Happy National Cat Day!

Today is National Cat Day! 

 

As I was on Facebook this morning I saw Rani the Cat at the computer. I commented, "I see Kai has been replaced as your computer tech! " Shabbir replied, "No, Kai is the best. ... Have him call us, Ruqayya can cook up curry to go due to virus." It's nice to have friends that look out for him in these weird times.

 

This is Day 18 of the Unicorn Challenge (Week 3 Day 4); a Regular calorie (~1600), 8 minute AMRAP day. Today I was able to do 4 rounds of the swings (15 reps) and 3 rounds each of the true pulls (10 reps), standing snatches (4 reps each side), and double bicep curls (5 reps). One thing that I found interesting was that my forearms were a little sore when I started; when I finished they felt really good. I adjusted the way I do the true pulls; I am now using my left arm to do most of the work to get the kettlebell off the ground rather than relying on the strength in my dominant right arm. When I was done I also found out I was doing the standing snatch wrong; I was trying to keep the handle of the kettlebell from twisting in my grip as I raised it above my head. I rewatched the video and found that Lisa allows the handle to rotate in her hand and does not try to keep it vertical above her head. Auē!  Here's the right way to do it!

I made another hakurei proothie.The leaves are so bland they add nothing but fiber to the proothie. I guess that's better than if it had an awful taste. I think tomorrow will be my last batch of hakurei greens; I will then be down to only radish greens. I wonder if radish greens taste like radishes? Have you tried eating radish greens? (Google says you can.)

I think I have figured out the most efficient way to make a half gallon of soy milk. I do it during my lunch break; the first thing I do when I walk in the kitchen is start 6 cups of water boiling in the kettle. I then grab whatever part of my lunch needs to be heated and begin heating it in the microwave. While lunch is warming up, I rinse the two 1/2 cup portions of soybeans that I started soaking the previous afternoon. For the batch in the filter basket, I add 1/4 teaspoon salt, attach the filter basket to the top of the Almond Cow, and set it in the collector cup while I wait for the water in the kettle to come to a boil. In the meanwhile, I finish preparing the rest of my lunch. When the water comes to a boil, I fill the Almond Cow base to the "Min" line (which is 5 cups) and also pour about 1/2" in to the large sauce pan that I will boil the soymilk in and set that over medium heat. I refill the kettle for the next batch of soymilk and start heating it up again. I turn on the Almond Cow which is done in 2 minutes. I remove the top with the attached filter basket and stand them in the collector cup while I set up the nut bag and I let the hot soybean pulp & filter basket cool enough so that I can handle it. I also pour the soymilk in to the heated saucepan on the stove and set it to medium for 10 minutes; later lowering it for another 10 minutes. After detaching the filter basket, I empty the soy pulp into the nut milk bag, and refill the filter basket with the second batch of soybeans & salt. While I wait for the 2nd  batch of water to come to a boil, I eat my lunch. When the 2nd batch of water is boiling, I refill the Almond Cow & repeat those steps. By the time the Almond Cow is done with the 2nd batch, the 1st batch of soymilk has been boiling for 20 minutes; I pour the 1st batch in to a large measuring cup to cool, then refill the saucepan with the 2nd batch and start boiling it. I detach the filter cup as soon as it is cool enough to handle and empty the soy pulp in to the nut milk bag. I wash all the Almond Cow parts immediately so the soy pulp does not harden on any of the parts, especially the filter cup. Then I squeeze as much soymilk out of the pulp as I can; after I empty the cup or so of soymilk that I was able to get into the saucepan I add another 10 minutes to the cooking time if there was less than 10 minutes on the timer. After I remove the okara from the nut milk bag & place it in the refrigerator, I immediately wash out the nut milk bag. In the meanwhile, the 1st batch of soymilk has been cooling for about 20 minutes so I put it in to the refrigerator. When the 2nd batch is done cooking and has also had about 20 minutes to cool I also put it in to the refrigerator. All this takes me a little over 1 hour; maybe 65 to 70 minutes at the most. The previous 1/2 gallon lasted me 5 days. I can live with spending an hour every 5 days to minimize the amount of waste I generate.

I was able to squeeze out about 100 ml more!

For lunch today I had a leftover piece of sausage pizza that The Roommates bought last night along with a salad made from the last of the kale topped with bacon bits. 

Hawaii News Now highlights businesses and people who are helping others out during the pandemic. A few days ago they had a piece on Kim Chee II, a restaurant in Kaimukī. Tonight I treated The Roommates to dinner from Kim Chee II; I like to help out businesses that are giving back to the community. 

I had the Combo dinner which has BBQ beef, chicken, fried mandoo, rice, & veggies.

It looks like it was cloudy again on Hawaiʻi Island today. Usually, on sunny days, the graph of the electricity generated is a nice smooth dome. Tomorrow I will try to remember to show you what the other icons are for.

I called Kai after dinner to let him know the Balas will do a special take out curry order for him. Part way through the conversation he switched to video mode because he wanted to show me something. I did not know my phone could do that! I learn something new every day!

Kai's dinner.

Kai in his Rasputin costume.

I got an email today from Kumu Kahanuola; he shared the words and a video of a Halloween song in ʻŌlelo Hawaiʻi! The song Nā Tutua Heleuī is from Kumu Kamakaneoaloha Hopkins. 

 

My friend Lynne who has the beautiful gardens, trimmed her coleus plant to avoid damage from the rains predicted in her area from Tropical Storm Zeta. She made an arrangement out of some of the trimmings.

My friend George posted on Facebook about his family this morning. He & his immediate family fled Slovakia just before it was invaded by Nazi Germany. They moved to Ecuador where he grew up until he came to the US. In all, 53 members of his family were exterminated by the Nazis. Here is the sign for his hometown in Slovakia.

Humor for the day, from Debbie:

There were 77 new COVID-19 cases today for a total of 14,911 known cases so far. There were 2 new deaths reported for a total of 215 deaths statewide. The case number on Lānaʻi has grown to 97. On Oʻahu the 7-day average is now 50 with a 2.0% positivity rate. There are 1163 active cases with a 79% recovery rate.

Hauʻoli lā Hānau e Rep. McCoy & cousin Aimee!