Monday, June 25, 2012

Wednesday, June 20, 2012

Watery ricefor the upset tummy

I'm always told that if you have an upset tummy to stick to the BRAT diet. That is banana, rice, applesauce and toast. However, when I had an upset tummy growing up, my mom would make me the Chinese version of porridge. Basically, watery rice. Plain watery rice is best, but if the tummy can take it, you can a few things to make it taste more palatable.

First of all, you can cook it with some salt, but I prefer to use soy sauce. From there, you can add grated ginger and maybe just a drop of sesame oil. Ginger is great for tummies and is very effective against nausea. Hubby hates it when I make him ginger tea for his upset tummy. It's very hard to get him to drink much of it at all. I have to coax and cajole him into take mere sips and honestly, it's not that bad! I add sugar to make more palatable and even still, he fights me all the way!

Anyways, if you just love watery rice, you can go crazy and cook it with various kinds of ground meat and veggies. My favorite combination right now is preserved eggs, salted eggs, scallion, ginger and sesame oil. Just chop everything up and dump it into the container with the rice and water and then cook in a rice cooker. I don't know how to cook rice on a stove, actually. I only know how to use a rice cooker. Hubby doesn't know how to use a rice cooker but knows how to cook rice on a stove.

Allow me to go off on a tangent here and sing some praises to my rice cooker. I LOVE my rice cooker! It cooks via steam, so I never need a stovetop steamer unless it's for big stuff. My rice cooker is very small. Anyways, it can also make delicious steam cakes (think Malay cakes), hard boiled eggs, soups and keeps things warm. Wanna make a large batch of tea eggs? Cook eggs in a rice cooker first and then crack the shells and cook again in your tea egg solution. Voila! Easy peasy tea eggs! Store the batch in the fridge in the tea egg solution and snack on it over the course of a week or so.

Anyways, going back to watery rice. This stuff can be as simple and plain as you like, or packed full of meats and veggies and flavors. It is fairly common to just add soy sauce and sesame oil and stir in some mashed fermented tofu (hubby is not a fan of this, but he doesn't know that I sometimes put it in his ramen). Growing up, my mom always made it plain, but served it with Chinese pickled cucumbers and pork sung (I think this is dried shredded pork). There was no added soy sauce or oils and this was just fine for us. Unfortunately, I avoid the pickled cucumbers now because a lot of brands have preservatives and MSG, and the pork sung is, well meat, and is really unhealthy.

That gets me thinking, maybe I should make my own pickled cucumbers...

Monday, June 18, 2012

Homemade blender mayonnaise

I love mayonnaise. Yes, it's bad for you and it's fattening but it is one of my favorite condiments. I totally love mayonnaise!

Anyways, in the past, when I've made my own mayonnaise, I've done it by hand. I would whisk and whisk vigorously and my arm feels like it's going to fall off. Generally, I've used Alton Brown's recipe here:
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/mayonnaise-recipe/index.html
This recipe creates a nice thick, creamy mayonnaise, but the vinegar part, I'm not a big fan of. Also, this recipe uses a yolk, which leave you with an egg white just sitting around wondering what you're going to do with it. Plus, it's so tiring to make that I've only made it a handful of times, preferring to just buy a jar.

So then I came upon this recipe here:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/whole-egg-mayonnaise/
Not only does this recipe uses whole eggs, but it can be made with my immersion blender! I tried it out this past weekend with some alterations. First I substituted the vinegar with lemon juice. Instead of dry mustard powder, I used spicy Dijon. I also salted to taste. Everything was room temperature and I put everything except the oil into a wide mouthed jar and used my immersion blender to start the emulsion. Then I slowly poured in the oil and voila! Yummy mayonnaise! Now I don't say this lightly, but I think it tastes better than Hellmann's, which is my favorite brand!

YUM!

Thursday, June 14, 2012

Women just can't get a fair deal

So we have lots of articles about the "war on women" and articles about how women are underpaid. One of the theories I keep hearing is that women don't get promoted and don't get raises because women don't ask or push for it whereas men do. Some more recent research indicates that this may not be the whole truth of why there is such a big pay gap:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-leadership/for-women-in-business-the-squeaky-wheel-doesnt-get-the-grease/2012/01/09/gIQAGRuqlP_story.html

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/21/business/increasingly-men-seek-success-in-jobs-dominated-by-women.html?pagewanted=all

The part that gets me is how women DO ask for raises, and when they are successful in getting one, the amount is smaller than when a man gets one. Sucks, doesn't it?

