Food and SHIZ

Last night I avoided the gym as I have a persistent cough. Instead I walked to Whole Foods for groceries. I made a cracker casserole. It turned out pretty good. I got the recipe online from: http://www.101cookbooks.com Here is the recipe:

Cracker Lasagna Recipe
A few important head notes: when you go to place the baking dish in the oven, you might worry that things look are a little on the runny/liquid side. It's ok - the crackers continue to absorb and swell though out the baking process, and the cottage cheese mixture will set up nicely due to the eggs. When choosing a type of cracker to use, hoosing go for sturdy ones, a cracker that can stand up to ten minutes of soaking without going to mush on you - I included a photo of the crackers I used up above, I suspect Ak-Mak would be a good choice as well (Trader Joe's, Whole Foods). Also, don't worry if your crackers are the exact dimension I call for in the recipe, just use enough to construct three layers in whatever pan you are using. Prepping all your ingredients beforehand is helpful here - chop your spinach and onions, etc. Things will go more smoothly. And lastly, I can't help but think that some shredded gruyere would right at home on top of this.
1 1/2 cups cottage cheese
1 cup milk
2 large eggs
scant 1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
splash of olive oil
1 medium onion, chopped
1 shallot, chopped (optional)
1/4 pound brown mushrooms (about 12 medium), brushed clean and chopped
pinch of fresh thyme (optional)
2 big handfuls of spinach, washed and chopped
18 2 x 4 - inch crispy crackers (see head notes)

9 - inch round baking dish, or an 8x8 baking pan will work as well

Preheat oven to 400F degrees with rack in the middle. Oil your baking dish and set aside.
Using a hand blender (or food processor or regular blend) puree the cottage cheese, milk, eggs, and salt until smooth. Line a separate deep dish or baking pan with the crackers and cover with 1 1/2 cups of the cottage cheese mixture, reserving the rest for later use. Let the crackers soak for about 10 minutes - long enough for them to soften a bit, but not long enough for them to loose all their structure
In the meantime, in a large skillet over high heat, cook the onion and shallot in a splash of olive oil along with a pinch of salt. Cook for a couple minutes, until they begin to soften up a bit. Stir in the mushrooms, and cook until they release their liquid and start to brown, another 5 minutes or so - stirring once or twice along the way. Remove from heat and stir in the spinach. Combine with the remaining cottage cheese mixture.
Arrange about 1/3 of the soaked crackers in a single layer in the bottom of prepared pan - I break up the crackers a bit to make things fit. I should mention things are much easier if you're using a square pan. Ladle 1/3 of the spinach mushroom mixture over the first layer of crackers. Add another layer of crackers, another 1/3 of the mushroom mixture, a final layer of crackers and the remaining mushrooms - three layers total. Place in oven for about 30 minutes or until top is golden (edges golden). Remove and cool for 15-20 minutes - this helps everything set up nicely. Serve warm or at room temperature.

Makes about 8 - 10 servings.

The crackers I used were kind of thick. I recommend using thin crackers. I also forgot Milk at the grocery store, so it was kind of dry though I did use extra cottage cheese and an extra egg to try to make up for the milk.

I also made some kidney beans later in the evening to eat for lunch today.

Another Manic Monday

Last night I watched this amazing documentary about corn production in the U.S. I highly recommend that everyone watch it. It is called King Corn.

http://www.pbs.org/independentlens/kingcorn/

http://www.kingcorn.net/

It talked a lot about the governments involvement in mass food production and the push to make food cheap at the expense of its nutritional value. It addressed meat production and how beef is now corn fed which is extremely bad for the animals health and the environment. It talked about corn syrup and how awful it is. It talked about economics, and politics.

This morning when I got to work I signed up for a local organic delivery box. The box will be delivered to my work every other week. It will contain organic fruits a vegis from a local farm in the bay area. All the fruits and vegi's I buy are organic, but many of them are not local. This will make it easier for me to support more local products. :)

I want to be more conscious of what I put into my body. I am losing my voice, my throat is really, really sore. I drank so much beer this weekend that it gave me a yeast infection. I drank beer Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Not cool, need to drink less alcohol.

