Recipe: Falafel Hot Dish

Whoever said "Always walk with your head up. Don't look at the ground." never lived in Minnesota during the winter. Those sidewalks are skating rinks! Try not only walking on the sidewalk, but while carrying 40 pounds of groceries. Downhill. I'm proud that I didn't fall.

Anyway, those groceries are being put to use right away. I was craving falafel, but falafel is a little too fussy for me, plus the fresh veggies that go along with it tend to not last as long as I need it to. So, I did what any smart Minnesotan would do: made hot dish.

The rest of the country may call it casserole, but they're silly. It's a hot dish. Casserole doesn't even mean anything. Hot dish is pretty self-explanatory. And this one is healthy and simple!


Ingredients:
20+ ounces of spinach/kale/dandelions/some sort of leafy green.
1 block of soft tofu
2+ cups of feta (or another kind of cheese. I like feta)
2 T fennel seeds
1 box of falafel mix (or your own falafel recipe, just don't make it into balls yet)
2 large tomatoes, diced.
1/2 cup of tzatziki sauce

(NOTE: Don't add any salt. There is enough in the falafel mix. You don't need it.)
(Note 2: You could, however, add some other things. This is just the starting point for my first time making this dish. I would think tabbouli, or chopped onion, garlic or cucumber would add to it. Some basil/parlsey/cilantro would probably taste good too. Lemon juice would give it a nice zing. Maybe some chicken or lamb if you eat meat. I added about a 1/2 cup of quinoa tabbouli, but I imagine it would taste just fine without it)



Directions:
Preheat oven to 350.
Prepare the falafel mix according to box (just add water!)
In a large kettle, steam the spinach down until it's really sad looking.
In a large mixing bowl, mix tomatoes, tofu, fennel, tzatziki and half of the feta.
Add the spinach, and mix well to make sure the spinach isn't clumpy.
Pour spinach mixture into a hot dish pan (13x9ish size) or casserole dish, if you're not from around here.
Spread the falafel mix over the top, and cover with the rest of the feta.
Bake for 30 minutes, and let sit for a few minutes before serving.

Serve with toasted pita, crudite and hummus. And tea!



Nutrition info (including the tabbouli) per serving (8 servings total):
Calories - 285
Fat - 15 grams (8 saturated)
Cholesterol - 41 mg
Sodium - 955 mg
Potassium - 596 mg
Carbs - 22g
Fiber - 7g
Sugar - 6g
Protein - 22g
Vitamin A - 160%
Vitamin C - 52%
Calcium - 40%
Iron - 28%
Taste - 1 million yums.
Filling - full but not bloated.

Saturday night cravings

As I was sitting around this fine Saturday evening, feeling a little hungry but not wanting to go buy something, even though I have almost no food in the house, I started Googling recipes. At the top of the list was "Feeling hungry on a Saturday at 8pm but don't want to order a pizza?"

Yes, Google, thank you. You were only 2 minutes off, too. (It was 7:58) In any case, the giant search engine led me to try to get more creative with my toaster oven than bread and cheese.

So, I am now waiting patiently for my "pizza" on bread with cheese to cook. Maybe not so creative, but I am getting rid of some leftover marinara sauce, as well as satisfying my cheese craving besides just eating plain cheese. And not just plain cheese and bread (I hate myself for calling it "plain." It's heaven to taste, but it's not very adventurous is all I mean).

I did not win on the low-calorie battle, though. It's 2 slices of bread, 2 ounces of cheese, 2 boca spicy chicken patties and some homemade marinara sauce. It's basically a full meal, but I suppose I didn't have dinner today.

I was trying to only have a lunner and a small snack later because I got a mocha this morning from my manager, which, considering it is a only cup of soy milk with chocolate and espresso, sure has a lot of calories. The whole is the greater than the sum of its parts, and I'm not entirely sure how it does that. Must be a lot of fancy chocolate syrup or something. Cuz it's 330 calories without whip cream, and I know 16 ounces of soy milk is only 180 calories tops, and espresso is maybe 1 calorie.

