My Zesty Little Life: My Dad Will Be So Proud of Me

I've turned into quite a health-food junkie! I only eat wheat pasta now, I can't stand plain white bread (whole grain bread tastes so much more interesting!) or sugary cereals except once in a while, and I eat so much vegetables and fruit now, I feel like a rabbit.

Not that I will ever give up meat unless I have to.

It all started with Sis Brooks, my bishop's wife. Actually, it started with my Mom because she always made us eat healthy, but you don't appreciate all her efforts until you hear it from another authoritative source, right?! Sorry Mom- I appreciate your conscientious cooking even more now.

So anyway, Sis Brooks held a nutrition class last year and introduced us to all the yummy goodness of eating healthy. Since then, my diet and life has changed completely. I used to HATE the grainy texture of wheat pasta, and now that's all the type I buy now. I still eat white rice though... it's hard to give up a staple I grew up on.

But nutrition is a whole other post.

My point in this particular post is to demonstrate how you can take everyday food and turn it into something that is not only healthy but looks extraordinary and tastes phenomenal. Everyday food such as... Jiao Zi/ Dumpling! Well, "everyday food" as in Chinese everyday...

Step 1a: Get Chinese roommates, though this can be skipped if you are very determined.
Step 1b: Make your own dumpling filling, which is basically a mixture of ground pork, chives/ pickled vegetables and all types of Chinese sauces. The longer you marinate, the better (as all meats are).
Step 2: Get ready flour and water.
Step 3: Insist on making your own dumpling skin. This is very important because once you have perfected the art of making it, you won't want to go back. I was quite apprehensive about making our own dumpling skin because we were making over 150 (!) of them but my roommates refused to use store-bought ones, and I am so glad they did!
Step 4: The fun part- EXPERIMENT! We actually weren't quite sure how the different skins would turn out since we did not consult the omniscient machine a.k.a. the internet, but who cares?

And the results...

Verdict-
Homemade white skin is healthy because there are no preservatives, but nothing special.
Spinach flavored (blend some spinach with water till liquid, and add to mixture... almost like coloring) was great, except after cooking it turned yellow-ish. Note to self: use more spinach but not more water.
The wheat was my favorite, but that's because I love whole wheat. Be careful though because the wheat flour made it less "elastic."

Step 5: Wrap a meatball with one of the extremely pliant, soft, healthy dumpling skins. Arrange neatly in a row.