back to basics

it's been a while, but the proctor experiment is back...

since posting a year ago, i've changed completely. people don't even recognize me anymore. now i look like this:

weird, huh? i think the secret was eating all those sour patch watermelon gummies from middxpress.

anyway, my first thought, after a year of non-posting and becoming striking-looking, is this:

sometimes our dining hall creations get out of control - all of a sudden our salads are loaded with beans, cucumbers, chicken, salsa, dill dressing, sesame seeds, and... pineapple? you might think it's a good idea to top your slice of cake with chocolate mousse, and peanut butter, and ice cream, but the next minute you're choking on a sugar rush and can't really taste anything at all. it happens.

so let's get back to some basics.

Root Beer Float
(constructed by Jack Maher [the blonde one] '12)

- 2/3 cup root beer
- scoop of vanilla ice cream



Caesar Salad

- romaine lettuce (they don't always have it)
- sprinkle of black pepper
- croutons
- caesar dressing
- lots of parmesan cheese

is anyone out there?

i think there are a few of you because:
someone called me dessert lady last week
and i just found this: http://midd-blog.com/2009/10/09/is-it-even-worth-checking-menus-anymore/
and matt birnbaum is grilling his onions without shame
and i think the field hockey team knows whats up
and bianca giaever sent me this text today: "i know how to make pad thai!!"

all i gotta say is i hope you grilled your cookies today...

p.s. get inspired to make better salads!!! here are a few examples of salads from the new york times article below....
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/07/22/dining/22mlist.html?_r=1

A week without sugar - I didn’t make it (BY BIANCA GIAEVER 12.5 of pearsons/seattle, wa!)

As a Middlebury Student struggling with sugar addiction, I get very excited about desert and eat it before dinner. I also pour honey and cinnamon sugar on top of most things. But the facts are these: last Thursday I ate a lot of pecan pie, cinnamon sugar honey cinnamon raison bread toast, and fro-yo before dinner. Then I felt too sick to eat dinner and had to go home. With my friend Ben in mind, who quit sugar and has a great body, I proclaimed I would not eat sugar for a week. My true friend Aiden joined me, and we operated on the honors system with complete shame as the punishment for eating sugar. Also, the first one to crack would have to do pushups in the dining hall as they ate their treat, to make the shame more overwhelming.

I dreaded breakfast. Everything is sweet: the cereals, the jam, the granola, the yogurt, the muffins. I usually ate English muffins with peanut butter and bananas and sloshed it down with water. With lunch and dinner there was no way to end meals, and I could NOT be satisfied. I took my misery out on my sugar-eating friends that I loved most. After 5 days I began eating sugar again, returning to my friends and chronic nausea. I have learned that sugar, like everything else in life, should be taken in moderation.

(last year my friend janet and i decided not to eat dessert between an ambiguous point in february and spring break. i found janet at portuguese language table the next day eating a cookie. she claimed she had "forgotten." and yet she didn't stop chewing. i cracked later that day by eating oreos at fic. by the way i really miss fic. anyway, moral of the story: life sucks. --maya)

p.s. bianca rulez! she says to check this out: http://onlinekindnessclass.wordpress.com/about/

thoughts on cottage cheese

does this scare you?

well, it scares me. it just looks so… curdled, you know? but i’ve been thinking a lot recently about cottage cheese – and how good it really is.

first of all, if you’re still thinking “what is she talking about, cottage cheese is always hella nasty” – try reframing your image of cottage cheese: it’s just cow’s milk. only curdled. yay!

the dining hall serves non-fat cottage cheese, which means it’s creamy AND healthy, and can be used in tons of fun ways:

1. substitute cottage cheese for other cheeses, especially in quesadillas (full recipe still to come). when you mix it with salsa and black beans in a grilled quesadilla, it just tastes like creamy goodness. not scary at all.

2. put cottage cheese on your salads, like astrid s-g of milli/westchester, ny! think of it as feta, just a little more... wet.

3.If you are feeling brave, try mixing it in with your yogurt, like cate brown of coffrin/hanover, nh. she loves it, and who doesn't love cate, so why not, right?

