peel, and finally only put the dough on the peel when I was sufficiently ready.

Well, that wasn't the end of it there.  Only after I made cuts in the top of the dough did I realize it was sticking to the peel.  I slid a thin spatula under the dough, trying to cram more cornmeal there as I went.  Given that the dough was already rather formless and soft, it just started to deform more and more.  Plus, the cuts on top were spreading and starting to become part of the outer skin.  Finally I was able to slide it easily - and in the oven it went.

The fun didn't stop there - no...I had my cup of hot water ready to pour into the heated baking pan sitting in the oven.  For some reason I didn't pull the rack out, instead I thought it would be perfectly fine to pour the water into the pan through the upper rack (the one that the stone & dough were sitting on).  In my haste, I missed and ended up pouring hot water on the stone and the dough.  Uarahghggh. I tried to brush it off with my oven mitts, but it was hot in there.  The water was steaming from the heat of the stone, so I thought screw it and closed the oven door.  The water did evaporate pretty quickly, which was good.  I left the bread in for about...25 minutes I think.  The internal temperature was 205F when I took it out.

Now for the bread itself - it's got a nice brown crust.  The part where it split was not the place where I cut it.  Because of all the smooshing around, I turned out this weird shape.  The cornmeal on the bottom gets rather hard and crispy - maybe I should go for a finer ground cornmeal next time.  The inside is cooked through (yay!).  There are a few large holes, but the crumb is mostly small holes.  It tastes kind of like rye bread, but the flavor is not very heavy.  I didn't add any caraway seeds, which might make a huge difference.  Lawrence doesn't actually like caraway seeds.  Next time I'd like to try adding molassses for a dark, or maybe even marbled rye bread.

I've never eaten my bread toasted.  I tried putting some butter on it, but the bread needs to be warm for that to work (to melt the butter and all).  In the end, I go back to dipping slices of the bread in olive oil sprinkled with freshly ground sea salt and black pepper - YUM!

Hydroponics - continued.

Tonight I bought a better gallon-sized water bottle for the reservoir.  The bottom is mostly flat.  We stuck the tubes and the bottles in, and were briefly disappointed when we realized it wasn't reaching the top of the bottles.  I asked Lawrence if the pump was turned up all the way - it wasn't.  So, we turned it up and WOAH, it pumped better than it did yesterday.  The most influential factor may have been the higher water level in this bottle.  We speculate it may produce more water pressure, letting the water rise more.

In any case, it turned out perfect.  We used some more zip ties to hold the water bottles to the dowel/air tube.  I also planted my seeds in the starter cubes.  Our next step is to wait for them to germinate, sprout leaves, and grow roots.  As soon as that happens we can transfer them to the water bottles!  :D

Here's the entire setup:

Here are a few close-up shots (ok, so they're not THAT exciting...but I'M excited!):

Garden materials bought

Less than $30 for a single vertical system?  Maybe if I shopped around for the best deals and already had half the initial supplies, or was able to get some of the materials in smaller quantities.

Ralphs
3x - 1.5L bottles of Fiji water = $2.35 x 3 = $7.05
1x - 1G bottle of Arrowhead water = $1.10

Dick's Sporting Goods
1x - 3-pack of Inflation needles  = $2.73 (+tax)

Orchard Supply Hardware (OSH)
1x - 7/8"x48" circular poplar dowel = $3.47 (+tax)
3x - packets of seeds (chives, cilantro, thyme) =  $1.89 x 3 = $5.67
1x - utility knife = $2.40 (+tax)
1x - 1/2" x 260" pack of plumber's tape = $1.20 (+tax)
5' - 3/8" vinyl tube = $0.39 x 5  = $2.14 (+tax)
1' - 1/4" vinyl tube = $0.32 (+tax)

BetterGrowHydro
1x - Eco Air 2 pump = $14.87 (+tax)
6x - Rockwool Cube = $0.12 x 6 = $0.79 (+tax)
3x - 3" Round net pot = $0.42 x 3 = $1.38 (+tax)
6' - Airline tubing = $0.25 x 6 = $1.65 (+tax)
1x - 1qt Pure Blend Pro Grow = $19.54 (+tax)
1x - 1qt Pure Blend Pro Bloom = $19.54 (+tax)
1x - 10L Hydroton Rocks = $9.55 (+tax)

Total Cost so far: $93.40

However, I'm going to have a lot leftover of the hydroton rocks, plumber's tape, and seeds.  The inflation needles also came with an extra 3rd needle.  If I made two more units, it would probably be a lot more cost effective.  The nutrients cost a lot more than I expected.  I could probably also get away with a thinner dowel.

DIY Window Farm

The resources out there are rather spotty.  I want to document this process in written & video form, perhaps coming up with a better instructional manual as well.  Being completely new to the hydroponics scene, the details are a little confusing and I could imagine that being a hindrance to others as well.

