The Syndicate

Hello, resolutions thread!

I'm hoping to make some lifestyle changes this year and accomplish as much as I can academically, since it's a big year for me (finishing classes with my last semester this Spring, then working on a 2nd year research paper which I can hopefully get presented at conferences and then published, tons of teaching over the summer, then studying for and hopefully passing comprehensive exams and starting my dissertation).

Mafia-wise I'll be shifting to an observer and administrator duties-only role for a while, very possibly all of 2016, but who knows? I am an addict after all. But breaking from playing for a substantial time will allow me to shift my downtime elsewhere... since otherwise the past year and a half (since I started the PhD) almost all of my free time has gone into in-game mafia posting, and anything remaining has gone to out-of-game posting and spending time with the wife. I hope to instead have more time for interacting with you all via these off-topic threads (and Smashfest, for those of you who are participating), and funneling my free time purely into non-creative outlets such as playing video games, watching some shows, etc., since I rarely find time for any of those things. I need to keep my creativity and energy focused on PhD, rather than getting emotionally tied up in games. I'm also hoping to get more exercise and cut back going out to eat nearly altogether, since my work puts me behind a computer all day and between that and the honeymoon and everything else in 2015, my health took some beatings. But my main goal for 2016 is to definitely get a published paper in the works, hopefully two or more.

Here's hoping all of you accomplish your resolutions as well, for those of you who have made them!

bea wrote:really? you like spinach?! that is awesome!! In vegetable land - that is a super player!!!! So many vitamins and minerals - and you can incorporate it into so much food! And it is always the choice over Iceburg lettuce.

If every salad you ever eat is made of spinach or mixed greens or romaine lettuce - you are already doing *so* much for both flavor and nutrition vs iceburg crap. It's 90% water with NO nutritional content.

But only fresh spinach! It's not like popeye! No can stuff ever ever ever!!!!!! Really - some fresh spinach in a salad is amazing - but also - some spinach lightly warmed in a pasta dish - with either alfredo sauce or an a natural sauce (my preference) spinach - pasta - some butter and some parm cheese - omg - amazing. simple things work - well. (and from what I understand - the spinach helps metabolize the pasta and heavy sauce.)

and yay! you like hummus! let me introduce to you my hummus wrap: it's a large toritlla - and trust me on the ingredients - a spread of hummus on the wrap - then some spinach, some feta cheese (I like the preseasoned tomato basil hummus so I don't have to add spices) (but if you are adding some fresh spices - basil makes this dish sing) some fresh cucumber, some fresh tomato (I like roma tomatos in this) and some sprouts. like bean sprouts or alfalfa sprouts - you could add a hint of greek salad dressing to it if you need a bit more flavor - but I like it just as it is. I swear you will love the flavor combination - even if you don't like one or more of the ingredients by them selves - they meld together wonderfully.

At least just try it then tell me it sucked.

also - you see the word I keep using over and over again? it's fresh.

vegetables - they work best fresh - frozen can be used in some places - but when veggies are the MAIN ingredient - you really need to buy the best you can buy.

I do not like the canned spinach, so no worries there. I do try to eat spinach salads whenever I can, although I am occasionally guilty of passing up on them. I think that's the main thing I'll have to watch, is telling myself to eat something vegetable when most otherwise I would just pass on it or wouldn't think of making/getting it.

The wrap sounds good. Annie actually introduced me to something similar to that, and I have had it on two occasions now and was able to eat it, lol. I mean, I didn't absolutely love it, but as far as vegetable dishes go, it was on the tolerable end of the spectrum, which is very high on the favorable end. She adds peppers which aren't so bad and doesn't have sprouts. Your combination here would probably be an interesting variation.

bea wrote:vegetables are not meat. I agree with you completely there sockface.

Vegetables are vegetables and should be enjoyed as they are.

Try the candied carrots. Really buy a bag of frozen carrot slices - cook them partially - then add a bit of brown sugar to them (the brown sugar is still sugar, but infinitely better and more sweet than white sugar) then finish cooking them in the brown sugar awesome happy home. Carrots are naturally sweet anyway - the brown sugar just steps it up a notch. It's hands down the *best* intro to "vegetables" outside of corn on the cob.

Also - have you ever tried dipping things? Like Hummus? It is chickpea based and delicious. I like dipping carrots and cucumbers and pita bread in hummus.

And speaking of cucumbers - do you like pickles? because they are cucumbers tainted. Cucumbers are hands down one of the most refreshing foods I know of. They are amazingly versatile. (and also something else - but I can only say that in a PM)

You have to have eaten and not hated SOME vegetable. I am curious as to what it was. I can't believe you grew up in Kentucky and didn't love to eat in season corn on the cob. If anything - let corn be your start point - then listen to me from there.

It's like wine - I can develop tastes when I have the base point to work from.

Carrots aren't too bad to begin with. The main source of vegetable I do get is spinach salad; I actually much prefer that to typical lettuce salad. Corn is OK, but eh. Mostly the green ones I haven't been fond of, lol. I'm not really a fan of pickles or cucumbers, not sure why.

Also, hummus is the most amazing thing in the universe!! I have used it with carrots and it helps significantly (so does peanut butter). I haven't tried it with anything other than carrots and that was only once, so I suppose that would be a decent starting point.

Vegetables are not meat!! Lol.

bea wrote:veggies are yummy!!!

God no, I wish I could say the same.

My resolution (or goal, really) for this year is to have my CPA by the end of the year. The higher goal is to have it by my birthday, but we'll see.

Other than that, and more in line with a regular 'resolution', I suppose it's just to make sure I exercise a bit more and eat a little healthier.

The Syndicate

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