2

Advokát radí: co si ohlídat u pracovní smlouvy, aby vám šéf nemohl snížit mzdu

Řada lidí přijde o práci a začne hledat novou. Už teď je dobré se na to připravit a před podpisem pracovní smlouvy vědět, na co si dát pozor. Je lepší kývnout na mzdový výměr, nebo na mzdu v pracovní smlouvě? A na co dalšího si dát pozor? Na otázky odpovídá advokát Pavel Nastis.



  • Finance - Práce a podnikání

2

Home office v časech pandemie. Na co je nárok a co byste si měli ohlídat

Kvůli koronavirové pandemii pracují z domova tisíce lidí. Home office má však určitý pracovně-právní rámec, což tuší málokdo. Jaká jsou práva a povinnosti zaměstnanců a co musí zaměstnavatel udělat, aby neporušil zákoník práce? Ve spolupráci s právníky Bořivojem Líbalem a Markem Poloni přinášíme praktický servis rad pro zaměstnance a zaměstnavatele.



  • Finance - Finanční rádce

2

Máte exekuce? Koronavirus je sice nakonec nezastaví, ale může vám pomoci

Sněmovna schválila návrh zákona o některých opatřeních ke zmírnění dopadů epidemie koronaviru. Jaké úlevy se dočkají dlužníci a jaké jsou podmínky pro zastavení exekuce, vysvětluje právník Adam Stawaritsch.



  • Finance - Finanční rádce

2

Šití v Číně je pro ně tabu. Vsadili na české švadleny a dnes slaví úspěch

Spodní prádlo obvykle řeší především ženy. Existují však výjimky. Mezi ty patří i Adam Rožánek, spolumajitel české módní značky spodního prádla Styx. Je české ve všech směrech. Všechno od začátku až do konce totiž vzniká v tuzemsku. Poslední týdny ukázaly, že tato strategie je správná.



  • Finance - Práce a podnikání

2

KVÍZ: Zatím ještě dotace, za dva roky pokuty. Víte, jak ušetřit výměnou kotle?

Od 1. září 2022 nebude možné provozovat kotle na tuhá paliva, které nevyhovují přísnějším emisním normám. Včasnou výměnou kotle můžete ušetřit. Nejenže snížíte náklady za topení, ale stihnete navíc využít státní dotaci na jeho pořízení. Víte, jak na to? Otestujte své znalosti.



  • Finance - Finanční rádce

2

KOMENTÁŘ: Jak čelit koronavirovému informačnímu přetížení

V době koronavirové pandemie nás bombardují ze všech stran nejrůznější informace. Informační přetížení je tak značné, že v mnohých lidech vyvolává strach a stres. Jak tomu čelit, komu věřit a jaké informace ignorovat, se v komentáři zamýšlí psycholog Jan Urban.



  • Finance - Finanční rádce

2

Pětina Čechů má vytvořený finanční polštář jen na pouhý měsíc, říká průzkum

Finanční znalosti Čechů se začínají zlepšovat. V indexu finanční gramotnosti, který každoročně měří Česká bankovní asociace, dosáhli Češi 61 procentních bodů ze 100. Oproti loňskému roku to je o čtyři body více, což je doposud nejvyšší hodnota za posledních několik let. Problém ale je, že pětina lidí přiznává, že má finanční polštář vytvořený jen na pouhý měsíc.



  • Finance - Finanční rádce

2

Žebříček nejlepších spořicích účtů se totálně proměnil, sazby padají

Kvůli koronavirové pandemii lze očekávat silnou recesi. Česká národní banka proto v březnu dvakrát snížila základní úrokovou sazbu z 2,25 procenta na jedno procento. Některé banky na to už zareagovaly razantním snižováním úrokových sazeb na spořicích účtech, což zamíchalo žebříčkem nejlepších spořicích účtů. Ve spolupráci s Finparádou jsme zmapovali aktuální trend a sestavili nový žebříček.



  • Finance - Banky a spoření

2

Ošetřovné se zvyšuje. Spočítejte si na kalkulačce, kolik nově dostanete

Ze 60 na 80 procent denního vyměřovacího základu vzroste ošetřovné pro rodiče, kteří zůstali doma s potomky v souvislosti s uzavřením škol a školek kvůli koronavirové krizi. Senát novelu schválil v úterý 28. dubna 2020. Předlohu nyní dostane k podpisu prezident Miloš Zeman. Spočítejte si orientačně na kalkulačce iDNES.cz, kolik dostanete.



  • Finance - Finanční rádce

2

Je krize, šéfe, co bude dál? Teprve dnes se projeví, kdo je skutečný lídr

Podřízení na něj spoléhají v časech dobrých i zlých. A když přijdou opravdové těžkosti, záleží často jen na jeho schopnostech, jak moc se podnik otřese, nebo zda padne úplně.



  • Finance - Práce a podnikání

2

Mohou vás propustit v karanténě a vy dát výpověď? Na otázky odpovídá advokát

Pokud jste se rozhodli pro změnu místa, je to jednoduché. Výpověď můžete dát kdykoli a z jakéhokoli důvodu, vlastně i bez důvodu. Naproti tomu zaměstnavatel vás může propustit jen z důvodů vyjmenovaných v zákoníku práce. Jak je to ale v případě, že jste v karanténě nebo čerpáte ošetřovné? Na tyto a další otázky odpovídá advokát Pavel Nastis.



  • Finance - Práce a podnikání

2

Zaplatili jste letos dovolenou? Možná budete dotovat cestovní kancelář

Možnost cestování je silně omezená a nic zatím nenasvědčuje tomu, že by lidé v letošní letní sezoně mohli vyrazit na zahraniční dovolenou. Zároveň ale nikdo dnes ještě neví, zda se nějaká možnost přece jen neobjeví. Pokud jste si koupili dovolenkový zájezd, jste asi momentálně jako na trní. Pojedete? Vrátí vám peníze?



  • Finance - Finanční rádce

2

Akcie i fondy klesají. Změňte portfolio, ať nepřijdete o své investice

Firmy i finanční trhy mají za sebou první letošní kvartál. Bilance obou není z důvodu preventivních vládních opatření proti šíření nákazy covid-19 nikterak růžová. To potvrzuje i Partners index podílových akciových fondů.



  • Finance - Investování

2

Chaty a chalupy zažívají svůj malý boom. Prodávají se dráž než loni

Zájem o nákup rekreačních nemovitostí je letos výrazně vyšší než v posledních letech. Objektů, které se dostávají do prodeje, je naopak tento rok méně. Viníkem je v obou případech epidemie koronaviru a s ní spojená nejistota kolem letních dovolených. To se podepisuje na cenách, často se dostanou výš, než byly inzerované.



  • Finance - Finanční rádce

2

Vyrábějí z vlastního ovoce. Perou se s přírodou, ale daří se jim i bez dotací

Sbírají jedno ocenění za druhým. Nejvíce si ale váží ocenění zákazníků. Své mošty a přesnídávky rodinná firma vyrábí v Bílých Karpatech, v místě, kde je příroda takřka nedotčená a čistá. Takové chtějí i své produkty.



  • Finance - Práce a podnikání

2

Kvíz: Děti mohou být v online světě ohroženy. Víte, jak je chránit?

Děti se v online světě pohybují naprosto přirozeně a svými technickými znalostmi často předčí své rodiče. Na druhou stranu jsou právě ony nejohroženější skupinou čelící útokům internetových predátorů a kyberšikaně. Rodiče často o hrozbách ani netuší. Vyzkoušejte si náš kvíz a zjistěte, jak jste na tom s digitálními znalostmi právě vy.



  • Finance - Finanční rádce

2

Kouzlo pravidelných investic. Jak funguje složené úročení

Současná koronavirová krize otřásla finančními trhy, zlevněné akcie jsou příležitostí, jak zhodnotit investici. Jenomže kdy je správná chvíle investovat? Už se trhy odrazily ode dna, nebo přijde další propad? A jak snížit riziko špatného načasování? Nad tím se zamýšlí Michal Valentík, investiční analytik společnosti Broker Trust.



  • Finance - Investování

2

Odklad splátek nebo refinancování. Jak dnes ušetřit na hypotéce

Splácíte hypotéku, u níž se blíží zlomové datum fixace? Jak na to, když chcete brzy půjčku doplatit nebo ji refinancovat? A lze před doplacením využít odkladu splátek?



  • Finance - Hypotéky a půjčky

2

Zvýšení ošetřovného byl krok správným směrem

Zaměstnaní rodiče mají od dubna nově nárok na ošetřovné ve výši 80 procent denního vyměřovacího základu. Důvod zvýšení je jasný. Původních 60 procent většině rodin na pokrytí nákladů na provoz domácnosti nevystačilo. Potvrzuje to i případ paní Anny.



  • Finance - Finanční rádce

2

Máte trable s koupeným zájezdem? Poradíme vám, jak nepřijít o peníze

Nová zákon „Lex voucher“ stanovil pravidla pro vypořádání cestovních kanceláří s klienty. Na problematické situace, které mohou být s koupeným zájezdem spojeny, jsme se zeptali advokáta Ondřeje Vokála.



  • Finance - Finanční rádce

2

KOMENTÁŘ: Co bude klíčové po dvou měsících s koronavirem

Do pracovních i osobních životů vstoupila pandemie, jakou nikdo nepamatuje. Krize, která nastává, se dotkne všech. Nad aktuální situací a tím, co nás letos čeká a co je klíčové pro rozhýbání ekonomiky, se v komentáři zamýšlí personalista Tomáš Surka.



