Ideas for Christmas gifts now that a lot of us are accepted?

[baxt1412]

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this thread is so random haha. cats, rice, video games... haha. all viable christmas presents though!


anyway, in general, how do cookers do with brown rice? i prefer that for the micronutrients and fiber.

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

this thread is so random haha. cats, rice, video games... haha. all viable christmas presents though!


anyway, in general, how do cookers do with brown rice? i prefer that for the micronutrients and fiber.

I have had less luck... but maybe if you have a nicer one that can cook for a long time then you might have some success. As I am sure you have experienced, brown rice takes longer to cook, but for whatever reason our cooker just cant get it right. Maybe its not getting hot enough, maybe we arent cooking for long enough, I am not sure. But I have yet to get brown rice to work in the cooker. But I imagine if you have it set to cook for a good long while and then just stay warm then it could turn out good. I just pretty much have given up on the thing a while ago, a pot is faster and easier to clean I have found. You might be best off getting a nice crock pot (with timers and such) and then you can cook the rice as well as the other food in there, I imagine that would work pretty well.

 

[Bokeh]

this thread is so random haha. cats, rice, video games... haha. all viable christmas presents though!


anyway, in general, how do cookers do with brown rice? i prefer that for the micronutrients and fiber.

This is the one I'm getting. Looks like it does the job.

 

[baxt1412]

i wonder if adding in spices/seasonings messes it up. i love big flavors so i typically add salt pepper cayenne, sometimes bay leaf, cumin, chopped garlic, dehydrated onion, etc. sometimes a little of all of the above lol. i have a taste for big flavor, not necessarily culinary magical flavor. i wonder if that could be somehow throwing it off

 

[IceMan731]

totally asking for the Destiny and Korra (no shame) games. I need something to do after I graduate in a couple weeks

 

[LuluMed]

Right? It's so cool. Pair that up with a rice cooker. Set the crock on low before you head to class. Set the rice cooker to have rice ready for dinner. Pulled pork/pulled chicken over rice. Basically magic.

Oh, and sweet potatoes in the microwave.

yes! sweet potatoes are SO good. you pretty much described one of my favorite meals. But - I go for the microwave quick rice... never have had a problem with burning.

 

[Bokeh]

i wonder if adding in spices/seasonings messes it up. i love big flavors so i typically add salt pepper cayenne, sometimes bay leaf, cumin, chopped garlic, dehydrated onion, etc. sometimes a little of all of the above lol. i have a taste for big flavor, not necessarily culinary magical flavor. i wonder if that could be somehow throwing it off

That sounds good. It's probably just our cheap rice cookers and not the spices throwing it off. That sounds good though. I'm excited to get a crockpot to do this. Chicken breast and fresh squeezed lemon.

 

[baxt1412]

yes! sweet potatoes are SO good. you pretty much described one of my favorite meals. But - I go for the microwave quick rice... never have had a problem with burning.

too expensive! okay not in terms of absolute cost, but per serving cost and compared to buying regular cooking time rice in bulk (at least a few pounds at a time) the difference is sizeable.. especially if you will be eating rice regularly.

 

[Bokeh]

yes! sweet potatoes are SO good. you pretty much described one of my favorite meals. But - I go for the microwave quick rice... never have had a problem with burning.

Aww, what? There is a world of difference in the microwave rice over, what I call, "real" rice.

 

[LuluMed]

too expensive! okay not in terms of absolute cost, but per serving cost and compared to buying regular cooking time rice in bulk (at least a few pounds at a time) the difference is sizeable.. especially if you will be eating rice regularly.

I guess I never thought of that... I've never eaten rice so frequently to feel the need to buy it in bulk! Maybe when I'm living off loans next year, I will understand the value of cheaper rice

 

[baxt1412]

i eat rice 5-7 days per week now for 1-2 meals per day.

incredibly cheap and can be healthy as well. gluten free, fiber/micronutrients if you get brown, relatively easy to make and customize, and organic isn't too expensive either. all things that can appeal to different populations.

can play well with a lot of different sauces too. i would feel weird eating pasta with salsa, but rice and salsa? of course. rice and buffalo wing sauce? mmmm rice and spaghetti sauce? just like stuffed pepper filling. it definitely works well with a lot of different combos.

