shigellosis

Once upon a time last week, I went out to dinner to celebrate my friend’s 1-week return. We had sushi and it was awesome, and I caught up with a bunch of people that I hadn’t seen in a year or so.

Half of us also got struck down by pretty effing severe food poisoning.

Hooray for Shigella.

(I mean this with all the sarcasm I can muster.)

On Monday night, I started getting a severe, stabbing headache, but thought perhaps that I was just dehydrated. I was also hit by a sense of overwhelming fatigue and full-body aches, but I mistakenly thought that was because I’d done a double workout that day. That night, however, I was so tired, I couldn’t even convince myself to walk up the stairs to sleep in my own bed, so I instead passed out on the couch downstairs, where I remained for 11 hours.

I woke up in the morning to drink a bunch of coconut water/water in an attempt to combat the dehydration I thought I had, then went to take a shower and started feeling slightly better, except that no matter what I did, I just felt cold. My cat sensed that all was not well and climbed on top of me to lay on me, so I decided to try to go back to sleep. Despite my 14-pound cat (yes, she’s tubby. no, I can’t get my mom to stop feeding her treats), 2 blankets, and a bunch of clothes, I couldn’t stop shivering.

I’ll spare you the more sordid details, but I basically spent the day lying in bed with a 103.3 degree fever with the worst recurring headache of my life. It was horrible, but while we’re at it, here’s a lesson on Shigella!

• Spread = fecal-oral – can be from infected food handlers, contaminated vegetables harvested from a field with sewage in it, contaminated water…(it makes me sick to think about this ._.)
• More common in the summer than the winter
• Symptoms include fever, stomach cramps, often bloody diarrhea
• Usually treated with antibiotics, but they may be resistant
• Try your best to prevent dehydration (most common complication)

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Broccoli/Chicken Scramble

I’m really not the most creative when it comes to names. :/

Broccoli/Chicken Scramble

Ingredients:
-eggs
-broccoli, chopped into bite-sized pieces
-leftover rotisserie chicken, cut into bite-sized pieces
-EVOO
-pepper
-garlic salt

Instructions:
1) Cut broccoli + chicken into bite-sized pieces, then steam the broccoli (we did this in the microwave to save time since we were hungry). Crack eggs into a bowl and beat.
2) Heat up a skillet with a little bit of EVOO and add broccoli + chicken. Add the eggs.
3) Add pepper + garlic salt, to taste.

Mango Banana Waffles

My friend and I went on an early-morning hike (as in woke up at 5 a.m. on Sunday morning despite us sleeping at 2 a.m. the morning before). :D

We decided to make breakfast afterward. :] Topping-wise, this is identical to the crepes we made. (We just followed the recipe on the package for the waffles.)

Mango Banana Waffles

Ingredients:
(Waffle Batter)
-1 cup Bob’s Red Mill Organic 7 Grain Waffle/Pancake Mix
-3/4 cup vanilla soy milk
-2 tbsp coconut oil
-2 eggs

(Topping)
-mangoes, chopped
-bananas, sliced
-coconut butter

Instructions:
1) Blend the waffle mix, eggs, coconut oil + milk. Mix just until blended.
2) Heat up waffle iron and pour in enough batter to cover the lower cooking surface. Close lid. Wait a few minutes before checking to see if waffle is ready, unless otherwise indicated by your waffle iron.
3) Top with coconut butter and fruit!

Here’s a waffle fail, just for kicks. We were trying to use up the last of the batter, haha.

lovely parental gems

This is probably the first of many. My dad has a ridiculing sense of humor that I’ve come to appreciate (y’know, now that I’m not a spineless wretch :O ), and if I’ve never mentioned it before, my mom is really sad that I’m not super girly. I think she was really looking forward to a daughter that she could dress up and go shopping with and such (which I do, on occasion, but they don’t last long because I’m frugal as hell and just really don’t tend to bother dressing up).

Cast
DF: (my dad)
MF: (my mom)
S: (my brother)
F: (me)

(During an epic cleanse of my room so I can declutter + donate or sell all the stuff I don’t need/want.)
F: Thoughts on this dress that I don’t know how to put on? :O
(In my defense, some things in Asia are really effin’ hard to figure out, okay? We’ll not talk about the time I was a model for a charity fashion show and they gave me a garment that I could not, for the life of me, figure out. To this day, I still don’t know if it was meant to be worn as a top, a bottom, or something else. ._.)
MF: That looks really good on you! It finally makes you look like a– (cuts self off)
F: What? >:O It finally makes me look like I’m actually female?
MF: (trying reallyyyy hard not to laugh) That’s what I was going to say, but I stopped myself.

DF: You’re a good kid, Farrah!
F: Thanks! I try, I try. :O
DF: It’s like I have 1.75 sons.
F: …Uh, excuse me?
DF: Well, there’s Sam, and then there’s you, and you’re basically mostly like a son.
F: …

Red Bean/Mung Bean Crepes

The one pictured also has mangos/bananas in it. :D I love fruit.

Red Bean/Mung Bean Crepes

Ingredients:(Crepe Batter)
-4 eggs
-1 cup all-purpose flour
-2 tbsp sugar
-1 cup vanilla soy milk
-1/4 cup water
-1 tbsp coconut oil, melted

(Filling)
-red beans or mung beans (or both)
-coconut milk

Instructions:
1) (Crepes) Beat eggs in a bowl. Slowly add flour + sugar alternately with soy milk + water. Then beat with a whisk or electric mixer until smooth.
2) Beat in melted coconut oil, then chill for at least 1 hour.
3) Heat up a nonstick skillet. When hot, start in the center and distribute a thin layer (using a 1/4 cup measuring cup that’s 3/4 full should work) of the batter in it. Tilt the pan in a circular motion until the batter runs up to sides of the pan.
4) Since they’re super thin, they should cook really quickly. Check to see if they’re done after a minute but lifting the side up with a flat spatula. If the edges are crisp and the underside is brown, flip it and cook on the other side for ~30 seconds.
5) (Filling) Add red beans/mung beans/both!