Instagram – it’s for food

I got an Instagram account about a year and a half ago because a friend insisted I needed to. I barely used it at all, though, until just recently. Most pictures I want to share with my friends, I post on Facebook. I didn’t understand why in the world I would want to post pictures for anyone to see, because I didn’t see strangers being interested in what I post. Even this blog, which I post without any restrictions, I’m pretty sure is only read by people I know.

A couple months ago I downloaded an app called “Handpick.” It’s a collection of pictures of different dishes, with a list of ingredients for each one and a link to the source. These pictures are collected mainly from blogs and Instagram. It can be used to look up one or more ingredients, and then see all the dishes on the app that have those ingredients. I like looking there for ideas when I’m not sure what I want to cook.

I got to thinking, if they’re pulling some of these pictures from Instagram, maybe I should start posting photos of dishes that I’ve made myself. The more people who do that, the more there is available to make this app really useful. Also, if one of my pictures did get chosen… what an ego boost!

So now I used Instagram as it was, apparently, intended – to post pictures of food. I only post homemade dishes that I’m eating. Usually that means it’s something I made, but occasionally I get a good meal from a friend or someone in my family. This blog used to be the only place to share my dishes, but now you can see them all if you follow @cactuslynx on Instagram.

My profile looks a bit like this:

I’m starting to get the hang of hashtags, so most of the “likes” my pictures get are actually from people I don’t know! It’s super interesting, and the marketing researcher in me wants to find out if certain hashtags correlate to more likes. Excel sheet, coming up!

Ooooh that smell. Can't you smell that smell.

I haven't written something new in FOREVER! I think because I do so much emailing and talking on the phone at work, the language center of my brain is just pooped. Which equals no muse :( But we are saved by my mom stepping in and reminding me of some stories I could share, so thank you Mom!

Because of the strict elimination diet I'm doing, I can basically only eat food that I've cooked for myself. So I cook a lot. And I try to cook all of my food for the whole week on Sunday, since I don't have a lot of time during the week.

Last weekend I was working on a few dishes while my family was outside doing yard work. We were all trying to get this type of work done in the morning before it got too hot! Side note: it's currently 1:00pm and 100º F (38º C) outside and we haven't turned the a/c on inside yet. Yeah, that's what we're dealing with out here in Livermore. At least it's not humid like Japan - that makes such a huge difference.

So, to get back to my story, I first started working on a recipe for balsamic glazed beets. Just have to say, not only are beets #deliciousandnutritious, they're also strikingly beautiful!

Roasting some beets! #nofilters

While roasting the beets, I was simmering balsamic vinegar with honey (substituted for maple syrup) to reduce it down to a syrupy glaze, evaporating the vinegar but leaving all the delicious flavor. Both my mom and my step-dad came up to the window and asked, "What are you doing?!? Are you cooking with vinegar? It smells all the way out here!" They seemed pretty doubtful that I was cooking something good, but when my mom tried my beets later she was very impressed and absolutely loved them!

Balsamic glazed beets on a bed of beet greens

and carrot/zucchini/turkey patties with pesto sauce.

After making the beets, I started working on a recipe for eggplant curry with tamarind and mint. I used whole spices as much as possible, and ground them by hand. Freshly ground spices are so much more aromatic and flavorful!

While simmering these spices with coconut oil (substituted for ghee or peanut oil) and crushed tomato, my mom again approached the window, this time wanting to know what I was cooking because it smelled so GOOD.

It turned out GOOD too!

I can only imagine being out in the sun, digging and planting new flowers and bushes, pausing for a second to wipe the sweat off your brow, when you're suddenly bowled over by the pungent smell of vinegar. A while later the sweet scent of a spice mixture wafts by, tickling your nose and your appetite.

Sorry, guys, didn't mean for my cooking to disrupt your yard work! And sorry, but I'm not sharing :P

Quick note on happiness

Not too long ago I watched this fascinating TED Talk on happiness:

One of the most interesting things I got out of it is that your memory of an event can be completely different depending on the very last part of that event. In the talk he uses colonoscopies as an example, but it can apply to anything.

Yesterday I had an ok day at work. It wasn't really significantly better or worse than any other day this week. However, the very last thing I did before finishing up for the day was call a new client, and it put me in the BEST mood. He was super enthusiastic and excited to get going, and it made me excited and motivated to make things happen too.

