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I’ve never made cream of asparagus soup before, but I knew we had some asparagus that needed used and it sounded good, so why not.  When I got home I inspected the fridge to see what else we had on hand.  This is how it all went down.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• 3 c. Vegan Chicken Broth (I use McKay’s.  One is vegan, one is not.  Be sure to check)
• 1 lb Fresh Asparagus
• 1/2 c.  Yellow Onion
• 1 c. Red Bell Pepper
• 1 c. Sliced Crimini Mushrooms
• 2 cloves Garlic
• 3 Tbsp. Tofutti Sour Supreme
• 2 Tbsp. Earth Balance
• 1/2 tsp. Sage
• Salt and Pepper

This can easily done in under 30 minutes if you don’t lolly-gag.  Start by prepping your vegetables.  Asparagus can be woody near the ends.  Use your judgment, but removing the bottom inch should be good enough.  Next cut the asparagus into 1/4 inch chunks, leaving the ends as a garnish if you like. (I did this.  It didn’t contribute much to the texture, but it looked nice)  Then dice your onion and bell pepper.  This time around I used pre-cleaned and sliced criminis from Trader Joe’s but if you have whole ones, slice them now too.  Add some olive oil to a large pan over medium heat.  Saute for about five minutes.

While the veggies are doing their thing you want to mix your broth. (a pre-prepared broth is fine, but vegan varieties aren’t very common) Bring the water/broth to a simmer.  For McKay’s, stir in 1. tsp per cup of water.  While this is heating up, add salt pepper and sage to the veggie mix.

After your veggies are nice and tender, remove them from the heat and add them to your broth.  Add your Earth Balance and return the entire mixture to a simmer for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Use a timer people!  (If you are using the spears as a garnish, this would be the time to throw them in a pan over medium heat with some olive oil and salt.)  Test a piece of the asparagus after 15 minutes.  If you used quarter inch chunks, they should be al dente at this point.  If your pieces are little bigger it may require the additional 5 minutes.

Once they’re all softened up, add the entire mixture to the blender.  WARNING!!! Be very careful when blending hot liquids.  Be sure to use the lid and start slowly.  I walked my blender up to high and left it there for almost a full minute.  This texture was perfect for me.  Once you’ve got it where you like it, you can pour it directly into bowls or place it in whatever dish you’ll serve it from.

This is optional, but once the soup was served, I added a dollop of Sour Supreme and the sauteed spears.  I would have taken a photo, but I wasn’t thinking.  Next time, I promise!

The yield was around 6 cups.  I suppose this could serve 2 as it did for me, or 6 if you were serving it on the side.  Eat well and stay healthy!

As many of you know, Anissa and I long to travel and experience different cultures.  We’ve been talking about it for so long that most of our friends assumed it was talk and little more.  Alas the hour is upon us.  As of last week, we paid our deposits for TEFL Worldwide Prague.  If you are unfamiliar, TEFL is Teaching English as a Foreign Language.  A 30 day course at TEFL Worldwide, certifies you to teach English “anywhere in the world” (most places require an accompanying bachelor degree. Prague, however, does not).  I graduate from CSUSB in June.  We have reserved seats for the July class session.  Tentatively we will sell most everything we own and fly into Europe by way of Pennsylvania at the end of June.  Upon completion of the program, we plan to stay in Prague to teach.  This is a delicate dance because of visa issues, but that is another issue.  Provided that we find work and acquire visas, we will likely sign contracts for one school year.  Like the states, their school years are about nine months long.  That leaves us in Prague for about a year, at which time we will reassess our situation.  No doubt we will return home for a short stint, but Anissa has her eye on Barcelona.  I, on the other hand, love the idea of Buenos Aires or Tokyo.  At any rate, many people have asked, so I thought I should make a brief official announcement.

I was enjoying an iced americano at Stell Coffee and Tea Co. in Redlands, CA when the prospect of teaching English abroad first crossed my radar.  I was immediately enthralled with the possibilities.  Being an industrious young man, I thought surely a quick trip down Google lane would provide me with more than enough information to get started.  I have rarely been so wrong.  I discovered what so many people with like intentions must have discovered.  Google search results list countless pages, none of which are really any help.  You can query: TEFL and (insert place of your choice), “teach English abroad,” “teach overseas,” and so on.  You are unlikely to find more than lists of TEFL schools trying to sell their services.  It was quickly apparent that information sans marketing agenda would be very hard to find.  After many many MANY hours of searching, I have managed to find a few resources that were helpful.  To maximize the effect of my research, I thought it would be prudent to consolidate all of the resources and information I found.  Over the next few weeks I will be posting new information and resources for you.  If you have any specific questions, feel free to drop a line in askKeller.  I’ll do whatever I can to point you in the right direction.