THE GOOD TIMES ARE KILLING ME

Apparently there is another blogspot with Rice and Beans as the title. Hmmppffff... and I thought I was being original ha.

Went out for Sushi with the new boy last night. We went to this little hipstery sushi place with unique decor. The sushi was average, but I really liked the atmosphere of the place. We ordered a pitcher of Anchor Steam with our sushi. After dinner we walked to Bacchus Kirk. I think this was the first time I had actually been to Bacchus Kirk which is weird because it is right down the street and people always talk about it. Anyways, I really, really liked it. It has a warm, winter time vibe with red lighting, pillows and a fireplace.

After a few drinks and tipsy politic talk we wandered back to my crib. We smoked a little bit of purple, and had a dance party in my bedroom. Then we made out. :)

He left at 12:30 or so and I passed out. I woke up at 4:00 in the morning full or racing thoughts. Today I am tired and my stomach is upset, but I am in good spirits.

He is like the dorkiest person eva but I love it. The way he talks is really dorky and funny. Last night he was wearing a cute argyle sweater. We connect really well. He is an Aries (like me), born exactly a week after me. It is weird because I have dated a lot of other Aries, I have a connection with like minded people I guess.

Last night before we went out to dinner I listened to Bush's speach about the bailout plan some discussion about it. I think it is kind of dumb. I guess I am of the opinion that we shouldn't help idiots that put us in this crazy mess in the first place, though I guess things could get really, really bad if we don't do something. $700 billion though? With a war that is costing us billions? UUUGGHHHH -

FEMINISM

I'm listening to Ani Difranco and reading feminist blogs.

I really like this one: http://blog.iblamethepatriarchy.com/

I am going out to Sushi tonight with the boy. He has been texting me every day since Sunday... it is kind of concerning me because I like a lot of space and freedom. I just saw him Sunday and already we are getting together again. I like him but I haven't been in a relationship for 2 years; therefore I am not interested in someone that is clingy. I am so into my independence at this point in my life.

Pigs and Tigers

It is beautiful just the way it is:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7629897.stm


Oh this is really adorable:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/7630765.stm

Last night I watched a documentary on anorexia. It was depressing. It chronicled the stay of several women at a treatment facility. Many of them relapsed and struggled with the disorder for years and years. The saddest thing for me was realizing that instead of being young and enjoying their lives, they were so obsessed and focused on every single calorie, every single thing they ate.

Boys, boys, lots of boys

This sucks: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7625173.stm

Meghan left last night. We had a wonderful weekend full of shopping, eating, walking, the museum, and drinking, drinking, drinking, then sleeping in. :)

I really enjoyed her company. We discovered this little Brewery in North Beach that had a bunch of Belgian beers on tap. It was an exciting discovery.

Last night I went out again for drinks with a boy. A nice boy, a cute boy, but a very dorky boy. I like dorky though. I had a lot of fun. - I don't know what to think yet. He kind of talked a lot which was sort of annoying but entertaining at the same time.

Oh this is interesting....

How housing bill helps banks, not taxpayers
Sean Olender
Sunday, September 14, 2008
This is the complicated story of how Congress' recent $300 billion housing bill is a theft of taxpayer money.

