This recipe was a super spontaneous one. I needed dinner, wanted to do a Sorted recipe but also wanted to use up some ingredients. The main thing I had in the kitchen to use was sweet potato. I've been on quite the sweet potato kick lately. The cool thing about this recipe was I somehow had everything I needed for it, except the spinach but I'm not very fond of it anyway so no harm no foul. Watching the video for this one was a nice surprise on account of how it's "old school" Sorted. They filmed this one over 2 years ago!
I usually don't have naan just sitting in my cupboard so I improvised with tortillas instead. That worked well enough. My favorite part of this dish was definitely the yogurt-based dip. So tasty! And a perfect complement to the kick of the curry. The other curry I made from Sorted isn't a spicy kind so this was a nice change; not that this one was all that spicy but in comparison it was much stronger. This was super quick to make as well. Once again, the most difficult part was chopping the sweet potato and onions because A) crappy knives and B) my eyes are super sensitive to onions. (I sure do hate onions.)
I'm definitely interested in adding in more things to this curry beyond just onions and sweet potato. I guess I could start by actually including spinach but I'd prefer other vegetables or maybe some chicken. Having actual naan will be the next step as well. I imagine Sorted has a naan recipe just waiting for me to discover. (And indeed it does, featured with the naan bread pizza recipe. Yum.)
My next recipe will definitely be the tandoori chicken burger, though. Hopefully I can get that one done before going to Yellowstone this weekend. I'm thinking of taking Sorted along on the camping trip by making the smokey BBQ beans and jacket. Camping food is some of my favorite, so look forward to a post on some of the things we make!
And speaking of more personal things beyond my cooking as of late, I'm now a college graduate. Or mostly. I still have a couple classes for fall but I did walk in the graduation ceremonies this past weekend. I'm still feeling pretty accomplished.
Last YouTube video I watched: Human bungee slingshot
Showing posts with label camping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label camping. Show all posts
Tuesday, August 20, 2013
Sunday, September 16, 2012
#VPLCT
VPLCT. More commonly known as the Varsity Parking Lot Camping Team. It's a thing I'm now a part of. What does this "team" do exactly?
We camp. In parking lots. And we're varsity because we're so good at it.
Friday night the VPLCT camped on the sidewalk outside of the Wilk. What was so important that we needed to pitch a tent on cement? The lost and found sale. Every year once the lost and found is overrun with all sorts of items they sell it back to the students at insanely low prices.
This was my first lost and found sale and my first VPLCT event but it sure won't be my last.
Becca and I arrived on the scene around 7:30 or 8:00 at night. Ryan had already been there since 2:00 in the afternoon. Yes, that's right, 2 pm: as in SEVENTEEN hours before the sale actually began. For most of the evening we sat around in camp chairs and on blankets, eating cookies, playing games, singing songs on occasion. No one else showed up to camp until 11:00.
The real fun came when it was time to set up The Duchess, also known as the VPLCT's latest sleeping structure/tent. (The previous tent was Gigantor.) The Duchess is a "ten person" tent. I put that in quotes because we're not fooling anybody: you can fit way more than ten people in that tent. We sure did.
We camp. In parking lots. And we're varsity because we're so good at it.
Friday night the VPLCT camped on the sidewalk outside of the Wilk. What was so important that we needed to pitch a tent on cement? The lost and found sale. Every year once the lost and found is overrun with all sorts of items they sell it back to the students at insanely low prices.
This was my first lost and found sale and my first VPLCT event but it sure won't be my last.
Becca and I arrived on the scene around 7:30 or 8:00 at night. Ryan had already been there since 2:00 in the afternoon. Yes, that's right, 2 pm: as in SEVENTEEN hours before the sale actually began. For most of the evening we sat around in camp chairs and on blankets, eating cookies, playing games, singing songs on occasion. No one else showed up to camp until 11:00.
The real fun came when it was time to set up The Duchess, also known as the VPLCT's latest sleeping structure/tent. (The previous tent was Gigantor.) The Duchess is a "ten person" tent. I put that in quotes because we're not fooling anybody: you can fit way more than ten people in that tent. We sure did.
