Smiling Whales

Two years ago I went to this whale museum in Reykjavik and it was a really awesome experience. It made me realize how small we are compared to whales. Sure they say humans are at the top of the food chain, but at the top or not, we’re still pretty small. Plus whales are pretty freaking cute, especially with that smile they carry!

The thing about whales is they are related to us since we’re both mammals. Plus we both know happiness, I mean just look at this guy:  He looks pretty happy right? Why would a human want to take that happiness away? I never understood why humans kill other animals for reasons other than food. Killing an animal for money is a really stupid concept. Money is a piece of paper that really has no value. Killing a whale for scientific reasons is an extremely stupid reason. To begin with, there are many other saner methods to study an animal. From observation to collecting stool samples (for DNA), these methods are not only saner, but it also means humans are respecting the life of the whale. Animals and humans need to coexist in this world. As it is most of the animals in this world are on the endangered list for extinction. Isn’t that a crazy thought?! In 30 years humans will not know what an elephant is! I will talk about this in another post, but for now let’s focus on whales.

It would be sad if all the whales went into extinction. Whales are very smart animals. They communicate through sonar, which is amazing since this is something almost extraterrestrial like.  I talked about hiring a whale for a job in a previous post seven years ago. Hiring a whale such as an Orca for a job at Sea World really never made sense since the Orca is only paid in food. Do you really think the Orca is that incapable of acquiring its own food that they need to be employed? It’s almost as bad as the circus!

The reason I am talking about this is because I read a story recently about a Japanese ship that was caught with a dead Minke whale. They used the excuse that they killed it for scientific purposes and reasons, but that really makes no sense. Why would you want to kill a defenseless animal, who was going about their own business living their life by being a whale. It’s such a senseless act of pointless aggression towards something so amazing and awesome.

Our role as humans should be to protect beautiful creatures such as whales instead of killing them for “scientific” reasons. If an animal is in danger of becoming extinct we definitely, as a human species, should not even consider killing it for food let alone for other reasons.

Something needs to be done to prevent such actions from occurring or else there will be no more smiling whales left. 

Are you really sorry?

I am noticing a common trend in this world, especially in America. Many people say a phrase pretty often here:

“I am sorry” is an interesting phrase. It is supposed to be spoken when someone does something to someone else that is either offensive, accidental or hurtful. However, as of late I have been hearing it and even been told this in the strangest and unlikeliest situations. One day I was walking to an elevator control panel and a person happened to be standing in the way, I looked at them and said, “Excuse me,” but instead of the person saying nothing and just moving out of the way, they apologized to me. Now I wasn’t offended or hurt by them standing in the way. Instead of apologizing they could have either stood in another spot or given me another response such as pardon me or excuse me.

Apologizing especially over minute situations such as the one I painted above does cause psychological effects on us too. Many people who say it in a habitual manner are actually causing themselves to appear meek and even weak. It also gives an impression that they have a low self-esteem. Plus why should you feel responsible for something that really isn’t your fault? Someone who is standing in front of an elevator control panel didn’t do it on purpose right? They stood there because they were thinking about getting to the office or about their day. Because you are in the way of someone else unintentionally, why are you at fault? It’s not like it was done on purpose.

To me apologizing should only be done if someone actually does something on purpose to cause pain or offense. Plus apologizing shows that, that person is more agreeable than honest. People should always be honest not only with themselves, but with others too. So next time you feel inclined to apologize, think about it before you say it. Do you really need to say it? Are you really at fault for something?

Soup is On

Soup has always been a super easy dish to make. However, through the ages companies have made it easier with the bouillons and the pre-made broths. The problem with those two things is that they are not only extremely high in sodium, but they also have MSG in them too! There’s a solution. For the meat eaters out there you can boil some bones to make the broth (I’ll cover this later in another soup post). Tonight, I decided to try something different, I used water. That’s it! Some cultures such as the Thais use coconut milk, which is really awesome. (This will be made in another soup saga chapter page thing :P)

So tonight I made a veggie tofu ramen soup! 

Now I know what you’re thinking, “Andrew, how the hell did you do it?” The answer is simple, very simple! So let’s begin this soup recipe dance, shall we?

