Tahini

Well first off I'm sorry I don't post as often as I once did. Life has been more than a bit cruel of late. I've been stuck in survival mode for a while.

But I finally said that I can't keep putting off trying new foods. As much as I fear getting symptoms like food poisoning for a week, I won't just suddenly and majically know what will be safe, and my current list of safe foods is rather sparse (not to mentions local stores seem to not bother stocking them half the time, making my food a scavenger hunt).

So last night I put some tahini and honey on some ground turkey patties.

The turkey patties are not all that new. They help me with protien requirements now that the brands of chicken I can trust are disappearing from shelves to be replaced by treated and flavored varieties.

Honey is keeping me alive. at a rate on one pound a day.

The Tahini was new. and not exactly pleasant. I figured if I can use a bit of oil in cooking (and sesame oil offers a nice nutty flavor) that tahini might be a good choice for a try. It's closer to known safe foods than a peanut butter, and far less likely to have starches and sugars and such added to it.

But Tahini is bitter. and what nutty flavors it's oild carries are fairly well obliterated by the bitterness. I'd almost rather chew on paper envelopes. and that particular aspect might have contributed to the rough morning I had today.

It's not as bad as it could be, and I suppose for thoroughness sake that in a few days, pending any other reactions, I shall try it again, this time in much less quantity on my veggies as a flavoring rather than a sauce. Then if I have another rough morning I'll cross it off the list along with other potential nut butters due to similarity in texture and compsition.

I think next on the list will be aged cheeses. For the simple versatility of the ingrediants. If those are a go, it opens up a lot of variety of flavoring options. Then I shall tinker with herbs and spices, starting with brewing 'herbal tea' which can be used in the cooking of other foods. a bit of fennel and salt and pepper with paprika in the water could make a salami or italian sausage flavor to meats, while cheeses could be uses on tope of veggies and the meats cut up and added to the dish.

Alternatively herbs in oils could be used to make pesto sauces. And herbs can be used to flavor honey.

But I'm also on the look out for other meats. I can eat most varieties of undoctored fish, and possible options of shrimp and crestatians. Undoctored chiken, and turkey. That's all I know for meats. Though I'm not really inclined to eat mammal, if it's an option I should at least know about it.

I'd like to try escargo and calimari and octipus and scallops and clams. Oh and maybe a few exotic meats like Emu, and reptile meats.

That's what I'm aiming for.

Take care of yourselves.
Rovingjack

Soooo frustrating

It seems every time I start to plan and prepare for a new food trial or exercise routine, I get sick again. Maybe it's something about this time of year.

I had an appointment to look at prospective job leads today. So I got up extra early to prepare and get things done beforehand. I ate, and then spent the next three and a half hours repeatedly getting sick. It hurt. I nearly passed out.

I think the only reason I made it to my appointment without being sick was that I was completely empty. And I didn't eat while I was out despite feeling woozy and starving.

I'm eating poached salmon tonight, fish usually helps some. I have to do some things tomorrow so it shall be an interesting day. Seems like it'll be next week before I'm in any shape to try anything new again.

Grrr.

Take care of yourselves,
Rovingjack

Absurd exercise

Now that my weight is at my ideal level I think I should begin exercises now, as a diet that allowed me to gain weight will continue to do so if my life continues to be sedentary.

I've looked up some info on a few martial arts, though I don't imagine my finances would allow for it. I like the circular, water, nonresistive phylosophy of Hapkido.

But also they supposedly have training for things like War fan, and chain hammers, which appeal to me for the unconventional aspects.

while I was conducting some of the research on those I was also looking at things like Quoits (the only example that comes to mind that most people know is the Chackram from the Xena TV series, which is a bad example by apparently the only one), the egyption Kopesh sword (which some how I just instantly knew the name of without having to search) which is sort of shaped like an Omega or question mark.

Those lead to searchs of sickle and scythe as combat weapons in europe.

Gods I love the internets ability to supply information and suggest further reading.

All this is interesting research and maybe something I will persue as time move forward, but an idea occured to me that is just so perfectly me that I may just tinker around with it.

I was in the dollar store resently where they had bamboo spoons and such. Among them where large salad spoon and 'spork' pairs. Now some of you may have heard me talk in the past about the correlation of sporks and Runcible spoons. Fear not, if you have missed such, I will make an effort to create a detailed Runcible post in the near future.

sufficed to say at this time that I think it would not be entire out of bounds to look at my new large bamboo spork as being in fact a large runcible spoon. thus if I had two I would weild two runcible spoons. And weild them I should.

By doing a bit of research on small hand held wooden weapon combat techniques I may be able to become the worlds first Runcible combat master. I shall have my fighting runcibles for demonstrations at conventions.

It makes me smile to think of it and it's exercise as well. Appropriately absurd, and healthy, but strangely possible and maybe even dangerous to my enemies (if I had any enemies, and even if only by causing them to laugh themselves into hospital, though I'm sure I could make them legitimate weapons). This just has my name written all over it.

Yay for the runcible arts,
take care of yourselves,
Rovingjack

It seems...