I left work feeling energetic and looking forward to the next work week. And unlike most weekdays, I not only felt up to cooking dinner, but actually wanted to make something awesome.

I first thing I said to my mom that night was, "I had a great day a work!" and looking back over everything that had happened, I realized it was all because it had ended with that phone call.

The free taco bar for lunch was pretty cool too ;)

Wait, where did May go?

I'm staying up late (past 9:00 pm) on a Friday night to write JUST FOR YOU, my dear readers. All five of you. Just kidding, I keep learning about more and more people who read this, so that's cool. Thanks guys, glad to know I'm not just writing for myself!

Sadly, I've left you without a post since... wow, 25 days ago. I thought moving was what would keep me away from writing, but it turns out that it's my new job. Which is ok, because it's great.

So, I thought I'd check in and give a quick recap of how genki I've been this month. If you're not sure what I mean by genki, I discussed it a little in my introduction blog. Just to recap, in Japanese, genki can have many meanings. As defined by my phone dictionary (which I relied on almost every single day to get through life in Japan) genki means: health(y), robust, vigor, energy, vitality, vim, stamina, spirit, courage, pep. For me, it's an all encompassing word which means healthy in many aspects including physically, mentally, and emotionally, as well as having energy and basically just feeling good.

So, how has my physical health been doing?

• Stomach and digestion

• I am still on an elimination diet. Since my last post, I have (sadly) added sweet potatoes to what I'm eliminating, because I had a few poor digestion days last week which correlated to the few days I ate lots of sweet potato.
• I will continue my elimination diet until my gut is healed, which I will determine by having a week or two straight with no symptoms.
• In general I'm doing pretty good, just mild symptoms here and there. I want to be totally and completely good, though, before I start testing foods to add back in to my diet.
• Oh, just remembered, the whole family, including myself, got food poisoning from pico de gallo I bought at a local Mexican market. That sucked and messed up my digestion for a while.
• Headaches
• During the first week or two of my new job, I had a mild headache basically everyday. Possibly stress related, or because I'm not used to sitting all day and looking at screens a lot.
• I had one migraine, but I was at home and was able to medicate and go to bed before it got very bad. It continued for about 24 hours, but was under control.
• Exercise
• My legs are healing from shin splints. Again. I got excited to run with my mom when I first moved here, but pushed myself too hard before actually buying some new good running shoes. And as I learned last year, this takes forever to heal.
• I stretch every morning during the time that I would normally be jogging if my legs didn't hurt.
• I would like to work out (low or no impact for now) every evening, but have found that with working full time I am only finding time to do so a couple times a week. Hopefully once I get settled into my schedule I can start doing this more.

Next, my mental health:

• The past three months have been incredibly stressful. During the few weeks before and after my move, I often found myself having absolutely no patience at all, and constantly hitting my breaking point of I JUST CAN'T DEAL every day, sometimes multiple times a day. During the past month, however, I can only think of two instances where I felt like that. So, getting better.
• My new job has been challenging parts of my brain that have been chilling out since I graduated college back in 2009, so it's kind of fun to get that mental stimulation. I've been in training for these first few weeks, and it feels a lot like being a student again. But with 7-8 hours of classes a day, 5 days a week, it's a bit tiring. Today I coined a new term, "Brain Fart Friday."

Closely tied in with that is emotional health:

• So, I put stress under mental health, but it has such a strong influence on emotions that I almost put it here. However, what stress isn't actually and emotion, but what it does to my emotions is make them stronger. So anger is angrier, happiness is happier, and so on. More mood swings than I'm used to. Exhibited a lot in my blog about my last day in Japan.
• I feel like recently I've been really excited and happy about my new job, and this has been giving me a lot of energy. I hope this feeling continues, and isn't just a honeymoon phase.

One more thing that I've never really talked about before is spirituality. Maybe that ties in with mental or emotional health, but I feel like it deserves it's own category here. What many of you may or may not know is that I'm a Quaker. There are a lot of inaccurate preconceptions about what exactly that is, so please do your research before making any assumptions about me. For example, it has nothing to do with oatmeal. And clearly I don't wear a gray bonnet. So, my spiritual health:

• I became a member of the Olympia Monthly Meeting in April, 2009. While in Japan I did not join any Meetings because I could only find info on one, which was in Tokyo (very very far from me). Since moving, I've been an active member of the Livermore Worship Group. <--- Check it out, I made a Facebook Page for our group. Give it a 'like'!
• I've been very happy to have this small community of like-minded folks. It's really a very small group here in Livermore, but we're under the care of the Berkeley Monthly Meeting, so I hope to get to know them better as well (and actually meet some people my age). I've also reconnected with some of the Olympia Monthly Meeting members, so I'm definitely feeling the love and connection that I didn't realize how much I've been missing.
• Getting re-involved with the Quakers has led to a lot of introspection and meditation on my values and how my actions reflect those values.
• I feel like some of what is important to me may have gotten muffled in the chaos of life, so I'm reconnecting to the Inner Light and trying to let that guide me. It's not easy to listen.