First you’ll need a pot to put all this stuff in, I used one that’s about this big:

Standard sized pot right? Simple! Okay next I filled it halfway with water. Then I put it on that stove in the picture and turned the heat on medium. While the heat was on, I took 1 white onion (you can use sweet too), 3 carrots, 4 celery, 1 cabbage, 8 cloves of garlic and I went chop chop chop chop! 

Okay maybe not that skillfully, but I basically chopped about a cup of onion, and two cups of cabbage along with the other stuff. I started with the onion first (I needed to cry first you know, make emotional soup), then the garlic and I tossed both of those in while the water was starting to bowl. This is where the base of your flavor comes from so it’s good to start with those two! Then I did the carrots and celery and tossed those in. After that, I chopped up the cabbage into shards and after putting that into the mixture I covered the pot for 20 minutes. While that was happening I did an exciting happy dance:

Then after the 20 minutes were up, I put about 1 tablespoon of sea salt, 1 tablespoon of black pepper and 1 punch of Italian Seasoning. After this give it a good stir, go on use those muscles! Then place the cover back on the pot so it can continue to boil. While the veggies are continuing their meeting inside the pot, get a package of ramen noodles. Since I avoid wheat and gluten stuff, I used these:  Lotus Foods Ramen noodles are also vegan too! So this is perfect to pair with my veggie soup. After 5 minutes I tossed the noodles in. This gave me 25 minutes left! So while the noodles were introducing themselves to the rest of the gang inside the pot, I took out a package of tofu. I used Nasoya  extra firm tofu and used half the package. After giving this a good chop, I tossed that into the pot too. 20 minutes left!

I waited…And I waited…Finally after the 20 minutes were done! It was time to serve! 

I waited a few more minutes for it to cool and bam yums! I hope you enjoy this soup if you do make it. Here’s a list of everything you’ll need, cooking time takes an hour.

Here’s what you’ll need:

1. A pot
2. Water to fill half the pot
3. An onion (you’ll need a cup so prepare your eyes)
4. 3-4 carrots
5. 4 celery
6. 8 cloves of garlic (trust me you’ll like it, good for your heart too)
7. 2 cups of cabbage (fun note, if you use purple cabbage your soup will turn purple!)
8. 1 package of tofu
9. Ramen
10. 1 tablespoon of sea salt
11. 1 tablespoon of pepper
12. 1 punch of Italian Seasoning
13. A bowl and a spoon, or a spork. I love you spork!
14. A lime, this is a secret ingredient, I sliced two slices and squeezed their sweet juices into the soup before serving.
15. Be sure to stir often too!

 

I made shrimp tacos

So today I made some fried and breaded shrimp tacos. Now if you’ve been reading my previous posts you know I don’t eat typical bread derived from wheat or potato starch. I avoid that like a three year old avoids most veggies. But I found this awesome breading that is not only friendly for peeps with PS, but it’s also gluten free! That’s a bonus folks! The box I used is this: 

The brand is called Kinnikinnick and I feel like I need six tongues to say their brand name. Either way this stuff is awesome, six tongues or not! Here’s a list of the ingredients: 

It’s pretty straight forward and the best part is there is no MSG, especially since this is a Panko type of mix too! Now to make this it’s very simple.

First you have to buy some shrimp. I recommend Tiger Prawn Shrimp 

You have to remove the shell and feet prior to cooking them. Next get a small saucepan and fill it with oil. I used this oil: 

This oil is great because not only does it have a high viscosity, but the coconut gives the breading a sweet taste.

I filled the sauce pan with just enough oil to where the shrimps are almost halfway submerged, but not over the top since that causes burning and makes em oily too. I cracked two eggs, and mixed the powder with some sea salt and black cracked pepper. You can add garlic powder too or spicy stuff if that’s your thing. I can’t tell you how much breading to use since I have no idea how many shrimps you’re using! I had about 8 shrimps so I used a cup and a half of the breading mixture with the spices. After beating the egg up in a small bowl, I placed a shrimp in the egg mixture with my fingers, then scooped it out with some thongs into the breading mixture. There, I tossed the breading on both sides and then with the thongs I dropped the shrimp into the oil. I cooked each side for about 3-4 minutes, depending on how brown and crispy I wanted it. I recommend doing no more than 5 minutes or else it’ll be pretty burnt! Then take the shrimps out and dry any excess oil with a paper towel.

