Yes. It’s totally abstract. I love him. To love fully is to love without restrictions. I let him go.
April 24, 2021
by drplasticpicker
The last week was such a creative time for my trash art. I was at the same time doing a lot of climate work that I know will be very impactful. At those times that I know I have a project that will move the needle on climate change, I get inspired and make the best art. The above are two trash art pieces that I’ve profiled before, but I’ve used one of those portrait/painting apps and made them more abstract. Gosh those two pieces were good. I just smile every time I think about them and the process that went into them. They are at the home of a patient family that I know well, and one parent is an FBI agent. I’m pretty sure he will find those two amusing. The two children who know possess the two pieces had big smiles on their faces. Giving them the two pieces was a big production. I was telling the four year old, “he is a ninja eco-warrior and his hands go like this to fight pollution” and then I made edward scissor-hand type chopping movements. There was a lot of laughter as the two trash art pieces went to their new home. I was reluctant to give them away, but that’s the entire point of the trash art. It’s an act of creativity and advocacy for me. The kids are now showing me some of their trashart, and they are so imaginative. I am looking forward to our Youth Arts Exhibition and what the kids come up with. If you haven’t checked it out, the entry page is on our San Diego Pediatricians for Clean Air page https://sdpediatriciansforcleanair.com/youth-art-contest
It’s Thursday and I’m OFF today. I’m OFF, because I’m working this Sunday. If you need a physical, I actually have a couple of PE slots open! Come on in! So I’m OFF today because we’ve tweaked the departmental schedule to reduce MD overtime yet still provide some services on the weekends. For everyone it has been different, but for me it is a fine thing. I don’t mind doing a Sunday morning clinic while the kids are in virtual Korean lessons anyway, and I have all of today to concentrate on climate work. Work-life balance and become more minimalistic for me has meant being able to care for myself and now care for the earth.
That’s the thing about being a Climate Advocate or as I tell everyone now, I’m an environmentalist. There is no day off. Every day is a climate work day. So today my to do list for Climate is
Finish formatting THE JOURNAL ARTICLE in word with the citations. Finish the edits. Send to my co-author friends.
Speak with UCSD School of Medicine Civic Engagement Club at lunch.
Attend AAP-CA3 Committee Chair Meeting. It’s also called CAC which is confusing because Climate Actions Campaign goes by CAC too. I actually forget what CAC stands for at the AAP-CA3.
Begin Coordinated our campaign for a Pediatrician for the “Hearing Committee” for the Air Pollution Control Board. This is an important more “behind the scences” position (I think). But we have an interested and very qualified candidate. I just need them to decide and let me know by today so I can coordinate our efforts.
And that is it! That is what I am going to do for the earth today. Oh, I may make more trash art. It actually helps me concentrate. I’m still keeping him for myself. I know a kid will love him, but I’m still in first puppy love with my little trash art owl.
I made it. It was good. It was baked with lots of vegetables.
April 21, 2021
by drplasticpicker
This was really good. If I plan on cooking it again and it has a lot of vegetables and is baked, then I know I’m on to something. Cooking should be simple. Dr. DP our Pediatric GI specialist had shared a Spinach Mushroom Risotto Recipe on @kpkidsgoodfoodgoodearth and it is so simple and good. We’ve made it now at least four times. When you have a recipe like that, you know you are on to something good.
Last night, I kind of stumbled onto my own versian of a traditional South Asian dish which was really good for us. I had heard about “Vegan Buffalo Wings” and had tried two failed attempts. I think the entire name threw me off as I was expecting something that actually tasted like buffalo wings. I think these kind of dishes can indeed be a side-dish and in place of a meat, but I’d rather call it Baked Besan Coated Cruciferous Vegetables. We ended up dipping it in a balsamic vinegar creamy mayo type sauce which was really good.
Besan is chickpea flour. It’s gluten free. I am not gluten free, but for some people it seems to be a catchy thing these days even if one does not have any gluten-intolerance. Some people who are gluten free need to be gluten free. A large minority just want to feel special or they have borderline eating disorders. Oh, did I just say that??? LOL. It’s my blog and remember I’m a bit tired and sleep deprived from trying to save the earth a lot yesterday. But this is what many doctors think when you tell them you are gluten free and you don’t have celiac disease.
Anyway, Besan is an interesting flour that I’ve just started playing around with. It’s a staple of South Asian cuisine. This is a really good general article about besan flour https://www.delightedcooking.com/what-is-besan.htm. Me being “into” besan, is like someone who has just discovered tofu. For me tofu is just a normal ingredient like onions. I’m sure if anyone reading this is South Asian, than the entire plant based world being into besan is probably hilarious. But it’s an interesting new flour to me and make these vegetables taste really good. Plus its better for the environment and my wallet to eat cruciferous vegetables coated in besan than a chicken. Indeed after reading some Ecosia searched articles, coating vegetables in besan flour has been done for centuries in India and Pakistan.
Here is how Dr. Plastic Picker newbie Besan user did it. It was really good and my kids ate a lot of broccoli last night.
Directions
Mix together dry ingredients 1 cup of besan, some garlic powder, 1/4 teaspoon of salt, some ground pepper, paprika, Italian seasoning, panko breadcrumbs about 1 cup. (get the gist, you are just seasoning it the way you want). Clean and cut broccoli florets, I used two broccolli heads and saved the stems for another meal. Soak broccoli florets in plant-based milk (1 cup) , and then however you like coat them with the mixed dry ingredients. I actually liked it when the dry ingredients became almost like a paste and I spread it on the broccoli. Bake on a baking sheet with silicon, probably greased with a cooking spray lightly. Bake 15 minutes, and then turn 5 minutes. That is it. Lots of deliciousness last night.
