Yummy Vegetarian Tortilla Soup

Here's an easy soup that I threw together last night for one of our Group Loser gatherings. People liked it and asked for the recipe, so here it is. It didn't require buying a lot of weird ingredients, so that was nice.

1 large onion, diced

2 cloves of garlic, crushed/chopped

3 TB. canola oil

1 green bell pepper (or any other bell pepper..bell pepper away!)

2 hot peppers, diced (I used one jalapeno and one thai chili)

1 28 oz. can of diced tomatoes (that's the big fat can)

1 normal sized can of black beans (aren't I good at writing recipes)?

2 TB cumin

1 tsp. garlic powder

1 TB cayenne pepper

2 c. veggie broth

salt and pepper to taste

Tortilla chips & shredded cheddar to garnish

Saute onion and garlic in oil. Add bell peppers and hot peppers. Dump everything else except for the garnishes in and bring to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Simmer for 10 minutes. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve topped with cheese and broken up bits of tortilla chip. EAT!

Cincinnati Bucket List

First of all...whoa, someone else already came up with a Cincinnati bucket list. Eh?

http://www.cincinnatichamber.com/liv_b.aspx?menu_id=178&id=8256

This is mine:

(1) Go ziplining.

(2) Go to Cincinnati Museum Center Omnimax Theater

(3) Have Mike host a dinner party.

(4) Eat burritos at The Comet!!!!!!!!!!

(5) Go kayaking.

(6) I don't know if I'll be around for it still when it starts up again, but I would like to pack a picnic and go watch outdoor movies in Mt. Adams in the summer.

(7) Eat at Local 127.

(8) Have afternoon tea at Essencha (the full deal with food involved).

(9) Have Stu host Bad Movie Night, complete with snacks.

(10) Go camping. (umm...I'm actually more of a fan of renting a cabin, but we'll see)

(11) Have a fondue and wine night.

(12) More themed dinner parties: dim sum? sushi? Pizza? Southern food? Color theme? Cooking with booze (as an ingredient)? Stew-off, if Stu doesn't end up having his work one?

(13) I should probably eat Dewey's pizza at some point.

(14) Pool party

I know there are more but I can't think of them right now.

OLD!

Well, maybe not so old. I'm going to be 24 in a month! aaaahhh!! Should I have a quarter life crisis?? Actually I'm looking forward to my quarter-century bday bash. I should have a bash!

I am in a different lab now. For our first year we rotate through 3 different labs and try to match to where we'd like to stay for the rest of our grad studies.

The project itself is starting somewhat slow but I'm sure it'll pick up soon enough. Also we finally go all of our grades back. I didn't do great for my rotation talk but I just have to be optimistic and think that there's lots of room for improvement! :)

Me too! Me too!

One new thing I did: I started working out fairly regularly...still can't see much as far as results though! haha :)
One thing I am not proud of: How tired I always am.
One thing I am proud of: Finally starting to feel happy about my job and being in Michigan.
Fond Memory from 2010: All my sweet trips!
One thing that has changed about me since beginning of 2010: I don't like drinking nearly as much as I used to.
One Resolution: Nope.
One thing I look forward to in 2011: Going to India/taking 8 days off work...and of course heading out to Cincy to meet Hummus's new puppy!

Super late but why not, right??

One new thing I did:
I successfully karaoked in front of more than 50 people. by successful I mean people were cheering!!

One thing I am not proud of:
how much I smoke. Really not that much.

One thing I am proud of:
my kinda sorta toned legs from all those spinning classes

One Fond Memory from 2010:

CNY with Adam in Singapore and going to HK with Jamaine. Wow i'm a playa!

One thing that has changed about me since beginning of 2010:

I barely drink.

One Resolution:
to not have one

One thing I look forward to in 2011:
my sister's wedding in September(if i'm lucky enough to go to England), trip to thailand with Hummus