I am pairing it with some diet cola made with my Sodastream machine. Love it. If you don't have one, you should seriously consider getting one. I don't even drink that much soda, but it's worth having.

Why am I such a good cook? Spinach Quiche Recipe

I amaze myself sometimes. My experiments do not always turn out. In fact, most people would probably not like it as much as I do, but tonight was a winner.

Spinach Quiche

Ingredients

~1 9inch pie crust

~4 eggs

~3/4 cup heavy cream (alternatives could be half and half, cottage cheese, cream cheese, etc)

~2 cups fresh spinach, torn

~1/2 onion, chopped

~2 cloves garlic, chopped

~A spot of oil to saute onion, garlic, spinach

~1 t garlic salt

~1 t pepper

~1 t paprika

~1 t nutmeg

~1 c feta

~1 c shredded Parmesan

Directions

1) Pre-bake pie crust (generously poke lots of holes in the crust, bake at 450 f for 10 minutes, allow to cool)

2) Saute onion and garlic. Add spinach until wilted. Remove from heat, allow to cool

3) Mix eggs, cream, spices in a bowl. Add spinach mixture and cheese.

4) Stir into pre-baked crust. Foil the edges to prevent the crust from burning

5) Bake at 375 for 40 minutes.

Very easy. I don't know how authentic to a typical recipe this quiche is, but it is tasty!

The Great MN Get Together

Strawberry scone and a bite of grilled cheese, a frappe from the farmers union, falafel on a stick, a bite of deep fried apple pie, vegetarian platter of middle eastern food (hummus, tabbouleh, falafel, pita chips, samosas and something in grape leaves), and chocolate covered fruit. That is my kind of fair food.

No corn dogs, cheese curds, deep fried bacon, dippin' dots or cookies were consumed.

Apparently the Girl Scouts were not at the fair yet, and I am seriously regretting the lack of Sweet Martha's.... I am such a granola.

Tofu Pineapple Fried Rice

It's been a while since I posted a recipe, but this one turned out so goshdarn well I had to share it. It's my first successful fried rice, so I'm pretty happy.

Ingredients:

~1 cup pineapple chunks, preferably fresh, but you could use canned for convenience. I just ask that you reserve the juice to make a smoothie or something.

~3 T cooking oil

~3-4 c leftover rice. If making new rice, be sure to put it in the fridge for an hour or so first.

~1 package of firm tofu, cubed into 1-inch pieces

~1/4 c chopped onion (the original recipe called for 3 spring onions, but I used what onion I had)

~3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

~1 chili, finely chopped

~1 T cilantro, finely chopped

~1 egg

~1/4 c vegetable/chicken stock

~1/2 c frozen peas (can add more for healthier fried rice. I used about a cup)

~1/2 c raisins (or craisins in my case, because I didn't have raisins in the house)

~1/2 c cashews (I finally used some of those cashews, mom!)

Sauce:

~3 T soy sauce

~2 t curry powder

~1 T lime juice

~1/2 t sugar

Directions:

~Fry the tofu in 1 T oil at some point. I multi-tasked and made the tofu while making the fried rice.

~Mix the sauce together.

1) Mix 1 T oil in with the rice, making sure it's all coated and the clumps of rice are separated.

2) Stir-fry the Onion, garlic and chili in 1 T oil for about a minute in a large frying pan/wok.

3) Push everything to the side, and scramble the egg in the empty space. Mix with the rest after it's cooked.

4) Add the peas, and add the veggie stock bit by bit as needed-may not need it all. Just when it starts to dry out, add some more.

5) Stir in the rest of the ingredients, and drizzle the sauce over everything. Do not add any more stock after this. Stir-fry everything together for 5-10 minutes, until it's reached a consistency you think you will enjoy. :)

6) Put the tofu in with it, and serve/eat!

I should have taken a picture.... Then it'd be like a real blog. Maybe I should make a video of myself cooking.

I do have nutrition facts for you, though. That's above and beyond! I'm doing B-level work, here, folks! (FYI, not the healthiest, but better than most restaurants, probably.) Disclaimer: This is with the ingredients I used. The ingredients you use will make a difference.

