My roommate decided to make curry beef and veggies today and that inspired me to make curry of my own! I have yellow curry paste sitting in the freezer (it doesn't freeze, just gets very cold and the fridge is pretty full) and way more lettuce than I know what to do with (it was on sale and I told myself to buy more veggies), so I wanted to get those both into it somehow. I've never really seen or heard of lettuce being used in a hot dish, but I figured it wouldn't be too bad since I just made the soup with spinach in it. I completely forgot that lettuce, especially the romaine that I used, is a lot more bitter than spinach and I REALLY don't like bitter tastes, which is why I tend to load up on salad dressing. Anyway I forgot about this until I was part-way through the soup when I took the lid off the pot and it smelled... quite bad, really. Anyway, it all worked out in the end since the bitterness went away almost completely, the curry took over (as I wanted it to... I used more than I put in the recipe below, but mine's pretty spicy), and the lettuce got nice and tender. To steal Campbell's catchphrase, mm mm good. So here it is:
Curry Chicken and Veggies Soup
5 cups water
3 cups milk
28 oz chicken broth (two 14 oz cans)
a bunch of lettuce (about a 12" circle piled about 4" high, maybe 4-6 cups)
1 cup broccoli
1 large chicken breast
2 tbsp yellow curry paste
2 tsp chopped garlic
3 tsp garlic salt
1 piece of bread chopped fine (or 1/2 cup bread crumbs)
1 cup rice
Cut chicken into bite-size pieces. Brown chicken in oil (of your choosing, I used olive oil) with chopped garlic in a large pot (doesn't have to be fully cooked). Add curry paste and stir to distribute. Chop up lettuce into ribbons (as thin as you want, mine were between 1/4" and 1/2" wide). Add the water, milk, and chicken broth to the pot as well as the lettuce and broccoli (do yourself a favor and don't taste it for the next few minutes... the bitterness in the lettuce and the curry taste don't really mix well at this stage). Also add the bread, rice, and garlic salt (everyone in the pot!). Bring to a simmer for a while (about 30-40 minutes, until the lettuce has sunk to the bottom and the soup tastes good basically). If you want a slightly thicker soup, add about 1 tsp of corn starch dissolved in 1 tbsp of warm water.
Comments on the recipe: So, honesty time. There are some things in there that only made it in because I wanted to use them up. The bread is one of those things. Really the only thing, actually. The rice (and cornstarch if you want) should do a fine job thickening up the soup and all the bread does is dissolve anyway. You could probably put in about twice as much lettuce as I used if you want too, but I wouldn't go much over 8 or 9 cups or else I'm not sure how the flavor and texture would work out. It might be fine, though. Also, final honesty comment -- I make these recipes up on the fly by experimenting, so the amounts are rough (except for the liquid measurements on this one, since I wanted to know how much actually went into it). You'll probably have to experiment with them yourself, but they shouldn't be far off. And there's a very good chance your tastes are different from mine anyway, so you'll want to make adjustments, like with any other recipe.
The Tuesdays on a Wednesday!
Yup I knew I'd forget. Anyway, I've remembered now, so here's the update. First, the recipe:
Creamy Spinach and Artichoke Soup
1 can Campbell's cream of chicken soup
1 box frozen spinach
1 can artichoke hearts (whatever size can you want, mine was a similar size to the soup can)
1 can chopped potatoes (again, however much you want. I think mine was around 16oz)
1 cup milk
2-3 tsp chopped garlic (I use it from the little jars, prechopped. I'd say a tsp is about a clove)
2-3 tbsp lemon juice (artichokes + lemon juice = amazing)
Pepper to taste
Basically, just stick it all in a pot and bring it up to a simmer. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes and enjoy. I actually liked it better reheated. Also, I put the spinach in still frozen solid and it, of course, just thawed as the soup was warming. Finally, I didn't add any extra salt because the condensed cream of chicken soup already has a ton of salt in it, so it gets pretty well balanced with all of the other stuff you add.
Second, the short arts and crafts section. I've been collecting pictures that I like online and saving them in a folder on my computer so I can use them as references for drawing practice. I got an art tablet for my computer for Christmas so now I really don't have any excuse for not doing it (other than games just being more appealing =D). Also, I learned to knit and crochet a while back and I found a thread on a webcomic forum devoted to it that made me want to try again. Maybe this time I'll get good enough at it that I won't have to concentrate and stress over it!