  • Finance - Práce a podnikání

2

Pojistit se kvůli covidu? Životní pojistky ani krytí marodění netáhnou

Mohlo by se zdát, že pojišťovny budou v koronavirové době zaznamenávat zvýšený zájem o sjednání životních pojistek. Zejména kvůli krytí rizika pracovní neschopnosti, což se vztahuje i na onemocnění infekcí covid-19. Praxe je ale zatím opačná.



  • Finance - Pojištění

2

Pedagogové na home office. Jaká jsou pravidla a na co mají nárok

Práci z domova u zaměstnanců soukromých firem nelze jednostranně nařídit, vzniká jen na základě dohody obou stran. U pedagogických pracovníků a zaměstnanců škol však platí trochu jiná pravidla. Ve spolupráci s právníky Bořivojem Líbalem a Markem Polonim přinášíme odpovědi na nejčastější dotazy pedagogů.



  • Finance - Finanční rádce

2

Kvůli svému koníčku zbankrotoval. Stačilo mít finanční rezervu

Potřeba finančního polštáře je dnes aktuálnější než kdy jindy. Jaká by měla být naše rezerva? A kam ji uložit? Zmapovali jsme aktuální nabídku spořicích účtů. Příběh klienta Poradny při finanční tísni ukazuje, jak se dá náhle dostat do dluhů, až k osobnímu bankrotu.



  • Finance - Finanční rádce

2

Začínali podnikat v bytě, dnes má rodinná firma tři tisíce zaměstnanců

Česká rodinná firma SSI Group vznikla v době, kdy jsme ještě neznali mobilní telefony a podnikatelské prostředí 90. let bylo poměrně divoké. Přesto se ji Václavu Vodrážkovi společně se synem Janem a dalšími členy rodiny dařilo každý rok posouvat o něco dál. Letos tak na trhu významná bezpečnostní agentura oslaví 30 let svého působení na trhu.



  • Finance - Práce a podnikání

2

Декамерон‑2020, или Zoom-вечеринка во время чумы

Необычные социальные условия во время пандемии COVID-19 побуждают искать новые способы интеллектуального общения. И у нас есть хрестоматийный пример подобного поиска — это «Декамерон» Боккаччо. Как многие помнят, события «Декамерона» происходят во время чумы 1348 года. Чтобы ненадолго отвлечься от печальных мыслей, семь девушек и трое юношей уходят из Флоренции, охваченной эпидемией, собираются вместе в загородном имении и в течение десяти дней рассказывают друг другу истории…





2

Сверхмощные лазеры — 2070

Уверен, что ближайшие десятилетия станут периодом максимального расцвета для лазеров сверхвысоких пиковых мощностей. Во-первых, рекордно достигнутая мощность продолжит расти. Это, в частности, может быть реализовано за счет свежей идеи, предложенной в Институте прикладной физики РАН и буквально в последние пару лет подтвержденной экспериментально…





2

動画お届けいたします2。

昨日の別バージョ続きをみる

『著作権保護のため、記事の一部のみ表示されております。』




2

AM2:30。

昨夜はなおやからの御誘いでライン電話。僕は2:30退出しましたが、二人は3:30まで話していたみた続きをみる

『著作権保護のため、記事の一部のみ表示されております。』




2

昨夜21時~22時。

ギター友のzoomの会、御視聴ありがとうございま続きをみる

『著作権保護のため、記事の一部のみ表示されております。』




2

To-read pile, 2020, April

Books on pre-order:

  • Network Effect by Martha Wells (5 May)
  • He's Come Undone: A Romance Anthology with stories by Emma Barry, Olivia Dade, Adriana Herrera, Ruby Lang & Cat Sebastian (12 May)
  • Two Rogues Make a Right (Seducing the Sedgwicks) by Cat Sebastian (23 Jun)
  • The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water by Zen Cho (23 Jun)
  • Rogue Myths (Gatekeeper 1) by Layla Lawlor (1 Jul)
  • The Relentless Moon by Mary Robinette Kowal (14 Jul) (ebook order cancelled by publisher, sob)
  • Ikenga by Nnedi Okorafor (18 Aug)
  • Better Than People by Roan Parrish (25 Aug)
  • Spoiler Alert by Olivia Dade (6 Oct)
  • How to Catch a Queen by Alyssa Cole (1 Dec - was 26 May)

Books acquired in April

  • and read:
    1. Above Rubies (Clorinda Cathcart's Circle 7) by L.A. Hall
    2. Torches: Acquaintance Old and New (Clorinda Cathcart's Circle 8) by L.A. Hall [1]
  • and unread:
    1. Vagabonds by Hao Jingfang [1]
    2. The Switch by Beth O'Leary [1]
    3. The Cloud Roads by Martha Wells [2]
    4. The Serpent Sea by Martha Wells [2]
    5. The Siren Sea by Martha Wells [2]
    6. FIYAH #9 (Winter 2019) edited by Troy L. Wiggins + DaVaun Sanders [5]
    7. FIYAH #10 - HAIR (Spring 2019) edited by Troy L. Wiggins + DaVaun Sanders [5]
    8. FIYAH #11 (Summer 2019) edited by Troy L. Wiggins + DaVaun Sanders [5]
    9. FIYAH #12 - CHAINS (Autumn 2019) edited by Troy L. Wiggins + DaVaun Sanders [5]
    10. Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet #38 (July 2018) edited by Gavin J. Grant & Kelly Link
    11. Uncanny Magazine Issue Thirty-Four(May/June 2020) edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Chimedum Ohaegbu, and Elsa Sjunneson
    12. Uncanny Magazine Issue Thirty-Three (March/April 2020) edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Chimedum Ohaegbu, and Elsa Sjunneson
    13. Uncanny Magazine Issue Thirty-One (November/December 2019) edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, Chimedum Ohaegbu, and Michi Trota [5]
    14. Uncanny Magazine Issue Thirty (September/October 2019): Disabled People Destroy Fantasy! edited by Nicolette Barischoff, Lisa M. Bradley, and Katharine Duckett [5]
    15. Uncanny Magazine Issue Twenty-Nine (July/August 2019) edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, and Michi Trota [5]
    16. Uncanny Magazine Issue Twenty-Eight (May/June 2019) edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, and Michi Trota [5]
    17. Uncanny Magazine Issue Twenty-Seven (March/April 2019) edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, and Michi Trota [5]
    18. Uncanny Magazine Issue Twenty-Six (January/February 2019) edited by Lynne M. Thomas & Michael Damian Thomas, and Michi Trota [5]
  • and previously read:
    1. Hammered by Elizabeth Bear
    2. Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer
    3. Regency Buck by Georgette Heyer
    4. An Infamous Army by Georgette Heyer
    5. A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
    6. Carpe Jugulum by Terry Pratchett

Technically, I was subscribed to and therefore paying for the issues of Uncanny Magazine all of last year, but it doesn't count as acquired until I actually download and put on the ereader. (totally a rational and thought-out argument and not at all because I don't want to faff with editing them into the relevant to-read pile posts ...)

[1] Pre-order
[2] Audiobook
[5] Hugo finalist



comments




2

Raw Food Recipe Menu: September 27, 2015













Breakfast
Pumpkin Spice Smoothie
serves 2 ~ $.70 per serving





ingredients
  • 2 carrots ($.30)
  • 2 bananas, sliced and frozen ($.40)
  • 1 apple, peeled and chopped ($.50)
  • 1 tablespoon agave ($.20)
  • 1 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
  • water for blending, about 1 cup

directions

In a blender, puree all ingredients until very smooth. A high speed blender will smooth out all the little carrot bits, and a less high powered one will leave a bit of pulp. If you're very opposed to pulp, juice the carrots instead.






nutritional information: calories: 165 fat: 0 gr carbs: 47 gr protein: 2 gr








Lunch
Apple Avocado Soup
serves 2 ~ $1.44 per serving





ingredients

  • 1 avocado, chopped ($.88)
  • 2 medium apples, peeled and chopped ($1.29)
  • 1 tablespoon chopped onion
  • handful arugula leaves ($.50)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil ($.20)
  • 2 cups water, for blending
  • minced onion
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • red pepper flakes directions


directions
  1. Set aside a few arugula leaves for garnish.
  2. In a blender, combine the avocado, apples, chopped onion, arugula leaves, olive oil, and water, and puree until very smooth.
  3. Salt and pepper to taste, and garnish with a few chopped arugula leaves, some finely minced onion, and red pepper flakes.
  4. nutritional information


calories: 275 fat: 18 gr carbs: 42 gr protein: 7 gr







 Dinner
Taco Salad
serves 2 ~ $3.55 per serving

 


ingredients
  • 1/4 cup walnuts ($1.00)
  • 1 large tomato ($1.00)
  • 1 teaspoon cumin
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 head romaine ($2.30)
  • 1 medium onion, thinly sliced ($.20)
  • 1 small jalapeno, sliced
  • 1 ripe avocado ($.1.00)
  • black olives ($.50)
  • green olives ($.50)

  • 4 tablespoons cashew cream ($.60) {recipe below}

directions
  • Make the walnut taco meat first and set aside.
  • In a food processor fitted with an "S" blade, pulse the walnuts, half a tomato, cumin, and salt until chopped but still a little chunky.
  • To a bed of chopped romaine, add the walnut taco meat, the other half of tomato (chopped), sliced onion, a bit of sliced jalapeno, chopped avocado, and olives. 
  • Top with a couple scoops of cashew cream.

cashew cream

  • 1/2 cup cashews ($2.00)
  • 1/2 cup water
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice ($.20)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

Blend all ingredients in small blender until very smooth. Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to three days.

nutritional information

calories: 398      fat: 30 gr      carb: 26      protein: 13





Dessert

Maple Bacon Ice Cream
serves 2 ~ $1.00 per serving 






ingredients

  • 1 zucchini, sliced 1/4" thick ($.70)
  • 2 tablespoons olive oil ($.20)
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup ($.40)
  • 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar ($.10)
  • 1 small clove garlic
  • 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
  • 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt

directions

Slice the zucchini into strips about 1/4" thick. In a small bowl, whisk together the remaining ingredients. Toss with the zucchini until well coated, then dehydrate for several hours or overnight, until just a little bit crunchy but pliable.