Calories: 400

Fat: 16g

Cholesterol: 43mg

Sodium: 756mg (could replace with low-sodium soy sauce)

Potassium: 170 mg

Carbs: 50g

Dietary Fiber: 6g

Sugar: 9g

Protein: 16.5g

Vitamin A: 10.5%

Vitamin C: 21.2%

Calcium: 8%

Iron: 15%

Day at the Mall

MOA on a Saturday. Never again.

I endured a packed train, crowds and screaming kids for a day of job searching and buying some tops for work.

I guess it wasn't that bad. I never had to wait in very many lines. I got a few good deals and had a delicious dinner of a falafel pita (Go to the Pita Pit next time you're at the Mall! So good!) and taro bubble tea.

I applied for jobs at Pita Pit, Ragstock and H&M. I probably won't get the job at H&M because they require complete availability on Saturdays and Sundays (as the manager I spoke to told me several times) and I work every other Saturday morning at Wells Fargo. Ragstock is hiring a lot of people right now, though, so hopefully they hire me!

I also found an awesome vest at Ragstock. I love their "vintage" (used) section.

A bit more description this time

So after spending a relaxing day unpacking, I am taking yet another break to be a little more descriptive than "Flegh,Catey sleepy!"

Moving was pretty fun. I enjoy it for the most part. By hour 6 of the pack/clean/load/unload cycle of moving day, though, you just want to stop. Storm clouds are a pretty good motivator, though. We got the last load moved in around 5pm, then I bought dinner for my parents and KT, all of whom were EXTREMELY HELPFUL!!!!! If it weren't for them, I'd have rented a trailer and had to load everything onto it by myself, then pulled it uphill for a mile, and unloaded everything. I would be in the hospital, probably, if it weren't for them!

:)

Anyway, today has been pretty relaxing. I went to the ol' landlords office to return my keys, where I waited outside for 5 minutes while he chewed out the manager of the cleaning crew for not doing a good enough job. Awkward.

Anyway, today was a laundry and sort out the mess of my packing job day. I've taken many breaks. I had a good long lunch, and all I have to do now is put a few more things in storage downstairs, rearrange the furniture, and decorate my room. And make dinner. That is most important.

For I will need pre-prepared meal this coming day, a day in which I work for 13 hours from 10am to 11pm. Luckily, I'm just cashiering, but good lawd, it'll be loooong. Hopefully I get sent out to do reshop or something. Even getting carts would be a nice break, and I hate getting carts. But it'll be nice to get in 2 shifts in one day before school starts and I will have only weekends to work.

Taro and Wintermelon

Lately, when I've been getting Taro and Wintermelon bubble tea shakes.

The flavor is indescribable. It's rather nutty. It's very sweet. It's a little smokey, like Thai tea. It almost tastes like Nutella.

The color of a Taro and Wintermelon shake is purple.

It's probably the color/taste combination that confuses me most. Why is a nutty, sweet drink purple? This is wrong, but it tastes so right. I recommend the combination highly.

Pad Thai, by request

I just noticed that my Mom asked for the Pad Thai recipe a couple of days ago, so here it is!

Ingredients:

1/2 package of Thai rice noodles

1 pound of protein (chicken, tofu, or mock duck would go best. I supposed tempeh would go as well, but it's really gross and you should not eat it because it is disgusting)

1/4 cup of Soy Sauce (or less. At least 3T, in any case. I know, it's a lot. Get low-sodium soy sauce)

2 T vinegar

1 T peanuts

4 cloves garlic

1 1/2 cup green onion (I just used onion, because I didn't have any green onion on hand, and it tasted fine)

1 cup bean sprouts

1/2 t ground chili powder

2 T sugar

1 egg

Vegetable oil. The more you add, the better it tastes! (but remember that your daily recommended serving is as little as possible. But you know, canola oil and olive oil are healthier than most oils, so use those and you can add more with less guilt)

Soak the noodles in warm water for 10 minutes or so while you prepare the other ingredients. The nice thing about these noodles is that they only need to be soaked before you toss them in the pan/wok. No other cooking is necessary. Cool.