Next I got some corn tortillas and tossed them on the burner like this: 

Okay if you don’t have a gas grill don’t fret, you can always steam or put the tortilla in a saucepan to make it soft. After the tortillas are ready, place them on a plate using thongs or your hands if you’re fire resistant, put whatever toppings you want, I used Tofutti Sour Cream as a base on the tortilla then placed (using thongs) the shrimps on the tortilla along with lettuce and lime. This is the final result:

It was really crispy and delish! Here’s a list of what you need to help you sort out a grocery shopping list:

1. Tiger Prawn Shrimp (depending on how many people 6 shrimps to a pound)
2. A box of Kinnikinnick breading  I don’t recommend getting them from Amazon since it’s too expensive, this is just an example of where you can get it along with the reviews.
3. 2-6 eggs depending on how many shrimps, 2 eggs is good if it’s 8-12 shrimps
4. Sea Salt
5. Black Pepper
6. Paper Towels
7. Tortillas
8. Lettuce
9. Lime
10. Coconut or Avocado oil for high viscosity
11. Whatever else you want

Enjoy!

A soup called Tom

One of my favorite soups that I really love is a Thai soup called Tom Kha Phak. Sometimes when I say the name of it I feel like I am saying something vulgar at someone named Tom, but no really this soup is pretty awesome.

I am not sure if any of you have ever had Thai soups but most of them use coconut milk as a base. Coconut milk is pretty good since it is not only healthy but it’s also a pretty good laxative (at least that’s what I learned when watching Castaway, though at least you don’t have to cut the coconut! ).

The soup also consists of carrots, sweet potatoes, shallots, ginger and lime leaves. Though there are variations to it too. This soup is perfect for any Vegans and anyone with auto immune disorders. Here’s a recipe I found online for you! http://www.connoisseurusveg.com/gai-tom-kha-thai-coconut-and-lemongrass-soup/

If you are too lazy to make the soup I also recommend purchasing this, http://www.amys.com/products/product-detail/soups/000513 It’s pretty tasty and I always mix it in with white rice.

 

 

 

Turning Point

After the Otzela fiasco I decided to just stick with the two pharm medicines I was on (Dovanex and clobetasol)  plus the Daavlin wand. Then I realized that I may need another bulb or prescription for the drugs so I made an appointment with my Derm. Then something happened, my Derm cancelled the appointment last minute on me! At first I was annoyed since it happened the same day, which reminded me of that one Seinfeld episode where George tries to get money from the doctor for cancelling last minute, since if we, as patients do it, chances are we’ll get charged (depending on the reason). After that I decided I was done with Dermatologists and pharm drugs!

Why should I live out the rest of my life dependent on them when there must be another way! Right?  

So with that in mind I decided to give the herbalist concept another try, though this time I did some heavy research. I mean my eating lifestyle, as strict as it is has been, does work in the sense that I have less than 5% alien ps invaders on my skin. Sure I still had ps in my nails and scalp, but that means I must need extra help right? That’s why there are vitamins too. After researching the next Herbalist I decided to go to Source Healing here in Chicago.

After the first experience I had with a Herbalist, I felt a little skeptical but I did it with an open mind. Again, having any illness that’s lifelong means you have to be positive. You can’t be negative or else you’ll never fully get over it. So I met with the Herbalist and I told her my issue. I told her exactly what I avoid eating (I’ll list it all again for you at the end of this blog post) and I told her where I still had the ps. She checked my tongue (it’s a pathway to see what’s going on inside! Who knew?!) and my pulse. Then since I am on a great eating path I skipped the “cleansing” herbs and jumped right to the good stuff.

The magic potion she prescribed to me intimidated me a little bit, mainly because of the smell. She told me what it does and how it helps me (basically nourishes my spleen and causes hydration to my skin). After trying it for a week I noticed my skin started to clear up in the remaining areas! She’s been a great help too and really cares, she followed up several times to see if everything was okay. After doing this for a bit I can safely and happily say my skin has cleared up!

