Wednesday, April 24, 2013

A recipe to tickle your taste buds

Sometimes I like to experiment in the kitchen.  Okay, almost every time I cook I experiment....it is basically impossible for me to follow a recipe exactly without adding in my own ideas here and there.  I had a recipe for African Chickpea Stew but didn't have all of the ingredients on hand, so as usual, I started to veer off course.  What happened was the creation of a modified dish that I think is better than the original!

Side note, for the chickpeas I used dried and soaked them in a mixture of vinegar and water overnight before cooking them in the slow cooker the next day.  If you make a big batch of chickpeas, they freeze well so whatever you don't use in the stew can be thrown in the freezer for another time.

Coconut Chickpea Stew

1 onion, diced
3 Tbsp coconut oil
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 inch fresh ginger, grated
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp salt plus more to taste
3/4 cup stewed tomatoes (or 3 fresh tomatoes cut into chunks)
1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
2 cups homemade chicken stock (you can make awesome chicken stock in a crock pot, recipe can be found here)
3/4 cup cashew butter or peanut butter
2 cups cooked chickpeas
2 handfuls fresh spinach
Rice, millet, quinoa, or cous cous for serving

Heat coconut oil in large pot over medium heat and add onions to sauté.  Once onions are translucent, add garlic, ginger, and spices including salt and sauté for about a minute, stirring constantly.  Add broth, tomato sauce, and coconut milk and stir to combine.  Allow to simmer for a few minutes.  Using an immersion blender, blend the sauce until smooth.  Add chickpeas and simmer for about 5-10 minutes.  Turn of heat and add spinach.  Stir the pot and cover to allow spinach to wilt. Salt to taste and serve over a rice, millet, quinoa, cous cous, etc.



Thursday, April 11, 2013

Gone (coco)nuts

My love for coconut started innocently enough, with Almond Joys, Samoas, Piña Coladas...now that my tastes have evolved away from the world of processed foods, I have found about a MILLION more ways to enjoy the food I so cherish.  Baked goods?  Check.  Cooking oil?  Check.  Skin care?  Check.  TOOTH POLISH?  Check.  The Internet is a Pandora's box of ideas for coconut, especially coconut oil.

Apparently, this wonderful food was given a bad image back in the eighties when everyone thought that fat free meant healthy.  Now we know better, right?  Now we know that eating fat doesn't MAKE  you fat, but if you consume the RIGHT fats it actually makes you THIN.  It is also a vital nutrient that your body needs for energy and proper brain function.

 I have been knee deep in the world of the Real Food movement lately (more about that later). It is amazing.  And I have been learning a lot about cooking with this amazing oil.  Vance and I have even started eating it in our morning bowl of oatmeal instead of butter (although that is good for you too).  It adds an awesome flavor and some extra fat that we need to make it to lunchtime.  An added bonus, it can help to keep your teeth healthy and it promotes cardiovascular health!  Below are some links for my fellow coconut lovers.  Jump on the bandwagon with me!  Enjoy!

http://thecoconutmama.com/ 

Everything you ever wanted to know about coconut oil

The Nourished Kitchen.  This is an amazing blog with wonderful Real Food recipes!  This link will take you to her explanation of cooking with coconut flour!




Tuesday, April 9, 2013

My favorite day.

One of my favorite days of the year is not a holiday or a day that asks for a lot of attention.  It is a day of gratitude and pure joy. It is the day in Chicago when you walk out your front door, and after a long, cold "Chicago" winter, you are able to FEEL THE SUN.  Yesterday was that day.  It was better than Christmas morning.

You look up, amazed, because you almost forgot this type of happy, head-to-toe warmth existed. You take off your scarf. The jacket follows. The sun shines on the backs of your hands, the top of your head, your neck and shoulders. It is the most invigorating sensation you have felt in months.  The shell of winter is cracked and all of the emotional baggage that went with it is melted away.

You feel so much gratitude because the sun and its wonderful optimism is reigniting that flame within.  It is this type of day that reminds me of why I live in this amazing city and brave the historic winters. When the sun finally shines upon us again, we are awakened to spring and all of the possibilities it holds.  The city is awake and buzzing.  People look up to greet you instead of rushing past while staring down at cold toes.

I love my city and I love this season.  Bring on the farmers markets, concerts, trips to the beach and zoo, sun drenched park days and picnics, gardening, hiking and enjoying the beauty of Mother Nature.


Tuesday, April 2, 2013

You know you are a parent of young children when...

1.  You always either smell like spoiled milk or spit up. No use trying to mask it, it is ingrained in your skin.

2.  Your morning routine (shower, etc) is perfectly timed to fit into one episode of Backyardigans.

3.  You can name all of the Backyardigans.

4.  By the time lunch rolls around, you have been awake for so long it feels like it should really be dinner time.

5.  Poop no longer scares you and it is liable to be a perfectly acceptable conversation topic with your spouse and/or other friends with kids.

6.  Sometimes you stay home for the entire day, not to have a relaxing personal day, but just because the effort of getting everyone dressed, fed, diaper bag packed, coats on, shoes on, potty trips, etc is more work than the fun you would have out anyways.

7.  You think you might have an aneurism if you have to repeat one of the following phrases ONE MORE TIME:  "don't hit your sister", "get off the coffee table", "hands out of your underwear", "don't put your hands in your mouth after they are in your underwear", "you have to wear pants to go to the grocery".

8.  Yoga pants.

9.  You know the difference between a digger and a backhoe.  And it has nothing to do with rap music.

10.  You refer to yourself in the third person often.

11.  You know what true love really is.