Anyway, cut your tofu into matchstick-like pieces, (or if using mock duck or chicken, make sure it's in bite size pieces. Also any meat needs to be pre-cooked). Then julienne the green onion so its the same size as the tofu (and the bean sprouts). Reserve half the bean sprouts and onion. Mince some of the onion with the garlic.

Anyway, heat up some oil in a wok (I don't have a wok, so I used a large pot, but a 12" pan would also work, but I don't have one of those, either). Fry the peanuts until toasty-looking, then remove them and set them aside for now.

Add the minced onion, garlic, and tofu to the pan. Stir fry until brown. Drain and add the noodles when they are soft and flexible, but don't soak them too long. Stir and mix quickly to coat the noodles with the oil and everything, otherwise they will stick.

Add vinegar, soy sauce, chili powder and sugar. Stir some more until evenly coated. The dish should not be very wet, so if you have a lot of juices at the bottom, turn up the heat a bit. Push everything to one side of the pan, and scramble the egg in the empty space (or if your pot is too small to do that, cook your egg in a separate pot), and fold it into everything else.

Add some of the bean sprouts and green onion and mix it in. While that's cooking, take those roasted peanuts and crush them. I used a bowl and glass as a mortar and pestle, but if you have a mortar and pestle, use that.

Anyway, the Pad Thai is finished, so serve it up in bowls, and sprinkle the rest of the bean sprouts, onion, and crushed peanuts. Voila! It takes only around 20 minutes of intense cooking and it's super delicious. You can also add squirt some fresh lime juice on there, and it'll taste nummy.

Coconut Curry!

To make a delightful coconut curry, you will need:

1 can coconut milk

3 T soy sauce

1 1/2 t curry powder

1 1/2 t ginger

1 t chili powder (you could use chili paste/more of it for a spicier curry)

1 finely diced medium onion

1 large can diced tomato (or a few diced tomatoes if you have fresh ones around)

1 lb protien (I used seitan, but tofu or chicken would go good, as well)

2 cups chopped celery (or bok choy, or something along those lines)

1/4 cup chopped basil

Optional add-ins are: mushrooms, snow peas, etc

Serve with rice.

Okay, so. You mix the coconut milk, soy sauce, curry, ginger and chili powders in a large pan until boiling. Then add the tomatoes, onion and protein. Cover for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Then add the celery and basil, and cover for an additional five minutes. Uncover, and cook for a little longer to thicken it up a bit, but it will end up fairly runny. You could add corn starch to thicken it more if you wanted. Serve over rice.

Very simple, and super delicious! It's really creamy with a little kick to it. Be sure not to eat it all at once, because curry is always better as leftovers.

Something Silly I Did Today

Welcome to the first edition of "Something _____ I Did Today," which will feature something odd or unusual or endearing or silly or bold or fill in the blank that I did that day.

Today's adjective is Silly.

It was a rather chilly day today, due to the considerable amount of rain last night. So I snuggled on the couch with my hunter green Snuggie, when I decided I needed Cocoa! So I got up, and made myself a hot mug of Suisse Mocha, from one of those International Coffee House tins. Yum!

Later, when I was putting dishes away, I found the tin in the silverware drawer. "How on Earth did you get in there?" I asked it.

It, of course, did not respond. I've gotten used to it. I'd be surprised if one did respond.

The way I figure, I was looking for a smaller spoon, and I know I have about 6 of them. Alas, I could only find two, and they were dirty when I was making my Suisse Mocha. Could I have been so fixated on finding my smaller spoons that I put my cocoa tin in the silverware drawer?

Probably. In any case, the cocoa tin was tucked very neatly into the front corner. I did a very nice job of putting it away, except it wasn't in the cupboard over the sink where it's supposed to go.

Target must be rubbing off on me. Even my misplaced items are put neatly away.

And so concludes my story of my silly act of the day.

