I pretty much think I’m in love with my slow cooker. I’ve made two meals in it since Sunday and I love, love, love how easy it is to cook in a slow cooker! I was off yesterday because of Veteran’s Day, so I chopped up some veggies and tofu in the morning and threw them and some curry-appropriate ingredients into my slow cooker and let them all get to know each other for the next 8 hours. I actually did use a recipe – it’s the one for the No Hurry Vegetable Curry from Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker by Robin Robertson. The only changes I made were to leave out the peas, add in a block of cubed tofu and I also added in a whole can of light coconut milk and a little (about two tablespoons) of Instant Clear Jel to thicken up the sauce. I think I could avoid having to do this next time by reducing the amount of broth from two cups to one and still adding in a whole can of coconut milk. I also adjusted the seasonings slightly by adding in a tablespoon of red curry paste in addition to the two tablespoons of curry powder called for in the recipe. I don’t have a picture of the final product, but if you can visualize a curry, you know what it looked like. It was really, really good and so incredibly easy! I was going to throw tonight’s dinner into the slow cooker this morning, but it turned out that I didn’t have all the ingredients. I’ll pick those up tonight and get something going in the slow cooker for tomorrow night.
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I’ve been tagged by Bethany for a fun meme that asks me to highlight random facts about myself. Here are the rules for the meme:
- Link the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog.
- Share 7 random and/or weird facts about yourself.
- Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links.
- Let each person know that they’ve been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.
Yeesh. This is tough, but let me see what I can come up with…
1. I was recently nominated for a college-wide (I work at a university) staff excellence award for being such a valuable employee even though my job is so boring that all I do for 30 hours a week from mid-April through mid-October is look at the Internet. I find out tomorrow if I won the award. There’s money involved, so wish me luck!
2. I really, really struggled with credit card debt from the minute I stepped onto my college campus in 1994 when I was just 17 years old until I paid off my debt in April 2007 – one month after my daughter was born. Having a child has really helped me to get all of my debt issues in order and I am so happy to say that I have $0 in credit card debt! Yippee!
3. My favorite TV show of all time is Felicity. I think season 4 was the best season, even though the second half of it focused on a strange time-travel plot. I was always rooting for Felicity to choose Ben over Noel and I could never stand the character of Julie and was so happy when she left at the beginning of season 3. I think even when I’m 60 years old, I’ll still love Felicity. Let’s hope my DVDs still play in another 30 years!
4. In 2005, I walked the Columbus Marathon as a member of Team In Training. Walking a marathon might sound like a weird thing to do, but I refuse to run unless I’m being chased. I am so invigorated by walking, but I find running incredibly painful. I walked the 26.2 miles in 6 hours and 19 minutes. It was one of the best days of my life. I stayed on that “high” for the next two days until I all of the sudden crashed in the middle of Whole Foods and started bawling my eyes out.
5. I had a roommate about 8 years ago that I was really good friends with and we also worked together. Our roommate relationship didn’t end well and I haven’t talked to her since we both moved out. I’ve seen her a few times over the last 8 years, but if we made eye contact, we just pretended not to recognize each other. Not being able to fix that relationship is one of the biggest regrets of my life.
6. My husband’s name, my name, and my daughter’s name all begin with the letter “J”. When we have a second baby, I worry that if we don’t give him/her a “J” name, he/she will feel from the beginning like the black sheep of the family. However, I’m having a hard time coming up with any more “J” names that I really like!
7. If I could live anywhere, it would be San Francisco (I did live there for a short, short while 11 years ago), but if I could visit anywhere (that I haven’t already visited) it would be Japan. However, I’m such a homebody, that I don’t foresee much travel in my future at all – at least until my hubby and I become empty-nesters.
Phew! I did it. Seven random things about myself. Now I have to figure out who to tag.
Okay…so I made my choices and here they are. Let me preface this list by saying that I totally understand that some bloggers – maybe even the ones I’ve selected – aren’t into memes. If any of them don’t want to participate, that’s cool. An 8th random thing about myself, though, is that I am a major “rules” person and I would have had much anxiety if I wouldn’t have followed the rules of this meme and selected 7 bloggers to tag.
1) Jen at That Pain in the Ass Vegan
2) Lisa at Cravin’ Veggies
3) Jessy at Happyveganface
4) Renae at I Eat Food
5 & 6) Aly and Maureen at Mad About Udon
7) Bianca at Vegan Crunk
I hope everyone has a great day and hopefully I’ll be back soon with more slow cooker goodies!
Liz (¡Yo Soy!) said,
November 12, 2008 @ 5:22 pm
I love Felicity too! They had to throw on those crazy time travel episodes at the end of season four because the WB ordered four more episodes at the last minute after the writers had already kind of ended the story. But yeah, the Felicity dvds are golden!
lauren said,
November 12, 2008 @ 5:45 pm
Good luck on the award! I really need to break out my slow cooker! Next week I will def. be using it!
jen molica said,
November 12, 2008 @ 6:08 pm
thanks for tagging me. not to sound like an idiot, but how do you link people’s blogs in the text of your entry? wouldn’t it just be easier to list their names if they’re on your blog roll?
i now know a little more about you. thanks for sharing!
