Belly-dancing class, Korean food, black bean brownies, a little studying and paper-writing mixed in…just another lazy-ish Sunday chez Jess.

The dancing was a blast today—in some ways I’m getting the hang of it but I’ve still got a long way to go. I have no problem when there’s just one move to focus on, but remembering to keep shimmying my hips while my arms are doing something completely different can be confusing, especially during fast songs. I get particularly caught up when it comes to kicking and turning too. Hilarious. I was actually told to practice a few specific moves at home because I need that much practice…Still, the way I like focusing on the breath in yoga, I like counting along to the music and not thinking about anything else.

After class, I met up with a friend for lunch. We ended up going to a Korean place on Broadway and 113th-ish. I ordered a spicy tofu and vegetable stew and also enjoyed some of the interesting vegetable things they brought when we sat down. I think they were pickled cucumber, a mix of cooked veggies, some kind of spicy cabbage, and what may have been cured black beans? It was hard to tell, but good nonetheless.

It was really hard to get motivated to do work when I got home, so after printing a bunch of notes for my research project, I started a batch of black bean brownies. Since I’ll be seeing a girlfriend tomorrow who’s sensitive to gluten, I wanted to make something she could eat, and I was intrigued when I stumbled on a recipe that uses black beans in place of flour. I’ll post a recipe later, but I was really happy with how they came out. For dessert, I made a little brownie sundae—topped with off a little almond butter to make up for the healthy fat I hadn’t gotten around to yet today ; )