To understand how it works, you must first put yourself in the shoes of Bank of America, Countrywide Financial, or any of the many U.S. banks facing big losses on delinquent mortgages. If you are a bank, you probably make loans to people to buy homes. You give the borrower money, and the borrower gives you a signed promise to repay - a mortgage - which is secured by the house.
Over the past five years, you got to sell a lot of your mortgages to Wall Street banks that then sold them to international investors. Wall Street paid you well for those mortgages. Because you didn't think you'd get stuck with them on your books, you started loaning anything to anyone.
But as the housing market's parabolic ascent stalled, you got stuck with a lot of mortgages you hadn't yet sold to Wall Street banks. And some Wall Street banks and investors may have forced you to buy back other mortgages, sticking you with hundreds of billions in bad debt. You also know that some of the mortgages that were sold to investors are packed with lies about the appraised value, the borrower's income and other information that may allow investors to force you to buy them back after foreclosure.
You've wisely been dragging your feet on sending out delinquency and foreclosure notices. Foreclosures are recorded on your books, and you're expecting a government bailout, so you are waiting sometimes more than a year to initiate foreclosure proceedings. You don't even know if some of these folks are living in their homes anymore.
You have a lot of friends in Congress. You paid them a lot of money to be your friends. But you know that if they start talking about passing a law that will give you a lot of taxpayer money to make up for your losses, voters might get angry and scare the representatives, who then may refuse to vote for your bill because they're worried about getting voted out of office.
What to do?
You can try to write a bill that is a bailout, but is disguised to appear to not be a bailout, something I call reverse legislating. You can make it look like you are taking a significant loss on the mortgage and that you are helping people keep their homes, but in reality job one is to unload toxic waste on the taxpayer.
After thinking a while, you get an idea: Write the bill so that you reduce the principal of the mortgage to 90 percent of the current appraised value (this gives the homeowner 10 percent equity, the taxpayer a 10 percent cushion against losses and relieves the homeowner from having to scrape together even $10 for a down payment on the new loan). This all makes it look like you are taking a big "haircut" by writing down the loan principal.
Better yet, include a provision that requires borrowers to share half the future appreciation with the government, creating the ridiculous image that there will be appreciation above the appraised value in the next 10 years. But you know that's impossible. You know that because you're the one who picks the appraiser.
You learned during the boom that appraisers are chosen by mortgage brokers, real estate agents, and sometimes banks. Appraisers who don't "hit the number" by appraising the house for the amount needed to close the deal don't get called back and have to get a job doing something else.
A red herring
Some idiot might suggest the creation of a radically different appraisal system. Some lawmakers may suggest that FHA or HUD select the appraiser, that the bill institute civil money penalties, or criminal penalties for improperly influencing appraisals. But you, the bank, know just how to deal with that - with a red herring, of course.
How about deleting these effective provisions from the bill and instead adding a meaningless requirement that appraisers have more education hours? Or maybe we could fingerprint them? It doesn't matter as long as it is irrelevant, but sounds relevant to a voter.
You write into the bill, of course, that only loans you choose can be refinanced in the federal assistance program. Desperate borrowers who can't afford their current mortgage payment and would benefit from this bill aren't entitled to the federal refinancing assistance without you choosing them. You coach your lawmakers to use the word "voluntary" a lot because people generally think that things that are voluntary are good. But the point is that nobody gets refinancing help unless you say it's OK.
Choosing the worst
Which homeowners are you going to allow into this refinancing program? The worst you can find. Not ones merely having trouble repaying. You're going to start with ones who stopped making payments six months ago who will walk away regardless, or better yet who have already walked away and you just haven't foreclosed on yet. You're going to track them down and you may even have to pay them to sign the documents.
If it gets too dirty, you can outsource it to any of thousands of mortgage brokers who've probably been living in their cars for the past year. You can pay big commissions and fees to create a powerful demand to close those deals without you having to get your hands dirty in the details. People who abandoned their homes or who still live there, but haven't made a payment in months, or a year, will sign anything you like if you give them $5,000, or pay the mortgage brokers enough so they can afford to buy the borrower's cooperation. The borrowers, after all, are on the hook for nothing whether they sign or not. The borrower would be wise to sign in exchange for some cash.
So that's how you do it: You, the bank, get rid of your most dubious mortgages by, in effect, transferring them to the federal program - and letting the taxpayers foot the bill.
On June 20, the National Review broke the story that Bank of America had essentially written the FHA bank bailout bill and posted Bank of America's "confidential" proposal on its Web site. The FHA bill is identical in almost all respects. That alone should tell taxpayers all they need to know.
I optimistically predict that within 12 months, half of these refinanced loans will result in default.
"If we had these higher-cost loan limits four years ago, buyers would not have had to go to the subprime market and would have been able to get an FHA loan," said William E. Brown, president of the California Association of Realtors.
But in reality, real estate agents and mortgage brokers steered lots of people into subprime loans with time-delayed, exploding interest rates, because they got paid kickbacks from the lender. The banks paid them extra money - sometimes $20,000 or $30,000 - to take a borrower with a good credit score and put the person into a bad loan with a teaser intro rate that exploded into a 12 percent monster later and included a prepayment penalty.
Why would the banks do this? Because it makes more money for them. Fully 60 percent of subprime borrowers qualified for a lower rate and better loan terms than they were given. Their mortgage brokers and real estate agents never told them they qualified for better. If they did, the borrowers would have gotten better.
Bloated inventory
Recent reports indicate that existing home sales have increased more than expected. Buried deeper was the fact that existing home inventory ballooned to 11.2 months. The record inventory of 11.5 months was reached in 1982. Optimistic economists suggest that an additional 10 percent drop in home prices is coming, while the doomsday crowd claims housing will suffer an additional 20 to 30 percent fall. Nobody knows, because a housing bust this big has never happened before. But inventory doesn't get this large unless sellers are way too high on price. Coming price declines will also sap taxpayer money on these bad loans.
And $300 billion isn't enough. In the same bill, Congress gave the Treasury Department authority to hand limitless taxpayer money to Fannie and Freddie, which can use it to buy mortgage bonds from irritable banks. After finding Fannie and Freddie in bad shape, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson will allow them to expand their portfolios by $200 billion, like a credit card shopping spree six months before you plan to go bankrupt.
Once again, Congress has delivered the goods to its banker bosses. No lawmaker voted on specific terms for a Fannie and Freddie bailout, because precise terms are the things that get legislators voted out of office. Instead, Congress gave an arguably unconstitutional spending power to the Treasury Department, which is buying worthless mortgage bonds with our tax money. This is how to deliver $500 billion to the banks without leaving fingerprints. It is the art of postmodern democratic oligarchy.
A crazy rationale
Most surreal is the ceaselessly repeated rationale for all this bailing: If we don't give these banks your tax money, they won't be able to lend it to you. And without credit, you're all screwed. Let me get that straight. If we don't give banks our tax money, we will be in dire straits because they won't be able to lend us that money.
Before anyone writes about my wild conspiracy theories suggesting it's laughable and ridiculous that banks would try to offload worthless loans onto a third party by working with mortgage brokers and appraisers to get fraudulent appraisals and false borrower income information, isn't that rather clearly and exactly how we got into this situation?
Sean Olender is Bay Area attorney and writer. Contact us at insight@sfchronicle.com