Shelby said,
November 12, 2008 @ 6:59 pm
haha my gramma’s name starts with a “K” and so did her ex-husband. They had four kids together and each had a name that started with a “K” then my mom named her first son with a name that started with a “K”. Then she finally said enough “K”’s and I was born =)
Kelly said,
November 12, 2008 @ 7:06 pm
Your post reminds me that I need to use my slow cooker more. Since it lives in my closet I often forget I have it, but everytime I use it I find it so handy.
Thanks for sharing the meme. It’s always fun to see what you have in common with other bloggers. I hope you find out you won the award. You also deserve huge kuddos for paying off the credit card debt. That is a big accomplishment.
I too would also love to live in San Francisco. I’ve only ever travelled there. However, we almost moved there when I was a preteen so I always felt I had unfinished business with that city. I just love how foodie-oriented the town is and how many great day trips are just a drive away.
BitterSweet said,
November 12, 2008 @ 7:11 pm
I’ve actually never used a slow cooker… Although I’ve heard such good things about it, maybe it’s time to finally get acquainted with mine!
twoveganboys said,
November 12, 2008 @ 7:35 pm
Good luck with the award and slow cookers rock!
shellyfish said,
November 12, 2008 @ 10:03 pm
I really want a slow cooker! And hope you get that award, too!
I’ll get to work thinking of good J names. One French name I really like for a girl is Joelle…
Lisa said,
November 13, 2008 @ 1:40 am
I love Felicity too!! I really didn’t like the time travel ones… but I especially hated the black and white Twilight Zone one where they were in a box or something.
I have only used my slow cooker once or twice to cook. I usually only use it to keep things warm for parties. I will have to try using it for what it is made for.
And as for J names… I just saw a show on TLC (I think) about a huge family where all the children’s names begin with J.
lisa (show me vegan) said,
November 13, 2008 @ 1:48 am
your marathon is quite an accomplishment! That’s really awesome.
Bethany said,
November 13, 2008 @ 3:00 am
Thanks for sharing, I loved finding out more about you.
Jason is a good name. There was a cool Jason I used to with.
I didn’t know you could walk a marathon, that makes it more accessible. The most I’ve ever run was 13 miles and that was in high school during practice. Couldn’t do that nowadays.
Got my fingers crossed for you to win the award. Must be a good feeling to be nominated – recognition is a good thing.
Celine said,
November 13, 2008 @ 7:22 am
I’ve never seen a single episode of Felicity. nor have I used the slow-cooker that’s sitting in the pantry. what’s wrong with me you ask? don’t get me started, I answer.
good luck to you with the award!
jessy said,
November 13, 2008 @ 3:13 pm
i never watched Felicity – this sounds like a show i may netflix and watch some episodes at night before i fall asleep. might have to check it out. i remember when it was on – i just never got around to watching it. i laughed when i read “i refuse to run unless i’m being chased”. that cracked me up. sorry that you crashed at the whole foods. i have crashed in some pretty public places, too. eek! it’s all good though.
i have my fingers crossed for you winning the excellence award! squeeeeee!
i’m so happy for you that you’re debt free – i am working hard towards that right now. mine also started in college, you know – those free credit cards – scary stuff. but any extra money i have these days goes towards paying off my debt – i think i’ll be debt free in just 2 years! i can’t wait! being credit card debt free must feel AMAZING!
i received Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker a while ago as a gift, but i really haven’t looked through it. sounds like i need to! thanks for the tip on the recipe as well, Jennifer! that’s awesome! and sounds soooo good! hooray for some crockpot deliciousnesses! wahooooo!
River (Wing-It Vegan) said,
November 13, 2008 @ 8:18 pm
You are such an interesting woman, my meme post is going to be so boring! You’ll see!
I used to watch Felicity, and I too was always rooting for her to choose Ben over Noel, and I also didn’t like Julie.
Good luck with the award!!
Bianca- Vegan Crunk said,
November 13, 2008 @ 8:35 pm
Yea, I’ve been double tagged! Agness nabbed too…guess I’ll have to get around to doing this tonight!
Sucks about your old roommate. I bet if said something to her the next time you see her, she might be ready to talk to. Maybe she’s feeling the same way you are…but then again, what do I know? I don’t even know what happened. I write an advice column on memphisflyer.com (the website for the paper I work for), so I’m trying to stick my nose in people’s problems…sorry!
San Fran is one of my number one choices too…and more recently, I’ve been thinking about Portland. I dream of vegan donuts….sigh…
And slow cookers totally kick ass. I love to use mine for chili and vegetable soup.
Bianca- Vegan Crunk said,
November 13, 2008 @ 8:37 pm
Oops…I meant Agness nabbed “me” too.
And I bet if “you” said something to her…
And I’m “always” trying to stick my nose in people’s problems…
Sorry, I’ve got a bit of a cold today and I totally can’t think (or apparently) write straight…
Anni said,
November 13, 2008 @ 8:52 pm
I love Felicity! I also converted my ex-flatmate who initially thought it was the most annoying series ever, and she ended up singing along with the theme song with me… And I totally converted Heikki too, we just watched all of the seasons together last year!
twoveganboys said,
November 13, 2008 @ 10:11 pm
Thank you for making such a kind comment about me on my blog. By the way, my husband, his brothers and parents all have “J” names. I think that is why both our boys have the same initials, AHK. We didn’t want the other to feel left out.
Jeni Treehugger said,
November 14, 2008 @ 8:41 pm
Oooh fingers crossed on the award – though I expect at the time of me typing this you will have found out!