The issue seems to have settled out with little change other than sleep and a bit more kosher salt (oh and some shrimp too, which might suggest iodine).

So no more light headed/ head rush after eating.

I am starting to get a bit frustrated in my food choices for my price range. I know the limit on my food is up to twelve choices (highly dependand on brand and processing methods) but when three of those are only occasionally in stock and a third of each meal consists of a food item that you could buy if you wanted to pay twice what you used to. I really cannot afford to keep doing that.

and it seems cruel that at this time when I'm hoping to try a few new items it seem something keeps finding it's way into my schedual to make it less viable to risk a day or two of food poisoning symptoms. I may just have to suck it up and risk it once I get back from connecticut in mid july.

first will be tahini, I know sesame oil work okay, so a sesame paste might be nice to try. Sort of like a penut butter. I could cut slices of butter nut squash and bake them and use them instead of bread/grains. Make little tahini and honey sandwhiches.

That's an update for now, I'll be trying for more regular (read twice a month minimum) posts here now that the mechanism blog is on vacation.

Take care of yourselves,
Rovingjack

Feeling a bit...

I'm a bit puzzled by the way my body behaves sometimes, and of late it's giving me spells of lightheadedness. Usually in the morning after first meal.

I'll be groggy and shabbling around for a bit, I eat and suddenly get a headrush. This could be a blood sugar thing, which will not be appreciated. Or a blood pressure thing.

In an effort to avoid the problems that I encountered last year with blood pressure, I make it a goal to have some salt intake. I also drink water.

The debate I'm facing now is do I pull back on my honey consumption, to see what if any role it may play.

Chances are that any results could come from hidden factors and I might not get a clear answer or even get a false answer, an for all the effort I'll probably start loosing weight again. It's difficult to know which option to persue.

It might just be tired and sluggish from disrupted sleep patterns and dreary weather.

Back to figuring out what will keep me alive until they find a cure for what ails me.

Take care of yourselves.
Roving Jack

Today I

I awoke after sleeping fourteen hours due to having missed six hours of sleep in order to wake up early to go to do testing that is supposed to help me find a job or point me in the direction of cetifications or degrees that will serve me better in the future.

After awaking at 1 am and being unable to sleep anymore, I got up and ate. But I tried a new brand of honey from a differant store, I didn't really like the taste very much. It was strongly sweat with a lack of honey taste but astrange hint of flowers and wintergreen and a slightly medicinal aftertaste. Not really appealing on carrots and green beans.

Withing half an hour sharp stabbing pains let themselves be known.

Four hours later I was waiting for access to our bathroom, rocking back and fourth from the pain. I think perhaps I shall give this honey to somebody who doesn't have crohns disease. Ouchy.

As I get access to the bathroom the newest (five months) housemate tells me that her job is closing down soon and the nearest transfer she can get is the next state down from us. So She thinks she has to leave.

I spent the next hour alternating between being sick, trying to see what might be helpful in resolving the issues or setting things in motion for the housemate, informing the other housemate of the situation, and cooking my food for the remainder of the day.

Then I procrastinated on my computer before doing some needed things. Then when Housmate one returned in a slightly agitated state I popped in a funny movie and enjoyed a good watch. ("She's the Man" with Amanda Bynes).

Belly laughing when sick isn't helpful but it was worth the discomfort.

Then talk out a course of action for the mobing house mate. Followed by enetertaining the guest of the other housmate while he changed and prepared to go out to Kareoke.

Now I shall eat something and finish up some much needed work online before going to bed, some time after one am.

That's about the size of my day. Take care of yourselves.
Roving Jack

Change is in the air

I'm reorganising things now. It just seemed to me that I sort of meandered off any real point with my multiple blogs and web locations.

I know I often talk a lot and it seems I'll talk about anything and everything, and perhaps thats the problem.

I'm pulling out my imaginary giant lens and applying a bit of focus.

So in that mindset I'm repurposing things a bit. I've posted a bit more on the topic on my web page rovingjack.com

You can just type that into your browser or follow it in my links over ther to the left of this post below my profile.

The important bit for this one blog is that I will be starting to use this mostly for posts about dealing with health and well being. Translate that to be more of a: What goes into a day in the life of a person with crohns disease, who is a starving artist, a bit of a nerdy geek, with struggles in survival and all the rest that make my life such a weirdly complex adventure.

I'm a bit baffled, but some folk are encouraged and deeply curious about these aspects. I suppose it can't hurt to elaborate.

One of the first things I will be talking about will either be the confrontation with exhaustion and the chaos it played with a commitment I had to run a panel at a convention. I may discuss the struggles of finding foods to replace the few I know that I could eat, now that the store I used to go to is changing the suppliers to other brand that do not work.

Sound sort of dull to me but it's a story of struggle and quest to own my life and all that means. Basically if you have similar struggles you'll feel like you are not alone, and if you don't have these problem it may surprise you to find out what it's like and make you appreciate that you don't have to do these sorts of things.

We all have things we struggle with, sometimes we just don't see the struggles others go through. But I'll share a bit of mine.

Until that next post, Take care of yourselves.
Roving Jack