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Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Dr. Z's Turiffic Turkey Chili


Yes, sometimes we DO think about things other than technology. I always look for an interesting way to deal with our Thanksgiving leftovers. We can eat only so many turkey sandwiches.
Here is a delicious recipe for my award winning Turiffic Turkey Chili. The best part is the "pulled turkey" that you can cook with the chili. This recipe calls for a raw breast of turkey that you tear apart using forks once it is cooked. I found it quite easy to just "pull apart" my leftover pieces of turkey.
There are many spices in this chili. I especially like the cilantro. It gives it a unique taste.
What do you do with your leftovers?

Dr. Z’s Turiffic Turkey Chili
Award Winning

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Ingredients:
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1 can            black beans (15 oz)
1 can            pinto beans (15 oz)
1 can            garbanzo beans (15 oz)           
3 tbsp           olive oil
1                   turkey breast (half breast), skinned
4                  medium yellow onions, chopped
4 cloves       garlic, minced
3 ribs            celery, sliced
1 small         green pepper, chopped
1 28-oz can crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup        water
4 tbsp          chili powder
1/2 tsp         cayenne pepper
1 tsp            cumin powder
            Chopped fresh cilantro (season to taste)
            Mess of diced green chilis (season to taste)

Toppings:
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  • Shredded sharp cheddar cheese and sour cream OR
  • Chopped ripe avocado

Instructions:
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  1. Heat the oil in a large, heavy bottom pot over medium high heat. When hot, brown the de-boned turkey breast well on all sides.  Remove and set aside.
  2. Add the onions, garlic, celery, and green pepper.  Saute, stirring frequently, until the vegetables are soft, 5-7 minutes.
  3. Add the beans, tomatoes, water, chili powder, cayenne, and the turkey breast.  Heat until the pot starts bubbling, then reduce heat to a slow simmer, partially cover, and simmer for 1 1/2 hour.  Stir occasionally, watching carefully that the bottom does not start to stick.
  4. Remove the turkey breast and coarsely shred the meat with two forks (hold the meat with one fork, tear with the grain with the other.) Return the meat to the pot.
  5. Add cumin powder to the pot.
  6. Add the diced green chilis to taste.  This will take a while because you need to let the chilis cook into the chili to get the real taste.  Then add more if necessary.
  7. Add the chopped cilantro. This give is a unique flavor.
  8. Cook an additional one hour, or until the beans are tender.
  9. For the traditional approach, top with the cheese and sour cream; for the modern/healthy approach, top with the avocado. 

Saturday, November 20, 2010

Please Take Your Designated Seats. Do NOT Talk. No Need for Creativity Here . . .

Students in Albuquerque have created a Love Letter to Albuquerque Public Schools and have performed it at the Brave New Voices Poetry Slam in July 2010.

This video by Miguel Figueroa, Reed Bobroff, Olivia Gatwood, and Khalid Binsunni is a biting critique of what they have seen in their classrooms. 

They cry out against a lack of creativity and bubble tests. The team of students acknowledge the need for learning because "There are things we need to know to live, but the system will never know that we've learned them."

What does this say about our educational system?  Are we trying to address the lowest denominator of learners through standardized testing?  Obviously the students know that there is a better way to learn and they want to be part of it.

Monday, November 15, 2010

25 Web 2.0 Apps to Improve Productivity for Students or Professors

I was just review my Tweets when I came across this link to an OEDB (Online Education Database) blog posting that reviews a number of mostly free Web 2.0 productivity apps.  OEDB is a site where you can go to search for an online masters degree program.

This posting has the typical applications like Google Calendar, Zoho Projects, MyStickies, Google Docs, Bloglines, Google Reader and such.  But it also includes a whole collection of useful apps that I have never seen including Chalksite, Schoopy, Gradefix and the like.  The only problem I have with this list is the overcropping that they used with their logos.  =-)

You can find this wonderful list at:   Top 25 Web 2.0 Apps to Improve a Student's or Professor's Productivity

Thursday, November 04, 2010

Why is Second Life Such a Ghost Town?

Where is EVERYBODY?

I just spent 2 hours in Second Life and only met one person. I want to ISTE Island, InfoIsland and Virtual State Park to name a few.  It was totally dead.  I know that Second Life is a huge place but shouldn't there be people there? I think that Second Life is suffering from an overexpansion problem.  I would go into the places like the Etopia Eco Village and over half of the shops were empty.

What have been your experiences?  What have you found to be the lively places?  I am especially interested in places with educational interests, not just dance halls.

Z