Travel

Today, I found tickets from Bangkok to Tokyo and from Osaka to Minneapolis for a total of $1,070. Compared to other itineraries, this is about 30-50% of the cost of most trips. It made me so excited for January and February, that I made Pad Thai for dinner.

( It turned out pretty good. Nice and dry, but I think I added a little too much vinegar. )

In any case, I can't afford the plane tickets yet, but hopefully the price stays the same and/or goes down. All the flights are through Delta, which doesn't tickle my fancy, but I know I'll never be able to afford to fly Korean Air while in college, as much as I would love to.

Anyway, the flight leaves Osaka at around 6:50pm on a Saturday. It arrives in Minneapolis at around 6:20pm on Saturday. No, that's not a typo. We will be flying back in time. Muahaha.

Today's planning also inspired me to only bring carry-on luggage. While it will be wintery in Japan, Chiang Mai and Bangkok will be 80 and sunny. I can last on a few pairs of shorts, 1 pair of pants and 2 weeks worth of t-shirts, tank tops and 1 pea coat. With my netbook, a small amount of bathroom supplies (I can always buy more shampoo and toothpaste if needed), a book, textbooks and my DS, I'll have plenty of room for souvenirs! If I need to, I can check it on the way home if I buy more souvenirs than I intend (like I did in Slovenia, when I bought a giant purse just for souvenirs).

I only wish I could spend a couple days in Phuket. Ah well, I guess I'll just have to wait for my honeymoon to spend a week in a beach bungalow for $15/night in paradise. : )

Becoming a Cook... But Not Really

So, in the past 2 years, I've discovered that I really like cooking. I'm also not that bad at it. I have my misses, but everything I've made, I have enjoyed eating. Even the overdone, rock-like cookies and blander than bland soupy beans and rice.

I love cooking! I want to cook more! I wish I had more money so I could buy enough food to perfect recipes. At least I'll be living with 6 other people in a couple months so that I can test recipes on people with different taste buds than me. I am not so particular with eating. I do not care how something tastes as long as it doesn't taste too bad. Texture and smell are more important.

If I were going to lose a sense, it would be taste. I love being able to smell, but that's the one everyone picks if they had to choose to lose a smell. Taste is almost always voluntary, so I would be missing only what I chose to miss. We need to be able to smell. How would we tell if something was burning, or if there's a dead mouse in our dryer, or if we need to shower, or if a baby has a poopy diaper? Those are important things to be able to know, and we usually don't think to look to see if those things are happening without smelling the hint of it first. I guess people check diapers pretty often because babies poo a lot, but really, how often do you check your dryer for a dead mouse? Smell is so important!

I'd lose taste, because then I could eat anything as long as the texture and smell were all right. I wouldn't feel the need to eat chocolate chip cookies at 11:30pm or hash browns, bacon and eggs on a Sunday morning. I could just eat whatever and whenever was best for me. I guess that takes the pleasure out of eating, but taste isn't necessary. Being able to taste things won't save your life.

I guess that is why I shouldn't pursue cooking as a career. Cooking should be a hobby for me, since I am no perfectionist or purist. I'm just too practical. Safety and health first, then pleasure. Hopefully, they always go together, but the longer I can live, the longer I get to live life! I love being alive.

Toned

Well, biking 8 miles 5 days a week and walking around for 4-8 hours 5 days a week is starting to show. My muscles are starting to become more toned on my legs, especially in my thighs. Even when I sit down, my legs don't do that thing where they pool out and look flabby. My belly paunch is also starting to diminish.

The khakis I bought in 9th grade, which have always fit me, are now starting to get a little big. I mean, I'm sure a washing them more often would make them a bit more snug, but this is kinda cool. I am slimming down. I suppose exercise really does work. I've never really tried to work out, like really. I mean, I exercised in my everyday car-less routine, but I tried to avoid sweat as much as possible. But now that I'm doing an hour of moderate-heavy exercise most days in a week, I'm starting to see results.

Cool. Probably part of it is that I haven't significantly increased my food intake from what I used to eat, so my net calories are probably zero or below most days. I'll have to mess around with it a bit and see what happens. Any suggestions for high calorie healthy snacks? Maybe I'll get protein shakes. Haha. Why are all the yummy snacks being packaged in 100 calorie servings?