Monday, June 11, 2012

Lunapads

Warning, this post may gross you out!

When it comes to my monthly visitor, I generally hate it. Not only do I have cramps, back-ache, tummy issues and bloating, I get diaper rash from the stupid pads! Yes, I do wear tampons at night so I can toss and turn without leaking, but during the day, I use pads. It's a personal preference thing plus paranoia about toxic shock syndrome.

Anyways, one day, I was reading an old post written by No Impact Man about how his wife switched to reusable cloth pads called Lunapads. My first reaction was, 'Ew! That is like reusable cloth diapers, but for grown women!' However, my curiosity was piqued enough that I bought a sample pack from Lunapads.com.

When they arrived in the house, I was very happy with how cute these things are with their happy fabric prints and bright colors. However, I also kept imagining how awful it's going to be when they're soaked in discarded blood and having to wash them. As it turns out, it wasn't as bad as I imagined it.

Okay, so here is my experience with my sampler pack. First of all, these are really, really comfortable compared to the disposable stuff. They're soft and absorbent and they actually stay in place! The best part - no diaper rash! It does look a bit gross when they're soaked so there's no getting around that. At the end of the day, when I'm taking them off, I prewash them with some detergent and then toss them into the hamper or dry them on a clothesline until laundry day. After washing with the regular laundry, they come out clean and ready to be used again. They do shrink a bit in the dryer, but not too much.

Overall, I very much enjoyed using these and have ordered more pads to cover a week. They're not cheap, but at least they don't generate more plastic garbage, they're more comfortable than the disposable stuff, and if you can actually use them for years and years, they'll probably save you money in the long run. Buying pads every few months can get expensive.

Now, if only I can get something to make all my PMS go away...

Saturday, June 9, 2012

As a woman in IT...

Today, I read an article in the NY Times about gender discrimination in IT. I can tell you it is very much alive and well. The article itself was infuriating, but I won't go there as it has been well covered by Huffington Post and Jezebel.

I work in IT and was once told by a man I dated that I was a geek's dream come true. Not only was I (according to him) attractive, I played Starcraft and Warcraft II obsessively in college, LOVED RPGs, was very familiar with sites like Gamespot and IGN (before IGN became specifically for men) and loved watching anime. Terminology like "newbie" and "leveling up" was a part of my daily language and these things only struck me as weird when someone told me I was weird.

The truth is, I never considered myself an IT person. I graduated college knowing only how to use Word to write my papers and play Solitaire and Minesweeper. This, despite the fact that my father was in IT and did programming and database work. I also have a brother who majored in computer science and is now also in IT. My father once tried to teach me MS Dos and I remember stubbornly refusing to learn it and walked away. So really, I never thought of myself as having any kind of affinity with computers.

However, my first real job out of college was in IT. I went from trainer and tech support to tech writer. I learned DHTML, javascript, Perl and dabbled in SQL and CGI programming. I then took a break to do non-profit stuff and then went back into IT. When I was hired at my current company, I was told by another woman in my group that I was now the fourth woman to be hired into the department. One woman was an assistant and one left a few months later. This is the norm. The IT world really is overwhelmingly male.

I am constantly wondering how I sound to my coworkers when I talk to them, especially when I'm frustrated. Half the time I go home thinking I sounded like a b*tch or a whiny little girl, which is not how I want to sound. I hear men cursing and venting all the time and I'm sure they never second-guess themselves and wonder if how they acted or behaved was inappropriate or sounded b*tchy. The term b*tchy only applies to women. Any time a woman is not completely calm, collected and super-professional, she risks coming off as b*tchy.

Add to the mix that I'm IT, filled with proud self-professed nerds and geeks, and you have a slightly different dynamic. Anyone who knows me knows that when something matters to me, I don't stay quiet. I'll make my opinions known and I can argue for them if I have to. Some guys find this personality trait aggressive. I remember having meetings with IT guys on projects and finding that I come off as intimidating to a few of them. So intimidating that they spoke to my boss (who is a man), who in turn decided not to let me speak in meetings. He told me privately and specifically used the word, "intimidating." I was rather shocked because I had transferred from the business side of the company and how I managed my meetings and projects was the norm there and nobody found me scary until then.

