Jalapeño Cheddar Cheetos

Dangerously good!

Food & Drink = Overrated

Thus far today (it's 6:20 PM at the moment), I have had...

-4 mini-bagels with cream cheese
-2 20-oz. bottles of Sprite
-2 glasses of milk
-water every now and then


Now you know.

Paryushan 2009

This is a couple days late, but whatever. Better late than never, as some people say.

Paryushan is a Jain holiday. A quick background on Jainism... it is kinda like a more strict version of Hinduism. Killing is a big no-no, and as a result the devout Jains don't even eat foods that grow underground because you're killing insects or something... I'm not certain exactly. More can be read over at Wikipedia.

Jainism's stance on nonviolence goes far beyond vegetarianism. Jains refuse food obtained with unnecessary cruelty. Many practice a lifestyle similar to veganism, due to the violence of modern dairy farms, and others exclude root vegetables from their diets to preserve the lives of these plants. Potatoes, garlic and onions in particular are avoided by Jains. Traditionally oriented Jains do not eat, drink, or travel after sunset, and prefer to drink water that is boiled and then cooled to room temperature. Many Jains abstain from eating root vegetables as the plant, which is a living organism is usually uprooted during the harvest. The purpose of these practices is to minimise the harm that may otherwise be caused to living organisms inadvertently.

Anyhow... potatoes, garlic, onions are no-nos for the devout (like my grandmother). They're a big part of my diet here, but whatever. Anyhow, for this next week (I guess less now... it's 8 days starting this past Monday), I'm partaking in Paryushan... a religious thing (which is kinda weird because I'm not really religious) that more or less means I'm not eating foods containing...

-Onions
-Potatoes
-Garlic
-Yeast
-Green Veggies (because they are root veggies)

There's more, but that gives you the gist of it. I'm like a vegetarian that can't eat vegetables. It's an interesting 8 days.

I am doing this on my own will for the 3rd straight year... before that, I didn't even know I was Jain, not Hindu (I'm sure my parents had mentioned it, but I'd never paid attention). There will be issues when we have to go to a wedding & reception on Saturday, but whatever.

Some more on Jain Vegetarianism.

It's really interesting to read.

Your Normal 'Desi'-Party

Parents go.
Kids tag along.
A ton of good food... but no real reason for the party.

Too many sweets... carrot cake & jalebi left no space for barfi... and now I've had enough sweets to last me the month, I think.

For Those Of You With Kids...

As you (might) know, obesity is becoming a problem in America (if it isn't already). Fast food is some of the problem... or so I've heard, I've never actually read Fast Food Nation (and isn't there a movie on that too? If there is, I've never seen it either).

Anyhow, lots of people tend to like fast food. While it might be overly greasy and generally unhealthy, it comes to you quick... which is always good when you're in a rush. And it's cheap. Really cheap. The $1 menu. 5 for $5. They even have kiddie-meals and all to appeal to the youngsters, complimentary cheap toy or crappy gadget included. The children can't resist... they want the cheap toy (and the food), and try to convince their parents. And who can resist the charms of the Burger King guy? (Okay, seriously... that guy is creepy. Really creepy.) And parents, who just see the "cutest kid in the world" (let's be honest... not every kid can be the cutest in the world) can't resist the charms that come with the yelling, crying, kicking & screaming (unrelated... Kicking & Screaming is a Will Ferrell movie. Does that mean it should be avoided? I'm not completely anti-Will Ferrell, but some of his movies are utter crap) and take them to the fast food place of the child's choice (that's a mistake on the parents part, but sometimes you just don't have another option).

On the Will Ferrell topic, I much loved Anchorman, Zoolander, Wedding Crashers (though his role was small & annoying). Elf was meh.

Anyhow, back to the topic at hand (which, if you've forgotten, you can re-read the first couple paragraphs and ignore the one starting "On the Will Ferrell topic"), it's obviously not good for your kids. So the preferable approach would be to keep them away from constantly going to fast food places. There are ways to try and stop them. You could just ignore them, but that would be mean. And if your kids kept screaming & all, others might consider you a heartless parent, which you never want. You could try to get them to find broccoli & spinach & the like as more fun, but let's be honest... unless you have a free toy to give them with it, it's probably not working. You could try to get them hooked on TV instead (Sesame Street? Barney? Does Reading Rainbow still exist? How about Bill Nye The Science Guy? Or Magic School Bus?), because TV is obviously a much better option than fast food in the fight to combat obesity. You could try to get them ahead of other children their age by teaching them how to use the internet (again, though... it's not exactly the best way to go). Or, you could go with the much simpler approach. Just a well placed line or 2. Such as the one below...

