Trying To Do Better. Whatever Better Is.

I love to eat hot pot with my family and friends. We gather a couple times throughout the year to enjoy conversation and delicious food. Typically meat is the main focus of hot pots but I have learned that are many other enjoyable and satiating hot pot add-ins.  Soup Base: Mushroom base, Water, Kumbu broth, miso broth, vegan dashi broth I'm going to be honest, I usually just use water since I love eating my hot pot add-ins with as much sauce as possible.  Vegetarian Add-ins: Enoki mushrooms  Small king oyster mushrooms  Soft Tofu Fried Tofu Lotus Root Taro slices Glass noodles / mung bean noodles (GF) Small Bok Choy Tong Ho  Shanghai Bok Choy Shitake Mushroom Tops Dried Tofu skin Glutenous Fried Balls Rice Cakes Oden Mochi Pockets (Mochi Kinchaku) Daikon Radish  Sweet Potatoes Vegan/Vegetarian Dumplings Napa Cabbage Kongac noodles/dumplings Corn on the cob Sauces: Vegetarian bullhead bbq sauce (green top), soy sauce, peanut or almond butter, scallion, sesam...

 Late nights, I crave sweets. After reading books by Dr. Lustig and Dr. Esselstyn I started to avoid sugar within my range of self control. One snack I have found extremely enjoyable is frozen whole blueberries. They are pretty easy to prepare. I wash, dry, and freeze them on a flat plate/tray over night. It's important to dry the blueberries as much as possible because you don't want them to stick to the plate or tray. They have a blueberry flavor but the texture is similar to biting into a sherbet dibs. You have to eat them fast or else they melt into some weird mush. It's a fun alternative to popcorn when watching a movie.

  I've been trying to develop some easy meals that are more "healthy". I wanted to keep continuing my low consumption of animal protein like beef, chicken, fish, and pork. I know some vegetarians still consume eggs and diary. The meals in mind should be easy while being high in fiber and protein while being budget friendly.  I think this recipe is relatively cheap per meal. Using some internet price sleuthing I calculated this meal to be approximately $2.50. However, you should take that with a bit of inflation-salt. For example, Rao's Rigatoni pasta was listed around $3.50 per bag online, but yesterday I saw it listed over $5 at the store. Feel free to substitute ingredients with cheaper quality alternates. For example, I think I can use De Cecco for Rao's. Recipe: Note I usually make 2 servings at a time.   Ingredients for 1 serving: 3/4 cups of Rigatoni 1/2 can of Chickpeas 2 Teaspoons of Pesto Salt for water Optional: 1 boiled egg or cheese snack pack  Direc...