Tuesday, June 15, 2010

If the Buddha Dated...

Hi, my name's Lauren and I seem to have all the time in the world right now.

That means lots of blog reading, book reading, magazine reading (get the picture?)

I recently borrowed a book from my soon to be sister-in-law (8 days! Woohoo!) called If the Buddha Dated by Charlotte Kasl.
The book's sort of mission is "how to find a partner without losing yourself." Now, I'm in no way the self-help, relationship, ooey gooey book type girl by any means. However, this one happened to peak my interest. In reading it the other night, chapter 7 Be Willing to Cook in the Spiritual Fire really stuck with me for some reason.

The chapter is all about being willing to give yourself over and really just surrender who you are to the other person and how we can actually find comfort and safety in that vulnerability. Kasl writes, "Surrender actually makes us feel safe, because there is nothing left to hide. We are open and unafraid, we cease being half-hearted with each other. [...]We release ourselves from the misery of holding back and playing it safe." She goes on to talk about how afraid we become of the shadows that lurk in our closet. However, "when the ego wants life in all its little compartments--predictable, neat, secure--smile and answer back, Oh, little child, let me rock you. I understand you are afraid, it's all right. I'm big, I can protect you. [...]Remember, love brings up anything that's hiding."

I dunno, I guess I just think the idea of safety in openness and vulnerability is a really interesting notion. But looking back, when in a relationship do we feel most at ease? For me, it's when that person knows everything and there's nothing left to hide. The constant hiding, guarding, and masking is exhausting and so distant. Love is meant to be ugly so that we can be beautiful together.

Quick, this just got way cheesy, divert attention elsewhere!

Oooo! Shiny!

How freakin' cool are these cupcake tattoos from Ace of Cakes?! I totally want these.


And now, we're back to Lauren's Reading Rainbow

30min ago was the second time today that I came across When You Are Engulfed in Flames by David Sedaris.

I'm taking it as a sign that I should read this book. No, it's probably not a sign at all, but it's supposed to be a funny read and, since I no longer have to read to pass any classes, I might actually enjoy it. Anyone read it or anything else by Sedaris before?

Monday, June 14, 2010

How to be Optimistic and Crap

[I'd like to apologize in advance for how terrible this post is. I just realized that I hadn't written one in a while and did this on a whim. A bad whim, but a whim nonetheless, haha]

My dear friend Dianne is easily the most optimistic person I know and I absolutely adore her for it. She's actually pretty well known for her optimism, so much so that she's started her own blog about, yeah you guessed it, how to be optimistic.

Things have been putting me in some really funky moods lately, but I'm taking inspiration from Di and have decided to be more optimistic. I mean, it could always be worse, right? That being said, I'm turning over a new leaf, focusing on the good, and keeping high hopes for the not-so-good.

Moving right along, let's finally talk about food!

This is one of my most favoritest blogs in terms of recipes. Know why? Cheap, Healthy, Good focuses on just that; recipes that are low in cost, high in health, and taste oh, so good.

One of the first recipes I ever tried from them was for stuffed peppers with black beans and corn. However, if you've read my older posts, you know I don't like veggies. So, my best way of hiding them for this recipe is to mix em in with everything else. So here we go, stuffed peppers with black beans and corn, minus the stuffed pepper part and adding a bunch of other yummy things (aka, adapted from CHG).


1 cup uncooked rice
3-4 minced garlic cloves
1tsp olive oil
1 cup chuckwagon corn - I get mine from the freezer section. Don't have it? No worries. It's just a mixture of red and green peppers, onion, and corn
1 15oz can tomatoes - whatever kind of tomatoes you want. I opt for diced or stewed.
1 15oz can black beans, drained and rinsed - you can add whatever kind of beans you've got on hand. I usually go with black and/or kidney
4-8oz can diced green chiles - this is really however much you feel like putting in. I love em so I put a lot

Cook your rice according to the package. Toward the end of the rice's cooking time, in a separate pan, saute the garlic in the olive oil until it's fragrant. Add chuckwagon corn and allow to thaw, stirring occasionally. Add tomatoes (you can drain them, or add the juice to the pan and just reduce it a bit for a wetter dish) and remaining ingredients. I usually add chili powder to taste at this point. I like mine a little spicy! Heat through or until reduced to your liking.

Feel free to experiment with it! Add chicken, hotter peppers, different seasonings, cheese, etc. to make the dish how you want it. I usually eat it in a bowl by itself, but it would also be great in a tortilla, as a side dish for chicken, as a dressing for chicken, etc. Or if you actually like the whole stuffed pepper idea, you could always throw it in some peppers and bake it (yuck :p).

Oh, and if you make it like Cheap, Healthy, Good does, this is the final lineup...
PER SERVING (TOTAL/8): 320 calories, 4.7 g fat, 6.6 g fiber, $1.57

Happy cooking and I promise I'll get some more posts up here at some point. I'll be sure to post updates about my recent baking escapades. I've been commissioned to make my brother's wedding cake and reception desserts. Wish me luck!


P.S.
I've lost a whopping total of 15lbs since starting this whole charade! Yes, this is me tooting my own horn :)