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Post by embonpoint on Sept 3, 2011 14:49:55 GMT -5
GARAM MASALA! How could I forget that?! It's my mum's favourite thing.
We had takeaway tonight - woooo!
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Post by embonpoint on Sept 3, 2011 7:51:41 GMT -5
I think the easiest way would be if I just put a load of ideas here and you can pick which sound like you'd like them, and I can send you the recipes? They'll all be Slimming World recipes, or adaptations of them and stuff like that, so if you like, I can include their syn-value (like Weight Watchers points), so you have an idea of which are healthiest and stuff? And it's no trouble!
-Baked tortilla salad baskets (requires Yorkshire pudding pan, which you may not have) -Baked coucous with chilli vegetable sauce -'Mega stir-fry' (this is a meat recipe, but meat can be switched out) -Moroccan chickpea/vegetable stew. -Bubble and Squeak Cakes (sort of like vegetarian fish cakes; potato and cabbage, spring onions, tomatoes etc) -Khichri (like kedgeree but without fish) -Red pepper, spinach and sweet potato tortilla -Vegetable samosas -'Multi-mince' (obviously, a Quorn mince you'd use instead of meat). This is my mum's basic meal/sauce thing; can be chilli, can be bolognese, can be.. some kind of mince thing. You can put whatever you've got in it, really, in terms of beans and vegetables and that and it works with rice, or pasta, or potato. So you can vary it quite a lot but still stick with the same base. -You can make quite nice sauces for things just with stock and onions and some peppers and things like that; maybe not fabulous haute cuisine, but it means that you're not just eating plain food and it's quick and easy. I haven't included fish recipes, but I can find some if you do eat fish.
Generally speaking, if you cook without fat and choose lighter options, then you'll do alright. Smaller changes are the best ones, because they are the ones you can keep up with.
It might not suit you/your lifestyle, but a lot of the time, home-made versions of things like sauces in jars and packets and stuff can make a big difference.
Also, if you want chips/fries, it takes longer and obviously, they don't taste exactly the same, but you can chop potato and bake them in the oven with Fry Light (low-cal cooking spray? I don't know if it goes by the same name where you are, but that sort of thing) and they do the job alright.
Spices are super important, too. My food tends to either be totally bland, or really hot, but still kind of bland, because I don't know which spices to use; things like turmeric and cumin and stuff (I can ask my mum specifically).
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Post by embonpoint on Sept 2, 2011 8:31:01 GMT -5
I guess it does get harder if you're trying to cut out/down on carbs as well, but it's totally possible. I don't know how you feel about vegetarian substitutes for meat, but I love Quorn things, even as a meat-eater. Also, carbs aren't the evil that most people make them out to be; yes, you should limit your intake, as you should with everything else, but eating them isn't bad. You should see how much pasta my sister eats and she's the fittest, slimmest person I know. If it's mainly about eating more fruit and veg, then ok, but you just have to make sure that you're eating enough and that the changes you're making are sustainable; soooo many times people decide they're going to eat more healthily, but then they make such drastic changes that a week later, they've gone back to usual. I hope I don't sound too 'know-it-all'-y; my mum's been a slimming consultant pretty much my whole life. I can ask her for recipes/meal ideas and stuff, though, if you want?
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Post by embonpoint on Sept 1, 2011 9:25:55 GMT -5
^Healthy eating =/= salad. You can have GREAT meals that are still really healthy and are filling and satisfying and may not involve any salad at all.
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Post by embonpoint on Aug 30, 2011 9:29:33 GMT -5
Pretty sure we're having sausage and mash for tea. Though I'd rather have it in some kind of casserole-type thing; I'm bored of it.
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Tea
Aug 28, 2011 18:20:12 GMT -5
Post by embonpoint on Aug 28, 2011 18:20:12 GMT -5
If there's one thing I love more than tea, it's teacups! Or perhaps I love them equally. Either way, that is an exciting link!
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Classes
Aug 28, 2011 17:04:11 GMT -5
Post by embonpoint on Aug 28, 2011 17:04:11 GMT -5
In my first term, I'm doing: Beginnings (from The Odyssey to the 18th Century), Approaches to Criticism, and Critical Practice - all of which are mandatory. In term two, I get to choose two for myself (I've chosen Shakespeare and The Novel); we also do The Poem and continue with either Approaches to Criticism or Critical Practice.
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Post by embonpoint on Aug 23, 2011 10:38:06 GMT -5
^If you mean the comma after joke, then that's actually a US/UK thing. We put punctuation outside.