Fedor Knows the Importance of Good Hygiene

Fight dirty on the streets, but in the ring we need to keep it clean. Grappling is a dirty game.  Hygiene is critical!  There are all types of skin born pathogens in even the cleanest gym.  The big two you’ll hear about are Staph and Ringworm, but they’re not alone.  You can also end up with herpes, pink eye, impetigo or MRSA.  Staph bacteria is found just about everywhere you can think of.  Anything from the cash in your wallet to the keyboard sitting in front of you.  The bacteria is part of many people’s normal skin fauna.  There is virtually no way to avoid contact with it.  Ringworm is less common in day to day activities, but is commonplace in the gym.  With ringworm, there are reports that someone can be contagious for two weeks before showing symptoms!  There are also reports of some who can carry the fungus without ever exhibiting symptoms.  That means that your training partner could give you the worm, even if you don’t see it.  I know this is a little doom and gloom, but there are things you can do to safeguard yourself.

Prevention: The best way to prevent infection is to always show up freshly showered, with nails trimmed and wearing clean gear.  I highly recommend purchasing gear that is used exclusively for training.  It doesn’t have to break the bank, but here is some merit to owning several pair of sturdy grappling shorts and rash guards.  If you don’t know where to start, OTM makes some great ones.  I say several only to avoid doing laundry several times a week, but hey…if lavender laundry soap and dryer sheets are your thing, what can I say?  As far as rash guards are concerned, I suggest long sleeves, because less skin-to-skin contact decreases your chances of infection.  Unfortunately long sleeves can decrease but not eliminate your chances.  This means showing up clean and getting clean afterwords are equally important.  If your gym has facilities, shower at the gym.  Wash any little scrapes and mat burns right away.  The less time a bacteria or fungus is in contact with your skin, the better.  With ringworm you have about 30 minutes before the fungus takes hold.  Showering when you get home could be too late.  Also, be sure to pack up all of your gear before you shower.  Touching all of that gear after you’ve showered defeats the purpose.  If your gym doesn’t have a shower facility, use a product like Defense Wipes or hand sanitizer to clean any scrapes or burns right away, but remember that you run the risk of possibly contaminating your car, your home, or worse, your wife or girlfriend.  Trust me when I say, giving your wife ringworm will not do anything for your sex life!

Treatment: If you do find yourself in the unfortunate situation where you have been infected, STAY HOME!  Do not.  I repeat, do not go to the gym.  It is just plain inconsiderate.  If you’re in an MMA gym there is a solid chance that at least some of the guys put bread on their table by fighting.  An infection can cost them valuable training time and ultimately money.  That being said, any of these things will have you sidelined for about two weeks IF you treat them properly.  Treat them improperly and you could end up hospitalized or worse.

Ringworm is pretty easy to treat, but you should probably warm up to the idea of that lavender laundry soap because you’ll be doing heaps of laundry.  First things first, make a run down to your local pharmacy and pick up some Lamisil ointment.  If you’re this far, I know you can read, so RTFD and follow them.  What the directions might not mention is the need to change your linen daily to avoid spreading it to other parts of your body.  There is an oral form of Lamisil available if you’re in a real hurry.  It can potentially reduce the recovery time to three days, but you’ll have to endure a liver toxicity test to get a prescription.  If you’re not heading to Abu Dhabi or Worlds, I would skip this option.

Staph and MRSA are a different story.  If you train and you think you have a “spider bite,” think again.  I have a hundred bucks that says your “spider bite” is actually a staph infection.  Hell, if I had a nickle for every time I heard someone claim they had a “spider bite” that “turned into” a staph infection I’d have a lot more than a hundred bucks.  Do not pass go.  Do not collect $200.  Go directly to the doctor.  If you can’t get a next day appointment, go to urgent care.  You need antibiotics!  It will not go away on its own.  Trust me.  Same goes for that itchy irritation from your beard.  If that lasts longer than normal, chances are you have impetigo.  This also calls for antibiotics.  Don’t think you need to go to the doctor?  Click the link below and reconsider.  After training for a while, you might feel like this stuff just comes with the territory.  It does, but it can also be deadly serious.  If you have any questions, always consult a medical professional.

