A lemon analogy

You know that saying ‘ When life gives you lemons, make lemonade’? Well, medical school is a lemon farm and it feels highly unlikely that I’ll finish all the lemonade. The quote ‘When medical school tries to drown you in lemon juice’ seems rather more apt. The exam stress has me feeling a little despondent. But it can’t really be that bad…right?

Let’s go with right. I was thinking of taking a positive spin on this whole exam revision thing and so got (carried away) inspired with lemons. My goal: to channel help you ( and myself) channel the exam stress, the essay blues and/or feelings of inadequacy into feelings of Yes-I-Can.

Before we start dissecting the lemon, some key terms:

Carpel  – The partitioned sections of a lemon (clearly seen in mid-sagittal * longitudinal section) These are the segments we separate.                                                                                         Juice vesicle – The little bits of fleshy pulp

I trying to convince myself that first year has given me lemon. Note the missing ‘s’. Lemon as opposed to lemons sounds a lot more manageable. The lemon represents year one of university, a carpel segment is a module and the juice vesicles are the lectures. Sure, it seems overwhelming at first, what with the hundreds of little vesicles, yet, when you look at the grand scheme of things – the whole lemon – you realise it really is just that: little vesicles. Now if we say your mouth is your brain, and you think about the relative sizes of that tiny vesicle and that large mouth, you’ll see each vesicle for what it is. A small mini ( used lightly, baby steps people, baby steps) obstacle.

Since it is just one lemon, you got this. Break it down, eat it segment by segment. You’ll get used to the tartness and maybe even start enjoying that sour sensation. (If you’re salivating at the thought of the little vesicles bursting their (not so) sweet sour goodness like a sunshine party, you’re already halfway there.)

To those that are eat the whole lemon in one go, good luck, and I commend your skill and talent. I’ll just say I’ve never seen anyone bite into a citrus fruit like it’s an apple, but then again the world is full of wonders.**

Although right now, (i.e. if your first exam is in less than 36 hours…) it may feel like you’re trying to eat half a lemon and keep finding vesicles you’ve never seen before. as long as you take it piece by piece, you’ll be okay. I’ll be okay. We’ll all be okay.

To close, this is one for your quote book:

So when life gives you lemons, eat them like oranges. One carpel at a time.

 

Nibbling on this year’s lemon,

-KK

Ps: Good luck to you all. The end is in sight.

*Mid-saggital: vertical plane. Since it’s an anatomy term, I’m counting this as revision and not some form of procrastination.

** Important to note: everyone eats their citrus in different ways: some like to chew, some suck and some swallow whole pieces. A bad habit of mine is comparing my revision methods to others and feeling like I’m doing it wrong. This is unhealthy and so I’m trying to break that habit. You do you guys, and Imma do me. As long as that lemon goes down, we’re all doing it right.

*** In case you were wondering about the lemon seeds, I’m thinking that if we plant them and grow more lemons, we’re basically keeping education alive for incoming years. Sustainable education for the nation.  

A list of ingredients to cure Hanger

Raindrops on roses and whiskers on kittens. Inari tofu has got me so smitten Crunchy PB ‘n’ J, no gelatin. These are a few of my favourite things

Hanger is such a thing.

I just can’t be the only one who goes through unending thought process of ‘Am I hungry? Am I angry? Am I hungry because I’m angry? Am I angry because I’m hungry?’. I’ll let you ponder on that one. It’s all very which-came-first-chicken-or-egg-y to me.

In my opinion ( throwback to English classes trying to get that get into the A-grade level), the phenomenon that is ‘Hanger’ is one of the weaknesses of mankind. Not one to be treated lightly. I am usually a happy person, laughing and smiling 75% of the time. But, when that Hanger takes hold, the smile slips and Hulk emerges rocking a shade of green that screams unripe avocado. And one of the most reliable ways to snap out of a food funk and straight into a food crunk*?

Food.

And so, I thought to share with you a  list of my top ingredients to make my favourite foods. An aid if you will, for emergencies… (The list is in no particular order. If it was, no prize for guessing what the top would be):

Sources: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11

I encourage you all to acknowledge and share what makes your soul happy. Know your foods, know yourself.

Fighting the Hanger,

-KK

Ps: Happy Christmas Eve folks. Be merry, eat berries, and if you’re wondering how full you need to be to feel like you’ve conquered Christmas Dinner, the answer’s very.

*Crunk (noun): a state of excitement. see the dictionary.com definition of verb for further clarification.

**  Nut butters- namely  peanut and almond. Smooth is accepted but crunchy is superior. Always superior.

A taste of Italy and Korea, Japanese style

This is the recipe for sushi I made a few weeks ago. It was my first time making sushi so the method may have flaws but it was quickish and relatively cheap, so drop that Itsu, forget about Yo Sushi and make yo’ (own) sushi.

I bought 10 seaweed sheets for £1.80 on ebay. I found that 1 sheet was enough for two servings – I still have sheets weeks later. The Kimchi, £0.95 from the Kmart shop on Tottenham Court Road. The rice, £1.50 for 250g bought in Thailand ( Tesco does it too, maybe a little bit more expensive but sushi though…) My guestimation* is that the ingredients totaled up to £6.00* for whole packets. That sounds like a lot I know, but I squeezed out a good 4 days worth of food from left over ingredients  ( i.e. more Udon pesto noodles, avocado and pesto sandwiches/ salads etc) and still use non-perishable ones weeks later.

