Tag: recounted

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breakfast smoothie

this morning i opened the fridge and realized i forgot to buy eggs for breakfast!  necessity is the mother of all invention (… hunger in this case) so i combed through the fridge to see what i could make instead.   we had a lot of fruit – both frozen and fresh – so i decided to create a breakfast smoothie.   i didn’t have a chance to take a picture of the finished product this morning —  it was so good, mgs and i devoured it pretty quickly.  BUT it was super healthy and super easy to make.   i paired it with an english muffin (use butter, jam or whatever your preferred spread is) and, of course — bacon.

serves 2 / prep time: 10 minutes

ingredients
8-10 frozen strawberries
1 banana chopped into 1/4 inch slices
1/4 of an avocado
fistful of raspberries
1 cup soy milk
1 tablespoon granola

1. throw all fruit – strawberries first since they’re frozen – and soy milk into a blender.  crush at high speed until the strawberries are reduced then switch to liquefy until you get a smooth consistency.

2. to serve, pour the smoothie into a glass tumbler.  sprinkle the granola on top.  if preparing other dishes (such as heating up your english muffins or bacon), leave in fridge to chill until it’s time to eat.

as simple as that.  it was so healthy that i didn’t feel bad for stuffing my face with this for lunch:

ike's sandwich

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first day

woke up at 8:13 am.  thought how nice that i don’t actually have to get up until … well, whenever.  tried going back to bed.  mind racing thinking about all the things that i left unfinished at the office (and … wait, did i even reassign the tasks  to someone else?).  spooned with mgs.  stared at mgs.  got restless, got out of bed, went to the back porch.  watered the plants and brought the basil out for some sun.  loaded the dishwasher.  wiped down the counters.  rearranged the kitchen appliances.  made coffee.  checked my voicemail.  considered rearranging the bouquet of flowers on the kitchen table.  figured out that the odd mass that my co-worker gave me for my last day is actually two slices of banana bread (though it looks more like mooncake).  spooked by mgs staring at me in the kitchen doorway.  took a sip of coffee.  updating blog.

leaving the agency and brOakland feels like high school/college graduation.  you know how you’ll stay in touch with people, but because of the physical separation, things will never be the same again.  man oh man did i feel sad last night and that feeling is slowly creeping back.  never take any moment for granted people — never!

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remembering why

i guess in these upcoming days, my last at the agency, it’s important to remember what brought me here in the first place — and it’s a story i’ve shared via email when i first started that some of you may or may not have read.

i’m not sure how many of you know, but i come from a big family of nine brothers and cousins scattered all over the world.  to make it a little easier to keep in touch with one another, we started an e-newsletter where we could send updates, birthday greetings,  inappropriate jokes — or other news.  these emails were usually pretty mundane until suddenly, one of our cousins started sending really offensive emails targeting some of our relatives.  her behavior over email became increasingly erratic and grew so unbearable that some family members got into email fights with her or blocked her out completely.

it wasn’t until later that we were told that this cousin actually suffered from schizophrenia.  now coming from a relatively liberal, asian american family, i thought we’d be pretty open about sharing news like this, but it just goes to show how stigmatized mental health is.  i just imagine how lonely our cousin had felt and that if we had only known sooner or if the right resources were available to her, we could’ve helped her more rather than isolating her as we had done.

when i moved to california, i vowed to work for an organization that did meaningful work.  i wasn’t necessarily looking for work in the mental health field, but the agency’s reputation preceded my search.  a close friend told me how it played a crucial role in a mutual friend’s recovery and continuing treatment for bipolar disorder.  it wasn’t until i started working for the agency, however, did i learn just how amazing its staff is and how each individual is truly dedicated and passionate about the work that s/he is doing.

i can’t praise the staff enough.  each one of you comes in here – and we all know it’s not for the money or the recognition, but because each one of you truly believes in doing something to improve the health and lives of our community.  i am so grateful to be surrounded by so many compassionate souls and it has been a true joy to work among you.

thank you — from the bottom of my heart.

– a less eloquent, though probably more concise version of my going-away speech from friday’s staff retreat.  despite all the struggles, i’m going to miss the crap out of that place.

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chicken burrito

chicken burrito, originally uploaded by willdao.

this is a recipe that mgs and i tried using an nytimes chicken negimaki recipe featured in this article: for moister chicken, tuck the flavor inside

i adapted it for indoors using an oven and improvised the stuffing (you can use anything that you think might go well with chicken). i also added a little side tomato salad that compliments the dish pretty nicely. very summery, satisfying and healthy!

serves 2 / cooking time: 45 minutes

ingredients for the chicken
2 chicken breasts
5 bunches of spinach
4 diced cloves of garlic
2 tablespoons mirin
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons jalapeno chutney (my brand is sukhi’s gourment indian food from the farmer’s market)
honey, to coat
salt and fresh ground pepper, to season
toothpicks or cooking twine

ingredients for the salad
1 teaspoon olive oil
2 handfuls of mixed cherry tomatoes
10 pearl onions
1 teaspoon chopped basil
2 slices of mozzarella cheese
salt and fresh ground pepper, to season

to cook the chicken:
1. preheat the oven to 400F.

2. blot the chicken breast dry and wrap loosely in saran wrap. using a kitchen hammer or a heavy pan, beat the chicken breast until it’s flat. salt and pepper the chicken on both sides. spread the chutney on one side of the chicken like you would tomato sauce on a pizza, leaving the edges clear of sauce.

2. heat the olive oil in a skillet and toss in all the garlic when hot. saute the spinach until slightly wilted and then pour in the mirin and soy sauce. add a dash of salt and pepper. remove from heat when you think the spinach is cooked.

3. spread the cooked spinach in the center of each flattened breast. then, carefully roll the chicken up like a cigar. use string or toothpicks to hold the chicken in a roll.

4. place in oven for 40 minutes or until cooked. make sure to baste after 20 minutes using the leftover sauce from sauteing the spinach. when it’s 5 minutes until done, coat the top of the chicken with honey.

5. when finished, cut in half, plate, and serve warm.

to cook the salad:
1. heat the olive oil in a skillet and toss in the tomatoes and onions. turn to medium heat and saute until tomatoes are slightly charred and onion is slightly browned. salt and pepper to taste

2. plate tomatoes and onions. toss mozzarella and basil on top.

my suggestions: the next time i try the chicken, i would probably brown the outside a bit on the stove top in a pan first and then put it in the oven. i’d also add tomatoes and cheese in the center.