I'm back! And a list of things I like.

Giving myself restrictions or deadlines or "I'm going to do this every day"s never works.  I'm good at following other people's rules... just not my own.  So while I'd love to start blogging again, I'm going to go forward with the knowledge that it will be inconsistent, disjointed, and often poor quality.  Because who the heck cares?  Only a few people read this anyway.  =]

I've got some scientific papers to discuss, photos of salads to post (I haven't been cooking much lately), and posts on other blogs that you should check out... but for my first day back I'm keeping it simple.  Here's a list of things I have recently discovered that make me happy:

1. Mendeley
This.  Is.  Amazing.  It imports all your scientific journal article PDFs (parsing the titles and authors and whatnot), lets you organize them with folders and tags and whatever else you could imagine, AND it syncs them all to their web site so you can access your library anywhere.  And it's FREE.  There's some sort of paid membership, too, but I haven't done any research on that yet.  I credit Andrew from Evolvify with finding this - I hadn't heard of it until he posted about it a few days ago.  It's an extra big help now that one of my major hobbies is studying nutrition for fun - which meant I had both work papers and personal papers cluttering my computer.

It also is a sort of geeky social network, so if you use it, click this button to go to my profile... I think if you add people as contacts you can really easily share papers with them:
<a href="http://www.mendeley.com/profiles/amanda-strassner/"><img border="0" src="http://www.mendeley.com/embed/icon/1/red/big" alt="Research papers by Amanda Strassner"/></a>

2. Mitchell and Webb 
All I've ever seen are their clips on youtube, but these guys are FUNNY.  Check out some sketches about vegetarians, homeopathy, and hesitant nazis.  

3. Maybelline SuperStay 24HR Makeup 
 I'm not sure how helpful anyone will find this, since I feel as though this foundation were made especially for my skin, so it might not work for many people.  It gives full coverage (I've stopped using concealer!) while feeling really light (no heavier than a powder)... it lasts a long time, almost all day... it's very, VERY matte and keeps me from getting oily for a couple of hours.  

4. Playstation 3
My husband was going to buy me a fancy new watch for Christmas, but we couldn't find the one I really wanted in any of the stores nearby, and I wanted to wait until after the holiday madness to worry about ordering it.  Before we got around to it, our DVD player broke.  So I decided, screw the watch, we're getting a PS3.  If you weren't aware, PS3 plays Blu-Ray discs as well, so I'm looking forward to buying one, some day.  The only game I have so far is Little Big Planet 2.  My Playstation Network ID is Mayness, so hopefully you know what to do with that information, because I have no freaking clue how to add friends or whatever.  We also got Netflix (finally) so that we can stream movies and shows through the PS3 (and because the husband promised one of our best friends that he'd stop downloading movies illegally).  Which brings me to my next item...

5. Arrested Development
A new friend of ours has been hanging out at our house a lot lately.  What can I say?  We're super fun.  (Yes that was facetious.)  She's usually busy trying to convince us to watch old horror/thriller movies (I saw "Rosemary's Baby" last night - what a frustrating ending!), but she also turned us on to the TV show Arrested Development.  It was on for 3 seasons but I never watched it back then.  It's packed FULL of stars, including a lot of stand-up comics.  The writing is really smart and funny.  Michael Cera plays a teenaged Michael Cera, so if you've only seen him play adult Michael Cera, you're in for a treat.  Stream it instantly on Netflix (or obtain it in whatever other manner you choose), and if you like comedy, you won't be disappointed.  Except maybe disappointed that it didn't last longer.  But hopefully not the same devastating, soul-crushing disappointment you feel about Firefly (and if you DON'T feel that way about Firefly I'm not sure we can be friends anymore). 

Stuffed Delicata Squash - dedicated to my mom

When my mom came to visit last month, it seemed like every stall at the Farmer's Market was loaded with delicata squash, which neither of us had ever tried before.  She commented that I'd have to figure out what to make with them, and let her know.  A few weeks later, I got two of them from my CSA, and looked up some recipes for inspiration.

Divisive Crock Pot Curry

Nov 3: Clearly I'm terrible at posting every day, since the only thing I posted yesterday was the one I attributed to Monday.  So this post is technically posted yesterday, ok?  (Speaking of time travel...)

Last week I made a beef curry dish in the crock pot that came out NOTHING like I planned it, but I still found it delicious.  My husband, on the other hand, couldn't even eat it, and used the words "burnt rubber" at one point in his description.  *shrug*  The measurements probably aren't perfect, since I didn't think I'd be posting it, but it's close.