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Post by embonpoint on Aug 20, 2011 13:35:40 GMT -5
The Lost Art of Keeping Secrets was kind of amazing. It's been so long since a book managed to so completely absorb me and it was a good feeling. I also adored Rice's sense of humor. Not sure how I feel about the ending though - it seemed like she rushed through it a bit. asighsidvisdjvouishdvjh! EXCITEMENT. That's probably my favourite book ever (yes, really). It's really, really exciting to see someone else has read it and enjoyed it - especially someone I've not forced into it. ;D ;D ;D
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Post by embonpoint on Aug 20, 2011 10:25:11 GMT -5
Well, I have an Oxford university hoodie, and Oxford university trackies, but I don't go there, so maybe that doesn't count. I can take pictures as soon as they're out of the wash x) I'm going to Exeter in September, though, and am planning on getting a hoodie.
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Post by embonpoint on Aug 19, 2011 17:57:51 GMT -5
I think I have to vote for e-mail as well, if only for the fact that I couldn't afford to send trans-Atlantic letters on a regular basis; the majority of users are in the US, so that is probably what I'd have to do if we went the snail-mail way.
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Post by embonpoint on Aug 15, 2011 13:04:17 GMT -5
This might sound a bit paradoxical, but it's not really individual mistakes/individual people who consistently make these mistakes, it's the entire educational system that consistently fails in teaching children, and teenagers, the rules. So it's the system that allows people to make these mistakes constantly without knowing, and without caring. People think it's not important to have a good grasp of grammar; people think it doesn't matter which there/they're/their they use because you can understand what they say anyway. That's wrong. That is not the right attitude to have and it disgusts me and hurts me and angers me. Grammar needs to be taught. People need to know how to communicate properly, professionally, clearly, accurately, intelligently... Otherwise it all breaks down.
Do I correct people? I used to, almost all the time, but it was never received well and in the end, I gave up. I couldn't take it any more. I should correct people, in the same way I correct people when they say something offensive; I should be as open and blunt when it comes to grammar as I am when it comes to feminism. So, maybe I'll start doing it again. Obviously, I understand that sometimes mistakes happen and they're just typos that have been missed in the rush to post something (or whatever the situation is), but even then, they should be corrected (and actually, they're generally the times when people appreciate being corrected).
Do I think less of someone...? Yes, a little, in some respects (barring extenuating circumstances as others have said). If they don't care enough about what they're saying to use the correct word, then why should I care? It upsets me that they obviously don't care about grammar/the English language and I'm annoyed, because they clearly don't know because they either were never taught, or weren't corrected on it (see first point). I don't think less of them as a person. I don't think they are worth less because they don't consider grammar (I realise that's the opposite of how I started to answer this question...), but I tend to think that we are quite different, and perhaps we wouldn't get along that well. Which is not to say I wouldn't be friends with somebody with bad grammar (I have one friend who always manages to use 'most ____est', and another who always uses 'sat' when it should be 'sitting'), but how can people not care, y'know? I don't understand those people. Boy, what a crap answer. I don't know!
Why do I care...? See above, first paragraph.
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Recipes
Aug 14, 2011 12:19:33 GMT -5
Post by embonpoint on Aug 14, 2011 12:19:33 GMT -5
^Cake in a cup! I've done that before; I had to do a bit of adjusting to the recipe I found, though, but that was probably due to my microwave more than the recipe itself. The cake is so great.
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Post by embonpoint on Aug 4, 2011 16:10:41 GMT -5
I work at a restaurant and it's not an unusual thing to get some seriously modified orders (which I will admit, the kitchen hates). It's not much of a hassle, really, we just have to make sure the order goes out right. I think the pickiest order I've ever rung in was a lady who called over the phone and asked to have her chicken fried in a separate frier with fresh oil that hasn't touched any of the other food and the same for her fries. The cooks gave me the stink eye when the order came back. Don't feel bad, though. I like my food like a kid--plain and nothing fancy, so a lot of the stuff I eat has to be modified. Oh, and I love Italian food. It was one of the big reasons why I decided to study the language. GELATO. GELATO IS SOOOO GOOD.That oil thing seems a bit much; do you know why she needed it done like that?
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Recipes
Aug 4, 2011 10:23:46 GMT -5
Post by embonpoint on Aug 4, 2011 10:23:46 GMT -5
My soup recipes go like this:
1. Look in fridge and get out all vegetables that you like. 2. Chop them up and put them in the soup maker with ~500ml water. 3. Add stock, loads and loads of pepper, and a very generous helping of ground chillies. 4. Turn soup maker on. 5. EAT SOUP.
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