Annie's

In order to promote companies I like, I'm dedicating this post to Annies, a pleasant and happy food vendor that makes bunny shaped organic food. They make non-bunny shaped things, but so far I've had cheddar bunnies (goldfish crackers in the shape of bunnies, only organic and made with whole wheat), and bunny fruit snacks (vegan, gluten-free and organic. Yay for not eating animal bones!). I have found Annies products at the Co-op and Target. You can probably find them in other places too.

Anyway, working at Target is funner than I thought it'd be. I prefer cashiering, but sales floor is really just moving stuff around. Move things from the back room to the floor, make them look neat, move some things back to the back room, and make labels and the like. Only it's more complicated than that because there are PDAs involved that tell you more than you need to know, but not everything you need to know.

Mousse Au Chocolat

Last night at 8pm, I really wanted chocolate mousse. I looked up a good recipe that used ingredients that I had already. Luckily, Julia Childs recipe had ingredients that I had on hand.

I just had one bowl of it. Take it from me, it is amazing! Not super rich or super bitter like many mousse recipes. It was light, fluffy and sweet. I would even make it again, and I hate making things that are ridiculously fussy. Mousse is the fussiest of the fussy.

So, in order to make this delicious mousse that serves 3-4, you will need:

3 oz of semi-sweet baking chocolate

3 oz butter (yes, use butter! no margarine! no oil! butter! lots of it!)

1/4 cup water

2 eggs, separated

1 T rum

1/3 cup of sugar, for the egg yolks

1 T sugar, for the egg whites

1 pinch of salt

1 t of vanilla extract

Stuff you need:

At least 1 double boiler, I used 2. Well, 2 pots with metal mixing bowls over it, because I don't own a double boiler. :)

A whisk (or hand mixer. A hand mixer makes this go 100 billion times faster)

A spatula.

Many bowls.

Prep work: get a large bowl and put ice water in it. Sounds weird, I know, but it is important.

Step 1: Melt chocolate, butter in a double boiler on a low simmer (or, if you don't own a double boiler, like me, a pot with water covered with a metal mixing bowl), and add water. When mixed thoroughly, remove from heat and make it wait patiently until you use it again.

Step 2: In another double boiler (or a different metal bowl over a pot of water), barely simmering, whisk the egg yolks, rum, and sugar until thick and almost mayonnaise-y. I strongly suggest using a hand mixer. I whisked by hand for about 10 minutes before I lost patience and whipped out the hand mixer. 3 minutes later, I had thick, almost mayonnaise-y egg yolk mixture.

Step 3: Put the yolk bowl in the bowl of ice water (make sure the water doesn't get in), and keep whisking/mixing until its even thicker and more mayonnaise-y. Fold the chocolate in with the egg yolk mix. It looks really cool. Seriously, I spent a good minute or two admiring the brown chocolate and yellow eggs mix together.

Anyway, Step 4: In yet another bowl, use a different whisk, clean your whisk, or clean your mixer attachments, to attack the shit out of the egg whites with the pinch of salt in it. Make sure your whisks are clean, or else your egg whites won't fluff. Oils and fat in the egg whites will make the egg whites from foamy awesomeness. Anyway, when its mostly fluffed (but not stiff), add the other tablespoon of sugar. Mix it in a bit more, than add the vanilla. Mix it moar! MOAR!

Step 5: Fold 1/3 of the egg whites into the chocolaty egg yolks. Then fold the rest in, but not too much otherwise the egg whites will be less fluffy.

Step 6: Put in 3-4 bowls or cups or whatever you want to serve it in, and chill in the fridge for 4 hours at least. They can stay chilled for 4 days.

There is raw egg in it, so you are at risk for salmonella, but the risk is fairly low. I mean, how much freakin' cookie dough have you eaten? How many bowls of cake batter have you licked clean? We've all eaten a ton of raw eggs and we're all alive.

