Brown Rice Sushi Salad

大家好！How are you guys today? I'm doing pretty fine on this hot summer day. Well, not that fine, actually. I feel like I've been eating a lot lately. I haven't gained any weight, but I just had to say that. Anyway...

Today, I made brown rice sushi salad. I was actually planning on making regular brown rice sushi, but I realized that I didn't have any seaweed. I was still craving the sushi rice though. So, I decided to through the filling in together with the sushi rice, and there you go! Brown rice sushi salad. Sounds pretty easy to make. And, it was easy to make! The only problem is that it's sort of time consuming, the way I made it. So, here's the recipe.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups uncooked brown rice
• 3 sticks imitation crab meat (add another stick if you like more)2
• 1/2 package of firm tofu
• garlic salt
• 1/3 cup rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons mirin
• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1  1/2 tsp salt

Directions:

1. Cook the brown rice how you would normally cook it. I soaked the rice in water for 1 hr, then drained the water. Then, I added 3 and half cups of water and cooked it in the rice cooker. 
2. In the meantime, cut the tofu into small cubes and then season the tofu with garlic salt. Preheat the oven to 400 F.  Bake it for 20-30 minutes.
3. Once the rice is done cooking, mix together the vinegar, mirin, sugar and salt in a small bowl. Then, pour it into the rice and mix. 
4. Cut up the imitation crab meat and mix it in with the rice. 
5. Then, mix in the tofu. 
6. You can add avocado, if you want, but I didn't have any on hand. 
7. Enjoy. :)

I hope you guys enjoy this recipe. :)

On another note. I can't wait for school to start. A new chapter of my life. Oh. College. 

So, what's your favorite type of sushi?
Do you prefer certain types of ethnic food?
Do you guys have any tips for college?

Victorian Sponge Cake and my day today

Hello everyone. How are you guys doing today? I'm doing pretty good, actually. I had a fun day today. I'll talk about my day later in the post. But, for right now, I have to tell you guys about the Victorian Sponge Cake I baked yesterday.
The cake is absolutely delicious. I received the recipe a long time ago last October, when British exchange students came to stay with some of my classmates. They gave me the recipe, but I never got to baking it until yesterday. Here's the handwritten recipe they wrote:

I thought that British handwriting would be different, but I guess it looks the same.

Anyway, that's the recipe they gave me. However, I did have to research it a little bit. As it turns out, it is self rising flour that is needed. If you don't have self-rising flour, you can add some baking powder to the flour. Just search online on how to make self-rising flour. I also added vanilla extract to add a bit more flavor. I didn't add any strawberry preserves or whipped cream, but I know that it would have tasted amazing if I had added it. Unfortunately, I didn't have any at home. I will remember to buy those the next time I bake this cake. It's still a very good cake. Enjoy. :)

Ingredients:

• 4 oz self rising flour (1/2 cup)
• 4 oz sugar (1/2 cup)
• 4 oz butter (1/2 cup, I know. A lot of butter.)
• 1 tsp baking powder (if you are using regular flour. Add baking powder to regular flour.)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 eggs
• strawberry preserves
• whipped cream
• powdered sugar

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. 
2. Grease a cake pan ( a very small one).
3. In a bowl, cream together the butter and sugar. 
4. Mix in the eggs. 
5. Add in the vanilla extract. 
6. Mix in the flour really well. 
7. Pour into the prepared cake pan and bake for 20 minutes. Use a toothpick to test if the cake is done. 
8. Wait until the cake cools. Cut the cake in half (horizontally) so that you can make a cake sandwich. Put strawberry preserves on one side of the cake and whipped cream on the other. Then, put it back together like a sandwich. 
9. Sprinkle powdered sugar on top and serve. 
10. Enjoy. 

So, I had a fun time today. It was a hot day though. I rode the lightrail with my cousin, met some random people while on the lightrail, bought my textbooks at the university and ate some yummy food. 

Well, in the morning, I was really hungry. I went to my cousin's place, but I hadn't had breakfast yet. So, we walked by a gas station, which was close to the lightrail station and I bought myself a Chocolate Chip Clif Bar. It costed twice as much as buying it from my local supermarket, but I was hungry. It was delicious though. We met a random person on the way there and that person kept talking to me and my cousin. That person was pretty nice though. Talked to us as if they've known us for a long time. Finally, we arrived where we were suppose to go and by then, it was lunch time. 

