Spritiualized – Beautiful Happiness
I will be cooking again soon. Wait for my post. In the meantime, listen to music.
Love, Kai
in life, there are four truths
First: Life is Suffering
The day we were born, we were target for suffering. We are born into a world were changes happen constantly, sometimes good change and most of the time changes we don’t want to encounter. We endure loneliness, frustration, embarrassment, disappoinment, anger..this is the reality,pessimism is expecting things will go bad – this is reality. We can’t truly be happy and appreciates the “UPs” without the “DOWNs”.
Second: Suffering has Origins in Desire
We suffer (some more than others) when we want for something and it is unattainable. We are frustrated/disappointed/jealous/angry when we can’t get something that people around us have; especially when we feel they are undeserving. We suffer when we expect from people and they don’t deliver. But will getting what you want really make you happy or is it a temporary thing? In reality, it doesn’t always guarantee happiness. We should maybe lower our expectations or modify our wants to lessen the suffering or remove it altogether (if we’re so lucky.) Wanting deprives us of contentment and happiness.
Third: Suffering ends when You Free Yourself from Attachment
When we stop wanting and start living each day (one day at a time), without dwelling in the past or the imagined future, we can become happy and free. We’ll have time to do things that makes us happy and content. We’ll have more time and energy to spread the joy. Hello, Nirvana!
Fourth: Living life the “RIGHT” way makes for an enlightened person
Suffering can end with the
1. Right Views: Knowledge with reference to suffering, knowledge with reference to the origination of suffering, knowledge with reference to the cessation of suffering, knowledge with reference to the way of practice leading to the cessation of suffering: This is called right view. With the right view, we clear ourselves of confusion and delusion. We have a better grasp of reality. Right view should be with an open mind and flexibility. Shit happens, rather than being upset that shit happened and let that hold you back, accept it and move on. Like Aaliyah said, “dust yourself off and try again”.
2. Right Ways of Thinking: We should aspire to rid of qualities that we know are wrong and immoral. If you view life the ‘right’ way, thinking the ‘right’ way will be easy. The differences between the right and wrong ways of thinking will be clearer. When shit happens, shit happens. You are not the only one whose heart’s been broken, you live, you learn (says Alanis Morrisette). Just try not to hurt anyone because you know how it feels to be on the receiving side of ‘pain’.
3. Right Speech: How many times have you lied, started shit up, verbally abused someone, and/or gossiped? Honestly, I’ve done all of that in my 20-ish (lol, I lie.. 30-ish) years of existence. So shit happens, right? Don’t make up excuses and lie to yourself and others about why shit happened. When shit happens and you hear about it, don’t talk about it. It’s not your place to talk shit. When you meddle in other people’s shit, you are barring them from being happy, from finding themselves. If a friend talks to you about her shit, you just listen – don’t try to start shit up by telling another person who is completely uninvolved. Things do get lost in translation, don’t they?
4. Right Conduct: Long story short, don’t kill, don’t steal, do no harm. Don’t start shit up!!
5. Right Way of Life: Live life without harming any living beings.
6. Right Effort: Avoid harmful thoughts, words, and deeds. Instead of making shit up, starting shit up and making people feel like shit, do what is good and useful for yourself and others. Cut the crap and leave no room for it in your thoughts, words and deeds.
7. Right Mindfulness: Keep your mind alert to things that affect your body, mind, and spirit. Make sure you don’t talk out of your ass. Be mindful of the consequences that would result in your inattentiveness or forgetfulness. Again, shit happens, tell the truth, and move on.
8. Right Concentration: Meditate. Think about all the things you can achieve by living the ‘right’ way. Concentrate on speaking no evil, hearing no evil, and seeing no evil. The 8th way is really dependent on how well you understand, live, and breathe the first seven.
I respect you deeply.
I do not despise you, not even a little,
nor look down on you with contempt,
for you have the capacity to become a Buddha
of Namu-myoho-renge-kyo if you but believe
in the Law of Namu-myoho-renge-kyo and practice it
- Bodhisattva Jofukyo
Nuke(d), I Am Your Dinner!!