Tear the zucchini bacon into pieces and serve over vanilla banana ice cream with maple syrup. To make the ice cream, slice and freeze four bananas. When ready to use, grind them in a food processor with one teaspoon vanilla and a splash of almond milk. Process until smooth, which may take a few minutes and some scraping down on the sides. This will cost about $.30 per serving.



nutritional information: calories: 298 fat: 14 carbs: 45 protein: 2 gr


 
 
Any Time Snack
Kitchen Sink Smoothie
serves 2 ~ $1.70 per serving

ingredients
  •  2 big handfuls greens (kale, romaine, etc) ($.75)
  • 3 bananas, sliced and frozen ($.75)
  • 1 cup blueberries ($1.00)
  • 2 tablespoon ground flax seeds ($.20)
  • 4 tablespoons hemp protein powder ($.90)
  • about 2 cups water for blending

I love making big, sweet, hearty green smoothies in the morning, and this is what I had this morning. I'm pretty sure I put just about everything I had in it, hence the name "(everything but the) Kitchen Sink Smoothie!"

My blender is small and weak, poor thing (but has lasted forever), so I blend my greens first. If you don't have a VitaMix or other high powered blender, this might work better for you, too. They get pretty smooth if I process them for a minute or two.

I also used Manitoba Harvest Hemp Pro 50, 50% Protein Powder, 32-Ounce which is my favorite hemp powder. Manitoba Harvest leaves all the good omega-3s intact.

Just blend everything well until smooth and serve.


nutrition information:      calories: 342      fat: 9 gr      carb: 60 gr      protein: 14 gr      fiber: 13 gr





Total cost for the day: $8.39
total calories: 1478
total fat: 71 gr
total carb: 220 gr
total protein: 38 gr




2

October 4, 2015: Raw Food Recipe Menu






Breakfast
serves 1 ~ $2.10 per serving




ingredients

  • 1 apple, washed (peeled if not organic) ($.60)
  • 1 cup mango,chunks, fresh or frozen ($1.00)
  • 1 banana, sliced and frozen
  • 1 handful kale leaves ($.50)
  • 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
  • 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
  • 1 cup ice
  • water for blending (more or less depending on how thick you like it)

Blend all ingredients in a high powered blender until very smooth and enjoy!


nutritional information
calories: 230
fat: 4 gr
carbs:47 gr
protein: 6 gr 
 
 
 
 Lunch
serves 2 ~ $2.55 per serving
 


ingredients

dressing
  • 3 tablespoons tahini ($.30)
  • 4 tablespoons lemon juice ($.60)
  • 1 tablespoon maple syrup or agave (can substitute stevia or omit) ($.10)
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar ($.10)
  • 1 tablespoon flax oil ($.20)
  • 1 teaspoon soy sauce ($.10)
  • 1 teaspoon turmeric ($.10)
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder ($.10)
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder 
  • 1 teaspoon cilantro flakes
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/4 to 1/2 teaspoon cayenne
  • 1/4 teaspoon ginger 
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)

salad
  • 1 head romaine or other lettuce ($1.80)
  • 2 tomatoes ($1.00)
  • 1 cucumber ($.50)
  • 1 small onion, sliced ($.20)



directions
Place all dressing ingredients in a small blender and puree briefly until well mixed. Use as desired (over salad, as a veggie dip, over a rice bowl, etc). Can be stored in the refrigerator for up to three days in an air tight container.
 
 
nutritional information:        
calories: 299    
fat: 9 gr      
carbs: 31 gr      
protein: 9 gr
 
 
 
 
 
Dinner
serves 2 ~ $2.80 per serving




  • 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced ($.70)
  • 1 yellow or orange bell pepper, thinly sliced ($.70)
  • 1 cup mushrooms, sliced ($1.50)
  • 1 cup black or kalamata olives ($1.50)
  • 1/2 cup thinly sliced onion ($.20)
  • 1/4 cup olive oil ($.20)
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice ($.40)
  • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar ($.20)
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup or agave (optional, for those who like a touch of sweet) ($.20)
  • 1 tablespoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon freshly minced garlic
  • 1 teaspoon dried basil (or 1 tablespoon fresh, chopped)
  • 1 teaspoon dried oregano 
  • 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
  • 1-2 medium sized zucchini, spiralized

Prepare the red and yellow bell pepper, mushrooms, olives, and onion and place in a medium sized bowl. In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, syrup, onion powder, garlic, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper. Pour over the prepared vegetables. Allow to marinate for at least a half hour, but it can marinate as long as a day.

When ready to eat, simply pour the marinated veggies and marinade over a portion of spiralized zucchini noodles and toss.


 



nutritional information:
calories: 389
fat: 23 gr
carbs: 35 gr
protein: 11 gr



I use my spirilizer as much as any kitchen tool I have (except my VitaMix, of course!!). The Paderno brand one I have can be found on Amazon HERE, or in most stores that sell kitchen supplies.







Dessert
serves 4 ~ $.95 per serving (x2)



 
 
  
fudgesicles
 
  • 2 bananas, sliced and frozen ($.60)
  • 1/2 cup almond milk ($.40)
  • 2 tablespoons raw cacao powder or cocoa powder
  • pinch salt
  • few drops of stevia, if more sweetness is desired
 
 
 
chocolate shell
 
  • 1/4 cup melted coconut oil ($.80)
  • 1/4 cup raw cacao powder or cocoa powder ($.80)
  • 1/4 cup finely ground coconut palm sugar ($.80)
  • pinch salt 
  • 2 tablespoons chopped pistachios ($.40)
 
 
 
directions
 
  1. Place all fudgesicle ingredients into  blender and puree until very smooth. Add more almond milk or water if needed to facilitate blending. 
  2. Pour into popsicle molds and freeze for several hours until fully frozen. 
  3. Prepare the chocolate shell coating. 
  4. Place all the chocolate shell coating ingredients into a small bowl and stir well until smooth.
  5. Remove the fidgesicles from the freezer and pop them out of their molds.
  6. Dip the fudgescicles into the hard chocolate shell, or drizzle it over them to coat. 
  7. Just heating the coconut oil up enough to melt it and not any warmer will yield the best results. If needed, gently remelt the chocolate hard shell. 
  8. Add a sprinkle of chopped pistachios or other chopped nut, if desired. Cacao nibs also work well.
  9. Any leftovers can be wrapped and stored in the freezer for a week or so.
 
 
nutritional information:
calories: 195
fat: 10 gr
carbs: 25 gr
protein: 2 gr
 
 
 




Total cost for the day: $9.35
total calories: 1,308
total fat: 56 gr
total carb: 163 gr
total protein: 30 gr




2

Raw Food Recipe Menu: October 18, 2015






Breakfast
Orange Banana Breakfast Salad
serves 2 ~ $2.25 per serving






Orange Banana Breakfast Salad
serves 2 ~ $2.25 per serving


This salad is so simple and is delicious and super healthy for breakfast. It's the very beginning of citrus season so oranges are exceptionally tasty right now as well. 


ingedients
salad
  • 1 head romaine, chopped ($1.70)
  • 1 orange, peeled and sectioned ($.50)
  • 1 banana, sliced ($.30)
  • 2 tablespoons sliced onion

dressing
  • 2 oranges, peeled and sectioned ($1.00)
  • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar ($.20)
  • 2 tablespoons maple syrup (or two droppers stevia) ($.40)
  • 3 tablespoons tahini ($.40)
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • crushed red pepper flakes for the top

directions
  1. Prepare the salad ingredients.
  2. Place all the dressing ingredients except the crushed red pepper flakes into a blender and puree until very smooth. 
  3. Assemble the salad ingredients on plates or in bowls. Add the orange sections, banana slices, and onion to the top.
  4. Pour salad dressing over and add a sprinkle of black pepper or crushed red pepper flakes. I added both.

nutritional information:       calories: 256      fat: 15 gr      carbs: 33 gr      protein: 6 gr



 

Lunch
Chocolate Chia Smoothie
serves 1 ~ $2.15 per serving
 
 
 
ingredients 
This is a simple, creamy ~ kind of decadent ~ way to start the day, that's also packed with healthy protein and omega-3s.
In a blender, combine all ingredients except for the pistachios. Puree until very smooth. Top with a few chopped pistachios, if desired.
 
 
nutritional information:       calories: 555      fat: 21 gr      carbs: 81 gr      protein: 26 gr
 
 
 
 

 
Dinner
Black Bean Soup with Sweet Potatoes

serves 4-5 ~ about $2.50 per serving
 
 



Egads! This is not raw! But it's great tasting and healthy, too. This soup, from Dreena Burton's Plant Powered 15 book, has an irresistible quality, the flavors are deep and earthy with some sweetness from the potatoes. Don’t let the number of ingredients intimidate you - they build layers of flavor, but this soup is not at all difficult to make!