Anyway, it was a little on the sweet side, so I had it with a cup of instant coffee thing from Starbucks. It was gross. Don't drink it. I added 2 T of sugar and it was still pretty gross. There's better coffee than that. Or even tea works. Something bitter to even out the sweetness. I love sweet desserts, and I love sweet desserts and bitter drinks together.

Also, eggs are weird. They get take on so many forms and are just really weird. I mean, they super slimy in the shell. If you whip them, they turn into really foamy. If you fry them, they turn rubbery. If you pour water over them, they bubble. They're so versatile and creepy.

Anyway, enjoy your mousse. I hope you have a hand mixer or immersion blender.

My best Chana Masala yet!

Hokso. I LOVE Indian food. However, both of the Indian restaurants in town here sell their cheapest entrees at $7-15, and of course I have to buy samosas and naan, which add another $8. And I enjoy buying two entrees, to diversify my meal and to get as much deliciousness as I can.

So... I've been trying to learn to cook my own Indian food, so I can control what goes into it, and to save money. So far, they haven't been very successful. Mostly kind of watery and while I put a lot of spices in, I can't really taste them.

But! This time I tried a new recipe, with a bit more work involved.

You need:

1 cup uncooked rice (I made brown, but basmati would probably be more authentic)

1 onion

2 cans of diced tomatoes, drained

4 cloves of garlic

1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed

Plenty of Canola Oil

some of the following spices: curry powder, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cumin, coriander, cayenne pepper, chili powder (I just put in a few to several dashes if I wanted that spice to be more present)(also, why do they all start with C?)

Anyway, make the rice at some point. I made brown rice, so I did that first because it takes forever.

Then, finely finely chop the onion and garlic (or chop not so fine and just put it in the blender or food processor)(I need a blender if you want to buy me something). Then, drain the tomatoes, and actually, squeeze them out too. You're going to want a rather thick paste. Mix your squeezed out tomatoes with your super fine onion and garlic. Like, really mix it. I smooshed it together in my makeshift mortar and pestle (aka a bowl and a glass) to mash the tomatoes in a bit more.

Anyway, heat your oil on med-low into a pan (I put a lot in. Just because I like it that way. You could go crazy and use clarified butter too if'n you want). Then put your tomato mixture in the pan, and let it cook for a while. I added the cinnamon, ginger and cardamom here, but really, I have no reason why I did that.

After letting that fry for about 5-10 minutes (stirring it occasionally), I added the other spices, and let that sit for about 10 more minutes (this is a good time to do some dishes). Add the chickpeas, mix it together. Put the cover on, and let it stew for 10 minutes.

Serve over rice. Maybe a dollop of yogurt on it. I thought it was pretty good, but the leftovers were a little dry.

Will work for French Toast

A friend of mine on campus called me tonight, as I sat on the couch, recovering from an intense walk earlier in the day (and by recovering, I mean eating chocolate Malt-o-meal!). She was moving her stuff from the 9th floor of Larson Hall to the 8th floor of Mohn Hall and had to move by tomorrow morning, and would I help her?

Well, considering I was just sitting on the couch, and she's a good friend, I said "Sure!"

Ohmaigawd she has soooo much stuff. We probably moved 20 storage bins and 10 giant garbage bags and several boxes and 2 mini fridges and other stuff. Luckily, she has no furniture, there are elevators, she has an SUV and found a dolly somewhere. Plus, she took me to Perkins afterwards.

Totally worth it. : )

5 cups of coffee and 3 french toast for a couple hours of going up and down an elevator? Not bad at all!

By the way, I will not be going to bed anytime soon. Why did I drink 5 cups of coffee at 11pm again? hahahaha. Good times.

Anyway, about the intense walk... I went to the grocery store to pick up some things (remembered everything but malt-o-meal and wild rice!), thinking it wouldn't rain until 3 or 4. Nope, it thundered and started raining at 12:30, right when I left the store.

"Oh no!" I thought, "I left the window open right by the power strip and my laptop!" (dumb, I know). I started rushing home, with a backpack full of canned goods, and two tote bags full of food. Easier said than done. Luckily, it didn't rain all that much until the end of my walk, when I had given up rushing, and was trying to cool down. No water reached the power strip or my laptop. Thank the wind currents!

