being sick is sucky

... especially when you work hourly, so taking a 'sick day' really means you're sick AND you're losing money because of it. nonetheless, it was so good to take a sick day this week. i had a nice leisurely breakfast, incorporating lots of fruit in it, since eating fruit is good for the immune system (unlike the brownie + americano i ate after work today). so i put apples in my oatmeal, but i couldn't forgo the brown sugar. i don't know how anyone eats oatmeal without brown sugar, but maybe one day i will be able to cut the sugar in my oatmeal like i cut the sugar in my coffee.


i also had a blueberry + banana + yoghurt + other fruits i forget smoothie. the smoothie made up for my coffee. but my coffee was half decaf, my lame attempt at pretending i was boosting my immunity by using decaf beans along with the normal ones. i can cut out the coffee if i need to, really, and i usually do when i'm sick, but i just really like it, ok?

..yeah, this is just a pretty picture. not of food. although it may be edible... i've never looked it up. okay, so i just looked it up, and apparently narcissus flowers are poisonous. do not eat them. seriously. the name should really give it away... narcissism isn't exactly a desirable trait.

old bread and chocolate

this is not news to me, but i am really slack when it comes to actually posting things i take pictures of.


i made this focaccia bread in october. and i only just ate it today. wow, i'm disgusting. just kidding. well.. anyway, the picture is from october also. i do not keep bread for 5 months before i eat it. maybe i used to keep food for that long (halloween candy, anyone?) but i am maturing and am learning to eat what i have instead of 'saving up' for a special moment in the future that doesn't exist. so now when i buy a bar of chocolate, i just eat it all in one sitting. this is a much better solution. :) speaking of chocolate...

2 x stroganoff

don't make this very often, but in the last 2 weeks, i've made stroganoff twice at home.



the first incident used buffalo meat. my sister and i call it 'buffalaganoff.' clever. we know. but it also used goat's yoghurt. if you've ever had any milk or cheese product from goat, you will know it has a distinct flavor. i call it 'goaty.' this was definitely goaty. not excessively, but enough that i had to eat slowly so as not to overload with the flavor and reap negative benefits from it. but for some reason i'm just weirdly sensitive with the strong/sharp flavors like goat. or brie, or blue cheese. i want so badly to have a mature palate and eat lots of cheeses like brie and blue cheese, but it may sadly take a long time for that to happen.



the second stroganoff occurred today, and i used mushrooms. just mushrooms. i have always (my mother will debate this) hated mushrooms, but recently have enjoyed some really amazing mushroomy eats. like a beef and mushroom soup at Roundel a few months ago, and a mushroom sauce on my steak somewhere else. so i decided to try the mushroom thing at home. last week i made some pizza and did mushrooms on half of it. meh... it was okay, but the other half of the pizza (artichokes and peppers) was much tastier. then today, in my need to be frugal and avoid my grocery-shopping-habit, i used up the rest of the mushrooms and made a stroganoff-type sauce with them. i really enjoyed it, but it would definitely be better with beef or bison WITH the mushrooms.



the basics of stroganoff (as i know it... which doesn't say much, since i've never really followed a recipe completely):
- fry your meat (beef strips, bison strips, or if you are vegetarian, skip this step) and set aside
- saute onions, garlic, mushrooms and brown them (mushrooms are optional. so is garlic i think, but i like garlic)
- add the meat back
- season with salt, pepper. additional options: nutmeg, coriander...
- add your broth or wine (both optional) and sour cream or yoghurt and simmer.
- serve warm on noodles. or rice.