Workout & Food

Sunday was Melody's Kettlebells 102 workshop.  It involved more complex kettlebell exercises than the 101 workshop.  We did cleans, squats, presses, snatches, windmills, and push-ups.  We also learned a few variations on each and some two-kettlebell versions.  I did a double kettlebell snatch on the 8kg bells.  :)

Yesterday night's workout, just 3 exercises repeated twice:

x15 - One-legged inchworms
x15 each side - Lunge, touch ground with 10lb dumbbells, step back, lift dumbbells to shoulders and press
x15 each side - Renegade rows (hands on dumbbells in push-up position but with feet wider apart, lift one dumbbell to armpit, put it back down and lift the other to armpit).  I was technically supposed to do a push-up between each row, but I guess that was a little too much. :(

Ended with 15x - 1kg medicine ball crunches where I lift and lower my legs and hands, alternating passing the ball and extending the limbs.


Food
So I was good last week, and this week I got really lazy again.  I didn't cook over the weekend even though I had been planning to.  It's really going to take some dedicated planning time.  I have a spaghetti squash I want to do something with, plus the ground pork and green beans I bought last Thursday but still haven't cooked.  Lawrence's mom came over yesterday so now we also have a pineapple, Chinese long string beans, and some brussel sprouts.  Talk about random.

Vegetables are carcinogenic?

Apparently, way before humans ever thought to create pesticides, plants already had their own internal mechanism to deter animals from eating them.  I was surprised when I read on the food site I linked to a couple days ago that celery produced carcinogenic compounds.  You're not supposed to eat bruised celery because the bruising starts a process that increases the production of that carcinogen by 100x.  The same is true of several other vegetables apparently.

I found these next two pages while I was looking for more information about this:
http://mathforum.org/~josh/alfalfa.html
http://potency.lbl.gov/herp.html

Bruce Ames, a biochemistry professor at UC Berkeley was the one who started research into the extent of this.  It's rather scary looking at all that and seeing what produces carcinogens - potatoes, spinach, coffee, peanut butter, raw mushrooms, coffee, alcohol, anything that's been browned...

However, Ames conclusion is not to severely restrict your diet but to realize that you probably encounter many more carcinogens in your diet that are naturally produced than are residual chemical pesticides or food additives.  Go ahead and be aware (don't eat bruised vegetables!), make sure you take in foods and nutrients that have anti-carcinogenic properties ("cruciferous" vegetables, vitamins A, C, E, and selenium), and eat high fiber foods so that food does not stay in your system too long.

Hydroponics - "Window Farms"

Today I read an article on re-nest about Window Farms.  The idea is to let urban dwellers grow hydroponic gardens inside their apartments all year long using vertical, hydroponic, modular, low-energy, high-yield edible window gardens built using low-impact or recycled local materials.  These structures are DIY, although the developers are in the process of putting together kits for sale.  They have a blog they use as a forum.  The site is not an ideal medium for communicating and for growth as specific information is sparse and hard to find.  But, they do have pdf files on the site with material lists and step-by-step instructions on how to create your own vertically-hanging hydroponic garden.  I never realized it would be so cheap, but the site claims you could get it all together for less than $30.  I did some research and some math and without any special deals, it is nearly that low.

I proposed to Lawrence that we give it a shot and he agreed.  Now my biggest difficulty is figuring out where to put it.  The reason this idea really appealed to me was that one giant wall of our studio is all window.  We've got 4 sets of blinds.  I want to put the plants at the window on the opposite side of the room from our bed.  There's also an Ikea bookcase in the corner.  Actually, that corner of the room has long been a logistical problem for me.  We've too many things that need to take up the space there.  Currently, it's effectively a 5'x8' space in our room that's completely useless.

Food site

Wow, this site has a really informative cooking guide section:

http://www.asianhomerecipe.com/

Workout & last night's food

Last night was mostly upper-body using barbells.

Using 2x 7.5lb weights on each side (30lb + the bar):
- Clean & press
- One-handed deadlift
- One-handed rows
- One-handed shoulder press
- Squats

Using 1x 7.lb weights on each side (15lb + the bar):
- Jerk? (holding the bar with both hands in front, explode and jump while lifting the barbell overhead and landing with legs split)

- Push-ups with each hand on a barbell as they lie almost parallel to the sides.
- Barbell rollouts
- Attempted to do "z" sit-ups, but failed so I did opposite arm to leg crunches instead


When I got home, I cooked dinner using the leftovers and random vegetables we had in the fridge:

- Blanched and then stir-fried some "michihili" Chinese cabbage Lawrence's mom gave us with the rest of the top sirloin that I cut into strips and marinated with soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, green onion, and garlic.
- Heated up the vegetable soup I made the previous night.  The tomato adds a nice sour note to the flavor of the soup.
- I made fried rice from the leftover rice in the fridge, adding in some green onion and 4 eggs.  I should have kept the rice and the egg separate until the egg solidified so that it wouldn't coat the rice and make the rice soggy.  Next time.