So there you go, a somewhat brief update on my current state. Let me leave you with a picture:

Laura and Daphne: These two cousins were both born not breathing.

So glad we made it through and are alive and kicking today!

Things that have made me happy since moving back to the U.S.

First weekend back, Oakland says, "Welcome to AMERICA."

First of all, I have to say, I STILL LOVE JAPAN. After all, I lived there for over five years for a reason. But instead of feeling homesick, I'm focusing on the things that I am enjoying here in the U.S. that I couldn't in Japan.

To begin with, food - so many options! Such variety! I have been making killer salads, trying all kinds of vegetables, and have had lots of food substitutes available that fit with my special diet.

Black olives can be bought at ANY supermarket!

Also, cheaper avocados!!

I can still have the same awesome breakfast I've always had,

but now with coconut milk based yogurt instead of soy.

I thought I would miss some things from Japan, like little fish,

but there's an Asian market where I can get almost everything.

What's this crazy vegetable? Watermelon radish!
From the farmers market, yay.

Watermelon radish in my salad! Plus, baby spinach & kale, hard to find in Japan.

And various colors of cherry tomatoes and roasted cauliflower.

Artichoke, lamb, and roasted cauliflower

A pork tamale and braised kale

Fuji apples are good, but nothing compares to a tart Granny Smith!

It's not just food that I've been enjoying either. I get to spend more time with my family & their pets, and visit friends I haven't seen in ages. So far I've gotten to see my college roommate and her new baby, and a close friend I worked with in Japan who now lives in San Diego. I also have plans to go visit my BFF in Washington (State, not DC) and hopefully meet up with a bunch of my closest friends from high school too whom I haven't seen in ten years.
I'm spending lots of time with my mom and step-dad, have visited my uncle, his wife & three kids, and will get to see lots more family when they come visit for Memorial Day weekend. Looking forward to seeing you, Grandma!

I have joined a pack. We go running together.

Three little fluffy bundles of love.

In addition to all that, I'm loving all the things I can do here. Like driving a car, going to see my favorite musicians in concert, and living it up in the California sunshine.

Totally bought my dream car.

Yep, been wanting an Eclipse since I was 11 years old.

I know these tickets say Morrissey, but what I'm really going for is

the opening act - AMANDA PALMER!!!!! 
(Also in the background is a job offer - I start in May!)

Panorama of my mom's amazing backyard.

This is actually a screen shot my BFF took of me lying in the hammock

while we were video chatting.

I got to go in a hot air balloon at

the San Diego Wildlife Park! 

To wrap it all up, what does this have to do with being "genki"? A happy mind can help with a healthy body, and vice versa.

"Fitter, happier, more productive" -Radiohead 

Elimination diet in the U.S.

If you've read my introduction post or FAQ post, you know that I'm experimenting with what I can and cannot digest well by doing an elimination diet. At first I just cut out dairy, gluten, and eggs because those are all very common problem causers. I couldn't really do it though, because these ingredients often showed up in the school lunches I had to eat at work. So my recent move back to the U.S. has been a great opportunity to finally eliminate these.
In addition to dairy, gluten, and eggs, I realized a few months ago that peanuts are probably a problem as well, so I've cut those out. Peanuts are not actually in the nut family, but are legumes. Another legume that commonly causes problems for people is soy. Living in Japan, it was nearly impossible for me to avoid soy, but back in the U.S. I figured I'd try eliminating and testing that as well.
With peanuts and soy already cut, it seemed like a good idea to eliminate all legumes. After all, beans, beans, the magical fruit... And tooting is one of the main symptoms I'm trying to fix with all this diet experimenting :P
(Oops, I just realized that peas are legumes too. Guess I haven't been eliminating that for three weeks already like I thought I had...)
Finally, both caffeine and alcohol most definitely affect my digestion, so I've eliminated those as well.
To help anyone who is cooking remember all this (including myself) I made a list on a white board and put it by the stove.

