Tomato and Mushroom Chicken Curry

I like making curry because I can add, and experiment with ,vegetables and I can also make big batches so I don't have to cook again for a few days. The only thing is I don't really keep track of quantities when I make curry; I need to start doing that.

Tomato and Mushroom Chicken Curry

2 tbsp olive oil
3 chicken breasts, cut into small pieces
1 tsp garam masala
1 tsp garlic, minced
1 tbsp curry powder
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tbsp hot sauce
6 mushrooms, cut up
1/2 can crushed tomato
1 cup frozen vegetables
Salt and pepper to taste

Fry the chicken until the colour changes
Add onion and garlic and fry for a while
Add the spices and fry for a couple of minutes
Add vegetables, saute and then add crushed tomato
Reduce heat to medium and cook for around 20 minutes
Season to taste

Broccoli and Bok Choy Soup

It snowed today, quite heavily too! I don't remember ever seeing it snow in Vancouver in February! Perfect weather for soup though. I was initially going to just make simple broccoli soup but when I made my chicken curry I did an abysmal job of removing the chicken from the bone so I had three bones with a lot of chicken flesh still on them. As one of the proverbs I live by is "waste not, want not" I decided to make use of the bones to make chicken stock. I also wanted to use the remainder of my bok choy before it wilts. Here is my recipe.

Broccoli Soup

1 head of broccoli, cut into small florets
3 bok choy stalks, chopped up
1/2 an onion, diced
1 medium sized potato, cubed
1 tbsp minced garlic
salt and pepper to taste
1 1/2 cup milk
1 tsp rosemary
2 cups chicken stock

Saute the onion and garlic. Add the potato, broccoli, bok choy and cubed potato.
Add chicken stock, milk, and rosemary. Mix well
Bring to boil, then reduce heat, cover and simmer for 20 minutes.

After it was cooked, I blended it because I don't like chunky soup. It looks a bit weird but it tastes good!

Rosemary Cornbread

I love cornbread! It's so easy to make, easy to freeze and is delicious. I don't like my cornbread to taste too strongly of baking powder so I add 3 teaspoons instead of the recommended 4.

Rosemary Cornbread

3/4 cup cornmeal
1 cup milk
1 cup allpurpose flour
3 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup sugar
1 egg
1/3 cup olive oil
1 tsp dried rosemary

Preheat the oven to 400F and lightly grease a 9-inch square pan.
Mix the cornmeal and milk in a small bowl
In a large bowl mix together the flour, baking powder, dried rosemary and sugar.
Mix the egg and oil together well and stir into the cornmeal.
Add the cornmeal to the flour and stir
Pour into the prepared pan and bake for 25 minutes

Fried Brown Rice Noodles with Zucchini and Mushrooms

I'm trying to use up my zucchini. This was really tasty!

Bison Meatballs

I bought some ground bison at an organic food store a couple of weeks ago because it was so cheap. I had no idea what to do with it but I remember some homemade hamburgers I had a while ago which were delicious so I decided to make meatballs instead (it's funny how things connect in my head!).

Here is the recipe

I added some hot sauce, ginger powder, basil, garlic and black pepper to the original recipe. I made some breadcrumbs using rye bread.

I am so impressed by how well they turned out! Absolutely delicious! I don't even like meat that much but I'm already planning to buy some more bison. I don't think I'll ever buy IKEA meatballs again!

Zucchini Bread

Zucchini is one of the words I had to remember when I moved to Canada. I grew up calling zucchinis courgettes,eggplants aubergines, scallions spring onions and cilantro coriander. I ran across this zucchini bread recipe when I was googling what I could make with the zucchini that I impulsively bought at the market the other day. It sounded interesting so I gave it a try. I used olive oil instead of melted butter.



This is the zucchini bread mix before I added the flour

And this is it after I added my dried fruit and nuts mix (peanuts, banana chips, cranberries, sunflower seeds)

It turned out beautifully after an hour in the oven

I was really impressed by the results! It tasted so good! My roommate liked it to, and ,judging by the delicious French crepes she makes, I take that as a huge compliment:)

The website has a link to a chocolate zucchini bread recipe. I am definitely going to try that next!

Mushroom Rice

Recipe here

Potato Pancakes

Recipe here

Coconut Mango Rice Pudding

When we were in Scotland, my mum would make rice pudding for us all the time. It's such a comforting dessert so it's perfect for winter. My best friend sends me this brand from Scotland because I beg her for it every winter! It is heavenly!

I feel sorry for her having to pay shipping costs for such a heavy product. I send her Lucky Charms because they don't sell them in Scotland anymore. Anyway, I digress!

I decided to try out a rice pudding recipe but since I don't like going the ordinary route, I made mine with coconut milk and mango. Mangoes are by far my favourite fruit. Recipe here

Wow, wow,wow! I was very happy with the finished product!

I'm already thinking about variations. Maybe brown rice? Durian? Raisins? Peaches?

Cranberry Apple Dessert with Baobab Fruit Flour

I finally tried out the baobab fruit flour! This dessert took me all of 3 minutes to make! I chopped up an apple, mixed together the apple pieces and some dried cranberries. I then added a little ginger tea and microwaved this for 3 minutes. When it was done I added a tablespoon of coconut oil and mixed well. Then I added a tablespoon of the flour over the fruit

Then I mixed it together

Yum!

Battered Pollock

Very easy to make! Dip the fish filets into some beaten eggs, then again into some seasoned flour and fry until golden brown and crispy( about 4 minutes on each side)

Henna

Thanks to Farrah I've decided to try and chronicle my hair journey. I will mostly talk about things I use in my hair. I am trying to get rid of all store-bought hair and body products and make my own. It's a little expensive but henna is something which is really affordable.I love using henna for my hair especially now that my hair is natural and so curly. I get it at my local Indian store. There are soooo many benefits

• Helps reduce shedding
• Relaxes the curl in my hair so that it's easier to comb 
• Moisturizes hair
• Adds natural colour to the hair if you add something acidic for dye release
• Strengthens hair
• Boosts hair growth
• Gets rid of dandruff

And many, many more!

I just started using a new brand of henna and I really like the fact that it has already been sifted so there are less twiggy bits in there.

I'm always experimenting with henna mixes. Here is the one I used this time around.

My Henna Mix

100g henna
Tea mix (made with black tea, amla powder and fenugreek)
1 tbsp apple cider vinegar (for dye release)
A few drops of jasmine essential oil (to try and mask the henna smell)
1 tbsp olive oil
1tsp paprika ( for red highlights)
Some coconut conditioner (to combat dryness)

I just mixed everything all together in a plastic container and left it in a warm place overnight for dye release.

It looks reminiscent of goose poo, smelled like it too.

I left the henna on for 3 hours and then washed it out.

It's kinda hard to see but my jet black hair does seem to have turned slightly brown and, in the sun, I can see some red highlights. Some success at least!

WE Coffee

Exploring a new cafe downtown. I had Belgian waffles

Seledka (Russian Herring)

Thank you Tatiana for this recipe!It tasted really good! I bought the herring (seledka), which had been soaked in brine, from a European grocery downtown.

I don't really enjoy cutting fish so I normally buy already-cut and deboned fish. I didn't have this luxury this time. I think I did a pretty decent job!

Cutting the fish was the hardest part of this recipe. Next I got some olive oil and chopped onions together.

I then layered the fish and the oil in a plastic container. After pouring some olive oil over the fish, I shook the container and let it sit for a day in the fridge, shaking it from time to time.