Crawling out of the smoking crator of my rage...

[breakinglight11]

Wow, yesterday was a bad day. An angry, upset, yelling kind of day. Apologies to anyone whose feelings I hurt by focusing my rage on that Facebook breast cancer meme. But yesterday was not a good day for that meme to be in my world. Due to certain things I've had to deal with recently, I am a little too aware of cancer, thank you.

So, on to nicer things. It occurred to me the other day that despite my ravenous need for protein, there are not many forms of non-animal protein that I like. You'd think with the particular quirks of my metabolism any and all protein would be glommed up, but while I guess I can eat these things, I don't really enjoy them, and I don't feel satisfied afterward. Still, I am trying to experiment with reducing my meat intake at least a little for the sake of the environmental and of my pocketbook. Having failed to really enjoy soy, lentils, or really any kind of bean, I have turned to chickpeas to see if I can teach myself to like them. I found a recipe on Stonesoup called Butter Chickpeas that seemed like it might taste like my favorite Indian dish, chicken tikka masala. I didn't have garam masala, though, so I had to make it myself out of various spices I had in my cabinet that I knew garam masala often contains. Don't know how different it was from the intended dish, but while it didn't come out too badly, it wasn't what I wanted. I did a little research and found out that it was a spin on Butter Chicken, which is a dish similar to and commonly mistaken for tikka masala. Which explains it, and makes me want to find a real tikka masala sauce recipe to cook chickpeas in, because that I think I could get behind.

Also, have sought comfort in blog-reading, including some I haven't checked out in a long time. I remember why I stopped reading Tomato Nation. Back when I started reading as a little nipper all the way back in, like, 1999, her entries on this humor pop-culture-and-quirks-of-life blog used to be all essays-- I called her an "essayist" way back when I didn't know the term "blogger" --posted once weekly. And I read faithfully all through that time. But by about 2007, they started becoming little snippets of stuff and less like complete, coherent pieces. More like a personal blog, which I guess the site was, than like a column, which I kind of wanted it to be. Not that they weren't interesting, but they were usually way shorter, less substantial, and harder to follow. I dropped off not long after that point. I'm trying to give it another try for old time's sake, and I still enjoy the old essays, but the new still is a little tougher to get into.

And that's all the positivity I can must for now.

Comments

[lisefrac.livejournal.com]

If you need to find prepared garam masala, there are like three Indian groceries on Moody Street where you can find it. Let me know when you go, and I'll beg you to pick up whole cumin, cardamom, and nutmeg for me :)

[laurion]

I can happily get a fair bit of protein from peanuts and peanut products. Vegetarian chili works ok for me too, but I still prefer it with at least ground beef in it.

[offside7.livejournal.com]

Tofu is so versatile, it can be a matter of just finding the right dish for it. But then again, I might be biased in its favor as a vegetarian.

Also, if it helps at all, I've never seen so many people talking about breast cancer at once (outside of Breast Cancer Awareness events and, well, I guess my surgery class.) A few of them were sharing links to websites with information on how to help (One even mentioned a donation he made, though I don't know if that was before or after the meme.) Maybe that meme was so stupid it was brilliant.

[lightgamer.livejournal.com]

Ahh, Phoebe, your broadening of your protein horizons does warm the cockles of my heart. Chickpeas are wonderful, and they're very versatile. If the beans themselves don't do it for you, there's always falafel. Falafel can be baked rather than fried and still be perfectly delicious, especially with a decent tahini sauce.

Alternatively, why not turn to the humble mushroom? Your ancestors have long known the power of the Portabella.

I enjoy tofu, but I admit that I enjoy it only as a substitute for meat. There is no dish or circumstance I have yet encountered wherein I can eat tofu and find it more tasty than meat would be in its place. I prefer to get my protein from sources that are eaten as foods in their own right, rather than as substitutes for some other food.

[valleyviolet.livejournal.com]

How do you feel about hummus? I'm a huge fan of beans myself, so pretty much any way I can eat beans makes me happy. :)

[acousticshadow2.livejournal.com]

Eggs are also a good source of protein. I prefer them poached and boiled rather than fried for the healthy reasons, but throw some boiled chopped up eggs into salads for extra panache, or just eat boiled eggs like they are. Eggs are also good for dinner. I find that omlettes with spinich are an egg-celent choice (ok that was bad I admit it) because the spinish is a really good source of iron and the eggs are a really good source of protein.

I agree with both the hummas and falafel ideas. Falafel is really good. Kinda give the concept of chicken nuggets sorta and taistes great when combined with tabule. Try switching to soy milk instead of tofu. the soy is still full of protein, but they come in yummy flavors, although milk itself does have protein in it, soy milk usually contains more.

Nuts and seeds are also good sources of protein. Serving a veggie lasagna (or if you like it eggplant parm) but having a salad with sunflower seeds and boiled egg will both give you the "feeling" of a filling, normal meal but also the protein is coming in through other places.

Nuts are also a great thing the snack on during the day in little baggies, but as a warning it is best to find if anyone in your work environment has an allery first as nut allergies can float through the air.

Also, your bean choices are not satisfying. Try adding a small amount of black beans to corn, rice and cheese, then rolling them to make enchaladas. The bean is not the most forward of all the ingredients, but it does add in to give the protein.

Also, really grainy whole grains have some protein in them. If your diet consists of white bread try switching it to a grainy wheat bread instead.