ingredients
  • 1-2 tbsp water
  • 1 1/2 - 1 3/4 cups chopped onions (one large onion)
  • 1 1/2 cups combination of chopped red peppers and green peppers
  • 1 1/4 tsp sea salt
  • freshly ground black pepper to taste (generous is good)
  • 2 tsp cumin seeds
  • 2 tsp dried oregano leaves
  • 1/4 tsp allspice (rounded)
  • 1/4 tsp (or less/more, to taste) red pepper flakes
  • 4 medium-large cloves garlic, minced or grated
  • 4 1/2 - 5 cups black beans (reserve 1 cup; this is three 14 or 15 oz cans)
  • 3 cups water
  • 2 tbsp tomato paste
  • 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
  • 2 tbsp freshly squeezed lime juice
  • 1/2 - 1 tsp pure maple syrup
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 1/2 cups cubed (in small chunks, about 1/2”) yellow sweet potato (or can substitute      white potato)
  • Chopped cilantro for serving
  • Extra lime wedges for serving
  • Chopped avocado tossed with lemon juice and dash of salt, for serving

directions
  1. In a large pot over medium-high heat, add water, onions, red and green peppers, salt and pepper, cumin seeds, oregano, allspice, and red pepper flakes. Let cook for 5-7 minutes until onions and peppers start to soften. Add garlic. Cover, reduce heat to medium, and let cook another few minutes to soften garlic - if sticking/burning, add another splash of water. 
  2. After a few minutes of cooking, add 3 1/2 cups beans (reserving one cup of beans), water, tomato paste, vinegar, lime juice, and maple syrup (start with 1/2 teaspoon). Using an immersion blender, puree soup until fairly smooth. 
  3. Increase heat to bring to boil, add bay leaf and diced sweet potatoes, then once at boil reduce and let simmer for 20-30 minutes. Add remaining cup of black beans and extra maple syrup if desired (taste test). 
  4. Stir through, let simmer for another few minutes, then serve, topping with cilantro if desired and with lime wedges. Also delicious to top soup with some chopped seasoned avocado or a simple guacamole.  Serves 4-5 as main course.


nutritional information:      calories: 319      fat: 6 gr      carb: 33 gr      protein: 11 gr
 
 


 
Dessert
Pecan Pie
serves 2 ~ $1.45 per serving
 
 
 
 

  • 1/4 cup walnuts ($.50)
  • 1/2 cup raisins ($.50)
  • 6 dates, soaked ($1.20)
  • 1/4 cup pecans ($.70)
  • pinch salt
In a food processor with an "S" blade, process the walnuts and raisins until they are crumbly and stick together. Press into a small tart plate (the one I used is 5 inches diameter) and chill. Then in the food processor again, puree the dates with a tiny bit of the soak water until they form a gooey paste. Spread into the crust and top with pecans.

The amounts can be easily increased to make a larger pie for a more conventional sized dessert. 
 
 
nutritional information:      calories: 349      fat: 22 gr      carbs: 39      protein: 5

 
For the dinner soup that uses sweet potatoes, you can substitute any of the orange fleshed squash if you like. Like these I found at my favorite local farm market ... 
 
That Pink Banana Squash is amazing. They're about two and a half feet long and weigh around 20 lbs. A steal at $3 each.




Hope you're having a great fall!
 




2

Raw Food Recipe Menu: November 1, 2015







Even though we enjoyed a beautiful, warm, sunny day here today, hard core fall is coming. This menu has some heavier, more substantial meals using seasonal produce. Pears are plentiful right now and citrus is coming into its best season soon. You should be able to score some great tasting produce at reasonable prices!




Breakfast
Simple Fruit and Berries

serves 2 ~ $2.08 per serving





Simple, juicy, and delicious ... everything that's the best of raw plant foods ...

ingredients
  • 1 peach, sliced ($.80)
  • 1 plum, sliced ($.90)
  • 1 apple, sliced ($1.25)
  • 1/2 cup blueberries ($.50)
  • 1 tablespoon lemon juice ($.20)
  • 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts ($.50)

directions
  1. Slice the fruit, mix together, add a splash of lemon juice and chopped walnuts (a bit of nut milk would be good, too ... like a bowl of fruit cereal).

nutritional information: calories: 137 fat: 1 gr carbs: 33 gr protein: 2 gr




Lunch
Grapefruit Pear Salad
serves 2 - $2.50 per serving


salad
  • 1 grapefruit ($.50)
  • 2 pears, sliced ($1.40)
  • 1 small onion, thinly sliced
  • 1 head romaine, chopped ($1.90)
  • 1/4 cup walnuts ($.50)


dressing
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice ($.20)
  • 3 tablespoons olive oil ($.30)
  • 2 tablespoons agave ($.20)
  • pinch nutmeg
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper



directions
  1. Cut the grapefruit by first slicing off about 1/4" off the top and bottom.
  2. Stand the grapefruit up on a cut side and slice along the outside curve of the fruit, cutting away the skin and pith.
  3. Use a sharp knife to cut each grapefruit section away from the membrane.
  4. Slice the pears and onions, and chop the lettuce.
  5. Toss together and sprinkle the walnuts on top.
  6. Whisk together all the dressing ingredients and drizzle over the top.


nutritional information: calories: 304 fat: 17 gr carbs: 40 gr protein: 5 gr








Dinner
Pad Thai

serves 2 ~ $2.28 per serving


ingredients


  • 2 medium zucchini ($1.20)
  • 1 carrot ($.15)
  • 1 bunch green onions, sliced ($.59)
  • 1/2 red bell pepper, sliced ($.50)
  • large handful mung bean sprouts ($.75)
sauce
  • 4 tablespoons almond butter ($.80)
  • 1/2 in piece ginger, peeled
  • 1 tablespoon braggs aminos or soy sauce ($.10)
  • 1 clove garlic ($.05)
  • 1 tablespoon agave ($.10)
  • 1/2 teaspoon cayenne (or to taste)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons chopped cashews ($.20)

directions
  1. Noodle the zucchini and carrot using a vegetable peeler or spiral slicer. 
  2. Toss with the bell pepper, green onion, and bean sprouts.
  3. In a bullet type blender, puree all the sauce ingredients until very creamy. Because of the high fat content of the nut butter, this can get quite hot while blending. Stop and let it cool for a minute if it becomes too hot for your personal definition of raw.
  4. Pour over noodles, toss lightly, serve. 





nutritional information:        calories: 345        fat: 23 gr        carbs: 30 gr         protein: 8 gr







Dessert
Chocolate Orange Mousse

serves 2 ~ $.99 per serving 
 




ingredients
  • 1 ripe avocado, chopped ($.88)
  • 2 bananas, chopped ($.30)
  • 3 tablespoons cocoa or cacao powder ($.60)
  • 1 tablespoon coconut oil, melted
  • 2 tablespoons agave ($.20)
  • 1/2 dropper liquid stevia
  • 1/4 teaspoon orange extract

directions
  1. Combine all ingredients in a food processor fitted with an "S" blade and process until very smooth.
  2. Add coconut oil to room temperature or warmer ingredients only, otherwise the coconut oil will harden into little lumps before it has a chance to blend.
  3. Chill for at least a half hour before serving.
  4. Top with a few orange sections and/or pieces of fruit and a pinch of orange rind, if desired.






nutritional information: calories: 321 fat: 16 gr carbs: 41 gr protein: 5 gr



Total cost for the day: $7.58
total calories:  1,107
total fat: 57 gr
total carb: 144 gr
total protein: 20 gr














2

Raw Food Recipe Menu: November 15, 2015






 
Breakfast
Buckwheat Coco Puffs

4 servings ~ $.73 per serving



ingredients
  • 1 cup buckwheat groats, soaked ($.75)
  • 2 ripe bananas ($.30)
  • 3 tbsp coco or cacao powder ($.15)
  • 1/2 tsp vanilla ($.10)
  • 1/2 tsp salt1/2 cup almond milk ($.40)
directions
  1. Rinse one cup buckwheat groats and then soak in about two cups water for 5-6 hours or overnight. Rinse the buckwheat groats well. There will be a gooey or gelatinous coating on the groats and and they will need to be rinsed several times. 
  2. Once rinsed, drain well and pat with a towel to remove most of the water.In a food processor with the S blade, add the banana, cocoa or cacao powder, vanilla and salt. 
  3. Process for a minute or two until very creamy. 
  4. Fold into the buckwheat groats. 
  5. Then spread the mixture in clusters about 1/4 inch thick on the teflex or plastic sheets in a dehydrator. Dehydrate for about 4 hours, then turn over and dehydrate for another 2-3 hours, until the clusters are dry but pliable. 
  6. They don't seem to get brittle dry, but stay a little bit pliable. 
  7. Break up into smaller clumps. These can then be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for 3-4 days. Serve with 1/2 cup almond milk.





nutritional information:      calories: 333       fat: 10 gr      carbs: 50 gr      protein: 7 gr





Lunch
Coconut Cashew Soup
Serves 2 ~ $4.04 per serving






Oh. Yeah. Coconut butter is divine. Artisana makes organic, raw and vegan nut butters and coconut products. They provided some of their coconut butter and nuts butters for me to try, which are great straight from the jar and worked out really well in this easy and convenient soup.  