Third, the short website section. I've been building a website for my parents for a Buddhist theology (dharma) group they're part of (that's kind of an approximate definition, but oh well). I've learned a great many things over the course of this project, which I started right before Christmas break and I'm still not finished with. I've got it up and running and fully functional, I just have to be the one to edit everything and I want to change that, as well as some of the graphic parts of is. Most of these things that I've learned relate to how to build a successful, useful, and visually appealing website.
Not among these is the fact that trying to get a group of grown-up hippies to make a decision about anything is one of the most difficult things you will ever do. Apparently my dad got the go ahead to get a new website designed, which was when I started it, but now that there's an alternative no one really feels motivated to decide whether they want to change it or keep the 6 month out of date one. Needless to say, I've shifted over from "doing this for my parents" to "doing this for myself and to finish a project in to which I've put a lot of time" regardless of whether it's going to be used!
Finally, we're going to mostly skip the short games bit because there's really not much new to report. I've been playing World of Warcraft and my main character's up to level 77 for those of you that know what that means. Really I just have far too many hours of games to play and far too few hours in a day, even if I didn't have to work or go to classes. Oh well, at least I'm still doing the labwork and class work and the games haven't taken over non-free time.
All righty. As for general updates, I start my final lab rotation next week and I met with one of the guys I'll be working with while I'm in the lab today. It seems like it'll be a good place to work and it might end up being tough deciding where to do my dissertation research!
Creamy Spinach and Artichoke Soup
1 can Campbell's cream of chicken soup
1 box frozen spinach
1 can artichoke hearts (whatever size can you want, mine was a similar size to the soup can)
1 can chopped potatoes (again, however much you want. I think mine was around 16oz)
1 cup milk
2-3 tsp chopped garlic (I use it from the little jars, prechopped. I'd say a tsp is about a clove)
2-3 tbsp lemon juice (artichokes + lemon juice = amazing)
Pepper to taste
Basically, just stick it all in a pot and bring it up to a simmer. Let it simmer for about 15 minutes and enjoy. I actually liked it better reheated. Also, I put the spinach in still frozen solid and it, of course, just thawed as the soup was warming. Finally, I didn't add any extra salt because the condensed cream of chicken soup already has a ton of salt in it, so it gets pretty well balanced with all of the other stuff you add.
Second, the short arts and crafts section. I've been collecting pictures that I like online and saving them in a folder on my computer so I can use them as references for drawing practice. I got an art tablet for my computer for Christmas so now I really don't have any excuse for not doing it (other than games just being more appealing =D). Also, I learned to knit and crochet a while back and I found a thread on a webcomic forum devoted to it that made me want to try again. Maybe this time I'll get good enough at it that I won't have to concentrate and stress over it!
Third, the short website section. I've been building a website for my parents for a Buddhist theology (dharma) group they're part of (that's kind of an approximate definition, but oh well). I've learned a great many things over the course of this project, which I started right before Christmas break and I'm still not finished with. I've got it up and running and fully functional, I just have to be the one to edit everything and I want to change that, as well as some of the graphic parts of is. Most of these things that I've learned relate to how to build a successful, useful, and visually appealing website.
Not among these is the fact that trying to get a group of grown-up hippies to make a decision about anything is one of the most difficult things you will ever do. Apparently my dad got the go ahead to get a new website designed, which was when I started it, but now that there's an alternative no one really feels motivated to decide whether they want to change it or keep the 6 month out of date one. Needless to say, I've shifted over from "doing this for my parents" to "doing this for myself and to finish a project in to which I've put a lot of time" regardless of whether it's going to be used!
Finally, we're going to mostly skip the short games bit because there's really not much new to report. I've been playing World of Warcraft and my main character's up to level 77 for those of you that know what that means. Really I just have far too many hours of games to play and far too few hours in a day, even if I didn't have to work or go to classes. Oh well, at least I'm still doing the labwork and class work and the games haven't taken over non-free time.
All righty. As for general updates, I start my final lab rotation next week and I met with one of the guys I'll be working with while I'm in the lab today. It seems like it'll be a good place to work and it might end up being tough deciding where to do my dissertation research!
The Tuesdays on a Monday!
So I've missed a few weeks (getting to months?) of the Tuesday updates. That means bigger updates now, hopefully!
First, basic life/grad school. I'm finishing up my second lab rotation this week and I start in on the second one next week. This one's been really good, so I'm pretty sure I'll end up here unless the next one's just amazing. Things are working in general, which is nice compared to the first rotation (not the fault of the people or the project, just bad luck) and the lab's really grown on me. Plus climbing stairs to the 6th floor helps keep my blood pressure down.