She told me that I should be able to get off of this after three months, so hopefully by then it won’t come back. We’ll find out right? And if it does I can just drink this again, not a big deal since it does help me and nourish my skin. It’s a lot safer than messing with my cells and possibly getting cancer. Plus it’s like a tea, so that’s great!

Sure I will never truly cure this, but by making several changes in my life I definitely cleared up my skin more than I would have if I didn’t do these things. You may be thinking will it work for me? Or why isn’t it working for me? Ask yourself are you really really avoiding everything that you should be avoiding? Here is a list of the things that I avoid. If you can follow this list for the rest of your life then maybe, just maybe your skin can be clear too! Try it!  What do you have to lose? You will lose weight which is good too. Anytime you knock out certain foods you will lose weight, that’s usually how it goes ^___^  I hope either way whatever you do, helps you because you deserve to be happy in life. I am here for you too, consider me a friend because no one deserves to fight this battle alone.

Here are the things I avoid:

• Yeast (bread, alochol)
• Nightshades
• Wheat
• Dairy (including milk chocolate, though chocolate free of dairy is okay! yay!)
• Meat
• Poultry
• Potato Starch
• Deep fried food
• MSG
• Greasy food
• Processed foods
• Processed sugar
• Soda
• Caffeine
• Spicy food (though a little spice is okay)
• Indian food (mostly dairy, potato and tomato)
• Some Italian food
• Fast Food like McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s etc.

 

 

 

One more Derm

The beginning of this year I still have 5% ps on me. I wanted to get it down to less than that. My scalp was the main thing. The haircuts were not a big deal since the person who cuts my hair knows that when I get it cut sometimes my scalp will flake like dandruff (though it’s not). She has been cutting my hair since 2009. Before her, it was my dad who used to cut it. But it wasn’t just the haircuts, it was the hats. Living in a cold climate in the winter means my scalp will shed all over my hair, especially if I sweat. I did some research and there was one last drug I wanted to try.

This one is called Otzela, which costs 23k! My insurance took care of it all luckily but was it worth it? No it wasn’t. The thing about this drug is that it messes with your immunity cells by slowing them down. I thought maybe this could teach my cells to “learn” to slow down. The side effects made the results not worth it. The first thing I noticed as far as results were concerned was the fact that I flared up! After that the last two areas of my body, my scalp and nails cleared up!

The side effects though, it made this not worth it. I started to poop a ton. I mean, I was up to six to eight times a day! The record is ten! Can you imagine trying to go out on a date with a girl or hang out with friends only to have to poop ten times during that time?! It wasn’t a fun experience. The other side effect was the anger. I felt sad and angry at times and even contemplated suicide. I told my doctor about this experience and she wanted to prescribe me another drug for the pooping, she thought maybe it was IBS. This is when I started to realize I was more of a customer than a patient. Why would I want another drug to combat a side effect of the reason why I am experiencing it in the first place? That’s like borrowing money from Paul to pay Peter.  Okay not exactly like that, but you get my point! After being on it for four months I couldn’t do it anymore. I stopped and I said no more drugs and no more dermatologists.

The only thing I used after that was my Daavlin wand and the Dovonex.

To stress or not to stress?

My father who passed away eight years ago taught me two things that I will always follow. The first is to never take crap from anyone and the second is to never give up. Having ps has tested those two things and it has also taught me something. After changing my eating lifestyle and following that long list of foods that I don’t eat, I still have the ps. It wasn’t stress either, the way I combat stress is pretty simple, I don’t let things get to me. Which relates back to the things my father taught me. I don’t take crap from anyone including those who give me stress. If I get stressed out over something at work, I just say meh it’s work and it’ll always be here, I am not going to let it haunt me like a ghost. If the stress is from financial reasons then I say meh, I will just save money and not buy things I don’t need. Growing up I forced myself to learn patience. It’s something not easy to learn and really follow, or is it? If your phone gets a nasty scratch or a crack, do you replace it right away? Can you see the text on the screen still? Can you live with the ugly screen until you really are financially stable to purchase the phone? As long as it works you could probably go without it, though personal preference would matter here. My point is, having ps has taught me patience and it has forced me to be patient. If I get stressed out over something and am impatient, then my ps will flare up.