Ingredients:

• Beef chuck roast (about 2lb)
• 3.5 cups chopped winter squash
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1-2 cups stock (mine was chicken because that's all I had)
• 1 cup coconut milk
• 2 tbsp thai red curry paste
• 2 tsp curry powder
• 2 tbsp fish sauce
• 1/2 tsp garlic powder (I find it turns out better in the slow cooker than real garlic)
• 5 oz frozen spinach (half a bag)

Put vegetables on the bottom of the slow cooker, top with meat, throw all other ingredients over top.  Cook for about 8 hours on low.  Add the spinach at the end, and cook until heated through.

If your slow cooker runs at a lower temperature than mine, maybe you will end up with the result I expected: chunks of squash, and meat that can be broken into pieces.

If you've got one of these lovely new Rivals that boils on the "keep warm" setting, your squash will have disintegrated, and the meat will shred apart, giving you a very thick, almost chili-like consistency.

I'm gonna post every day in November!

I just learned about NaBloPoMo, and I've decided to sign up and post every day in November.  Except, of course, that I failed on day 1.  My excuse is that it was my birthday...and as a birthday gift, I'm postdating this so that it LOOKS like I posted every day in November.  Muahahahaha.

I've got a few old food experiences to post about, but chances are, I won't be cooking or buying enough interesting things to fill a whole month - so be prepared for some informative posts about nutrition, random ranting and raving, and maybe a bit of science.

I also wanted to point out that I've joined the Real Food Media blogroll!  You can see the widget in my side bar over there ---> and discover other blogs about cooking/eating quality food.

One more contest!

This one is from Nourishing Days.  They're giving away a $25 gift certificate to Actual Organics.

I've never tried any of their products, but they have a lot of health & beauty stuff.  Skin care, toothpaste, hair care, perfumes... anything you could want, really.  All made from organic, natural ingredients.  I personally use all sorts of chemicals on my hair and skin, but I know going natural is important to a lot of people.  Also, they have lots of travel/sample size products, so that $25 could go a long way!

Click here to go to the blog, and enter the giveaway!

A gift to apologize for my laziness.

I've been a pretty lazy cook lately... even when I make something really awesome, I haven't taken pictures of it.  For example, I made these "Sloppy Ottos" (a German-inspired ground beef recipe) and it was a total keeper, but I didn't take a picture.

Anyway, to make up for not posting anything, I'm letting you in on a few giveaways from one of my favorite blogs, JoyfulAbode.

1. Sanuk Footwear

Click here to find out how you can enter to win a product of your choice from Sanuk footwear!

I hadn't heard of this company until now, but they make some really cute stuff.  They have LOTS of sandals, and slip-on "surfer" shoes with fairly minimalist soles.  They look so comfortable.

Click here to check out the Sanuk web site!

Assuming I don't win the giveaway, I might just ask for the Scurvy in purple for Christmas.



2. Tropical Traditions Coconut Cream Concentrate

Click here to find out how you can win a jar of Coconut Cream Concentrate!

This I have a little more experience with.  I eat a lot of coconut products - coconut oil for cooking, coconut milk in place of dairy like cream or milk, coconut flour for baking, shredded dried coconut in just about every dessert I make.  I even tried coconut water (that liquid in the middle of the coconut), which some people drink as a workout recovery drink, but I'm not a fan.

My latest coconut purchase was "creamed coconut" although I haven't really figured out how to use it yet.  It seems to be basically the same stuff as JA is giving away, just a different brand.  My one hint to you - don't put it in the fridge if you ever hope to be able to get it out of the container - that stuff is ROCK SOLID once it's cold.  I moved it back to room temperature until I can decide on a recipe.

Go to Tropical Traiditions and look at their products!

There are lots of ways to get entries for this giveaway, and they include "liking" TT on facebook, and subscribing to their newsletter, which are things you should do anyway because you'll get recipes, tips, and alerts about sales.  Yes, they have a ton of coconut products, but they also sell things like oils, vinegars, honey, snack foods, condiments... all made from quality ingredients.

Turkey, Leek and Potato Soup

I've had a few turkey necks and turkey wings in the freezer for a while.  I bought them because of the price - they were marked down because they were about to expire.  I decided it was finally chilly and autumnal enough to make a big pot of soup with them.  =]  I made this a two-day project, but you can definitely shorten it to one day.