Time Management

The Pomodoro Technique

actiTime - an online application

Essential tool: a timer.  I've downloaded a few quick & dirty apps.  There are also a Firefox plug-ins and iPhone apps.

Dinner

Success!

I have a pot of vegetables on the stove right now.  I can probably eat that tomorrow.  Meanwhile, I stir fried some noodles with sliced top sirloin beef and cabbage.  I also blanched celery and tossed it in soy sauce, sesame oil, and sugar.  It didn't turn out bad, and I positively LOVED the celery.  That's surprising because I usually hate celery.  I don't like the grassy taste.  I think the blanching removes most of the grassiness and then the sesame oil just adds yummmmminess.

I still need a thermos or something to bring soup to work in.

Cooking

We finished the last of the potato salad yesterday.  It was good, but there's too much egg, potato, and mayonnaise in it for me to make on a regular basis.  Last night I baked some potatoes for dinner but I didn't get a chance to eat mine until I got home from knitting.  I took the last loaf of French bread and made banana chocolate chip bread pudding with it.  It took longer than I expected to finish baking - by the time I took it out it was 12:30am and I had a 7am dentist appointment to make.

At the dentist, I got a temporary crown on my tooth.  I'm going back in about 2 weeks for the actual crown.  I'm getting used to the dentist now.  I think the only times I really tensed up were when he put the needle in my gums, but even that wasn't that bad.  It's weird that they had to put thread between my tooth and my gums in preparation for the crown.  I can feel the swelling in the gums around the tooth compared to the other side of my mouth.

Tonight I want to cook up some of the vegetables we have in the fridge to make a soup - tomatoes, carrots, celery, onions, cabbage, napa cabbage, and then maybe throw in some noodles in there.  Or I could stir fry the noodles with the cabbage and carrots.  I could pick up some pork or beef on the way home to throw in as well.  OH right, I totally forgot I also wanted to make some Chinese cold celery salad with my celery.  It's super simple - blanched celery cut into short long slices are tossed in sesame oil, and other seasonings of your choice (e.g. soy sauce, salt, sugar, ginger, cilantro, rice vinegar).

I need to stock up on some additional Chinese kitchen basics~

- dried shiitake mushrooms
- dried scallops
- rice wine
- rice vinegar
- MSG

- green onions (perishable)
- ...

I already have~
- corn starch
- soy sauce
- sesame oil
- various sauces & pastes (sesame paste, oyster sauce, bean paste, chili paste, sweet chili sauce, hoisin sauce)
- ginger (perishable)

Workout

Today~

Across the floor (and back) exercises:
- Two lunges forward, one lunge back; two lunges back, one lunge forward on the way back
- Inchworms forward; inchworms backward
- Broad jumps forward; broad jumps backward
- Walking kettlebell swings forward each way (26lb kettlebell)
- Crab walk forward; crab walk backward
- Side-stepping squats, alternating sides with each step

- With a dumbbell (15lb I think) and with one leg propped up on a bench behind you, raise the dumbbell to the shoulder and press up. Lower it back down to the ground and repeat.
- 15x Sit-ups.
- 15x Lying on your back and with one knee bent, lift your butt up and then lift and lower the other leg.
- 15x Roll outs on the rolling wheel of dooooom.

Busy day

This morning I went to Melody's Kettlebells 101 workshop. It was a basic intro to kettlebell exercises - swings, presses, squats, rows, lifts, and Turkish get-ups. We were outside at Washington Park, and it was actually really nice. The weather was great (we were in the shade of a large tree). It was really nice to do the exercises outside with the fresh air. Air circulation inside the gym is not good at all and you can really tell the difference when you work out outside. I actually want to go to next weekend's Kettlebells 102 workshop, even though I hadn't considered it before.

I at 5:30pm I started cooking. I had started a French starter (pate fermentee) yesterday for the French bread I wanted to attempt today. I made shinjaga shoyu bataa, or potatoes with soy sauce and butter. Lawrence and Wilson both liked it. :) I also roasted a head of cauliflower with olive oil, thyme, red pepper flakes, and chopped garlic (a recipe from Emeril). That was pretty good. Finally, I made potato salad using russet potatoes, and boiled eggs, carrots, frozen corn, and frozen peas mixed together with mayonnaise. Yummy...

I ran into some issues with the French bread - I think it dried out too much while proofing, so each of the shaped loaves formed a dry skin around the outside. This made it difficult to score and did not let the bread expand while baking. I've still got the rye bread dough I prepared yesterday from the ABin5 book.