ingredients 
  • 4 tablespoons artisana coconut butter ($2.20)
  • 4 tablespoons artisana cashew butter ($2.35) 
  • 1 1/2 cup water
  • 3 dates ($.60)
  • 2 tablespoons cilantro leaves ($.10) 
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
  • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
  • juice of one lime ($.50)
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
  • 1 cucumber, sliced into noodles ($.89)
  • 1/2 avocado, chopped ($.88)
  • 1 medium onion, minced
  • 2 stalks celery, minced ($.20)
  • small bunch cilantro leaves ($.05)
  • 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved ($.30)
  • red pepper flakes


directions
  1. In a blender, process the coconut butter, cashew butter (almond butter will work as well), water, dates, cilantro, garlic, red pepper flakes, cayenne, lime juice, salt and pepper. 
  2. Puree until as smooth as possible.
  3. Cut the cucumber into noodles and put in bowls with the avocado, celery, cilantro, and cherry tomatoes. 
  4. Using a wire mesh strainer, strain the coconut and nut butter soup base. This will take out any larger pieces of dates or spices. A higher powered blender may make this step unnecessary. 
  5. Add a sprinkle of red pepper flakes.


    nutritional information:      calories: 537       fat: 44 gr       carbs: 33 gr       protein: 11 gr






    Dinner
    Sweet Potato Noodles
    serves 3 ~ $1.95 per serving








    ingredients

    • 3 sweet potatoes ($3.00)
    • 3 green onions ($.50)
    • 6 tablespoons agave or maple syrup ($.60)
    • 3 tablespoons olive or flax oil ($.30)
    • 3 tablespoons lemon juice ($.30)
    • 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar ($.20)
    • 1 clove garlic, pressed
    • 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
    • 1/2 teaspoon cracked black pepper
    • 3 green onions, sliced
    • 1/4 cup walnuts ($1.00)
    directions
    1. Spiralize the sweet potatoes using your chosen tool and method. 
    2. Whisk together the agave, olive oil, lemon juice, vinegar, salt, and pepper. 
    3. When ready to serve, toss with the sliced green onions and walnuts. 
    4. If desired, warm the noodles in a dehydrator or a warm pan before serving. 
    5. Store the noodles and dressing in separate containers.


    nutritional information:      calories: 646      fat: 36 gr      carbs: 79      protein: 13 gr






    Dessert
    Plum Pie
    serves 3 ~ $2.47 per serving




    • 1/2 cup walnuts ($1.00)
    • 1/2 cup raisins ($.85)
    • 3 plums, sliced thinly ($3.00)
    • 3 tablespoons coconut butter ($1.65) 
    • 2 tablespoons coconut nectar ($.40)

    • banana ice cream ($.50)
    • blackberry puree





    In a food processor fitted with an "S" blade, process the walnuts and raisins until the mixture begins sticking together. Press into a plate, pie plate, or tart pans and chill for several minutes.

    In the food processor, again with the "S" blade, process one plum, the coconut butter, and the coconut nectar. When pureed, spread over the pie crust. Place the plum slices on top. 

    This goes really well with a bit of banana ice cream and a bit of blackberry puree.



    nutritional information:       calories: 396      fat: 19 gr      carbs: 60 gr      protein: 6 gr


     

    Total cost for the day: $9.22
    total calories: 1,744
    total fat: 139 gr
    total carb: 222 gr
    total protein: 37 gr




    2

    Raw Food Recipe Menu: March 20, 2016



    Hello! I hope you're enjoying these first days of spring! The weather has been pretty wonderful around here and I've been enjoying the outdoors and seed starting and all the bright, shiny, hopeful things that happen this time of year.

    Here are some raw recipes that take advantage of some of the things coming into season.

    Breakfast
    Pineapple Green Smoothie
    serves 2 ~ $1.75 per serving
     




    ingredients
    • 3 cups chopped romaine (or favorite green) ($1.00)
    • 1 cup cubed pineapple, frozen ($2.00)
    • 1 banana, sliced and frozen ($.20)
    • 2 tablespoons lemon juice (optional) ($.20)
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla ($.10)
    • 1 cup water
    • 10 ice cubes
    • stevia to taste (optional)
    directions
    • In a high powered blender, puree the greens until liquefied and very smooth. 
    • Add the rest of the ingredients and puree until smooth.

    nutritional information:      calories: 156      fat: 0 gr      carbs: 42 gr      protein: 3 gr






    Lunch
    Deviled Avocados
    serves 1 ~ $1.50 per serving
     
     

    ingredients
    • 1 avocado, chopped ($1.25)
    • 1tablespoon finely chopped celery ($.05)
    • 1 tablespoon finely chopped onion ($.05)
    • 2 teaspoons mustard ($.05)
    • 2 teaspoons mayo  (use something like Veganaise or make your own) ($.10)
    • 1/2 teaspoon salt
    • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
    • 1/2 teaspoon paprika
    • Lettuce and optional tomato for serving
    directions
    • Coarsely chop the avocado, add the remaining ingredients, then stir gently until evenly incorporated. 
    • Store leftovers for up to a day or two in an air tight container.


    nutritional information:       calories: 280       fat: 37 gr      carbs: 15 gr      protein: 3 gr



    Dinner
    Red Pepper Pasta
    serves 2 ~ $2.80 per serving





    • 1 red bell pepper, thinly sliced ($.70)
    • 1 yellow or orange bell pepper, thinly sliced ($.70)
    • 1 cup mushrooms, sliced ($1.50)
    • 1 cup black or kalamata olives ($1.50)
    • 1/2 cup thinly sliced onion ($.20)
    • 1/4 cup olive oil ($.20)
    • 2 tablespoons lemon juice ($.40)
    • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar ($.20)
    • 2 tablespoons maple syrup or agave (optional, for those who like a touch of sweet) ($.20)
    • 1 tablespoon onion powder
    • 1 teaspoon freshly minced garlic
    • 1 teaspoon dried basil (or 1 tablespoon fresh, chopped)
    • 1 teaspoon dried oregano 
    • 1 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
    • 1/2 teaspoon pepper (or to taste)
    • 1-2 medium sized zucchini, spiralized
     
    directions
    • Prepare the red and yellow bell pepper, mushrooms, olives, and onion and place in a medium sized bowl. 
    • In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, vinegar, syrup, onion powder, garlic, basil, oregano, salt, and pepper. Pour over the prepared vegetables. Allow to marinate for at least a half hour, but it can marinate as long as a day.
    • When ready to eat, simply pour the marinated veggies and marinade over a portion of spiralized zucchini noodles and toss.


     

     
     
    nutritional information:      calories: 389      fat: 23 gr      carbs: 35 gr      protein: 11 gr





     Dessert
    Chocolate Orange Truffle
    makes 24 ~ $.54 per truffle (a serving is three truffles)




     
    ingredients

    • 2 cups almonds ($8.00)
    • 1 1/2 cups dates, pitted and chopped ($4.00)
    • 1/2 cup cocoa powder ($1.00)
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
    • 1 teaspoon orange extract
    • Cocoa powder for rolling
    directions
    • In a food processor fitted with an “S” blade, process the almonds until finely ground. This takes about a minute. 
    • Add in the pitted and chopped dates, cocoa powder, vanilla and orange extract. 
    • Process again until the mixture begins to clump together. 
    • Using a tablespoon, scoop out even sized balls, and roll between hands to shape. 
    • For the final finish, roll each truffle lightly in cocoa powder.
     
    Store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. Makes about 24 truffles.
     
    nutritional information:       calories: 105      fat: 6 gr       carb: 12 gr       protein: 3 gr
     
     
     
     
     
    Total cost for the day: $7.67
    total calories: 1,140
    total fat: 78 gr
    total carb: 128 gr
    total protein: 26 gr
     
     




    Aftertought ...

    What does a mostly raw, some cooked vegan grocery cart look like? Well, mine looks like this ...




    How about you?






    2

    Raw Food Recipe Menu: June 26th, 2016

     

     
    Breakfast
    Strawberry Flax Smoothie
    serves 2 ~ $1.28 per serving
     
     
     
    Just two tablespoons of flax seeds, weighing in at 95 calories, contains over 140% of the daily value of omega 3 fatty acids. These fatty acids can protect against diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and cancer, and also decrease inflammation. Because the nutrients in flax seeds are better absorbed when ground ~ and a lot more palatable! ~ I've used the ground seeds in this recipe.
    ingredients
    • 2 bananas, frozen and sliced ($.50)
    • 1 cup frozen strawberries ($1.00)
    • 4 tablespoons flax seeds, ground ($.40)
    • 1 cup almond milk ($.45) 
    • a few almonds, chopped
    directions
    • In a blender, combine all ingredients and puree until very smooth.
    • Garnish with a few chopped almonds, if desired.
    nutritional information:      calories: 308      fat: 11 gr      carb: 55      protein: 7 gr    
     
     
     
     
     
    Lunch
    Squash and Cauliflower Soup
    serves 2 ~ $1.75 per serving
    This is a light but also filling lunch or snack and cauliflower is in season right now. It's pretty low in calories and not very expensive. I've been known to eat the whole batch, is what I'm saying! I like to add some cayenne and crushed red pepper flakes, but, as is true of most things in life, heat is optional ... add as much or little as you like. 
    ingredients
    • 1 1/2 cup peeled and chopped zucchini and/or summer squash ($1.20)
    • 1 1/2 cup chopped cauliflower ($1.00)
    • 1 cup peeled and chopped apple ($1.00)
    • 1/4 cup olive oil, or any one of your favorite oils ($.20)
    • 1 tablespoon chopped onion ($.10)
    • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
    • 1/2 teaspoon cumin
    • 1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
    • 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
    • 1/2 teaspoon pepper, or to taste

    directions
    • Place all ingredients in high powered blender and process for a minute or two until very smooth and creamy. 
    • Add a drizzle of your favorite oil and some crushed red pepper flakes.