I bought besan flour at sprouts. I think you can get it at South Asian grocers. But Sprouts has it and it’s very affordable.
54 attendees to the Oregon Pediatric Society meeting, authentic connections.
April 18, 2021
by drplasticpicker
I am proud of our teen son this morning. I’m up later than usual at 6am. I was watching “The Crown” last night, and it’s okay. I don’t consume much media or popular entertainment these days, because I think the life in the real world and trying to save the earth is more interesting. But I did watch a few episodes, and was up just a bit later than usual. In about an hour, I’ll plog to the rec center. Surfrider is cleaning PB this morning, so with all those people there – I’ll go where it is more neglected and applaud them on Instagram.
It was meant to be! I found a UC Berkeley Tshirt on PB!
April 16, 2021
by drplasticpicker
I’m at bag #432 today lifetime plogging totals. At 9am Pacific Standard Time, but 12pm Eastern Time – the Sustainable Pharmacy Project Student group from VCU is having their #lesslittermorehealth unveil for their winners. I’m their spiritual voluntary non-university affiliated faculty advisor! I offered to fund their project but they found money! They are great students. I think this summer I need to travel out to Virginia to visit them, as my sister also lives nearby and I actually own a rental house there. So we are really connected through litter, healthcare and real estate. Bag #433 will be around the Residence Inn at the Marriot in Temecula. We are finishing our short vacation in Temecula Wine Country and it has been a good break. We went to three wineries yesterday, bought some local gifts for our son’s friends, ate great pizza outside socially distanced, appreciated sustainable traveling and marveled at all the trees and pollinator friendly plants around the wineries. We even went to the Walmart across the street, and I bought a Vegan Instapot approved cookbook and a romance novel. I read a lot less romance novels these days because I enjoy blogging so much, but I bought one and I’ll read it later today. We played card games last night, and I was able to teach my daughter spit/speed which is a game every child should know how to play.
Our beautiful wholesome AAP-CA3 Legilstaive Advocacy Group for Climate Change and Health.
April 14, 2021
by drplasticpicker
This is the picture I’m most proud of this past week. Three friends together who naturally came together to work on climate change and health policy. It’s been two years to reach this point, then AAP San Diego Chapter Leadership told us – you need to go to this conference. Here is the money. As co-chairs of the Climate Change and Health Committee, we had already been working on moving legislation. But now we had their seal of approval, and off to virtual DC we went.
Sometimes saving the earth and eating plant-based should be easy! Soy-milk yogurt was easy. Home-made pizza dough – easy. Instapot oatmeal – easy. Homemade granola – easy! Vegan bacon with rice paper which we tried this weekend, too many salt. Many “failures” this weekend trying to green our life (ask me about henna hair dye LOL), but soy-milk ricotta cheese???? EASY!!!
I enjoy my life. Before middle school, my family did not seem to have a lot in material wealth. My father worked a lot. I don’t remember seeing him much as he was at the office building his business until 9pm most nights. At home, we lived very frugally but always seemed to have more than enough. My mother is a phenomenol home-chef so we always had nutrtious and delicious Vietnamese food, which I realize now was heavy on seafood and plants. We were in good public schools. Most of my clothes were hand-me-downs, and I had cousins to play with that lived next door. My mom took us to the library anytime we asked, so I spent a lot of time as an elementary school student at the library just reading. And that was life. Filled with family squabbles with cousins and siblings, running around like mad children in the woods behind our house and having backyard chickens before they were cool. My grandparents would have garage sales frequently where they bought things at other garage sales and then sold their stuff at a markup. I thought they were brilliant.
Dream! A days worth of coffee grounds from the HMO coffee shop.
March 27, 2021
by drplasticpicker
This was a dream. I told Nurse Lan that it was the best gift he could have every given me. I have been committed to collecting the spent coffee grounds from the HMO parking lot on Mondays and Fridays, which are the only two days I work late enough to collect the coffee grounds. But the shop closes at 430pm, and that’s like clinic crunch time. Nurse Lan was able to get them for me and sounds like the coffee shop was apologetic about some coffee waste (like tea bags and napkins mixed in). I looked at him and said, OMG fishing a few tea bags is not a big deal! Nurse Lan wanted to fish it out for me, but I told him that it not his job and I don’t want to get in trouble with the HMO. Although they should thank me for reducing their methane emissions!!! All that beautiful nitrogen from the used coffee grounds would have just caused pollution and increased greenhouse gases in the landfill. Instead I got to take home a beautiful bag of these coffee grounds with just a bit of plastic and paper waste mixed in. I brought it home, and before coming into the house – I used my old plastic salad tongs from Olive Garden and just fished out the bits of plastic waste mostly tea bags. It’s relatively “clean trash.” And then I lived my dream, I mixed the beautiful nitrogens of the HMO coffee shop in with the recent bunny straw/poop/urine and food scraps. We are hot composting, and our composter gets steamy!!!
We have kind of a big decision to make in SDPCA. I can’t elaborate right now but it really challenges me to question this journey I have been on these last two years. Has it been about me? Or has it been about the earth? I thought it was about the earth, but there has been a miraculous amount of self-discovery and growth. And fundamentally I am a pediatrician, and I identify as such. But just like I know we can’t save the earth with just the liberal left, we need our conservative family as well (which is 40% of this country). I also know not just pediatricians can save the earth. We need all specialties. So I will think and talk to my friends and let nature lead the way. I believe the ocean will tell me what to do.
