Food and Flowers and Frivolous Phenomena

Food and Flowers and Frivolous Phenomena

How's that for alliteration!

Ramble time! I finally saw Captain America: The Winter Soldier and I loved it! I adore Cap. If I could chose a favorite superhero, it would be a hard choice between Cap and Superman (I used to watch the old black and white Superman tv show with my Dad a lot), but I would probably have to go with Captain America because he is so stubborn and stands with his convictions no matter what. I also love Agent Coulson from SHIELD and love the tv show. I can't believe the season finale is next week! Too soon! I need more BAMF!Coulson in my life.

I've also been watching the second season of Star Trek: TOS on Netflix. I always think: This must be the strangest episode ever. Then I see the next episode and think: No, THIS is the strangest episode. Nothing can beat aliens that think they are gods. Then I get a few more episodes down the line and I'm watching Chekhov dance to imaginary music being played by Spock while androids watch in confusion and my brain just explodes. I adore this show. I've always loved the movies, but I hadn't seen some of the episodes. They really are beautiful and funny and insane. And nothing beats the William Shatner Look-of-Surprise. It is so bad, it is good.

I've been making some really fun foods recently. I even remembered to take some pictures!

 

Here is Tasty Bite Spinach Dahl with Lime Rice and Mozzarella Daiya Shreds. These are those microwaveable pouches that you can find in the Asian/Indian/Ethnic section in the grocery store. I really love this combination. It tastes almost like Palak Paneer, which used to be my favorite Indian food that I would get at restaurants. I also love the Tasty Bite Eggplant Punjab.

 

I was running out of food when I made this which is why there are two different types of noodles in it! Chia Seed noodles, heart shaped veggie noodles, canned tomatoes, and Daiya with Cajun seasoning and garlic powder. Super tomato-y and filling.

 

 

I made Falafel out of a box. It was super yummy! I broiled it in the oven with a little bit of olive oil. I made a dill dressing out of Vegenaise, dill, garlic powder, and lemon juice. Gotta have olives too! These are filling and immensely satisfying. I could only eat 3 or 4 before being totally full. These would be really great in a sandwich with cucumbers, lettuce, and tomatoes. I, alas, was out of all of those things when I made these over the weekend, so I just ate them as you see them.

 

I tried something different when I went out to eat on Monday. I know, shocker! This is the Ponchatoula salad at Nutrition Company with tempeh instead of chicken. It was really wonderful, but I'll probably get a vinaigrette next time because poppy seed is my least favorite dressing because it is so sweet. The strawberries took care of the sweetness factor so it isn't necessary. I loved the seasoning on the tempeh. It was slightly spicy and gave the sweetness of the salad a bit of a kick. Also, the juice I had was the best drink I've ever had. It was called the Don Juan and was made from pineapple, parsley, ginger, and apple. It tasted like Christmas in a cup.

 

Look at this awesome pasta I made on Cinco de Mayo! Angel hair, sesame oil, soy sauce, canned sweet corn, canned tomatoes, liquid smoke, ketchup, and garlic powder. Super festive looking and delicious. The corn and the tomatoes gave it a slightly sweet taste, while the soy sauce and liquid smoke gave it a salty kick. The sesame oil added another layer of flavor to make this a diverse and exciting experience for the taste buds.  A different version I made of this was: pasta, sesame oil, garlic powder, soy sauce, teriyaki sauce, liquid smoke, tomato paste, ketchup, tofu, and black pepper.

 

And hey look! Another lettuce sandwich. I love these! Lettuce sandwich made with olive bread from the Fresh market, Vegenaise, and Campari tomatoes.

My hair has been growing in darker recently.

I've been reading a book called Ragnarok: The End of the Gods by A. S. Byatt. I am over halfway done with it and I still can't decide if I like it. It is a retelling of the familiar Norse myths, but from the sort of perspective of a young child during the Blitz in the English countryside. I love the childlike way the stories connect and unfold and also the skald-like delivery of the stories. I know these stories pretty well. I am a Norse myth nerd so I have read and/or own many books that are essentially retellings and translations just like this one. But this one has a strange and fresh feeling to it that transports me as a reader to a different place and time, so I feel like I'm with the girl thinking about the myths as she walks down the lane by the hedgerow. This writing style isn't for everyone and there are many negative reviews of this book out there, but I find it refreshing and poetic, if a bit odd. I'll reserve my final judgments until the end of the book, but so far I love it. One of my favorite passages is about Loki's child Jörmungandr, the world serpent that circles around the word devouring her own tail. The descriptions of her thoughts and the sights she sees at the bottom of the oceans are so descriptive I can picture the underwater world with a rich, vivid clarity that makes the stories very real in my head.

Trying out makeup for ballet

My ballet recital is coming up next week. We had our dress rehearsal today and it was really fun getting to dance in our costumes! I now have glitter all over my body that won't come off, no matter how hard I scrub. I had to go through tons of my makeup to find what I wanted to use. You can see all the different eyeliners, brown shadows, and lipsticks I considered before I figured out what looked good. I'm going to experiment the next few days to try to figure out what will look best before next week. I'm super excited.

It is really spring now. It's muggy and in the 80s everyday now. The flowers are really beautiful and fragrant (and causing me to be all allergy-fied, so I don't like them too much). Here are some of the beautiful flowers outside! And blueberries! And trees! I'm leaving them big so you can see how awesome some of these plants are. I take all my pictures on my phone, so excuse the awful blurry/fuzzy haze on some of these pictures.

Look how furry the pollinators look on this poppy. They are such a beautiful color.

I love the little hairs on the inside of these foxgloves.

White foxglove

Yellow and Purple Columbine

I don't know what these are, but they are beautiful

So many beautiful flowers in the garden.

Hey look, a little bug crawling on the columbine!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I hope you have enjoyed this ramble. Stay tuned for more fun pictures, recipes, rambles, reviews, and (eventually) my Walk to Mordor (I'm getting pretty far now!). Have a glorious day!