 

[DloopF2]

How could I forget, you need a Keurig!
Most important appliance

 

[baxt1412]

How could I forget, you need a Keurig!
Most important appliance

i need something that will make more than like 6-8 ounces at a time. i've seen the new keurig that can make a carafe, but it's just too expensive. kcups are way more expensive than normal coffee.

 

[Bokeh]

How could I forget, you need a Keurig!
Most important appliance

I have never had coffee. Is that weird?

 

[DloopF2]

I agree they they are expensive and very wasteful. But a normal coffee pot takings longer to brew and it is difficult to make only a few ounces at a time. If you have a roommate or something then a traditional pot makes sense. BUT the keurig has a 8 oz button. Its almost too easy.
The old keurig are running cheap for the holidays.

 

[DloopF2]

I have never had coffee. Is that weird?

Good for you. DO NOT START.

 

[Bokeh]

Good for you. DO NOT START.

Advice taken.

We're all going to the same school, right?

 

[DloopF2]

hahaha. If pcom then yes

 

[baxt1412]

hahaha. If pcom then yes

if undecided, then yes.



I'm a coffee junkie. But I have been decreasing my consumption drastically. I would drink a full pot on my own each morning back in school. I'm down to just one keurig cup a day now, but an option for more single serve would be like a pourover method, aeropress, etc. there are options out there that i fully intend on pursuing to get some fancy delicious coffee with an intriguing method.

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

i need something that will make more than like 6-8 ounces at a time. i've seen the new keurig that can make a carafe, but it's just too expensive. kcups are way more expensive than normal coffee.

I am telling you, get that bad boy that I suggested on the previous page. It has changed entire perspective towards coffee.

 

[AM508]

I used to love coffee and drink it to the tune of 1.5 pots a day when I was working 24-36 hour shifts. Then the ugly beast GERD showed up and I had to drop coffee (doctors orders). I do drink a fair bit of tea still though as the caffeine load is much less per cup than coffee and does not cause me any issues.

 

[baxt1412]

I am telling you, get that bad boy that I suggested on the previous page. It has changed entire perspective towards coffee.

the chemex (which this looks to be essentially) does get good reviews and is fairly easy to use.

how "fancy" are you with your coffee making? fresh ground or do you buy ground coffee? temp calibrated water (electric kettle? just reading with a thermometer?)

 

[Make Or Break]

Caffeine pills. 'Nuff said.

 

[baxt1412]

Caffeine pills. 'Nuff said.

i have kicked that habit as well. that's what i transitioned to when a pot of coffee got me in the shower in the morning and i was left yearning more.

 

[RavenclawMed]

i have a rice cooker at home (just a pretty cheap one... on/off switch) and i can never seem to get perfect rice. it's usually incredibly sticky. i've found that rice can be pretty sticky if it's cooked on the stove too if you don't put in butter or olive oil.... but idk what the deal is with the rice cooker. maybe i just suck at even the easiest cooking.

My great-grandmother always uses her knuckle to measure the water. You add enough so that when you put your finger on the surface of the rice, the water reaches your first/bottom knuckle. Light, fluffy rice all the time. Gotta love my Asian genes haha

 

[baxt1412]

My great-grandmother always uses her knuckle to measure the water. You add enough so that when you put your finger on the surface of the rice, the water reaches your first/bottom knuckle. Light, fluffy rice all the time. Gotta love my Asian genes haha

 

[RavenclawMed]

That was poor phrasing. I meant the knuckle closest to your fingernail. Gosh, post-lunch coma.

 

[baxt1412]

That was poor phrasing. I meant the knuckle closest to your fingernail. Gosh, post-lunch coma.

oh, no. i understood what you meant. i just meant the technique was ingenious lol

 

[RavenclawMed]

oh, no. i understood what you meant. i just meant the technique was ingenious lol

Yes, bless my great-grandmother's skills haha. She cooks the rice for us and it's just so good. Gotta love the smell of rice that's cooking, yum.

