Another food post

You guyssssss...
I've been so exhausted every night. Any kind of creative thought has seemed simply impossible. I got so tired that I stopped making myself lunch for my internship. I have just been grab-bagging it. Example: one day I had snapea crisps, a can of pineapple, and some frozen peas. I know, you're jealous.

Well, this long weekend gave me a chance to refresh. Last night, I tried two new things. Both food-related, of course.

I bought this Cascadian Farms Ancient Grains Granola, and I am digging it. Not digging the price. Think around $5. No bueno. So, I did some googling and found a quinoa granola recipe! I read over it briefly, just to get an idea of how one goes about making granola.

I mixed together about a cup of oats, a cup of buckwheat groats, a third of a cup of tricolor quinoa in with a ton of coconut, a handful of chia seeds and some cinnamon. Then, I mixed in half of a cup of honey and half of a cup of coconut oil. I would most certainly either up the portion of oats or lower the amount of honey. It was toooooo sweet. Overall, I'm excited about  how it turned out. I will keep you updated on the other granola-esque concoctions I end up with.

I also tried to make some Filipino food. To be specific, I tried to make ginataang bilo-bilo, which is a rice flour dumpling in a coconut milk stew. It's supposed to be a dessert, but I was envisioning it like a dumpling version of oatmeal. It's made with jackfruit and tapioca pearls, traditionally. I had some tapioca pearls on hand, but no jackfruit, so I made it with some mango instead. I think I made it properly, but I just wasn't enjoying the dumplings themselves. I am proud of myself for trying at least. Of course, I didn't take any pictures. So, you can just google this stuff and imagine that's what it looked like.

Happy MLK Jr. Day everyone : )

Bitter and not at all sweet

So, day two of no pizza and also my first full day at my new internship. (I've also got this sweet gig volunteering to help teach kids how to cook healthy delicious foods in an after school program, and my first day was today!) I had this tantalizing image in my head the entire drive home: a gorgeous, orange sweet potato dripping with butter and slightly caramelized from the oven. I opened the fridge when I got home, and then remembered how long ago I'd cooked the sweet potato. It was not a pretty picture.

Eh, whatever. I've got a couple foods in the fridge, no problem. I get this amazing idea: red beans and rice with the kielbasa I bought yesterday. Except, no red beans on hand, but I had black beans. Then, I thought omg beer. And risotto! And cheddar! Sounds like a good idea right? I've been wanting to try and create my own "recipes," so I googled to see if other people had done similar things. They had. So I went right ahead. Grabbed an IPA, some onion, garlic, risotto, cheese, kielbasa.. All it needed was a kick. I noticed a can of tomatoes and green chiles, so I grabbed that too. I started cooking my risotto and onions and garlic and beer concoction. It tasted soooooo good. Then, I think I made what was the fatal mistake. In went that can of tomatoes and green chiles. Despite the label "MILD" on the front of the can, it was spicy as hades. I think this numbed my tongue a bit. I added in the cheddar and kielbasa, and it seemed too good to be true. It was.

I just sat down with a large bowl and took a bite. I have never been more disappointed in my life. Okay, maybe that's an exaggeration. But, the dish was so bitter, I am now just eating tiny little bites, avoiding the tomatoes and lapping up the kielbasa. Granted, it could have been a bad choice of beer or the cheese might have been too funky, but I think it was something in that can. Oh well, at least I tried!

This is me being disappointed and tired and cranky.

Oh, and happy new year! 

Piiiiiizzzzzzzaaaaa

Do you like pizza? You know you do.

I told my roommate there are two things she can find in the fridge if I'm having a bad day: cheese dip or pizza. Classy, right? To be specific, my downfall is delivery pizza. You know, the kind you can order online, without talking to anyone in person? It's a good way to avoid any shame. Well, this weekend was no different.

As soon as I ordered the pizza, I realized that it was maybe a little bit of self-destructive behavior. The first two pieces were delicious, and it went downhill from there. Anyways, I've decided to give up my crux in 2013. You might ask, what in the world will you replace the pizza with, Celeste?? I'm asking myself the very same question.

During a stint of one of my other favorite things, pinning recipes I can't make and clothes I can't afford, I stumbled upon this little article on Women's Health Magazine's website. What? Eating that beats stress? Yum!


What about you? What are you giving up or adding to your new year? How do you beat stress or the blues?

Goals?

To be fair, I'm starting this blog with a cold that makes me feel like I have a tube of sandpaper in place of my throat, but I'm too excited to not write another post.

I'm a big goal-setter. I write lots of to-do lists. I mean, probably at least one a day. Usually, I will write them while I'm supposed to be paying attention in class (oops), shove them in the pocket of my jacket or my purse on my way out of said class, and then forget about them until a minimum of two days later. Needless to say, this is not an effective method of setting goals.

The new year is headed fast my way, and I want to set some goals this year that I will keep track of on this blog. Now, I know all about SMART goals, but truth be told I'm feeling lazy. So, here's a list of the goals I'm thinking of.

Be healthier.
I think keeping my health is my main goal. I want to cook more, eat out less. Work on my fitness levels, watch less tv, read more. Maintain some level of sanity. Find a balance. These days I am pretty good about cooking as opposed to eating out. However, I am starting a full time internship in a week, and I don't want to see this habit go down the drain.

Save money.
This one I can be pretty smart about. I have a pretty sweet tutoring gig, but I've been blowing the income on my favorite things: drinks with my friends and useless home decor. I'd like to save all (or at least most?) of the money I make from tutoring this semester. You can tell the part of my heart reserved for fancy cocktails is already cringing.

Try new things.
I want to do a lot of new things. I want to knit. Ride a bike instead of driving. Join a CSA! Garden. The hard part is, which ones do I really want to do?

What goals do you have for the new year? What kind of goals have you stuck to and completed?
Any advice for my goals?

Dying for some action

I clipped this blog's name from one of my favorite songs. For me, it represents a combination of nostalgia and uncontrollable dancing.

I hope to use this space as a creative outlet, to share things I love, and to focus.

So who am I? I'm a twenty two year old student, about to start my last semester of college. I love cooking, pretty things, and my best friends. I live in a small house, in an amazing city. I'm a horrible writer, but enthusiastic about this space. Thanks for joining me on this ride!