For lunch, we ate at a burrito place at the university. It was actually decent. It also came with chips and salsa. I ordered the veggie burrito. It tastes a lot better than the veggie burrito I bought at a different Hispanic place I talked about in June. 

We got our textbooks after and then we walked around for a bit. Then, we went back to my cousin's place, picked up my other cousin and went to get some froyo since it was a hot day! The froyo was delicious. I got toffee froyo, peanut butter froyo and milk chocolate froyo. You have to love self serve froyo. For the toppings, I got  sprinkles (my fav!), dark chocolate chips (my MOST fav), yogurt chips (I wanted to try it) and one chocolate covered pretzel ( I didn't want to overdo on the calories). All of it was delicious! 

So, I guess that's basically it. 

I really want to make horchata and naan. I will be able to sooner or later, once I get the ingredients. I'll post the recipe once I get it right. 

So, do you guys like froyo? Or do you guys like regular old plain ice cream? 

Have you guys had any weird experience while using public transit? 

DIY (Do It Yourself) Shirts

Before I get to talking about how to make your own T-shirts, there is some things I have to say. For one thing, remember that you are in control of your own life. Make the best of it and make wise decisions. You don't want to do something you'll regret later on. Made a mistake? Admit it, get help, reflect and learn from it. That's how life is. Nobody's perfect. Not even celebrities and not even Asians.

Anyway, what I really wanted to say is how even though I appreciate the concern people have about me not eating meat (I'm forced to eat seafood though, after a month of not eating any meat), I do NOT want to eat meat. It's my body and I decided what I want to put in it. People (*coughs* family and friends) say that "oh, you won't get the nutrients you need from not eating meat. You'll have problems later on in life."

Here's one major fallacy with that: you CAN get all the nutrients you need while still eating a vegetarian diet. All you need to do is eat the right combinations of vegetables, grains, beans and that stuff and you're good to go. Eating dairy will help tremendously. All you have to do is talk to a dietitian and they can help you plan meals so that your body is getting what you need. That way, you won't have problems later on in life that is directly related to not eating meat.

I really, truly do appreciate the concern you guys have for me. But, it's my body and I get to choose what I want to eat. Maybe it's because it's not the traditional Chinese food diet, but, times are changing and we aren't living in China.

One tactic someone tried to used against me is this: my fear of my body image (of getting fat). Back when I was in middle school, I was overweight. I ate at fast food places a lot (the spicy chicken sandwich from Carl's Jr as an after school snack), I ate a lot and I did not exercise (my mom even tried to get me up early every morning to exercise), but I did not care. Then, finally, it hit me that I needed to become healthy and lose weight.

Finally, in 9th grade, I started to portion the foods I ate, chose healthier options (I even learned to read food labels...and whole wheat bread..but still white jasmine rice..get what I mean?) and I started working out. I still ate meat then, but I ate less of it and I ate healthier meats. I lost 30 lbs in just 4 months. I weighed less than when I was in 6th grade (I've basically stayed the same height since 6th grade too...). My weight has fluctuated about 10 lbs, but I still weigh less than when I was in middle school.

Anyway, about the scare tactic. They said that my body looked better when I was in 9th and 10th grade, when I still ate more normal, not caring as much as I do now about the health freak foods. That included eating white rice and some other things too (instead of what I eat now, brown rice). I admit that I agree but I can't change that fact that I'm still growing. My body has gained curves, more feminine, but my skin isn't as good as it was when I was in 9th and 10th grade. I do miss how I looked back then. I exercised less, freeing up some time and my body was basically perfect. Now, I have dry skin, acne, I weigh a bit more than when I was in 9th and 10th grade and I spend more time working out. But, I admit I do have more muscle now then back then. Anyway, I am now eating more like a "normal" person. The only thing is that I won't eat pork.

Anyway, back to the T-shirts. I made the T-shirt about a week ago. I was just trying it out. I got the idea from blogilates, Cassey Ho.  Here is the link.

Here is how my t-shirt turned out. Please do not laugh.

It didn't turn out too badly, right?

The shirt is actually very comfortable, but I don't know if I'll be wearing it out. I may wear it to work out though.

So, anyway, I went on a body fat scale after not going on one for such a long time. My body fat reading is of an athlete's. You can search online for that.

