Would You Put This in Your Mouth?

So I always try to get the Sunday Freep for the coupons, and every now and then I put my fingers over my eyes and peep through them while I do a quick scan of the articles. This one* caught my eye because it has pictures (at least in the paper it does) and, well, that's how I roll. ^_^

There are 3 recipes given in the article: Individual Zucchini and Cheddar Frittatas, Spinach and Black Bean Burritos with Salsa, and Brainy Brownies.

Naturally, I wanted to know what might confer intelligence on a batch of brownies, or, to proceed down a more frightening avenue of thought, what might turn a brownie into "brain food." (This is the point at which horrifying images of fish paste began to rear their disturbing heads.)

My sense of morbid curiosity was richly rewarded when I read on the list of ingredients: "1/2 cup Purple Puree (see note)." Of course I did immediately see note, because I know full well that, whatever ingredients Good Brownies are allowed to contain, none of them are purple. "Purple Paste" turns out to be made from blueberries, lemon juice, sugar, water, and -- wait for it. . .

spinach! Or, if you don't have spinach, you can use collard greens. Yum!

The point of these brownies is, apparently, to trick your kids by "hiding foods kids should eat in the dishes they will eat." (emphasis mine) I have an idea; how about giving real food to your kids instead of fast food and junk food, and leaving the sacrosanct realm of Brownies the hell alone?!?

Save the spinach brownies for Rehabbers, I say. ^_^

*If you look at the first comment there, it may have been left by me. I also may have typoed "frittatas." Imagine.

Scary Stuff

Tonight at sparring we free-sparred. (that means we get called up 2 at a time and fight in the ring instead of partnering off for drills) There are 2 guys there who I'm actually slightly afraid to spar. They're big and strong and fast, and they kick hard. Well, that's the point isn't it? And if I don't spar them, I'll never really get any better, right? But it can still be a little nerve-wracking.

I've carried over the same philosophy I learned in Kendo class. Fear is inside us. Nothing outside us can make us afraid -- we have to generate it ourselves. Believe it or not, when Yoda first said that to me (OK, well he was a lot like Yoda) that was quite a revelation. So I learned that when you're facing a big guy with a stick, you may as well hit him, otherwise he's going to be the one hitting you. And it works. Same with sparring. But tonight, one of those guys kicked MuNKi in the eye, ripping out his contact and tearing it in half. (Fear not, he's OK!) And who did the Master choose to face the guy next? Uh huh. You guessed it. That was pretty cringe-making. But I realised that the poor guy was a little (or a lot) rattled about having kicked MuNKi in the eye, because he certainly hadn't tried to. So I attempted to keep that in mind and stay on the offensive. But let me tell you, when I lined up against him, my stomach was doing flips, LOL!

Which brings me to the silly Litany against Food we were doing last night, a parody on the Litany against Fear from Dune if there are any of you Sci-Fi geeks out there.


. . .I will face my food
I will allow it to pass over me and through me
and when the food has gone past, I will turn the inner eye to see its path
where the food has gone, there will be nothing.
Only I will remain.

^_^

PS, if you're squeamish, thank the Gods that I didn't put up the first MuNKi link I found. (don't click if you're squeamish)

Oh, and by the way, MuNKi went on to spar the other guy who scares me, in spite of only having the one eye and all. And he was awsome! :)