     
    nutritional information:      calories: 390          fat: 32 gr         carbs: 54        protein: 5  
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
     
    Dinner
    Spring Noodles
    serves 2 ~ $1.98 per serving


    • 2 medium zucchini, noodled ($2.30)
    • 1 medium onion, chopped ($.05)
    • 1/2 lb baby snap peas ($.80)
    • 1 carrot, grated ($.10)
    • 2 tablespoons olive oil ($.20)
    • 2 tablespoons agave ($.20)
    • 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar ($.20)
    • 2 cloves garlic, pressed ($.10)
    • 1/4 teaspoon salt
    • 1/4 teaspoon pepper
    • 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
    noodled verb: to improvise, experiment, or think creatively; to make or devise freely as an exercise or experiment
     
    I used to think breaded and fried was the only way to eat zucchini. Now, I'm totally into raw zucchini noodles. They're so easy to make and have a wonderful but mild flavor of their own, so they work well with just about everything. 
    Make noodles out the zucchini with a spiralizer, grater, or with a vegetable peeler. Toss the noodles together with the whole snap peas, chopped onion, and grated carrot. In a small cup, whisk together the oil, agave, vinegar, garlic, salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes. Toss with the noodles until coated. 
    These can be served as is, or marinated for an hour or so, or gently dehydrated for a bit.

     
    nutritional information:      calories: 343      fat: 14 gr      carbs: 46 gr      protein: 10 gr
     
     
     
     
     
     Dessert
    Lemon Poppy Seed Ice Cream with Strawberry Sauce
    serves 2 ~ $1.10 per serving




    ingredients
    • 4 bananas, sliced and frozen ($.60)
    • juice and zest of one lemon ($.69)
    • 1 tablespoon poppy seeds ($.30)
    • 1 cup strawberries ($.45)
    • 1 tablespoon agave ($.10)
    • 2 tablespoons chopped walnuts ($.15)
    • pinch salt

    Banana ice cream is wonderful.  And it's amazingly simple to make with just a food processor.

    The strawberry sauce should be made first and set aside. In a bullet type blender, puree the strawberries and agave until very smooth.

    In a food processor fitted with an "S" blade, process the frozen bananas and lemon juice and zest until creamy like soft serve ice cream. It can take a bit of prodding and scraping to get the bananas going in the food processor, but it's worth it. Once creamy, add the poppy seeds and give a whir or two to incorporate.

    Serve with the strawberry sauce and walnuts. 
     
    nutritional information:       calories: 345      fat: 6 gr      carbs: 77 gr      protein: 5 gr
     
     
     
    Total cost for the day: $6.11
    total calories: 1,386
    total fat: 63 gr
    total carb: 232 gr
    total protein: 27 gr
     




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    Raw Food Recipe Menu: July 4, 2016





     
    Happy, happy 4th!! I hope you're enjoying your holiday with lots of good food, friends, family, and good times. The 4th, to most people, represents "freedom" and "independence." What would you like to be free or independent of this summer or this year? Now? 

      
    Breakfast 
    Strawberry Blue Concrete
    serves 2 ~ $1.45 per serving



    • 3 bananas, sliced and frozen ($.60)
    • 1 1/2 cups strawberries, frozen ($1.69)
    • 1/2 cup blueberries, frozen ($.60)
    • stevia and/or agave, to taste

    A "concrete" is a very thick shake ... thick enough to have to eat it with a spoon. And this is a fun and tasty breakfast or treat for anyone.

    In a food processor fitted with an "S" blade, process the frozen bananas until creamy. Add water as needed until the mixture is a thick, soft serve ice cream consistency. Add about half the frozen strawberries and process again until smooth. Add a couple droppers of stevia and/or agave, until you like the level of sweetness. You may not need any sweetener at all if you use very ripe bananas.

    Spoon out and set aside about half the mixture. Then, add more frozen strawberries to what remains, and process again until smooth. Spoon out and set aside about half of this mixture, as well. Finally, add the frozen blueberries to what is left and process again until smooth.

    Layer the different mixtures in a glass. And don't forget a spoon!


    nutritional information:      calories: 262      fat: 1 gr      carbs: 65 gr      protein: 3 gr


    Lunch
    Strawberry Cauliflower Salad
    serves 2 ~ $2.75 per serving



    This salad is a bit on the sweet side and I've even had it for breakfast. The nutrition in here is just off the charts, especially with the cauliflower rounding it out. Lots of vitamin C, vitamin K, etc. A few chopped almonds on top would be nice, too. That's usually how I eat this, but must have forgotten them for the photos!

    ingredients, salad
    • 6 cups romaine lettuce, chopped ($1.20)
    • 2 cups sliced strawberries ($2.00)
    • 1 1/2 cups chopped cauliflower ($1.00)
    • 1 small white onion ($.10)

    ingredients, dressing
    • 1 cup strawberries ($1.00)
    • 1 tablespoon chopped onion
    • 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
    • 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar ($.20)
    • 1 teaspoon dried basil or 1 tablespoon fresh
    • 1 teaspoon dried oregano or 1 tablespoon fresh
    • 3 tablespoons agave
    • 3 tablespoons olive oil
    • 2 droppers stevia
    • 1 teaspoon salt, or to taste
    • 1/2 teaspoon pepper, or to taste

    directions
    • Arrange the salad ingredients on a plate.
    • In a blender, puree the dressing ingredients until very smooth.
    • Add cracked black pepper and salt to taste.




    nutritional information:       calories: 257       carbs: 35       fat: 21       protein: 10



    Dinner
    Blueberry Salad
    serves 2 ~ $2.00 per serving



    ingredients
    • 1 cup blueberries, dried ($1.00)
    • 1 head romaine ($1.29)
    • handful kale ($.50)
    • 1 medium onion, divided
    • 1/2 cup blueberries, fresh ($.50) 
    • 2 tablespoons olive oil ($.20)
    • 2 tablespoons coconut nectar or other liquid sweetener ($.40)
    • 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar ($.10)
    • salt and pepper to taste

    Blueberries dry to a wonderful raisin like texture, becoming sweeter and even more flavorful. Care must be taken to not over dry them as they get too hard. Just put a cup of blueberries in the dehydrator for several hours until dry but still chewy.

    The salad is just a simple one of romaine, a bit of kale, chopped onions, and dried blueberries. Reserve a tablespoon of chopped onion to go into the dressing.

    The dressing is made with the onion, a half cup of fresh blueberries, the olive oil, coconut nectar, and vinegar. Puree all ingredients in a blender until smooth. This works best with a bullet type blender. Most blenders have a blade assembly that's compatible with canning jars. Just unscrew the blade assembly from the carafe and attach to a small mouth canning jar. The pint jars are perfect for small jobs like this.

     Also, a larger batch of dressing can be made, just double or triple the recipe. Store in the refrigerator for up to a week.

     


    nutritional information:       calories: 289       fat: 14 gr       carbs: 42 gr       protein: 4 gr




    Dessert
    Blueberry Fool
    serves 4 ~ $.62 per serving

    ingredients
    • 1 cup nuts (cashews) ($1.00)
    • 2 ripe bananas ($.30)
    • juice of 1 lemon ($.69)
    • pinch of salt
    • 1/2 cup water for blending, as needed
    • 4 ounces blueberries, frozen and thawed ($.50)

    • whole blueberries
    • walnuts
    • agave

    I was looking for ways to cut some of the fat in regular nut yogurt and decided to use ripe bananas and nuts in about equal amounts. This worked out wonderfully and as a bonus, eliminated the need for more sweetener.

    A "fool" is basically a yogurt dish layered parfait style. Greek yogurt, which is very thick, is traditionally used. This yogurt isn't that thick as I've made it here, but could easily be thickened by draining some of the liquid through cheesecloth. 

    In a blender, puree the bananas until very smooth. Add the nuts (I used cashews) and lemon juice and about a half cup water for blending. Puree on high for several minutes, until smooth and creamy. Refrigerate for at least a few hours. It will thicken quite a bit as it chills.

    To make the "fool," take half the yogurt and puree with a handful of blueberries. In each serving bowl, put a spoon of regular yogurt and another of blueberry yogurt, add a few whole blueberries to the top. Garnish with a couple chopped walnuts and a drizzle of agave, if desired.


    nutritional information:       calories: 268      fat: 38 gr      carbs: 24 gr      protein: 5 gr






    Total cost for the day: $6.82
    total calories: 1,076
    total fat: 72 gr
    total carb: 166 gr
    total protein: 21 gr
    That's a little light on calories, but it's also kind of light on the cost so if you're still hungry have a big slice of lemon cherry cheesecake!


    Lemon Cherry Cheesecake
    serves 8 - $1.50 per serving

     This cheesecake recipe is from my Spring Raw book, available over there on the side. It's a refreshing dessert that tastes great anytime, but also goes over well at get togethers and holidays

    crust
    • 1 cup almonds ($2.00) 
    • 1 cup dates ($2.00)
    • pinch salt

    filling
    • 2 cups almonds, soaked and (optionally) blanched ($4.00)
    • 1/4 cup lemon juice ($.40)
    • 1/2 cup agave ($1.60)
    • 1 teaspoon vanilla
    • pinch salt
    • 1/2 cup water for blending

    topping
    • 1/2cup cherries ($.40)
    • 1/2 cup dates ($1.00)
    • 2 tablespoons lemon juice ($.40)
    • 1/4 cup whole cherries ($.20)


    In a food processor fitted with an “S: blade, process the almonds until coarsely ground. Add the dates and process until the mixture sticks together. Press into the bottom and up the sides of an eight inch springform pan.