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| This isn't even everyone... |
We watched a movie and then hunkered down for the night. And by "for the night" I really mean for three hours. We went to bed around 2:30 and work up sometime around 5:30. Interesting things happen when you get only 3 hours of sleep, the most exciting thing being lots of things are way funnier than they would be otherwise. I was finally woken up by people quoting Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog. Don't get me wrong, I love Dr. Horrible, but the jokes they were re-telling shouldn't have been as funny as everyone made them out to be on that early morning. The doors to the Wilk opened at six, at which time we migrated into the building and lounged around on linoleum floors. An hour later we were let into a "holding room" of sorts. This room had a brick-like floor, pretty cement-like as well. (I'd venture to say it was the least comfortable floor of them all.)
The VPLCT means serious business. We literally huddled up and created a game plan. All this ground-lounging was worth it. We were the first to go through the doors at the sale. And what sorts of things do you find at a collegiate lost and found sale? EVERYTHING. Shirts, jackets, pants, shoes, electronics of all kinds, jewelry, water bottles, sunglasses, etc. People lose a lot of stuff.
So what's the point of it all? I spent all night on campus. In a tent. With people I've come to know pretty well in the past year or so. The point of this for me was not the cheap stuff. I mean, it didn't hurt to get headphones and sunglasses for 50 cents, but the point of camping out for a sale of lost belongings was the fact that I'll never get to do stuff like it again.
This is senior year (technically). Senior year means doing crazy stuff with crazy people.
Last YouTube video I watched: How to get someone to like you
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Fake spring break day 3
In the morning we bummed around in our sleeping bags for quite some time. Trent, Grant and Phil also spent a good amount of time wrestling when they got up. It was hilarious, especially because we were right in the middle of all these campsites and I'm sure plenty of people were weirded out. I'm not joking when I say we were right in the middle either. There were these two small dirt roads that formed a circle all around us. We weren't exactly being quiet either. Emily and I were, of course, laughing loudly and pretty much uncontrollably while the boys laughed and screamed and threatened each other with bodily harm. I love how crazy and loving those boys can be.
Waking up basically next to the ocean was pretty great, though. You can't camp right on the beach but not too far from the campsites was the Pacific Ocean in all its glory. We walked there shortly after getting up. And by getting up I literally mean getting out of our sleeping bags because we were awake for quite some time before we summoned the courage to leave the comfort and warmth they possessed.
Once we left the actual beach of Santa Cruz, we made our way into the actual city to find sustenance. And we found it in the form of Denny's. This meal really should've been documented but I'm pretty sure we were all too preoccupied with eating delicious breakfast foods to care about pictures.
After our meal, we went to Manresa beach in Santa Cruz. The boys frolicked in the ocean a bit and Emily and I laid on the sand where it was less windy and actually pretty warm. The sand kept our feet nice and toasty. Eventually one of Phillip and Grant's friends showed up and we made our way to another beach in Santa Cruz that he said was sunnier and less windy. However, that was not the case when we finally got there. It was at least as windy, if not more so, though it was slightly sunnier. The goal of this beach trip was to teach Grant how to skimboard. It was comical to say the least. And eventually it was time for all of them to make a gallant run into the ocean. It took about five minutes for all four boys to psych themselves up for plunging headfirst into the waves. Eventually it happened. They took a running start and off they went, falling and diving into the mighty Pacific. Once again, Emily and I had a great time watching from the sand. They played for quite some time in the water and Trent and Grant eventually got out the boogie boards. Once all was said and done, they were definitely worn out and pretty chilly.
Once they got dried off and changed, off we went to Grant's house, a place we had only spent maybe 4 hours during the whole trip to that point. On the way back we stopped at WinCo, my first time at the store, to pick up stuff for dinner. We ended up having pesto and garlic bread and strawberries and bacon wrapped corn on the cob. Yes, you read that right: bacon wrapped corn. That was Grant's idea, something he learned on his mission in Kentucky. The boys made all the dinner and when I originally went into the kitchen to help, Trent shooed me away but did allow me to sit and watch them cook. All in all it was a pretty chill night. After dinner, which was probably around 9 or 10, we watched something on TV, though I cannot remember what it was exactly, and all of us fell asleep before midnight.
Stay tuned for more!
