on to the food station

On a different note... I realize I start making more things at home or at least trying to make more things at home.




I cooked breakfast at home (oatmeal pretty much daily).  Recently (today!) I started making scrambled eggs for breakfast with chive (almost like what you ordered at the restaurant for breakfast but it's just way cheaper).  At this rate, it will be rare for me to go out to eat dinner/lunch/breakfast.  I've cut down the amount of times I go out for dinner... pretty much because it's so much faster to cook it at home and I tend to not overeat when I do it at home.

I guess I do cook simple meal.  I recently started making soy sauce soup.  I've become more Japanese these days.  When I told people I made soy sauce soup for dinner, they were like what? But I learned this when I went to Japan last December.  It was super easy to do.

You just boil some water, add a bit of soy sauce (to your liking but not too much otherwise it might be too salty, I use the Japanese soy sauce), and I also add a bit of ume plum vinegar (without this, the soup just doesn't taste right but don't add to much otherwise it will become quite sour...but ume plum sauce is my favorite... almost like a different version of red vinegar, white rice vinegar).  I also add in mushroom (I can't live without mushroom... I eat them everyday).  Then you have an option to add whether tofu or certain kind of meat or both.  I used the grass-fed beef (tiny bit) to make the soup taste a bit sweeter. I also use tofu by itself and the broth taste is amazingly clear (very lovely as well).  For vegetables, I've tried chive and spinach (the fresh one in the bunch not the loose leaves).  Sometimes I put in some dry seaweeds.  If you like spicy food, you can add a bit of the chili pepper in there.  Some people might want to put soba if you want some carbohydrate.  the meal really takes less than 10 minutes to make.  As you become more efficient, it probably only takes about 5-7 minutes.  This is what gets me started in cooking.  Why? because I don't have time to go to restaurant.  In contrast to what people think, I find going to restaurant taking more time.  why? it takes me forever to decide what I want.  I like to know what goes in my food (being weight conscious, i tend to not finish restaurant food and if I do, I feel so guilty later on...).  I tend to not know where to go and it takes me forever to figure out where to go... and the list of reasons goes on... so when I don't have time, I just cook at home.

anyway, if you do try the soup, let me know how it goes.  I love it to bits!  It's refreshing but at the same time I do need to watch the sodium.  Just don't drink the soup completely...maybe it's not as bad.

When I first bought the ume plum vinegar, I had no idea what to do with it.  I just know I love the ume plum a lot in one of the sushi rolls that I often called for at a frequent sushi restaurant.  Now I know what I can use it for.  Interestingly enough, I realized... food from different countries needs to be matched with their own ingredients.

Enjoy! I think my next post is about something that I've been growing... doesn't require a lot of time.. I really want to try pickle something recently... maybe I should start doing that after researching some recipe...

writing this makes me miss Japan... and wanting to go back there

on to the next rotation

I finished my rotation last Friday.  It was a good rotation... learned a lot and at the same time realized I still have a lot to learn.

The rotation itself was practically self-directed. Very little instruction was given so I had to pretty much decide what I wanted to do and how I was going to do it.   I would have appreciated it more had it not been my first in patient rotation.  Not that I like to be guided every step of the way, I just think a bit of introduction and clarification about what the expectation is like would be a lot more helpful.  Some of the feedback were helpful but at the same time I was taken by surprise because things like that were never mentioned even though I have asked about it.  Not only that, I just feel that some of the progresses that I made later on were not quite acknowledged. oh well..

Overall, it was good rotation and I had no complaint.  It's time to move on to the next rotation.  Lots to do!

^_^

midpoint update

you learn to walk by crawling... no pain no gain..
the next two weeks will be lots of work but i think i'm ready for the challenge.

got a surprise letter yesterday... and I suddenly feel that there is a connection between me and the benefactor... in someway we are similar.  I did an extensive search on her but only few articles came up.  Her contribution to the school was substantial considering it was coming from an individual.

I feel extremely blessed and lucky... it's amazing how this surprising gives me much strength and confidence in the work I do.  It's almost like a confirmation that... I can do it... it's also a reminder telling that I have a lot of work to do in order to live up to what is given to me.  Am I taking this too seriously?  I guess not... because I do feel... things happen for reasons.

In a couple days, I'll be working with a couple of friends on a very special practice.  This makes me realize that... I can introduce whatever I want but until the person is ready to commit... there is no much I can do.  but I'm glad I introduce it to her anyway... because it makes me happy when she is willing to try something that probably will be helpful. :)

July 4th or July 5th

First day of Internal Med rotation is tomorrow...why am I feeling so nervous...hope it's the right thing to feel..




it's kind of scary because many things happen there...hope i'm ready for it...

Black Rice and Sweet Potatoes ^_^

Because I become instantly obsessed with sweet potato and want to know everything about it.....so don't get me started when I searched for airplane tickets recently... in any case.. I found a blog entry talking about black rice and Japanese sweet potatoes...
although I don't cook it the way she did.. I guess I was a Japanese in my past ... decades/centuries ago :)



http://tokyokitchentales.wordpress.com/2010/11/10/satsuma-imo-gohan/

I do find it odd to talk about Japanese food on July 4th... so much contrast..

July 4th 2011

Is it July 4th already?  it will be at least another few hours... in any case, I already heard fireworks soaring the sky.. are people drinking already?



Of all the years, this is probably the first July 4th weekend I'm alone and nowhere near any relatives.  I guess it's part of growing up.  You slowly drift away from the things that you've known for years and come to take them as they are always there.

Have been busy with work and a short vacation.  Now back to regular schedule.  Try to get a good start on a research project with my professor.  I think we finally get it going.  I got some data... (approximately 20% of what I should get... but if I can accomplished that in one day - not on sitting, then I think I should be able to finished this by the end of July - I hope..) with the analysis can be done in the month of August and have it written in Sept and submitted in Oct and present it in Dec... and possibly getting more data to have it presented next June at the national meeting...(too much to ask? but I always think you should aim high so even if you can't achieve the highest level, you are probably close to it!).

I'll be in internal medicine this month.  nervous...and anxious... because I realize i don't know anything.  Whatever I studied, I forgot them already.  Hopefully, my patients will be nice...

I've started cooking new things these days.  Recently hooked into Japanese sweet potatoes.  This makes me want to go back to Japan sometimes this year.  I didn't realize how much I love that country even though I couldn't speak the language.  I just like strolling the street randomly without having to worry about anything.  Is it a true vacation? I guess so.  Kyoto is so different from Tokyo.  There are many places I want to visit that are near Kyoto (on the outskirt mostly) but didn't get a chance to do so.  The people I met there were so generous.

If you want to try, black rice (or wild rice) cooked with chopped Japanese Sweet potatoes is delicious! :)

Happy July 4th!! Get your shopping done because I've heard it's a steal this weekend.  I did mine online which took approximately 30 minutes (the amount of time it would take me to get to the mall, find parking, and get to the store).  Good luck with the deals! ^_^