 

[Bokeh]

this thread is so random haha.

I will try to guide it back. I need a coat and new gym shoes.

 

[baxt1412]

i'm planning on asking for shoe trees and shoe polish as lame as that sounds.

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

the chemex (which this looks to be essentially) does get good reviews and is fairly easy to use.

how "fancy" are you with your coffee making? fresh ground or do you buy ground coffee? temp calibrated water (electric kettle? just reading with a thermometer?)

I get a bag of store brand ground coffee from Aldi's (a crappy grocery store). I then fill my coffee mug (+ a little extra water) and dump it into a tea pot. I heat the tea pot until it starts whistling and then slowly pour it onto the grounds (usually 2 scoops/cup of coffee). Thats it, the coffee is very flavorful, especially when you get the ground/water ratio down for your coffee type of choosing...

I then just rinse some water over the filter thing and the beaker and put it on our drying rack thing (just wash the grounds down the sink - this actually helps with garbage disposal smell believe it or not). I make sure to legit wash it with scrubbing/soap every 2-3 days. All in all it takes about 1 minute to set up, 5 minutes to boil water, 2 minutes to seep through the filter, 1 minute to rinse out. I usually make coffee while eating a bowl of cereal or something.

I think our kit cost like $30, i never have to buy filters ever again nor do I have to deal with the K-cup cost. I used to do the reusable K-cup and just pack my own grounds but the filter was definitely harder to clean (not to mention more fragile) than the chemex filter. AND on top of that with the K-cup you could only make 1 cup at a time (though I understand the nicer K-cup machines can make more). This last week we were brewing 4 cups of coffee at a time with the chemex (we had people staying for thanksgiving) and we still had room to make probably 1 or 2 more. Whether you are brewing 1 cup or 5/6 it takes just about the same amount of time, just a little longer to boil larger volumes of water and seep.

I never even knew this thing existed until my friend (a barista) told me about it. I havent looked back since, I definitely dont plan on using any other method for coffee in the future. Its cheap, reliable, fast, reusable, basically anything I could ask for, especially while in medical school.

 

[baxt1412]

I get a bag of store brand ground coffee from Aldi's (a crappy grocery store). I then fill my coffee mug (+ a little extra water) and dump it into a tea pot. I heat the tea pot until it starts whistling and then slowly pour it onto the grounds (usually 2 scoops/cup of coffee). Thats it, the coffee is very flavorful, especially when you get the ground/water ratio down for your coffee type of choosing...

I then just rinse some water over the filter thing and the beaker and put it on our drying rack thing (just wash the grounds down the sink - this actually helps with garbage disposal smell believe it or not). I make sure to legit wash it with scrubbing/soap every 2-3 days. All in all it takes about 1 minute to set up, 5 minutes to boil water, 2 minutes to seep through the filter, 1 minute to rinse out. I usually make coffee while eating a bowl of cereal or something.

I think our kit cost like $30, i never have to buy filters ever again nor do I have to deal with the K-cup cost. I used to do the reusable K-cup and just pack my own grounds but the filter was definitely harder to clean (not to mention more fragile) than the chemex filter. AND on top of that with the K-cup you could only make 1 cup at a time (though I understand the nicer K-cup machines can make more). This last week we were brewing 4 cups of coffee at a time with the chemex (we had people staying for thanksgiving) and we still had room to make probably 1 or 2 more. Whether you are brewing 1 cup or 5/6 it takes just about the same amount of time, just a little longer to boil larger volumes of water and seep.

I never even knew this thing existed until my friend (a barista) told me about it. I havent looked back since, I definitely dont plan on using any other method for coffee in the future. Its cheap, reliable, fast, reusable, basically anything I could ask for, especially while in medical school.

cool that you can just use preground. i didn't want to have to buy a good grinder (~>$100) when i'm typically going to just slam the coffee down anyway haha.

yeah, the coffee culture is growing a lot, there are a lot of neat methods that are similar. check out reddit's coffee subredit if you're interested in being blown away.