Hotel Renaissance, Providence

We spent one night at Hotel Renaissance in Providence, Rhode Island a bit back. Quick thoughts (about the hotel and semi-related events)...

--> The whole door thing (in the bathroom) with them not locking and all... that was weird. An opening into the closet... that's kinda cool. Still, it'd be nice if they'd lock... just because.
--> They ended up setting up for both the wedding ceremony ('American' style) and the following reception... and did it really well. Well set up and done quickly (the transition from the wedding set-up to the reception one). And the food in between (samosas and veggie rolls and what-not) was excellent.
--> Having to pay for the internet is stupid... therefore I didn't. That said, if you're going to spend a lot of time online (which I wouldn't have), $9.95 for 24 hours isn't a bad rate. But if you're only spending 1 or 2 hours online (max), it seems excessive.
--> At least we got basic cable... were able to watch the Spelling Bee and Get Smart and a lot of House after we got there and before the wedding started.
--> The food during the wedding sucked. Pretty much, we got 2 spoons of rice and some very spicy vegetable curry that no one could eat. Ugh.
--> Brunch, on the other hand, was solid. Loved the waffle. And the fruits weren't too bad either.
--> The music DJs weren't bad, but you couldn't understand a word they said when they said something.
--> Rating the meals... breakfast, between wedding & reception, lunch (we got food from Taco Bell), dinner.

Combat Global Warming

by having less lamb, alcohol & tomatoes.

Lamb, alcohol and tomatoes are among the biggest carbon-producing foods...

No worries, Earth. I'll be giving up lamb & alcohol immediately. Tomatoes... that might take a bit longer. And is a lot less likely, I must say.

Margaritas

So, we went out to Margaritas (a tex-mex restaurant) in Mystic, Connecticut a couple days back. Quick thoughts about the restaurant...

--> The salsa at the beginning was spicy. That's a good thing.
--> The service was sub-par. We were there for like 20 minutes before someone finally came and gave us chips/salsa. And then, when we were done and asked for the bill, we had to wait 20 minutes before they brought it.
--> The food was solid. I had a burrito (as did 1 other person). There were also 3 fajitas, 3 enchiladas, 1 quesadilla, 1 chicken something or another, and 1 taco salad. No one had complaints about their food.
--> For some odd reason, the taco salad was the last food item brought out to the table, which was surprising.
--> It was a party of 11... and it was fairly quiet. They gave us 3 small tables side by side, which made it really hard to get in/out. You think they could've better planned it given that it wasn't completely full.
--> Virgin strawberry daiquiri's were good. But the "pitcher" they gave us for 6 people (the waitress said it would be enough) most definitely wasn't enough... it gave us all half a cup.

Just FYI

We have discovered that salsa & chips (ahoy!) is a "nothing special" combination. So you might as well avoid it.

Bottom 5 At The Moment

5- UTA. Yeah... if I don't have to be at the U until 10, I'd like to be able to get there at 10. Not 8 or bust.
4- Work. Sorry, but if you're cutting into my spring break, you belong on the list.
3- The Utah Jazz. What was that? Maybe you guys should learn to play 4 quarters!
2- My physiology test. Oh fu**.
1- Chartwells. Yeah, when I ask for a cheese enchilada, and then you say okay, I expect a cheese enchilada. Bastards.

Chartwells is back where it belongs, UTA is too high right now, and Chuck Norris deserves a spot as well.

Chuck Norris didn't keep him out of my list... my physiology test did. Boom, roasted.

Bottom 5 For Now...

5- My physiology test. Ugh.
4- Chartwells. Ah... overprice school food.
3- Thieves. Go rot in hell. And why the hell don't we install a security thing by the door, a la Smiths or whatever?
2- University of Utah. Really regretting my decision, I think.
1- UTA!!! Utah's true assholes!

You know something is really wrong when Chartwells food isn't at the bottom of the list.

Speaking of Cheesecake...

Cheesecake Factory has very good pizza.
Of course, it's also very expensive...

A fairly small (& delicious) pizza cost like $11.50.
Wow!

That said, it's definitely better than Little Caesars & Dominoes & Pizza Hut too.

Cheesecake

I had cheesecake today.
It was good.
Really good.

Cheesecake #1.

Update: Oh, except for the whipped cream. I don't really like it, and they use too much.