4. a girl in my sociology class named sam (i think she lives in weybridge) only eats local products from the dining hall, which means her selection is almost entirely limited to cottage cheese, applesauce, cheddar cheese, and apples – which is actually an amazing combination!

5. substitute cottage cheese for cream cheese. grill a panini with cottage cheese, tomato, cucumbers and turkey (i'll find a good recipe for this!). or use cottage cheese on your bagel/bread for breakfast, along with jam/honey and bananas.

6. eat cottage cheese for dessert. you can “spice” it up with lots of fruit, a little jelly or honey, cinnamon, all-bran, peanut butter and (perhaps) raisins. or with whatever else you love. chocolate sauce could work too.

7. check out my soon to come recipe for noodle kugel, using cottage cheese.

p.s. i wish we had an easy bake oven, then we could use cottage cheese to make these:

seriously, they have cottage cheese in them. check out the link: http://thriftyjinxy.blogspot.com/2008/04/works-for-me-wednesday-healthy-oatmeal.html

the best advice EVER: grill your cookies

i really see no other choice.
just like with the pancakes, you can put anything and everything between your two cookies. except not anything, if you know what i mean

Chocolate and Banana Grilled Cookie Sandwich

- 2 oatmeal raisin cookies

- 1 banana

- 1 tbs chocolate chips

- soft serve ice cream and chocolate sauce to taste

so easy. layer banana slices and chocolate chips on one cookie. put the other on top and panini that shit. for five minutes. add your ice cream/soft serve topping to taste. be prepared to make again. and again and again and again.

p.s. a new tina fey interview?! thanks sue.
http://www.harpersbazaar.com/magazine/cover/tina-fey-interview-1109

asian style

Asian Burrito

honestly, this burrito did not get the best review from some febs i got a lotta love/respect for. however, i really like it, and some other peeps have liked it in the past, so im putting it up anyway. it contains, you guessed it (spencer/jacob!) my favorite ingredient: raisins. so if you don't like raisins, or corn, don't even read this.

- one big tortilla
- LI 1/2 cup rice (can be omitted, you can also use cous cous or quinoa)
- some spinach
- 1/2 cup corn
- 1 tbs raisins!
- onions
- peppers

for the sauce:
(there are many variations of the sauce. i personally like it sweet, with lots of honey. you can also use maple balsamic - seriously, you can mix maple balsamic with soy sauce.)

- 1 tbs honey
- 2 tbs bbq sauce
- 1 tbs soy sauce
- 2 tsp sesame oil

my measurements are total guesses. basically, careful with how much soy you put in because it can ruin the whole thing. just keep tasting it.

anyway, put the rice, corn, raisins and spinach in the tortilla. pour on some sauce - not too much! it's hard to get it right. i still haven't figured it out. wrap it up like a burrito (this is not meant for beginner freshman) and pour a light layer of sauce on the outside of the wrap. put the onions and peppers on top, and panini that shit! use the rest of your sauce as dipping sauce. i say: num num, febs say: mmm, it's alright.

p.s. I LOVE PATRICK!

indian food?! YES.

today i just can't stop. i am too excited about taking and posting photos.

Indian Grill - curry tofu kebabs with curried yogurt and grilled vegetables:



(i really don't know how much seasoning i used. use however much you want!)

- a few pieces of tofu
- 2 tbs honey
- chopped apple
- 1/4 cup plain yogurt
- lots of curry powder
- sprinkle of dark chili powder
- some cinnamon sugar
- 1 tbs canola oil
- onions
- peppers
- raisins

use the tea stirrers as kebab skewers. dip the tofu in the honey and then skewer them, along with pieces of apple. sprinkle on curry powder, cinnamon and dark chili powder as you like, and put on the grill. spread the canola oil (from the end of the salad bar) on the grill, and add the onions, peppers and raisins, and whatever other vegetables you might want. again add curry, cinnamon and chili powder. while these cook, make your yogurt from the same spices, plus some honey! add some of the yogurt to the skewers as the tofu cooks. serve it all together.

p.s. best radio show with the best intro theme song ever!!!
http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=1131300114&share_id=148361287786&comments=1#/group.php?gid=52733167082&ref=ts