It's easy to update, so once I've successfully eliminated all of these foods and have at least one week symptom free, I'll start testing them in small amounts, one by one, and keep track on the white board what I'm doing.
I also keep a daily food diary about what I'm eating, how my stomach feels and how well I'm digesting, plus whether or not I have a headache, how my mood is, and if I exercised. As I'm often saying, I believe our physical, mental, and emotional health is all connected, so I'm curious to see if I can notice any patters and correlations.
The really great thing about living in the U.S. now is that there are so many alternatives to the foods I am no longer eating. For example, my milk options in Japan were cow, goat (but it was hard to get) and soy. Now there are all those, plus almond, rice, cashew, coconut, and more. Don't even get me started on ice cream (Coconut Bliss!!!).
Also, coconut oil is cheap! Fruit, vegetables, and meat are cheap! The only thing that's more expensive is fish, but that's ok because it's not too bad at the Asian market I recently discovered.
This might just be a honeymoon phase, but right now I feel like the U.S. is food heaven. And food makes me HAPPY :D <---this links to an unrelated but very happy video I made recently

I like it HOT!

I know I haven’t updated in a really long time - the longest I haven’t posted anything since I started this blog. So if you’ve been waiting, I apologize!

I mentioned a couple times before that I was moving back to the U.S. after being in Japan for over five years. So yeah, that happened.

A lot has happened since I last wrote, and I have way too much for one entry, so I’ll try to remember the important thoughts I’ve had and spread it out over a few posts. First, let me tell you about my last day in Japan. If you read to the end, I promise it does have to do with health and being “genki.”

*****

It was a Tuesday morning that started with waking up in a beautiful hotel room overlooking Okayama Station. My mom and I enjoyed a morning jog along a nearby river, the Nishigawa, under the cherry blossoms.

Our jogging path

This was followed by a healthy breakfast at a Japanese restaurant in the hotel featuring a buffet of typical Japanese dishes - lots of veggies, fish, and great stuff like that. So the day started with me feeling great - healthy and happy.

My mom and I went in to Kurashiki, where I had to pick up my final paycheck at City Hall. We enjoyed the rest of the morning walking around the city and visiting the main shrine, Achi-jinja. Kurashiki is beautiful in the spring, especially the Bikan Historical District.

View from Achi Shrine, overlooking the Bikan Historical District

After a quick light lunch, it was time for getting stuff done. In addition to picking up my last paycheck, there were a lot of other loose ends I had to tie up before flying out the next morning.

I went to cancel my bank account, only to discover that my branch was closed and being torn down! Thankfully I was able to read the signs directing me to the temporary location and got that done. Then it was time to cancel my cell phone contract. They canceled it and ended my service right away, happily enough, and I quickly no longer had a working phone. But I still owed them for my usage since the last bill, plus a cancellation fee. I was ready to pay it all, right then and there, but was told I couldn’t. Huh? The lady tried to explain to me why, but my Japanese knowledge doesn’t cover the vocabulary she was using. So then I explained to her that I was leaving the country the next morning, had no more bank account for them to automatically withdrawal from, and no address to send the bill to. She still seemed reluctant, but said she would call and make a request to see if I could pay that day. So I waited. And waited. She told me that whoever she was trying to contact (I didn’t understand, but maybe headquarters or something) was very busy, and she had not be able to get through yet. So I waited some more.

By this point my mom and I were exhausted from being out and about all day, and when we were informed that we might have to wait another hour on top of the hour we had already waited, we were ready to bail. Since our hotel was back in Okayama, and we were currently at a shop in Kurashiki, I asked the lady if I could go to a different shop later in the day and finish paying there. She said that was fine, and looked a bit relieved to be done with us.

So, we got back to the hotel and I was feeling grumpy and getting a headache. I still had things to get done, but I did my best to put them out of my mind while I did some yoga in an attempt to feel better before going back out. It didn’t really help. All I wanted to do was just be DONE with everything, but I wasn’t yet and my brain wouldn’t stop nagging me.

