RIce Pudding

Rice Pudding

Vegan OR Vegetarian OR Non-V_

Ingredients:

• 2 c. cooked rice (my fav: 1:1 forbidden:white)
• 3 c. milk (any kind, soy, hemp, cow's whatever)
• 0.5 c sugar
• pinch NaCl
• 0.5 c raisins (optional, helps gelatinize product)
• 1 tsp. vanilla or almond extract
• 0.5 tsp. cinnamon
• pinch nutmeg

Procedure:

1. Combine rice, milk, sugar, salt in medium saucepan
2. Boil, then reduce heat to simmer
3. Stir in vanilla extract, raisins
4. Cook 30-45 minutes, until milk is absorbed
5. Remove from heat, stir in cinnamon and nutmeg

Notes:

• Can add 1/2 c, of milk as needed
• If starting from dry rice: at 5280ft, 1.5 c dry rice cooks to 5.33 c. So use ~9/16c dry if you do not want leftovers. Cooked volume is more important than dry volume.

Baked Oatmeal Cookies

Oatmeal Cookies, Healthy Style

Ingredients:

1c.   whole wheat flour
1.5c. oats
0.5 t. baking soda
0.5t. baking powder
0.5t NaCl
1T cinnamon
0.5t nutmeg/"pumpkin pie spices"
0.5c sugar
0.5 c oil (1:1 olive and coconut)
1 egg, beat with 1T H2O
1t vanilla extract
0.5t almond extract
+various nuts, seeds, whatever
+"special ingredients"

Procedure:

Mix all dry ingredients
Mix all wet ingredients. Mixer helpful.
Mix all ingredients together. Mixer NOT recommended!
Cool 20 min.
Preheat oven to 335 F
Drop mixture in 1t increments to floured or greased baking dish
Bake 15-20 minutes, or until cookie is golden on bottom.

Beer and Thermodynamics

This is my Saturday afternoon/evening.
#partyanimal

10.2 mi by bicycle today, 5.1 of which was nearly constant uphill (conversely, 5.1 of which was nearly constant downhill.)

Pretty casual day, but it is good to get moving. Lots of studying to do still. Can't wait to see my love Ira and hear about her Holy Cross adventure. :)

This morning, I went for a run. 3 miles in 29 minutes; not bad for not having run or done much aerobic exercise in several months. I'm not out of shape, I'm in good health: spiritually, mentally, and physically; but all three of these aspects of overall health must be maintained, and I've been slacking in the physical department lately (the spiritual department too, I need to meditate more.)

The saying goes, "today is a new day." Well, today is the first day of the rest of my life, and I hope for that to be a long, productive life. Running this morning was symbolic of that; and I'm setting a measurable goal for myself in the physical department: run the BolderBoulder in 2011. I'm not worried about the time, or which wave I qualify for; just to run it--not walk--is a good enough starting point. 10K is not out of reach; I ran half of that this morning already.

The rest of my life begins now, and now I begin taking better care of my life. Spiritual, mental, physical; and finding the ideal balance between the three.