Some people tend to say ps flares up once a month, but does it really? I noticed my ps flared up whenever I was stressed, it was after realizing being stressed out does more harm than good is when I noticed my flare ups subsided. There are other ways to combat stress such as meditation, hypno-therapists and even just learning how to breathe. Take a deep breathe, walk away from the situation and come back to it later. While you are away from whatever is stressing you out, ask yourself why is this stressing me out in the first place? Remember we’re here temporarily and the universe is vast, I highly doubt whatever is stressing you out is worth taking to the grave. Plus what would an alien say to you if they saw you stressed over your reason. Would they laugh?

After learning how to combat stress check to see if your ps calms too. You may be surprised by the results. If you do feel you have to stress out over whatever it is that’s bothering you, then there are ways to release it. Try exercising (it’s also good for your ps), take a martial art/self defense class, play a sport, read a book, take in a comedy show, listen to music, write, paint (even if you can’t do those two things who cares try it anyway and just call it art. If people call this art  I am sure you could do something just as…interesting), there are many things you could do. The goal is to find an escape from the stress and to better your life at the same time! The best part about being you is the fact that you know yourself. You know yourself better than anyone ever will. You know your limits and you know your fears. Stress is also part of that fear too, so why not fight it? Don’t take crap from anyone or anything including stress! Screw that thing! You are better than that stress monster! Plus you could always talk to someone about your stress to help you feel better. Have no one to talk to? Send me a message I’ll listen! The point is, you have options in life, use them.

What’s on the menu today?

So in the last post I talked about what I avoid and don’t eat. So what is it that I do eat? As mentioned I stated that I do eat bread and cake. How is this possible if I don’t eat yeast or wheat? Simple! I eat bread that is yeast and potato starch free! This bread is the only kind that I have found that my body can tolerate. It can be found in any grocery store and online too, though it’s cheaper at stores. It keeps for a long time and it takes a bit in getting used to. It’s not for everyone, but it’s the best for the given situation. For me, it’s either this or eating “regular” bread and having itchy skin again. I always tell myself do I want to eat delicious or look it? Though this bread is delicious too since I’ve grown accustomed to the it. Plus I look at the foods that cause my ps aliens to come back and I say to myself do I really want that? Why not just eat this, it’s really good anyway! It’s healthy too!

As for cakes, I use namaste brand including for brownies and other things. Though there are other methods in making brownies and other mixes that I use. I could get into breaded fish sticks too, but I don’t want to bombard you! Let’s do it by small steps okay? I have been doing this for over five years now so I can definitely give you a ton of info and resources. I haven’t even gotten into how I got rid of the ps yet! We also still have to talk about shampoos and soaps too.

Okay okay back to the main topic, food! So yeah that’s what I use for bread. Also you can totally use the Namaste brand for making pizza. This is a little tricky since the dough can be tough to work with. It takes practice to make it the way you like your pizza. Oh yeah the sauce! Well you can make your own tomato free sauce or use something else like a homemade pesto. I use nomato sauce  which is super expensive! So I buy it in bulk and keep it for a few months. It’s good for up to six months. There are some great recipes online too such as this one and this. I use brown rice pasta, quinoa noodles and Asian noodles for the pasta. Who knew you had such unlimited options! If you do want to pursue this eating lifestyle you totally can! Plus it is pretty awesome! This cheese is what I use too but there are other brands such as Daiya though some of their stuff has potato starch in it so be mindful of that!

Besides this, I also eat fish (pescatarian) minus anything farm fresh and tilapia. As for veggies and fruits I love all kinds minus the nightshades. The foods that really help keep the alien ps invaders at bay are Garlic, Kale, Coconut Oil, lots of salads (use balsamic vinegar or a combo of oil, vinegar, lemon, italian seasoning and salt/pepper), and this stuff helps too!

Almond and Coconut milk are good too.

Next post I will talk more about food. I love food!