The making process (20 minutes for multitaskers,  35 minutes max)

– To make the pesto Udon noodles, open the  Ready Udon noodles packet ( or follow packet instructions to cook). Portion, add the pesto, mix and heat on the hob. Let the taste of Italy infuse.

-To make the rice, I highly recommend you follow instructions of how to cook it. I learnt the hard way that cooking sticky rice, it in no way shape or form just like cooking normal rice . To get you started, add water to rice in a pot. Good luck and you’re welcome.

-To prepare the sushi filling, slice avocado and cucumber length-ways, around 1.5 cm thick chunks.

-To make the sushi, use a spoon to spread the rice at 1 cm depth, 5 cm wide and the whole length on the Nori sheet. Or follow your instinct, if you want to spread more or less rice, do what tickles your fancy. Add the filling in the centre of the rice spread and down the length of the sheet and roll. Here is a youtube video in case none of that came through. You need a really sharp knife to slice the roll into sushi rolls without ruining your life’s work.

In one roll I added the avocado, cucumber (and the other half with some red pesto). In the other roll I added the kimchi (and avocado in the other half.) The avocado and pesto oh my goodness. This needs to be a thing. I’ll let you find out why yourself. Especially with the sweet soy sauce.

The kimchi  ones were okay but I’d recommend using good quality/ ‘fresher’ that hasn’t been loaded with preservatives for eating straight up, in sushi. But alas, this would mean spending more dollar. Student life says no. However, the addition of avocado, worked well, it mellowed out the tang of the Kimchi.

If you feel like splashing the cash, you can definitely count on an Itsu platter to satisfy but will you get the same level of satisfaction you get from eating your own sushi? I think not.

Sushi rolling and never trolling*,

-KK

Ps: * To guestimate (verb): to be pretty sure but not 100% sure. No paper trail to confirm but memory is sufficient to make a claim as such.

* The cost of one yellow plate a Yo Sushi or just over the cost of some platters at Itsu or Abokado. Basically, keeping the bank balance happy.

*To troll (verb): Google says “carefully and systematically search an area for something”. No more Sushi trolling when you’re can sushi rolling. Urban Dictionary says ” the art of deliberately, secretly annoying people online”. That’s not me.

The Afro-Mexican Sweet Potato Stacks

If you have seen my Instagram feed, it’s quite clear that I have a thing for fusions of flavour but if you haven’t, let me help you resolve that. Everybody loves Raymond and a good old classic recipe but it’s nice to experiment with food once in a while. ( If the reference about Raymond falls upon deaf ears ( or perhaps blind eyes) be very worried for your classic comedy show knowledge).

Thus, an experiment from a few weeks ago features today. A recipe for the Mexican and African inspired chilli sweet potato stacks.

Below is the gathering process. You can multiply as needed regarding quantities.

The making process:

-To cook the sweet potato, boil it whole for 6 minutes (until softish but still has a bite), let it cool and then slice into 2 cm thick disks. Place on baking sheet and drizzle with a little oil (and sprinkle with the desired amount of chilli flakes. Bake until it starts to crisp/brown, usually after 15 minutes at 250 degrees celsius. You can let the smaller disks bake for longer to make sweet potato crisps ( bake until really crispy at 200 degrees celsius).

– To cook the greens, wash and slice and then shallow fry with some oil to wilt them slightly, not enough to discolor them. Season with salt.

-To make the guacamole, peel the avocado*, half,  dice and mash the ‘cado in a bowl. Dice the tomato and quarter of an onion bulb into small (half a 5 pence (Pound sterling)) pieces. Squeeze the juice of the lemon/lime into the bowl and mix all components. For a nice kick add some chilli flakes. You want to sweat while you eat.

-To assemble, play around with how you want the layers. I did: sweet potato disk one, collard greens, disk two, collard greens, tablespoon of peanut butter disk three. The other was disk, beans, disk, guacamole, disk.

I remember this costing me just under £1.80 to make as a portion. I can do price breakdowns with more recent recipes but for now, I ask that you just trust that the student budget can indeed permit a happy body and soul.

 Wrecking havoc with avoc,

-KK

Ps: * If you feel like singing and dancing along to Dr. Jean’s avocado song and didn’t even realise, you’re very welcome.

Pss: Shout out to my mum for the cooked beans. I’ll properly learn and one day share her recipe.

A Forewarning

Writing recipes is a new process for me so I can’t guarantee perfection. I tend to cook on an ad hoc basis, creating as I go. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. But I solemnly swear that I am up to plenty of good (intent wise) when it comes to experimenting with food.

And anyway, sharing is caring: I care therefore I share.

Caring and sharing,

-KK

Ps: Let’s take a moment to appreciate the person who originally coined the phrase “Sharing is caring”, I’ll just take credit for the poster.

An Introduction

I have thought long and hard about creating a food blog. Do I have time? Do I cook enough? Am I consistent? It seems that I decided to take the plunge regardless.

But anyway, to avoid needless waffling with a lengthy introduction because time is money ( or rather, I have a cup of mistletoe tea waiting to be brewed in the kitchen),  I thought I should just say hello.

So, hello 

From Kundai Kelsie (also known as Ku). 18 year old first year medical student who likes to food*, to people**, and do happy things ( usually involving avocado and tea, but not limited to the two.)

-KK

* To food (verb): involves everything from making/baking/taking to  eating and sharing food excluding meat (but cooks it for others)

**To people (verb): involves everything from getting to know, maintaining the know and building the know