I thought I would post some images of staph infections and ringworm, but they are too disgusting.  If you can stomach it, check here.

“Repetition is the mother to success” is just another cliché to all you pencil neck geeks out there.  But to surly cauliflower ear’d, muscle headed grapplers it’s the key to their martial future.

In order to be a good grappler, your body needs to be in tune with your reflexes.  One of the tools to keep this aspect in order is doing drills.  Drilling helps build up the muscle memory needed to slap on a submission, sweep, takedown or throw.  When fatigue sets in or if you’re just not feeling on your game, your body will react before you’re conscious of its movements, IF your muscle memory is tight.  The problem is finding the time to get repetitions in.  When most people go to the gym and the sparring begins, aspirations of  calm, disciplined drilling goes out the window.  If your coach doesn’t take the time to address drilling, it’s your responsibility to do so in order to sharpen your grappling ability.  If you can find a partner to drill with, you should utilize open mat time to work on the various holes in your game, but there are some worth while drills that you can do on your own with the right equipment.

Here is one drill that you can do without a partner, to help improve your takedowns.

Steps

1.  Pull cords up and towards yourself
2.  Your back leg steps in
3.  Bring your other leg to your leg that stepped in making an X

Your arm goes under the cord, continue pulling the cord and keep it griped between your for arm and bicep, bend your knees a little bit, drop your hips and twist into the throw.  Your Feet should be shoulder width apart when your finished.

It seems that President Obama’s intended Back-to School speech has caused a bit of an uproar across the nation.  All of this, taking place prior to the speech’s Tuesday morning delivery.  Parent’s are concerned that the speech will somehow indoctrinate their children in “socialist” values.  In response, many school districts have offered parents an opportunity to “opt out” of the speech for their children.  This proves yet another disappointing millstone for the neck of America’s future.  It is perhaps sophomoric even to mention that a staunch aversion to opposing viewpoints leaves little hope for ever arriving at a sound understanding of one’s own beliefs.  I digress.

I am inclined to believe that all politicians are silver tongued devils.  Democrat.  Republican.  The differences are superficial.  I did not vote for President Obama, and  I don’t tend to agree with his economic strategies or his social policies…but I have no problem whatsoever with his speech.  Upon reading the transcript, I found not one thing, even linguistically contrived, to be concerned about.  There is no underlying “socialist” agenda to promoting hard work, accountability and education.  From start to finish, it could just as easily be delivered by Ronald Regan.  It begs to question whether the objectors read it;  or if they can read at all.  If they had (or could) they would fine the speech is very conservative in nature, because it promotes personal accountability for one’s own actions and responsibility for one’s own success.  Whether the president will hold individuals to that at the end of the day, remains to be seen.  I say, “bravo!” I am personally inspired.

Here is a link to the Full Text of the intended speech.

A note:  Politics are such a bore to me, but I may, from time to time, feel the need to mention something in their regard.  I have little intention of creating an arena for insular sword-and-buckling.  If you would like to have an inane dual of the political minds, please do it elsewhere.  I believe with much fervor, in our First Amendment rights, and if you are so inclined, I urge you to start a blog where you are most free to exercise them.  For the sake of those who prefer to reflect on things worthwhile, on this particular matter, they will not be entertained here.

While it might not technically be vegan, I’d be willing to give it the old “ominus dominus.”  Though some will surely disagree, my issue with consuming animal products is based in the practices of the meat and dairy industries in America and other developed countries; factory farming, in particular.  It is their irreverence for life and unnecessary cruelty that are the problem.  I do not believe for a second that all people everywhere should abstain from animal based diets.  Veganism is a luxury that we have while living in a consumer driven country.  Many people throughout the world do not have that luxury.