So, you’re short on time, hungry, and want a home-cooked meal? You see that box sitting in the kitchen, the one you use to pop popcorns, for instant oatmeals, and to heat up your leftover pizza? It’s waiting for you!
It was around 5 this afternoon when I realized, I have no idea what I’m having for dinner. So I called on friends, offered to cook for my married friends, Vic and Jess, but Vic couldn’t wait an hour to eat; I had to go grocery shopping still. I ended up going to B1′s (Vianca) pad with my loot. Little does she know that I had planned to prepare dinner using her microwave! Don’t be afraid. I, too, was a bit hesitant about prepping dinner using the box but it actually turned out amazingly good!
Jerk Pork with Pineapple and Black Beans
Prep: 5 minutes Cook time: 27 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 lb sweet potato (about 2 large pieces)
- 4 bone-in pork chops (1″ thick)
- 2.5 tbsp Jamaican jerk seasoning
- 1 can (8 oz) Pineapple chunks
- 1/2 cup red bell pepper, chopped
- 2 scallions, chopped
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- 2 tbsp cider vinegar
- 1 can (15 oz) black beans, rinsed and drained
- 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Prick potato skins with a fork and cook on HIGH 13 to 15 minutes or until soft. Set aside.
- Season chops with 2 tbsp of jerk seasoning and arrange in a 3-qt microwaveable dish with bones facing outward.
- In a large bowl, mix pineapple (with have the juice), pepper, scallion, brown sugar, and vinegar. Pour evenly over chops. Cover tightly with plastic wrap (make sure it’s microwaveable) and cook on HIGH for 6 minutes.
- Rotate chops and scatter black beans in dish. Re-cover and cook again on HIGH for another 6 minutes or until the meat is barely pink in center (145˚F on instant-read thermometer).
- Cut potatoes in halves and drizzle olive oil and leftover jerk seasoning.
Et, voila! Le dîner est servi! I read that pork is best paired with Merlot. So if you have some at home, have a glass or two. This recipe makes 4 servings and each serving has 518 calories. We estimated that each plate cost us less than $6 per head.
Springtime!
Easter’s come and gone but we have our the rest of the year (and our lives) to live. Make mistakes, learn, renew/spring back, make mistakes, learn, renew. Without getting too religious, let’s just say Easter is a reminder of clean break for all of us.
Christ has died, Christ is Risen! Spring is here, the flowers are blooming once again. 
So what interesting things did you do this past holiday weekend? We had an epic Easter dinner at home. We got our electric stove top grill out, got a s**tload of meat and had a blast! KBarb (Korean BBQ) at home: WINNER!
You really can’t go wrong with Kobe beef. It is just the awesomest piece of meat ever! Fortunately (or unfortunately), I did not get to pig out too much because I unofficially and involuntarily become the grill person. Our family friend brought Ice Cream cake and fortunately (or unfortunately), it was demolished before I even thought of having some.
I basically prepped everything a few hours before dinner. The broccoli I made with the same mixed sauce as the asparagus (see Bon Appétit!) in the last post. I cleaned the broccoli and chopped it up a bit. Steamed it and while waiting for it to be soft enough yet crunchy, I made the sauce where I tossed the broccoli.
I also steamed some spinach and used some of it for the Jap Chae Noodles. I am fortunate enough to live in an area in Orange County that is diverse. Everything in the picture including the grill and except for the sesame seed, came from one store. H-Mart in Garden Grove! I LOVE H-MART! So, in all, dinner cost less than $100 for 8 people. If we were to go to a Korean bbq place, it’d cost about $20 per person. All we need now is the steamed egg pot. mmm, egg pot.
eat happy, y’all! <3
Bon Appétit!
bonjour mes amies!!
It’s a lovely morning here in Southern California. The gym beckons but I am not quite in the mood for it yet. Weight loss has plateaued and I am exploring healthier ways to eat and with that, I would like to let you know that most of my posts from now on might be of my “experimental” cooking. The past week, i’ve cooked at home – a lot. Starting with the quail last Sunday, Chicken Paprikash and Nokedli on Wednesday,Thursday’s Cauliflower ‘risotto’ and steak, and yesterday – I tried making some paleo pancakes! Most of them turned out better than expected – except (maybe) for the Chicken Paprikash. I might’ve gone overboard with the paprika but it’s ok because I LOVE PAPRIKA!