    For the filling, in a food processor fitted with an “S: blade, process the soaked almonds until finely ground. Add the lemon juice, agave, vanilla, and salt and process, using additional water as necessary. Pour into the prepared crust and smooth. Cover and freeze until firm

    In a bullet type blender, process the cherries, dates, and lemon juice until very smooth. Stir in the whole cherries and spread over the top of the frozen pie. Cover and freeze again until firm.

    To serve, remove from freezer about twenty minutes beforehand and allow the pie to thaw slightly before cutting and serving.


    nutritional information:       calories: 343       fat: 21 gr       carb: 30 gr       protein: 6 gr 




    2

    Plague diary 23/03: Lockdown

    Well, as they say, that escalated quickly.

    Day 5 (Friday): Stayed home all day with jack. We ordered takeaway for our date night while we still can. The delivery guy wore a proper facemask.

    Day 6 (Saturday): Woke up feeling kind of grim. Decided, on consultation with my partners, that I was fairly sure it was just a cold, so we agreed I would go ahead with my planned evening with cjwatson and the children.

    In the morning I virtually 'attended' a livestreamed service, which is a really really new thing for my community who normally ban telecoms and electronics on the Sabbath. It was weird, but I felt good for praying with the community even if I wasn't actually interacting with them directly. In the afternoon I did a virtual play readthrough over Zoom, organized by the lovely wildeabandon. It was really really fun, and I got to see the faces of friends I haven't seen for ages, as well as a couple of internet acquaintances I had no mental image of previously. The play was Loves labours lost and I played a couple of small but fun roles, Lady Katharine, a slightly bitchy court woman, and Sir Nathaniel, a pompous curate.

    And then I walked to my partners' house, and it was sunny and seemed basically normal. Plus I was feeling completely better by mid afternoon. I took a winding route to stay most of 2m away from any other pedestrians. We played Labyrinth and watched TV and I stayed the night.

    In the morning (Sunday) there was more TV and another game, Robot turtles, a sort of cut-down, child-friendly version of Robo Rally, which the children have got much better at since we last played. And we walked part way together to metamour's house where there was mother's day planned, which I didn't join in with, I went home to jack. We went out to the local shop, I walked with him to enjoy the spring weather and he did the actual shopping, as I'm in theory more vulnerable than him.

    Sunday evening I did my chevruta (traditional paired Jewish text study), which has always been online because my partner is in New York, and we had a long and pleasant video call with some old friends of jack's I don't see often enough.

    Today, day 8, well, jack and I stayed home, mostly working. And anxiously watching the news of how most of the country treated the weekend as a bonus bank holiday and flocked to tourist spots and crowded into parks and gardens. It was kind of obvious the restrictions would have to get stricter, if that was how people were interpreting more gentle restrictions.

    Then they cancelled the daily "briefing" (I haven't really been listening to them as it's mostly just our incompetent prime minister waffling with no substance) for a COBRA meeting. I carried out my intended plan of collecting Judith from OSOs' for a Hebrew lesson, and am I ever glad I did. Because as of an hour ago, and starting from tonight, we're no longer allowed out at all except for "essential" purposes. And we're explicitly no longer allowed to meet friends and family. So I don't know how long it will be before I get to hug my partners again.

    In a way, lockdown isn't very different from how we were already behaving, with one vulnerable person in each of our three houses (me and metamour have asthma, girlfriend is pregnant). We were already going out only once a day for exercise, we were already only visiting shops to buy, like, food. But what it has taken away from us is that we can no longer bounce between the three houses, treating the polycule as a closed pod. I think our behaviour for the past week has been safe. If I walk a kilometre to my partners' house, that's no different from walking a kilometre in a random direction to get exercise. But the problem is everybody thinks they're an exception, (and multi-household poly relationships are never thought of in official rulings), so now it's forbidden.

    The announcement says three weeks, but I think what's actually going to happen is that people will again not take the restrictions seriously and it will have to be extended.

    Personal status: I thought I was doing ok, and the tighter restrictions are almost certainly necessary and not really a surprise. But it hurts.
    Social circle tally: three cases, including one person I see face to face (though not for at least a month). 8 mostly online acquaintances with suspicious symptoms.

    comments




    2

    Plague diary 27/03

    Adapting to the new normal.

    Day 9 (Tuesday): Worked from home. Did my daily exercise by walking past the house where OSOs are quarantined so we could wave to each other from a distance. We actually ended up having a conversation, them on their doorstep, me several metres away. Which is perhaps stretching the no gathering thing a little but I think the risk is low and the psychological benefit is enormous. I have vastly more cope knowing I can still see and talk to my partners.

    Day 10: (Wednesday): Worked from home. Failed to secure online delivery for now. Called my parents who reported that they were doing fine and that my doctor cousin had completely randomly, for no reason at all, told them they need to isolate from my brother within the household. I said that sounded over the top. But then I spoke to my brother and it turned out parents left out an extremely salient fact, namely that they had been in recent contact with someone symptomatic. Called my parents again, and talked them through sensible in-house isolation precautions. Part of the reason my brother is quarantining with them is because they have a big house with multiple kitchens and bathrooms, so hopefully this is doable. But I've been kind of tearing my hear out over all this.

    Day 11: (Thursday): Another exercise walk and distanced chat with OSOs. Again, felt much better for that. I noticed that the local corner shop is observing proper social distancing, with only a few people allowed in the shop at a time, and everybody else queuing outside actually at 2m separation.

    Took part in a rehearsal for running Saturday's service purely over Zoom. (Unlike last week, nobody is going to the synagogue building at all, so we will need to coordinate between people in different locations.) There are lots of probably more exciting options for livestreamed shabbat services, but if you would like to virtually join ours on Saturday (and hear / see me fake-read the Torah), PM me for the Zoom link. I'm not putting it on the public internet because scumbags have been hacking Zoom-based services in order to harass Jews :-(

    Day 12 (today): Pleasantly boring day. jack did some shopping in a locally owned shop, which was quieter than Tesco.

    Personal status: In spite of being worried about my family of origin, I am getting used to this situation and basically feel ok. Also I still / again have mild cold symptoms. Tracking makes me paranoid, but also makes me realize just how unreasonably susceptible I am to mild respiratory stuff. I've pretty much constantly had a mild cough, with occasional chest soreness or shortness of breath ever since I started paying attention. I'm pretty sure it's chronic asthma with rhinitis and unreasonable sensitivity to normal endemic viruses, rather than acute Covid, but 'pretty sure' isn't ideal with the stakes this high.

    Social circle tally: five cases. Twelve people with suspicious symptoms. Now including some people I see in person, but none recently.

    Does anyone have any recommendations for decent online bridge setups? Free as in beer would be good, free as in speech is always a bonus. We can probably download software if needed, but ideally we want to work across multiple different tech eg phones, tablets, laptops with various OSes, so probably web-based is easiest. Also it needs to be at least vaguely usable by people who are not completely computer savvy, though not completely clueless either.

    comments




    2

    Plague diary 2/04; isolation day 1

    As of some time last night, I have novel respiratory symptoms. I'm basically fine but it feels safest to act as if I am infected.

    My lungs hurt, and it's not the tightness I associate with mild asthma symptoms, or the tired muscle ache / burn I associate with a bad cough (whether asthma or viral). Not badly, but pretty much continuously. I'm coughing a bit but not severely, and I don't feel feverish. I have a slight headache and sore throat, but that could be just about anything including stress. I am somewhat distracted but I've been able to get on with useful work today.

    I'm probably being over-cautious, but I feel like the balance of probabilities points towards suspected case. So this morning jack and I activated our self-isolation plan. We've divided up the house so that I "live" upstairs and he stays downstairs apart from using the bathroom. We have separate towels and we're cleaning metal bathroom surfaces constantly. jack has taken on food prep for both of us and he's leaving me plates of food and cups of tea and retreating to the bottom of the stairs.

    And we're preparing to avoid leaving the house at all until it's more likely that we're not infectious than that we still are. We have plenty of supplies, and we managed to get an online supermarket delivery order in by virtue of going on the website just after midnight last night, which was fortuitous timing. It's going to suck, more so if my symptoms progress beyond the almost ignorable level, but since we can do this I think it's the right thing.

    The most likely (and in some ways comforting) narrative I can come up with is that I picked this up when I had to attend a dental appointment two weeks ago. I had very mild symptoms (including a tell-tale sore throat) within a few days of that surgery, which in retrospect I can imagine might have been the first phase. And now, 12 days after the first symptoms, I have potential lower respiratory tract symptoms, so hopefully this is the second phase. That's comforting because it suggests my source of infection is a necessary medical appointment rather than either something frivolous I did, or just being unlucky even though I've stayed at home except for exercise for ten days now, and jack has been doing minimal necessary shopping with careful social distancing. And if I picked it up at the dentist it's unlikely I infected the dentist or any of his staff or patients. Also, if my guess is right I'm probably approaching the end of the infectious phase.

