Callieflower Kitchen

Hello blog friends!

I managed to make it home without gnawing a body limb off I prepared a snack the minute I walked in the door!

Apple slices, TJ’s PB-filled pretzels with jam (!!) and an Adora calcium disk. The PB-pretzels + jam was amazing – if you have these pretzels you should try it!

So so good!

Lately I’ve been inclined to just throw together a smoothie or yogurt bowl and call it a night, but I decided I should start eating more “real” meals.

The last time I was in J-Town I picked up some Japanese brown rice. I’ve always been one to stand by the traditional white rice, but lately it seems like my tastebuds have changed and I’ve lost my taste for white rice. I thought this would be a great way to get the nice, sticky consistency of the rice I love with a little more oomph to it

This rice was much less starchy than the white kind – the water was already clear and it didn’t need any washing! It appears that brown rice also needs a slightly higher ratio of water:rice than white rice.

While the rice was cooking, I steamed some broccoli and kale (which then got massaged with some liquid from the minced garlic jar), and finally cooked up the package of Gardein beefless steak tips I’ve had in my freezer for months now. I also made some cheeze sauce with hummus, nutritional yeast, almond milk and lemon juice.

Since the meal was Japanese-inspired, I decided to break out the chopsticks and thought it might be fun to go over how to use them. A lot of people have trouble using chopsticks, and as someone who wasn’t raised eating with them, I know how difficult they can be to get used to When I first went to Japan I dropped things all the time and my fingers would actually cramp up from motions I wasn’t used to, but by the time I left I could eat anything from miso soup to spaghetti without any trouble!

To start, take one chopstick and hold it between your first two fingers and your thumb like you would hold a pencil.

Then slide the other one into your grip below it, resting on the end of your ring finger and the crease between your thumb and index finger. When you’re picking something up with your chopsticks you will only be moving the top one – the bottom one should always stay stationary.

This is what your grip should look like. It’s important to hold the chopsticks close to the top – it gives you more control, and holding them close to the middle makes it very difficult.

Although the previous way seems to be considered the “correct” form, a lot of people also hold them like this (it was considered “cuter” when I was in Japan). I never managed to master this way, though, so if you want to be cute when you hold your chopsticks I’m afraid I can’t help you

Ready to eat?

Mmm… food

The veggies were nice and filling.

And I was pleasantly surprised by the beefless steak tips. When I took them out of the package they smelled a lot like cat food, but once they were seared up they smelled much better and looked a lot more like beef. The taste and texture were great – really smooth and buttery with a mild taste. I wasn’t planning on buying more after this first package, but I think I would definitely consider them again.

I also drank lots of milk oolong tea

I headed out for a sweaty hour of Zumba (which was awesome, no sick feelings this week!), and ended up walking away with a prize.

The instructor had a bunch of Zumba bracelets to hand out to people who were giving a little extra energy, and I Zumba-ed my heart out and ended up with one of the bracelets Yay! I always feel like the biggest spaz case ever at Zumba because I have long limbs and no natural rhythm, but I figure the only person losing when I hold back out of self-consciesness is myself, so I always give it my all.

I spent the rest of the night tidying up around the apartment, and I’m about to crawl into bed with my dessert (peanut butter banana soft serve + Vitatop) for some much-needed rest and relaxation.

Only two days of work left! Have a good night

Do you like eating with chopsticks, or are you more of a “fork” person?