I set out to finish my to-do list, and stopped at the post office first to send my last box of stuff home. I had already filled out the customs form and everything, and thought it would be a quick drop off. But the guy working there wanted me to translate everything I had written on the form that was in the box. Ok, sometimes I’m asked to do this, no problem. Then, for each thing I translated, he wanted to actually look in the box and see it to make sure that’s what it really was. What?!? I’ve never before had someone at the post office want to look through my box. But whatever it takes to be done with my errands as soon as possible. Then he became concerned about one of my items - a kitchen knife. So I had to wait forever while he called and talked to the Japanese customs office. He then informed me that it was ok with them, but he did not know about the U.S. regulations, and so he thought the box could get stopped in customs on that side. So he wanted me to talk to the person I was shipping the box to, and have them contact the U.S. customs office to confirm that it was legal. I explained that I was shipping it to myself because I was moving the next morning, and that yes, it is fine with U.S. customs. But I guess he didn’t believe that I actually knew that, and would not ship the box with the knife in it. By this point I had been in the post office for over half an hour, and this guy was making me MAD. So I snatched up my knife (all bubbled wrapped and safe, don’t worry) and shoved it in my purse, filled out a new customs form that didn’t include it, and finally sent my box.

I stormed out of the post office with my headphones blasting some loud yelling music with a knife in my purse, and headed to the mall where the cell phone shop was. I got all pumped up walking there, like YEAH I’M GETTING THINGS DONE AND YOU CAN’T STOP ME!

And then I hit another road block when I had to go through the whole song and dance about my cell phone all over again. The guy told twice that I couldn’t pay that day, and I kept telling them I had no other option. Seriously, you’d think they would want my money. I was getting ready to just leave, because it wasn’t my problem and I was happy enough to keep my money. But he asked me to wait while he contacted whoever it was to get the authority and the exact price to collect my last bill. So I waited. And waited. And waited. And the guy wouldn’t even make eye contact with me while I was waiting. Then FINALLY he handed me a bill, I paid, he didn’t even say thank you or any of the customary phrases Japanese store clerks use to excel in customer service, and I left.

Right as I was leaving and getting ready to go back to the hotel, I got an email from my mom, who was waiting back in our room. Even though my cell service had been canceled, I could use wifi while I was in the mall, so I tried to read her email. But it was ridiculously slow and wouldn’t load. I walked around the mall trying to get a better signal, but it still wouldn’t load. I kept trying everything to load my email thinking maybe she was asking me to buy something while at the mall, but after half an hour I had finished at the supermarket, was ready to leave, and gave up on email. By that point I was so angry, if I were a cartoon character I would have been bright red with smoke coming out of my ears.

While storming back to the hotel, I saw a familiar figure riding his bicycle down the sidewalk toward me. It was my good friend, and he stopped to say hi and how’s it going.

 We've been through so much together. Like front and center for Muse.

#youvegotafriendinme

I looked up at him and said, “I’m having a really bad day,” and burst out crying. That was how bad my mental and emotional state had gotten. So we stood there, in the middle of the sidewalk in the middle of Okayama, while I cried on his shoulder for a few minutes. I finally pulled myself together because I did still need to get back to my mom waiting in the hotel room, find out why she had emailed me, and then figure out what we were doing for dinner.

So now, finally, we get to the point of this whole story. And yes, I feel it was necessary to tell that entire store so that you fully grasp what had brought me to this point.

It was time to decide what to eat for dinner. I was completely wiped out. My body was tired, my brain gone to pudding, and my emotional state teetering on the verge of collapse. This is a dangerous time, when it’s tempting to throw all the rules out the window and do whatever you feel like, because you couldn’t give a flying f- anymore.

We were trying to decide what to have for dinner, and all my body was telling me was to eat donuts and deep fried cheese and have a shot of tequila. Pretty much as bad as you can get and guaranteed to make me very sick, because we know my body doesn’t handle any of that well. The only thing that stopped me was imagining what it would be like to have an upset stomach on an overseas flight the next day. No one enjoys a ten hour flight, and I knew I had to do everything possible to make it as non-stressful and uncomfortable as possible.

We finally decided on Thai food. For anyone in Okayama, let me recommend Rocket Kitchen in AEON Mall! Especially the green papaya salad. It is so spicy and so delicious, and it made me feel completely better. That’s the great thing about spicy food, it releases endorphins that make you happier, and it’s totally healthy. So even though I felt like I could breath fire, and was having a hard time finishing up the last of it because it just burned, my mood had done a complete 180 and I felt amazing. It burned so good!

The lesson from this is, next time overwhelming cravings for sugar, carbs, alcohol, and other terrible foods hit, instead go for hot. Bring me the fire, baby!