Clocky! and other recipes for indie dev survival

How do you actually wake up, instead of waking up every 9-10 minutes to throw your arm at the over-sized snooze button of your oil-burning alarm clock? This is the answer, and of course it's in the form of a robot. Damned robots. If DaVinci went polyphasic then maybe this is the way to do it.

While we're off the subject of anything actually involving game development, or the gaming industry, I've decided to share a recipe, that also help you and I survive, just as Clocky hopefully will. I usually cook in large quantities which make for a good amount of leftovers that I can reheat whenever I want while I am at work. This is one of my old stand-bys that I learned from my very good friend, Shyam.

Red Curry Beans

1 can of black beans
1 bag of frozen stir fry vegetables (use fresh vegetables if you live on the edge)
1/4+ cup peanut oil (vegetable or any oil will work, but peanut tastes best)
1-3 Tbs red curry paste (personally i use Mae Ploy, it's delicious)
3-5 cups of rice (i buy short-grain rice in bulk to save money, $20 for 25 lbs.)

Firstly, if you do have fresh vegetables, I advise you to use at least one or two tomatoes, along with an onion and a green pepper. If you just have the bag of frozen vegetables, that will work, however the final result of the bean curry won't be as soupy, which will not penetrate the rice as much.

Chop, cut or throw your vegetables into the pan (onion first, then green pepper, then tomatoes) with a tablespoon or two of peanut oil and saute on medium. This isn't low in fat, I use a lot of fat when I cook because it tastes better and works for this recipe in particular. Once the onions are translucent or the vegetables are nice and sauteed, add in 1 tablespoon of red curry paste, and mix with the remaining oil in the pan. This should dissolve and season all of the vegetables mildly. If you want it stronger this is the time to add more, tasting as you go.

After you're happy with the amount of heat, keep the vegetables cooking, we want them cooked through pretty well so this will eventually turn into a thick chili-type consistency. Now thoroughly drain the black beans and add them to the pan. Next mix the beans and vegetables together and spead on a piece of bread, cracker or spoonful of rice to taste. If the spice isn't up to snuff, you can add more red curry paste here.

I usually let this cook down on medium-low for a good bit, allowing the heat to breakdown the vegetables and the beans enough to become one substance. Store this in your fridge until you re-heat and serve on top of rice, or any carbohydrate you have around for a well balanced snack or meal. This also works really well for a tortilla chip dip.