    We are really not sure how long we should maintain full isolation at home. UK guidelines say 7 days from start of symptoms (me, today), or 14 days from contact with a symptomatic person (Jack). But I suspect this is not entirely adequate especially as it's much less restrictive than the WHO advice. If my symptoms don't get any worse than this and jack doesn't get sick at all, which is definitely the brnach of the timeline I'm hoping for, I won't know whether I've actually had Covid. Currently we're thinking that if nothing changes we'll start interacting with eachother again after 7 days, but not go outside until we're more confident the incubation period has passed; I think the safest is 14 days from the end of symptoms but we might not be able to sustain that.

    Send hugs and support to jack, please? He's doing amazingly in a somewhat scary situation.

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    Plague diary 21/04

    Less frequent posts since time hardly exists any more.

    5 weeks of pandemic life (yesterday).
    4 weeks of lockdown and since I last interacted with anyone except jack.
    19 days since I thought I maybe had symptoms.
    13 days since I ended internal isolation with jack. He hasn't had any symptoms at all.
    5 days since I last had symptoms I was significantly worried about.
    3 days since I returned to occasionally leaving the house for exercise.
    Also, day 12 of the Omer.

    So, healthwise: I had about 5 days, 2nd April to 7th April, when my lungs hurt. Just continuously, not affected by taking deep breaths or posture or anything much else. I didn't have any other symptoms whatsoever. After that I had like a week of thinking I was better, except that the soreness returned intermittently. So I really wasn't sure when I could start counting to the end of isolation; the UK guidelines say 7 days from symptoms appearing, but everywhere else counts from the end of symptoms, and the symptoms were so minor and tailed off so gradually that I don't know where I'd place the 'end'.

    On 16th April I had a weird episode of dizziness, much worse than I'd ever experienced before. I pretty much had to lie down for a couple of hours. I had no other symptoms, no tiredness, no fever, just plain vertigo. I looked it up on the internet as you do, and articles from before Covid-19 suggested that sometimes people get post-viral labyrinthitis, whereas more up-to-date information suggested dizziness might be a Covid-19 symptom. I don't know. If my lung soreness was in fact Covid-19 then I got the dizziness two weeks after symptoms appeared, which seems implausibly long.

    We decided we could start going out from Sunday 19th. We're still staying away from shops and avoiding other people. It's a bit arbitrary but it is over two weeks since I first worried, and 5 days since I had even the vaguest trace of symptoms (except the dizziness which might or might not be relevant).

    So, the rest of the bank holiday weekend when I was sad that I didn't get to do Easter family time with OSOs. I did in fact enjoy some restful time with jack. We played Gloomhaven and unwound a bit from work and Pesach. And we managed to get in some remote Stellaris with cjwatson; it pretty much Just Worked even though we last played most of a year ago and had a really old version of the game. We used Discord for voice chat and it was pleasant and companionable.

    Two and a half days back at work, then I had to take an afternoon off to be dizzy, but I was fine by Friday. The lovely Reform Movement started up broadcasting again after a break for the festival, and I attended a couple of seminars (but haven't yet got back into the habit of attending communal morning prayer).

    This recent weekend I had deliberately not made too many social plans. I had a nice date with jack on Friday evening. OSOs virtually joined me for the Saturday morning service, and I listened in to their church service on Sunday. The latter feels much less like being together because it's just a broadcast, whereas our service has a Zoom congregation and is a bit more interactive, but I still wanted to support my partners. We also managed a couple of nearly spontaneous games of online bridge using the Trickster Cards site, a matter of just sending a text saying, do you feel like playing and pretty much starting a game with minimal faff. The first was with my mother and brother who are quarantined together, and the second was with OSOs. And I've had a couple of phonecall dates with each of my non-domestic partners.

    Going out for the first time after self-isolation was weird. We decided that we could justify going for a short drive to reach a place more pleasant and less crowded than Cambridge city. We went to Waterbeach in order to look at the river, but decided against walking along it because the path is too narrow. It was the most amazingly gorgeous day, just perfect spring weather. And during the three weeks I stayed at home the world has become gloriously green. There were a few people about enjoying the weather but it was far from crowded. We walked in a little nature reserve and it was really lovely.

    But I found it emotionally hard. I was anxious about getting too close to people, I was anxious about getting in trouble for having fun and not moving fast enough. And I was really struggling with feeling sad about this perfect spring that we're mostly going to miss, and not knowing how many more seasons will just flow past while we're all stuck indoors, and the people who won't make it through quarantine to enjoy the outdoors again.

    Today was a bit better, I returned to my pre-symptoms habit of walking across very quiet north Cambridge suburbs to OSOs' house. And we chatted with them on their doorstep and me more than 2m away in the street, and that made me feel better. I was a lot less angsty about going out of the house the second time than the first.

    Last few days I've had fairly obvious hayfever but otherwise feel fine. There are 7 people known to me personally who have had pretty clear cases of Covid-19, and 26 including me who have had suspicious symptoms.

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    Mel Baggs, 1980-2020

    I was really sad to learn of the death of Mel Baggs. I have been following Mel's writing for many years and learned a great deal about disability and activist communities.

    In particular, Mel disabused me of the view of autism that says, autism is all very well if you're also highly intelligent, but it's a terrible tragedy to be autistic as well as intellectually disabled, or autistic and non-speaking, or "low-functioning". And in general lots of concrete ways of being a respectful fellow citizen towards the the kinds of disabled people who don't get much activism airtime.

    It seems that Mel didn't die "of" Coronavirus in the strict sense of the word, but of complications of a number of other illnesses and conditions. Mel had posted a fair bit recently about not getting access to needed personal care as an indirect result of the pandemic and the dangerously inadequate official response to it. I don't know whether inadequate care was a contributory factor in Mel's death but it did cause a lot of suffering, and I have seen way too many reports of people not getting the care they need, and I'm not even that plugged in to the disability community.

    Anyway. Mel was someone I admired greatly, and a huge influence on me, and the world is poorer.

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    2

    1925 в 2018

    Это ужасно, ужасно смешно, но натянув по уши современную шапчонку и закутавшись - по эти же уши - меховым шарфом поверх куртки, я увидела в зеркале... аллюзию на 1920-е. Как будто я в шляпке-клош и пальто-коконе.




    2

    Entries from May 2019

    Well, nothing major to report this month, except at least we have some content: The conference I first showed my Reverse Emulation project at in 2018 (Deconstruct) finally posted the video of my talk, which was called "Improper Hierarchy." The talk is of course similar to the living room CRT video I put on youtube, but it might be interesting even if you've already seen that (watching it a year later, there are at least some funny ad-libbed parts IMO!). The video production is very high quality (in general the conference was very well run and the speaker experience in particular I heartily endorse) but also quite serious-seeming, so I like how it comes across as some bizarro-world TED talk.

    This month I've made some progress on another video, which maybe I can wrap up this weekend. Nothing too grandeur, though. Sometimes hard to keep that under control!

    Also: I played through Minit, which was a really excellent and creative little game (can finish it in an evening) that I super recommend. I just started The Messenger which definitely has some charms and surprises; I need to finish it before I can decide between "good" and "great" but I think I can at least recommend it if you like exploration-style platformers.




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    2609 * 2^1549069 + 1

    Happy Thanksgiving!

    One interesting thing that happened this month: A few weekends ago it was feeling cold in my office, so I thought about turning on a space heater, but why do that when I've got a 850W power supply hooked up under my desk that can provide a "useful" resistive load? My current projects don't have any long-running computations, so I fired up PrimeGrid, which is a distributed computing project that lets you hunt for prime numbers (etc.) using your stupidly overpowered home computer. Amazingly, the next day, I had discovered this prime:

    2609×21549069 + 1


    It's a Proth prime, one of the several special forms of numbers that have efficient primality tests. This particular one is 466,320 decimal digits long, in fact big enough that when I discovered it, it was the 3461st largest prime number known to mankind (see its entry in the list of Top 5000 Primes). As you know, computers are pretty fast these days, and there exist many nerds, so this number has already slipped 62 places to #3523.

    Finding this on my second day was pretty lucky, although not really beginner's luck since in college I ran Prime95 ("Great Internet Mersenne Prime Search") on any computer I could get my hands on. You can see my historic page exhorting internet strangers to join the Tom7 prime team for example. Apparently we were once in the top 100 teams in the world, so I think I deserve a prime 20 years later, right?


    I finally assembled my current project and it is kind of working! There are several things I can do to improve it, which I am trying, but at this point it at least does something interesting/funny enough to make into a video. Next the trick will be finding the right stopping point. I was hoping to get a lot done over Thanksgiving break (mercifully, not traveling this year), but (not mercifully) I immediately got sick and have spent most of my time playing Pokémon in bed or warming my toes on the prime-powered heat sink. So sad to finally have some free time but not have the energy. Oh, well!




    2

    HNY 2020!

    Hello and happy new year! I’m currently at a party and basically forgot to post, which is fine because I didn’t finish anything this month! I did make progress on my project, but then also expanded the scope (as is my way) and then also ruined a part of it, both activities pretty much consuming all the free time of the holiday break with such excursions. I've still been running the prime-finding space heater as described in post 1175 but my luck has regressed to the mean and I have no new primes despite running for 30x longer than last time. The winter slows me down for sure. In the melancholy I played a few video games, which were unremarkable except for Fidel Dungeon Rescue, which I really like. It’s described as a roguelike, but it’s really a puzzle game. It won my heart when I convinced myself that one level was impossible, then implemented a solver for it, which made me realize I was missing something, but then convinced myself that it was still impossible, but then the solver solved it and proved my brain is soft.