As I continued to work more and more with IT professionals, I realized that although there are a wide range of personalities, many of them do lack social finesse. It may be stereotyping to say that many don't know how to talk to women, but I found that to be true. Part of the reason why they don't seem to know how to talk to women can be traced to how some of them view women in general. Many of them assume when they first meet a women that she is not tech-savvy and that view is so entrenched that it is very hard to change it. I almost always have to prove myself to them before they realize that when I say there is a problem, there is a real friggin' problem. Even, then I sometimes run into roadblocks where they'll just start ignoring me.

That's usually when I lose my temper. I'll either start CCing their boss and outline the consequences of ignoring my communications on the project, and/or I'll start involving my own boss, who is a man and can probably talk to these guys. I hate having to go to a man to talk to other men because they think I MUST be doing SOMETHING wrong, even though they can't actually say what I MUST have done wrong. I hate thinking that maybe I'm being disrespected because I'm a woman, but these are inescapable questions when working in an environment that is used to working with only other men.

I am very lucky to be in a job where my boss supports me. He's very hands-off and gives me a great deal of leeway in what I do. He's also very willing to hear me out and let me vent when I need to. Even so, I am always afraid that I'm coming off as weak or unable to handle the work or too complain-y. On the other hand, being totally robot-like isn't me either. I understand that being professional means not getting emotional or passionate. It means always being logical, collected and take nothing personally. Like I said, you'd have to be like a robot to do all that when nobody else has to treat you with respect. The men in my company can get away with acting like d*cks and a$$ holes, but a woman can't get away with being less than perfect. In all honesty, being in IT is worse than being in Finance, probably because there are more women in Finance.

It took me at least 3 years of hard work and doing a really good job before the development team stopped assuming I'm stupid and inept. It took me only 3 months to earn that same amount of respect when I was working in Finance, also a male-dominated industry. Right now, I've been at my current job for 5 years. I've literally earned my place here though I am still seriously underpaid. Now, when I send an issue to the development team, they don't ask me stupid questions or ignore me. It shouldn't have taken me years to earn a basic level of respect. I had to do a better job than the men in the same position in order to get to where I am today. Even so, advancement opportunities feel very limited. I'm not sure I'll ever be able to get anywhere as a woman in IT, no matter how competent or how hard I work. I never felt like that when I was younger and more innocent, but I feel that way now.

The thing that gets my goat is that I was lauded for being really good at problem-solving and for my communication skills. Not only am I able to talk to developers, but I can also talk to end-users without p*ssing everyone off. I also happen to be good at documentation and was a quick learner. Despite the fact that my duties kept slowly increasing, for 3 years, my pay didn't increase at all - not even to match inflation. Do I feel undervalued here? Absolutely!

I understand the need for more women in IT. The more women there are in the field, the sooner and more likely the attitudes will change. However, for me personally, I'm sure how much longer I want to be in this field. Is this a fight I really want to fight when I can go elsewhere? For now, I'm staying where I am. Maybe things will actually change sooner than later.

Sunday, June 3, 2012

Saturday, June 2, 2012

African black soap

African black soap originated from west Africa and has become popular enough that the western world like the U.S. wants a hand at ruining it. The original soap is pretty natural in that someone burns some stuff like cocoa pods and plantain leaves and cooks the ashes with some oils like shea butter and palm oil for a really long time. Then they leave the soap out to dry and I guess that's the curing process. It's become popular enough in the U.S. that U.S. manufacturers are making their own version, but with synthetic, not so natural or healthy materials like sodium laurel sulfate.

I first noticed black soap when I was order a new batch of oils to make my lotion. The seller had added black soap to their list of wares and I was really curious. They claim theirs is the authentic stuff shipped from Africa. I held of buying it for a while but eventually decided to just try it out. I got it yesterday and tried it out last night.

The soap is unlike any other soap I have ever encountered. It's pliable and you can mold it with your hands. It also has a deep brown, mottled color. To use, you break a piece off and take it with you to the shower. After, you have to let it dry. Letting it sit in a puddle will melt the soap away.

So the verdict is, I love it! It is better than any soap I have ever used! I even used it on my face, though I haven't tried washing my hair with it yet. The soap provides good slip, but not much lather. However, I noticed a real difference a few minutes after leaving the shower. My skin felt really soft, as if I had already applied lotion to it. It felt so nice, that even though I only tried this soap out once so far, it is now my favorite soap!