Attack of the Sea Serpents!

So several years passed and I continued to experiment with food. I noticed when I ate meat such as heavy doses of steak my skin was itchy. While in the Philippines I had a nasty patch on my shin. I had a bunch of fish gnaw at my ps spots. What better way to attack the alien ps invaders than to have giant sea serpent fish combat them!  I did this in Cancun Mexico too. It was expensive and weird. Imagine having a bunch of little bites come at you from different directions. The experience was definitely memorable but it did more harm than good to my ps spots. The skin underneath bled and caused the fish to go into a frenzy for more. Hungry little monsters! In fact, to this day you can still see the scars from their tiny little bites. Here is the shin now where the ps spot was. Kinda hard to tell from my camera phone, (I’ll try to add a better one later) but you can see the little dots? Those are from them!  That ps spot lasted for a good ten years before it finally disappeared. It took a long hard battle, but the aliens were pushed out of this area on my body! How did I do it? It wasn’t the sea monsters that did it, but I did something extreme!

After returning from the ordeal of the sea serpents, I decided to take a step further in my life and eliminate more food. Now this one wasn’t easy at first, nothing is in life, but I did it! I stopped eating bread! I said no more donuts, bagels, bread (though I still eat bread a little on that in a moment), cakes (again I still do) and other things that contain YEAST! AHH Yeast! You bastard! Yeast was one of the culprits! When I stopped eating yeast that spot on my shin disappeared completely without any drugs! It went away! Along with other spots including on my forehead. I took it a step further though, before giving up yeast I did something extreme. I did a cleanse that consisted of 5-6 apples a day and a cup of lemon juice. It was terrible and it made me feel icky, but I did it for 3 days. At the end of the 3rd day I  did a colonic cleanse. What’s that? It’s basically a fancy smancy way of saying someone sticks a tube up your butt and sucks out all the shit (literally).  Colonic Therapy

Now I don’t recommend doing this all the time because it does feel uncomfortable if you’re not using to jamming tubes up your butt. Maybe you are I dunno what you’re into, but for ps reasons this is pretty extreme. Afterwards though, wow did my skin clear up! I went from 40% to 10%! It also meant I lost weight! I went from 170lbs to 135 (which I weigh now). It also meant I gave up certain foods too! So the list before consisted of pizza and alcohol right? Well add the following:

1. Pizza
2. Alcohol
3. Dairy
4. Yeast
5. Wheat
6. Processed foods
7. Nightshades
8. Red meat (minus lamb, which I eventually gave up)
9. Poultry (as of this 2016)
10. Gluten
11. Processed Sugar
12. MSG and Yeasty ingredients like yeast extract
13. Anything that has masked ingredients like “Natural Flavors“
14. Artificial Flavors including those weird foods that contain the colors with numbers.
15. Eggs
16. Soda and Coffee
17. Store purchased soups

At the time that I did this it was 2011, so at that time I did still consume lamb and poultry. I gave those up as of 2016 because I noticed my ps was still there and wondered what would happen if I gave those up too. (It cleared up even more including my chest!)

I will do another post about what I do eat, in fact going forward after I finish telling you the backstory, I will post recipes and other things. I’ll even put restaurants up that I been too (not just in Chicago but all over the world!)

If you do decide to do this food thing let me tell you something with a serious tone. Nothing is easy in life unless you want it to be. It’s easier to say this is difficult or this is hard rather than this is easy. No one wants to give up their favorite foods, in fact I sometimes think this is why people resort to the drugs. But ask yourself this. Do you want to really inject yourself or be on steroids for the rest of your life? You are giving yourself the strong risk of cancer and most of those drugs do make you poop a ton. Is it really worth it? I am sure your ps is your body telling you something too! Sure those drugs hide it, but why not figure out why it’s happening and maybe you could find a safer way of hiding it! Stress does play a role too, but food is something we’re exposed to more right? This is just food for thought and in no way am I telling you what to do. My point here is to give you more things to think about and wonder. Life is a curiosity so why not be curious? Unless you tried this and know for sure then by all means keep doing it. Just remember, regardless of what you have done or are doing, life is what you make of it.