I also baked a Victorian Sponge Cake yesterday. I'll post the recipe in the next post. I baked it because I took the permit test yesterday and I passed on my first try! I finished the test under 10 minutes. I studied a lot before the test...I know. Stereotypical Asian since I studied a lot before it, but I didn't want to have to keep retesting. It's actually just common sense with some laws and rules you have to learn from the handbook.

So, sorry for this long post with very few pictures. My next post will have more pictures. :)

So, do you guys like making your own clothes?
What's your favorite kind of cake?

Vegan Brownies and a fun food shopping day

Dajia hao! How are you guys doing today? Well, I'm going very good, thank you very much. I've had a fun day. It was definitely more eventful than the rest of the summer days I've had since I came from China. I'll talk more about later in the post but for right now, I'll talk about my favorite thing: dessert.

Anyway, I made vegan brownies yesterday! Don't these look delicious? 

Well, they were! These brownies were very good. They are chewy but they are not dry, which surprised me. They have no fat in them. I ate them today and they still taste good and have the moisture. 

I've been looking for healthy versions of the foods I love, so I decided to try to make them. I love brownies, but I don't like how they have all the fat and sugar in them. Brownies have an unusually high amount of both. However, even though my vegan brownies have no fat, they are high in sugar. But, hey. Which sounds healthier to you? High fat and sugar or no fat and high sugar? You may say it depends on the kind of fat but oh well. At least these are healthier than the other brownies. 

And, guess what? They have applesauce and bananas in them. Now, aren't you guys surprised? It still tastes like a really good brownie too. So, now, here's the recipe. 

Ingredients:

• 1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 cup cocoa powder
• 1 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 cup apple sauce
• 1 banana, mashed
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tsp baking powder
• semi-sweet chocolate chips (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350 F. 
2. In a bowl, mix together the apple sauce, banana and vanilla extract. 
3. In another bowl, sift together the dry ingredients. 
4. Slowly mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. The batter will be thick. Then, add the chocolate chips if desired. 
5. Pour into a greased pan and bake for 35 minutes. 
6. Use the toothpick test to see if the brownies are done baking. 
7. Let it cool and then cut into pieces. 
8. Enjoy. :) 

I also made a shirt yesterday. But, I will post that tomorrow. It's a cute racer back shirt that you can wear to workout in. But, for now, you can hear all about my day today. 

So, I went around my university campus today with my cousin, who showed me around. After that, we went out to eat at L&L Hawaiian BBQ. Before I really got into health foods, I would order the chicken katsu, macaroni salad, rice and that stuff. That's at least half a day's worth of calories! But, now, they added healthier options. They have the healthy plate options and I ordered the garlic shrimp one. It came with brown rice and a salad. It was actually pretty good. I added soy sauce to the rice though. Here's a pic:

Looks delicious, huh? I was so psyched that they actually had a healthy menu! This was only around 270 calories. 

After eating this for lunch, we went to Sunflower Farmer's Market. My cousin goes there a lot and I've never been there before. He bought these organic baked apple cinnamon chips that I tried and they were delicious. I just had to buy it from there and I did. 

They had such a huge selection of healthy things! I was in heaven. Vegan, gluten free, you name it. They had it. Their bulk selection is really nice too! I love their salad dressing assortments and their granola bar assortments. I also love their snacks, cereals and everything! I had such a hard time choosing what to buy! I mainly wanted to buy items so that I can snack on them while I'm at school. The university food is expensive and I don't want to waste money buying their food. That's why I want to buy lots of snacks from here. Healthy snacks. Here's what I ended up buying:

I jut had to buy the apple cinnamon smiles cereal. It was just too cute! It's a generic brand but the nutrition isn't bad either.  As for the Clif Crunch Bars, I've heard good things about them. I've tried other Clif brands, including the regular Clif, Luna Bars and Mojo Bars. It's about time I tried their Crunch ones. For the Larabar, it said that the Banana Bread is a discontinued flavor. I don't know if it's true or not, but I bought one just in case it was. And, I've just heard many things about the Shirataki noodles. And, I've already told you guys about the apple chips.

Now, here's the pictures of the salad dressings and some other things:

So, what's your guy's favorite dessert?

Where do you like to go grocery shopping?

What are your favorite healthy snacks?