Also, I realized that I've only eaten breakfast food for the past couple days. I had eggs, hash browns, facon, green beans and yogurt for lunch yesterday, French toast for dinner, a PB sandwich for breakfast, Malt-o-Meal for lunch today, and French toast for dinner again tonight. Goodness. I should really stop typing this now, but I HAVE SO MUCH ENERGY!!!!!

You know where this energy could be productive? Studying for my GRE. Or playing Pokemon. Hmmm........... I'm starting to get nervous for my GRE. I take the test on Monday. Luckily I'm taking it early enough where I can take it again if I suck ass. But I am trying not to suck ass because the test costs $160, which is ridiculous, but less so than the test prep classes, which cost $500. I think I'll skip the classes and study on my own. I'll just read the dictionary, or maybe learn Latin and Greek this week. That'll help with the vocabulary.

OOH! I bought my ticket to go see the Village People today. They're playing at the Twin Cities Pride festival this year, and tickets are only $10! And one of my favorite singers is playing too, Ellis. She's an Ole alum who is awesome and funny! She's also gluten intolerant, in case you were wondering. And she has the best laugh ever. Her music is pretty kickass too.

By the way, all of this was written in like, 10 minutes.

Family and Walking

I had a fun weekend. Saturday, I spent the day at my Dad's house for a family barbeque. My dad, his wife, his mother-in-law, his two brothers and sister, my brother and I were all there. It's the first time in a loooong time that my dad has been friendly with his younger brother. They've been at odds for over a decade, so it was a really big step for my dad to invite him over. They all had brats, and my aunt made sure to buy Boca burgers for me. Yummy!

Sunday, I went to the MN AIDS Walk at Minnehaha Park in Minneapolis. I raised $180 dollars for the event, which was $30 more than I raised last year! I went with two freshman at Olaf, and met up with my roommate and his friends there. It was a lot of fun, but now my calves are hella sore.

After, my roommate and I showered (separately), took a looong nap (simultaneously in the same room), then went out to eat (together). We went to Chapati. It was SO good. I love Indian food. I ordered Chana Masala and Alu (whatevertheindianwordforpeais), and some garlic naan. Delicious. It was bittersweet, however, as this was our last roomie dinner. He's moving out this week, and then will be leaving to Cambodia and Vietnam for 2 months. I shall miss him. Anyway, we went for ice cream after, then went home to do homework. I finished my 15 page paper around 3 in the morning, and finished putting in citations today before class.

Only 1 class left, and then 2 final papers and 2 final tests and I'm done! And the two tests are a week from Tuesday. I will have so much free time. Awesome!

Some Strange European Disease!

I have a cold. It's not that bad, but it's annoying. At least I have a week before I have to go back to school, eh? I guess that's all I have to say about that, but I've just been chilling at home, so all I have to talk about are squirrels, mice and pokemon, and I don't particularly want to talk about any of those.

Ergo, beans.

I really like beans. They're delightful. Easy to store, easy to cook, multi-functional and tasty. They can be the side dish, or the main course. Or they can be used to keep the quiche pastry from rising during baking. I think my favorite kind of beans are lentils, even though I've never cooked them personally. They just taste really great, and apparently you don't need to soak them overnight before using them.

I also like chickpeas, aka garbanzo beans. They don't really mesh with other kinds of beans, but they're still delicious. They're a bit more temperamental, though. They need to soak and cook for longer than most beans.

Maybe I'll grow beans this summer. I am going to pay for a plot in the Northfield Community Garden this summer, which is a 10 minute walk from my apartment. I am at a loss for what to grow. Onions, potatoes, for sure. Probably corn and tomatoes. The plots aren't very large, so maybe that'll be enough. I suppose I could try something like celery or peas. The problem with peas and beans is that they require something to climb, though. I'll think about it. Feel free to give suggestions!

And please excuse the random topic. It was the first thing that popped in my head.