Nothing Interesting Really

Not much is new. My sister is flying into town Thursday afternoon. I am going to call in sick Friday to hang out with her. 3 day weekend. Tomorrow is payday finally. Every pay period without fail I manage to overdraft my account. AAARRRGGHHHHHH... I need to stop spending money. I need to start saving.

I have been having vivid dreams lately, nightmares actually.

Been thinking more seriously about quitting my job to do temp work instead. Why continue with something if I am no longer enjoying anything about it?

PEACE CORPS

I'm nominated!!! I had my interview today and my recruiter nominated me for a health program in Africa. The program begins in June (9 months from now). I am trying to figure out what nomination means. I guess it is not a guarantee. It appears as though if I go through all the medical clearance stuff, then I am accepted. My assignment might change, or get postponed, but it sounds like eventually I will be placed somewhere. I am so excited I can't sit still.

This is something I really, really want to do and have wanted to do for a long time.

Pet Porcupine

Last night I made black bean burgers. They were delicious. I am posting the recipe below. It is supposed to make only 4 patties, I doubled it. I found the recipe online at All Recipes.

Yep I rode my bike to the grocery store last night and brought back a weeks worth of groceries in my backpack including a large organic wheat beer. I threw on some music, drank my beer and cooked.

After I ate I started watching a documentary on Darfur called Darfur Now. I was only able to watch part of it for some reason. I got too distracted. I think sometimes my mind doesn't want to deal with atrocities, so it wonders. Hopefully I will finish it tonight. I meditated last night for 10-15 minutes. I think maybe it is getting slightly easier to clear my head. Despite my meditation I had difficulty sleeping. When I did sleep I dreamt that I had a pet porcupine, it was sweet, loving, and adorable. I really loved it in my dream.