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| the view upon waking up |
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| I love a good ocean breeze |
After our meal, we went to Manresa beach in Santa Cruz. The boys frolicked in the ocean a bit and Emily and I laid on the sand where it was less windy and actually pretty warm. The sand kept our feet nice and toasty. Eventually one of Phillip and Grant's friends showed up and we made our way to another beach in Santa Cruz that he said was sunnier and less windy. However, that was not the case when we finally got there. It was at least as windy, if not more so, though it was slightly sunnier. The goal of this beach trip was to teach Grant how to skimboard. It was comical to say the least. And eventually it was time for all of them to make a gallant run into the ocean. It took about five minutes for all four boys to psych themselves up for plunging headfirst into the waves. Eventually it happened. They took a running start and off they went, falling and diving into the mighty Pacific. Once again, Emily and I had a great time watching from the sand. They played for quite some time in the water and Trent and Grant eventually got out the boogie boards. Once all was said and done, they were definitely worn out and pretty chilly.
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| Grant in his natural frolicking habitat |
Stay tuned for more!
Sunday, May 13, 2012
A night under the stars
Friday night I went camping with some friends/people who live around me somewhere in Provo Canyon. I say somewhere because I'm not too familiar with the canyon and such. Regardless, it was lovely.
For dinner we, of course, had foil dinners. Tinfoil dinners are probably one of my favorite things of all time, right behind things made in Dutch ovens. That's the only thing the night was missing: Dutch oven peach cobbler. I made dinners for Becca and myself: ground beef seasoned with random Italian stuff, garlic, salt and pepper; carrots and potatoes. They were absolutely delicious.
Another thing that was awesome about camping was the fact that I finally got to use my headlamp for something real and not just finding stuff in my room when it's dark.
The real reason I decided to go on this little excursion was the fact that we'd be sleeping under the stars. I've done it a couple times before and it's always been awesome. Life has been kind of crazy lately, though not quite as crazy as winter semester was. Going camping is always relaxing, though. It's always great to sleep out under the stars when it still gets cold at night because you can hunker down in your sleeping bag and all that's exposed to the night is your face, and even then it's not all of it. It was pretty cold out, but not terrible, at least not to me. Basically everyone else was freezing, though. Lorraine did not sleep at all and spent the whole night playing on her phone. I got a good solid four or so hours and would have kept sleeping but everyone else was so cold they wanted to leave, so we were out of there by seven or so.
Looking at the stars is pretty great out in the woods too. (I like how I still said in the "woods" even though we were definitely on a mountain and there weren't that many trees. There were a good number of trees but not enough to call it "woods.") Speaking of stars, I saw the Little Dipper for the first time ever. I'm not even kidding.
So despite all the camping goodness, I'm also a kind of weird camper in that I have to be with the right kind of people to enjoy myself fully. This was one of my worries about coming on the little rendezvous. The people I went with are lovely but I wasn't quite sure how I'd get along with them as far as camping was concerned. Things were totally fine and it was just a great night overall.
Last YouTube video I watched: Poor Wayfaring Stranger
For dinner we, of course, had foil dinners. Tinfoil dinners are probably one of my favorite things of all time, right behind things made in Dutch ovens. That's the only thing the night was missing: Dutch oven peach cobbler. I made dinners for Becca and myself: ground beef seasoned with random Italian stuff, garlic, salt and pepper; carrots and potatoes. They were absolutely delicious.
Another thing that was awesome about camping was the fact that I finally got to use my headlamp for something real and not just finding stuff in my room when it's dark.
The real reason I decided to go on this little excursion was the fact that we'd be sleeping under the stars. I've done it a couple times before and it's always been awesome. Life has been kind of crazy lately, though not quite as crazy as winter semester was. Going camping is always relaxing, though. It's always great to sleep out under the stars when it still gets cold at night because you can hunker down in your sleeping bag and all that's exposed to the night is your face, and even then it's not all of it. It was pretty cold out, but not terrible, at least not to me. Basically everyone else was freezing, though. Lorraine did not sleep at all and spent the whole night playing on her phone. I got a good solid four or so hours and would have kept sleeping but everyone else was so cold they wanted to leave, so we were out of there by seven or so.
Looking at the stars is pretty great out in the woods too. (I like how I still said in the "woods" even though we were definitely on a mountain and there weren't that many trees. There were a good number of trees but not enough to call it "woods.") Speaking of stars, I saw the Little Dipper for the first time ever. I'm not even kidding.
So despite all the camping goodness, I'm also a kind of weird camper in that I have to be with the right kind of people to enjoy myself fully. This was one of my worries about coming on the little rendezvous. The people I went with are lovely but I wasn't quite sure how I'd get along with them as far as camping was concerned. Things were totally fine and it was just a great night overall.
Last YouTube video I watched: Poor Wayfaring Stranger
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