Last week on TV

Last week on TV

I watched a LOT this week but it is mostly stuff I had on in the background while I coded 😊

So long, and thanks for all the tweets

Twitter has been going downhill ever since Elon bought it. But things like unbanning Nazis and removing actual verification didn’t directly affect me so, shamefully, I still kept reading Twitter every day.

You see, although there’s a lot of talk about leaving that hellsite, there are lots of people holding on, perhaps worried about losing the vast number of followers they have collected, or thinking things would go back to how they were eventually.

I am a Twitter completionist. This means that for as long as I can remember, probably since not long after I joined in 2007, I have read every single tweet on my timeline. This was helped enormously by third-party Twitter apps, especially since they started keeping your place in the timeline (shoutout to Manton Reece for inventing Tweet Marker).

Twitter was where I would get most of my news, either current affairs or just news about cool new tech. Using a third party app (mostly TweetBot, though I flirted with Twitterific for a while), meant that there was no algorithm and no ads – just a chronological list of tweets from my curated list of accounts that I followed.

That all changed about a day ago when Twitter removed access to third-party apps. They still haven’t explained it or confirmed it is new policy, but their silence on the matter speaks volumes. Elon obviously decided that people using third party apps and not giving him as revenue were fair game to ‘sacrifice’.

Spending just a few minutes on the official Twitter app was enough to convince me I won’t be using it daily. It disrespects your choices by forcing you back into the algorithmic timeline on every launch, and the chronological timeline is chock full of ads. Even if there are still people there that I want to hear from, I don’t want to do it like this. I’ll probably jump in every now and then just out of morbid curiosity, but it’s no longer a big part of my life.

So long, and thanks for all the tweets.

You can find me on Mastodon.

Scrambled Tofu Burrito Bowl (vegan)

Scrambled Tofu Burrito Bowl (vegan)

Scrambled Tofu Burrito Bowl (vegan)

Course: MainDifficulty: Easy
Servings

2

servings
Prep time

25

minutes
Calories

850

kcal
Protein

39

g
Carbs

80

g
Fat

30

g

Ingredients

  • 250g Wholegrain Basmati Rice

  • 1 Lime

  • 2 Garlic Cloves

  • 10g Coriander

  • 125g Baby Plum Tomatoes

  • 1 tin of Pinto Beans (240g drained weight)

  • 1 Avocado

  • 20g Chipotle Paste

  • 225g Smoked Tofu (I use the brand Tofoo)

  • 10g Nutritional Yeast (Nooch)

  • 25g Ground Turmeric

  • A pinch of black salt (Kala Namak) – not essential, but good!

Directions

  • I use sachets of microwavable rice, which make things easier and you can leave the rice for the last step, but if you have to boil the rice then do so now, according to instructions, and leave to steam until ready to serve.
  • Zest the lime, then cut in quarter wedges. Peel and chop the garlic (or use a garlic press).
    Roughly chop the coriander (stalks and all). Quarter the baby plum tomatoes.
    Drain and rinse the pinto beans under a tap. Pour the drained beans into a bowl and lightly crush with a masher or the back of a fork.
  • In a small bowl, combine the tomatoes, lime zest, juice of 2 of the lime wedges, half the coriander and a tablespoon of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper. This is your tomato salsa.
  • Halve the avocado and remove the stone. Use a tablespoon to scoop out the flesh in one piece, then thinly slice and season with salt and pepper. 
  • Heat 2 frying pans with a drizzle of olive oil – once hot, add half the garlic to each pan, and cook until fragrant (1 minute).
    In one pan, add the crushed pinto beans, chipotle paste and the 100ml water, stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low and simmer until thickened, 7 mins.
    In the other pan, crumble the tofu into small pieces, then add the turmeric and nutritional yeast, stirring until the mixture resembles scrambled egg. Season with salt and pepper, and add a pinch of black salt (Kala Nalak) if you have it (this will add a sulphur, eggy taste).
    Fry, stirring occasionally, until warmed through, 5 mins.
  • If you haven’t already cooked the rice, do so now, in the microwave, according to instructions.
  • Both pans should be finished around the same time. Share the rice between your bowls. Arrange your scrambled tofu, chipotle beans, tomato salsa and avocado in separate sections over the rice. Garnish with the remaining coriander and a lime wedge.

Notes

  • If you do not have Chipotle paste it’s quite easy to make – dry roast chipotles and then grind them into a paste

Lightyear, 2022 – ★★★

This was a quite enjoyable, if a bit cliched and obvious, movie. I love space and Sci-Fi so that helped! Sox stole the show. And one problem is the baddie doesn’t really make sense in the context of the Toy Story toys!

2022 in Fitness & Travel

I took ~2.5 million steps – avg of 6.9k per day
I worked out 305 times – highest concentration was February & March
Lost 5.2kg and 3.8% body fat (lost more than that actually but gained some too!)
And in travel, I visited all over the UK, France, Amsterdam, Barcelona, Las Vegas, and Mauritius.