What I challenge all vegans to consider, is that eating vegan is not always the most responsible dietary choice.  Consider this story I heard from my friend Krissi Green.  Her friends were in Hawaii on vacation.  At one point they were out to lunch at a local restaurant.  The man, whose name I can’t recall orders the mahi mahi and his wife orders a tofu dish.  Which is the more responsible choice?  The mahi was caught wild that day, by a local fisherman with one boat.  The tofu started as soybeans grown in Iowa.  During the process, the soil was tilled and fertilized, seeds were planted, crops were irrigated, harvested, shipped, processed, packaged in plastic, shipped again and only then does it arrive at the restaurant.  Which meal required the lives of more animals, directly or indirectly?  Which meal had a more profound affect on the source ecosystem?

I have been vegan for a very long time and I feel there is merit to maintaining that diet, however we seem to overlook the overwhelming negative affects that our agricultural practices have on the environment and human and non-human animals.  Would the worldwide acceptance of a vegan diet be any more sustainable than the current omnivorous one?  I think there is a strong argument to be made, that hunting or fishing for the meat that you eat and growing your own vegetables would, over a lifetime, lead to less unnecessary suffering than 90% of the diets vegans maintain today.  I know this is idealistic, and I am not trying to convert vegans to meat eaters.  I am only trying to promote real pragmatic thought about the goals you hope to achieve and whether those goals can or even should be met by your current diet.  When it is all said and done, eat responsibly and with intent.

As far as eating people…I don’t recommend it, but I guess if you kill them with your bare hands, it’s vegan.

Capitalism.  Companies focus all of their energies convincing us that we need all sorts of things.  For women, one of those things happens to be shoes.  I don’t blame them.  We have all been indoctrinated into consumerism basically since birth.  Barbie dolls, GI Joe, whatever.  The short answer is that they have been duped by an elaborate plot so compelling that they actually believe they posses that “insatiable lust for shoes.”  Sadly they are only trying to fill an emotional need that can not be met by anything purchased.  Sadly, we all do it.  Even those of us who are aware of marketing practices.  I really do like capitalism, but I admit that the free market has been compromised by the manipulation of the “demand” aspect of supply and demand.

“Are you laughing or are you buying it?”–Ray Cappo

Ben Nichols of Lucero’s recently released solo Ep. is powerful and haunting.  I have not had an album invoke this type of reaction since I first heard Tennessee.  I find myself captivated from the first track to the last.   The general tempo of the album is  slow, much like Lucero’s “Tennessee”, but remains primarily acoustic apart from an occasional steel guitar.  The album leans more towards a western, rather than southern feel which is appropriate, considering the theme.  The album is a concept, centered around Cormac McCarthy’s novel “Blood Meridian.”  If you aren’t familiar with McCarthy, you might recognize “All the Pretty Horses,” “No Country for Old Men,” or “The Road,” which have all been made into major motion pictures.  I digress to mention this, only because his worth as an author warrants it.  Ben’s heart wrenching voice and story telling ability have done great justice to the novel.  If you are a fan of real country or folk music, or just a fan of Lucero, do not hesitate to purchase this album.

Thank you Chris.  There are advantages and disadvantages to both.  Seitan tends to be higher in protein, versatile, and is easy to make at home.  The drawback is that it is farther removed from the whole-food source.  The primary ingredient is wheat gluten flower.  While flour is quite simply, ground wheat berries, wheat gluten flower requires additional processing to isolate the gluten.  Tempeh, on the other hand is made from whole soy beans.  This gives gives it a considerable advantage over it’s more processed counterpart.  Furthering its case, tempeh is a cultured product.  The fermentation that takes place helps to “pre-digest” parts of the bean which facilitates the absorption of nutrients.  Tempeh is also much higher in fiber and lower in sodium than seitan and most other foods, for that matter.  The main drawback to tempeh, is the difficulty in making it at home.  There is a steep learning curve for growing your own cultures.  The temperature ranges necessary to maintain a stable culture require special equipment.  Seitan, on the other hand, is much like making bread.  It requires only a bowl and possibly a pot, depending on the recipe.  This gives seitan a leg up in the area of  cost effectiveness.  To buy the tempeh equivalent to the amount of seitan I use weekly, would land me in the poor house.  Additionally, making your seitan at home allows you to control the use of sodium and preservatives, which offsets some of its disadvantages.  All in all, I admit that tempeh is a better protein source from a health standpoint, but I prefer seitan for its flavor, versatility and cost.  Below is a link to one of my favorite seitan recipes.  It is highly adaptable to any flavors you would like to include.

http://www.postpunkkitchen.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=15959&p=1