Right. So that's the short bit that's going to go up until I finish the rest of it. To look forward to: a recipe for creamy spinach and artichoke soup (a.k.a. wtf? I like vegetables? I didn't know that!), small arts n crafts bit possibly, a bit about making websites, and a short games bit.
First, basic life/grad school. I'm finishing up my second lab rotation this week and I start in on the second one next week. This one's been really good, so I'm pretty sure I'll end up here unless the next one's just amazing. Things are working in general, which is nice compared to the first rotation (not the fault of the people or the project, just bad luck) and the lab's really grown on me. Plus climbing stairs to the 6th floor helps keep my blood pressure down.
Right. So that's the short bit that's going to go up until I finish the rest of it. To look forward to: a recipe for creamy spinach and artichoke soup (a.k.a. wtf? I like vegetables? I didn't know that!), small arts n crafts bit possibly, a bit about making websites, and a short games bit.
LOLcats
So, LOLcats were brought up in my Bioinformatics class and now I can't stop looking through icanhazcheezburger.com. A lot of the cat ones are funny, but every so often one of the non-cat ones that pops up is really good.
Yeah...
Yeah...
An almost-post
Well I WAS going to make a post today, but then I forgot. And now I'm going to bed before I can convince myself to stay up later. Not a whole lot new to report, really. Apparently my blood pressure is high enough that I'm "stage 1 hypertensive" even though I was perfectly fine three weeks ago. *sigh*
Maybe I should, I dunno, exercise once in a while.
Maybe I should, I dunno, exercise once in a while.
Ridiculously awesome
Ethanol + Dry Ice = a simmering bowl of ethanol goo
that would probably give me instant frostbite if I touched it
One of the more awesome things I have ever run across in science.
that would probably give me instant frostbite if I touched it
One of the more awesome things I have ever run across in science.
Animal Crossing
So as I wait for a machine I need to use in the lab I'm going to write a short bit about a game -- Animal Crossing. It's a pretty cool game that has you move into a town and basically sell stuff to make money to buy more stuff and renovate your in-game house. Plus there are other townspeople to interact with and you can go online to visit your friends' towns (if you happen to have friends with the game and an internet connection). Anyway, last night there were some northern lights going on, which was pretty cool.
Also, you can make designs to use on clothing or just to put around town. Since I'm a complete and utter video game nerd I used this yesterday to recreate a character from another video game.
(you can see him on the ground there at the bottom)
Apparently people have made some pretty awesome 6 and 8 panel murals using this and sell them for lots of in-game money, so we'll see if I need money enough to put in the amount of time that would take. Well that machine's probably not ready yet, but I should go find something productive to do.
Also, you can make designs to use on clothing or just to put around town. Since I'm a complete and utter video game nerd I used this yesterday to recreate a character from another video game.
(you can see him on the ground there at the bottom)Happy New Year!
Now that two weeks of vacation have come and gone I don't really get to just sit at home and cut off all contact with the outside world. Too bad. That means I'll be updating this again, though.
Quick overview of time at home:
Started off really well, middle was really good, and the end was quite good as well. I spent a lot of time playing games, and a good chunk of that was with my brother and/or my parents. We had constant good food, both at home and eating out, and quite a bit left over so I don't have to worry about fending for myself quite yet. I worked on a website for my parents at the beginning and end, but didn't work on it hard enough to finish completely, so I'll hopefully be finishing that up this week. Both Christmas and New Years were small, just with my parents and brother, but that was a good thing. Got lots of good stuff and had lots of fun. Visited friends a couple of times, but mainly I was a hermit =D.
Now I get to try and figure out what to do for lunch since the cafeteria I normally go to is probably still closed... undergrads are still on break.
Quick overview of time at home:
Started off really well, middle was really good, and the end was quite good as well. I spent a lot of time playing games, and a good chunk of that was with my brother and/or my parents. We had constant good food, both at home and eating out, and quite a bit left over so I don't have to worry about fending for myself quite yet. I worked on a website for my parents at the beginning and end, but didn't work on it hard enough to finish completely, so I'll hopefully be finishing that up this week. Both Christmas and New Years were small, just with my parents and brother, but that was a good thing. Got lots of good stuff and had lots of fun. Visited friends a couple of times, but mainly I was a hermit =D.
Now I get to try and figure out what to do for lunch since the cafeteria I normally go to is probably still closed... undergrads are still on break.