1 (16 ounce) can black beans, drained and rinsed
1/2 green bell pepper, cut into 2 inch pieces
1/2 onion, cut into wedges
3 cloves garlic, peeled
1 egg
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon cumin
1 teaspoon Thai chili sauce or hot sauce
1/2 cup bread crumbs
Add to Recipe Box
My folders:


Add to Shopping List
Add a Personal Note
DIRECTIONS
If grilling, preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil a sheet of aluminum foil. If baking, preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C), and lightly oil a baking sheet.
In a medium bowl, mash black beans with a fork until thick and pasty.
In a food processor, finely chop bell pepper, onion, and garlic. Then stir into mashed beans.
In a small bowl, stir together egg, chili powder, cumin, and chili sauce.
Stir the egg mixture into the mashed beans. Mix in bread crumbs until the mixture is sticky and holds together. Divide mixture into four patties.
If grilling, place patties on foil, and grill about 8 minutes on each side. If baking, place patties on baking sheet, and bake about 10 minutes on each side.

Last night I dreamt that I was back in High School. It was the first day of math class, I was lost, the bus was late. Ugghhh that was a stressful dream.

Tahoe was beautiful and warm. We spent our 2 days at the beach soaking up sun. It was a much needed relaxing weekend. I got a little bit more tan.

My sister sent me a message on Facebook, she is planning on visiting me not this coming weekend but the weekend after!!!!!!! :)

I Will Be in Tahoe Later Tonight

I have an interview in Oakland with my Peace Corps recruiter next Friday at 9:30a.m. :)

A good friend of mine broke up with her boyfriend. I talked to her last and she was in so much pain. It made appreciate the single life more. No pain, no drama. Just me, myself, and I. I am free to go and do as I please. I don't have to rely on someones mood, just mine. Lately I have been content just to work on myself, my happiness, and my own personal goals.

Last night I bought two new c.d's on Itunes. I bought Vetiver "Things of the past" and Pepi Ginsberg "red." I recommend these c.d's to those looking for some funky folk music. Indy/psychedelic folk. I have enjoyed them very much already. I was looking up bands on the Internet that are supposedly similar to Devendra Banhart.

I'm Proud of Me

I finally finished my Peace Corps application. I got all of my recommendations and I filled out the health exam. It is now out in the world. A Peace Corps recruiter is supposed to contact me within 3-4 weeks. YEAH!! YEAH!! I felt so proud that I actually finished something. I have a tendency to start lots of things, but not to finish them. High five to me!

I also finished Eat, Pray, Love last night. What a wonderful book. It inspired me to work on myself, I want to start meditating again. Today I bought The Power of Now at the book store. A friend was really into it and recommended it.

Lately I have been thinking about where I want to go in life. I have developed a plan for myself. I have a plan! A ha ha ha life is good, I am not drowning in listlessness anymore.

Plan:
A.) See if I get accepted into the Peace Corps. If not move to plan B.
B.) Apply for the Public Policy Masters Program at Mills. If not accepted move to Plan C.
C.) Teach English abroad or Move to Portland where rent is cheaper and I where I will be closer to my family but still far enough away from the Seattle rain.

These are somewhat uncertain, but at least now I have goals to work towards.

It is so warm outside

The white water rafting trip was fun. I fell out of the boat only once during the 2 day trip. I fell out because we hit a large rock and when the raft tipped, I slipped out the side. I did as instructed and drifted down the river to a safer spot. As I floated downstream, Dan was stuck on the rock with the boat. He couldn't get the boat off the rock with him in it so he had to push the boat off, and then float downstream after it. I caught the boat, jumped in and paddled backwards so that he could catch up. It was quite the adventure. Over the course of the trip, we went through two class three rapids. I have scratches on my thighs from running into tree branches on the sides of the river. It was warm and beautiful. I went with Dan and two of his friends, we all shared a four person tent and laughed until we fell asleep. I kind of felt like I was on a middle school camping field trip the whole time.

On Labor day I met Allan in the morning for coffee. Then I read and read and read. Later in the day I drank a couple of beers on my roof top, then watched a documentary. It was a very relaxing laid back way to end the weekend.

This weekend I am going to Tahoe with Kelly, a friend of hers and her sister because one of her friends has a cabin there. I love getting out of the city on the weekends. I am excited.