Lately, I’ve been trying to follow the paleo diet although not as strictly. I try to avoid rice and bread (even wheat ones) but some food are just meant to be eaten with rice – filipino food to be exact! For Wednesday’s Nokedli (Hungarian dumplings) – I used Bob’s Red Mill gluten-free all purpose flour (conforms to paleo diet). You can find them at Sprouts and I think I saw some at Walmart too. The dumplings I felt were a tad too mushy but the taste, if not the same, better. Wednesday’s dinner was surprisingly, ridiculously awesome!
This is a slight variation of Erwan Heussaff’s, Cauliflower ‘Risotto’ and Steak.
Ingredients:
- 1 whole cauliflower head
- 6 garlic cloves (minced)
- 1 leek
- 5 shiitake mushrooms (more if desired, i love mushrooms so I used more!)
- 1 1/2 cup chicken stock
- 1/3 cup of shaved parmesan cheese
- olive oil
- salt and pepper for taste
Cut and clean your cauliflower head. Sepearate florets and put it in a food processor – or chop up to the size of rice if you have no food processor. Steam your cauliflower over chicken stock for about 5 minutes.
In a pan stir fry 3 garlic cloves, 1 leek and 5 shitake mushrooms, add in a little water and season. Set aside
Take your cauliflower and squeeze out all the water. (save some of the chicken stock used for steaming)
In the same(stir fry) pan, heat olive oil and cook your ‘rice’ with remaining garlic. Add a third of chicken stock and cook until soft and almost without liquid. Take the pan off the stove and parmesan cheese.
Serve and enjoy! For the steak, I just seasoned it with salt and pepper, cooked medium rare.
Sesame Asparagus
Ingredients:
- 1 1/2 lb asparagus (trimmed and peeled)
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
et voila! Dinner is served!
life is gewd!
I guess it’s true, when you have a lot going on in “real” life, you spend less time in cyberspace.
Last Friday, I gave snowboarding another try. I conquered my “fear” of snowboarding. I fell on my butt and knees a hundred times that day but at the end of it – I was able to snowboard from the top of Mountain High (Wrightwood, CA), fell down a ditch trying to avoid a slow moving girl, scraped my chin a bit, and survived. I had a good laugh with the ditch incident. About a minute or two after I fell in, a guy fell down too. I woke up the next day with an aching body. I’m so proud of myself and I am going again next season!
On Saturday, my bestest friend, B1, got herself a car. A yellow mini cooper, just like the one she dreamt of – literally, she had a dream she bought a yellow mini. It’s a great car, real easy to drive, and a stick. I miss driving a stick but I really don’t want to drive a stick what with the uphill Temple exit to Cal Poly.
Sunday was AMAZING! If there’s a perfect day – Sunday was it. The sun was shining, there was a breeze. Perfect day for the driving range! B1′s best was at 120 yards, mine was still at around 150ish. The golf instructor next stall, asked for our last balls and said, “you want to end on a good shot – give me your balls and ask for it next time, in case you need it.” Aprés, we went to have lunch – cheap lunch – at Jollibee in Anaheim. We spent $5something for 2 pieces of chicken and a side. We were having a pretty animated conversation and the woman next table was listening and was entertained. Then, we got ingredients for dinner. Quail, some spices, Kale, and shallots. Oh yeah, we got free wine courtesy of mon père!
I got the recipe from Mark’s Daily Apple. I skipped the cumin and added more paprika and instead of Kalamata Olives, I opted for Pimiento stuffed Manzanillas. I added bacon to my greens. The bits and ends of bacon sold @ Stater Bros. Dinner was awesome! Tomorrow, we start our P90x-ing. Wish me luck! Oh and Elysium, is a California Black Muscat from Madera, CA. It is a sweet dessert wine that would go great with cheese (but I don’t think cheese is allowed in paleo – then again, are you allowed to drink wine in paleo?) . Elysium is 15% alcohol so I got tipsy after a few sips because babysitting sweet berry wine just ain’t my thang.
Next paleo endeavor: paleo pancakes! Til then, have a good life and eat happy! <3