 

[Awesome Sauceome]

cool that you can just use preground. i didn't want to have to buy a good grinder (~>$100) when i'm typically going to just slam the coffee down anyway haha.

yeah, the coffee culture is growing a lot, there are a lot of neat methods that are similar. check out reddit's coffee subredit if you're interested in being blown away.

As I understand it the newest fad is to "sun seep" your stuff. Basically just keep the water on grounds for like a day in room temp water and just set it in the sun. Apparently you get more of the flavonoids into the mixture which results in a better tasting and healthier coffee...

But aint nobody got time for that. Dump and pour is about all I have patience for haha.

 

[baxt1412]

As I understand it the newest fad is to "sun seep" your stuff. Basically just keep the water on grounds for like a day in room temp water and just set it in the sun. Apparently you get more of the flavonoids into the mixture which results in a better tasting and healthier coffee...

But aint nobody got time for that. Dump and pour is about all I have patience for haha.

i've done cold brew before. basically just soak the grounds in water (not necessarily in the fridge) and then drain them off 12-24 hours later. WAY less bitter. makes kind of like a coffee concentrate that you can either use in cold drinks or add hot water to for hot drinks (or just heat it up, but it tends to be a little stronger tasting since it has such a long extraction time)

 

[Bokeh]

i'm planning on asking for shoe trees and shoe polish as lame as that sounds.

Nothing wrong with that. I just bought some of this stuff, and it is amazing. Would recommend to anybody with leather shoes.

 

[diesel2101]

Cats --> crock pots -->coffee--> rice

This thread is ADD.

 

[AM508]

Cats --> crock pots -->coffee--> rice

This thread is ADD.

As are the best threads on the internet!

 

[Bokeh]

It might not be a bad idea, especially to those moving to cold climates, to grab a new set of tires for your vehicle. Maybe not as a Christmas present but just a thought!

 

[Make Or Break]

Has anyone ever thought of hiding presents in their dishwasher and then surprising the recipient on Christmas?

 

[keels99]

Has anyone ever thought of hiding presents in their dishwasher and then surprising the recipient on Christmas?

With my luck, someone would start the dishwasher and ruin said gift.

 

[AM508]

With my luck, someone would start the dishwasher and ruin said gift.

That was precisely my thought, you beat me to it...

 

[Make Or Break]

With my luck, someone would start the dishwasher and ruin said gift.

Just put peanut butter on the controls. No one will mess with it.

 

[keels99]

Just put peanut butter on the controls. No one will mess with it.

OKAY GUYS, WHO PUT PEANUT BUTTER ON THE DISHWASHER!?

 

[Make Or Break]

OKAY GUYS, WHO PUT PEANUT BUTTER ON THE DISHWASHER!?

Why don't you open the dishwasher?

 

[DloopF2]

That's my favorite spongebob episode!

 

[llamasarefuzzy]

I'm asking for a TV so I don't have to watch out on my computer anymore. Also making sure that out is internet compatible so I can watch lectures on it

 

[Make Or Break]

I'm asking for a TV so I don't have to watch out on my computer anymore. Also making sure that out is internet compatible so I can watch lectures on it

I would still recommend connecting your computer to a tv. I am not too sure if the website the lectures play on will be compatible with a smart tv. Though I may be mistaken.

 

[llamasarefuzzy]

I can use a chromecast to tabcast my computer. Also the smart tvs I'm looking at have web browsers that will hopefully work. Planning on testing it on some of my recorded grad lectures

I would still recommend connecting your computer to a tv. I am not too sure if the website the lectures play on will be compatible with a smart tv. Though I may be mistaken.

 

[baxt1412]

good luck with that, i thought about getting a smart TV when i was in UG, but just decided against it. I probably wouldn't get one for med school either.. just depends i suppose. Wish Black Friday was closer to summer so we'd have a solid idea of 1) where we are going for sure and 2) who we were living with (if applicable) so we knew what items we needed to buy/bring haha.