A Curry of Things to Do

Alright, alright, I know that title's a bit of a stretch. Indulge me a little, please :). I'm sorry I've been gone for a week now, but I have a flurry... or curry (hehe, there I go again!) of things to do. Very soon I'll be posting pretty often (especially because my camera is filled with yummy photos).

I'm not one to make excuses, but I think I should probably explain why I've been gone:

1. My mom's birthday was on Monday. Happy Birthday, Mom! Because she and I have been so busy, we decided to postpone our formal celebration of it until my spring break (next weekend). We plan to go to a vegan and vegetarian restaurant that we absolutely love. My mom has been such a shining light in my life and is always a wonderful role model. I really look up to her and hope that she will have a great year. Her co-workers got her a cake yesterday as a nice surprise. Of course I took a picture of it.

2. This Saturday, most of my friends leave for a school trip in which they live in the Wilderness for 10 days. I opted not to go and instead, I just found a great camp for this summer. Unfortunately, you'll have to wait for my next post to see what it is. Anywho, since a lot of sophomores will be leaving soon and spring break follows, all of my classes are jam-packed with worked before they do. I have tests in all of my subjects plus 3 papers due. Now I think you can see why I haven't been diligent with my blogging.

3. I have a new blog underway, also. I just registered my own domain so hopefully it will be up and running by April (after all this crazy school work, of course.) Please look out for when that happens since I'm trying to make it as organized and fun as possible. I'm super excited and I hope all of you are, too.

Any suggestions? What would you all like to see more/less of? Do you have a favorite web hoster or blogging software? I'm new to all of this but I'm defintely having lots of fun and would welcome any of your ideas!

Today's edition of my week recap will be curries. For some reason, I was just feeling the curries last week, you know? Sometimes recipes just sound amazing, even if you've never made ones like them before (I used to be wary of curry because I thought it was too spicy. I guess it's all about how you accessorize).

What have your latest random food cravings been?

First, let it be known that Veganomicon is the mother of all vegan cookbooks. Isa is a genius, end of story.

I made Veganomicon's Red Lentil-Cauliflower Curry last week and it was amazing. The combination of spices made it so flavorful but not overly so thanks to the cinnamon mellowing it. I love cauliflower, lentils, and cinnamon (all daily occurrences for this girl) so you can imagine I loved this recipe. I would definitely recommend it and I even made it twice! If you're wary of curry, don't let it stop you from making this. There are many different types so you just have to find the one that's right for you. Oh, and I also learned that parsnips are quite good. Sine they were mixed in, I don't know what they taste like by themselves, but all I know is that I liked it.

Do you like parsnips? What is your favorite way to eat them?

I also made the Zucchini Chickpea Tomato Curry from Eat, Drink, & Be Vegan. I love this book for quick recipes that are delicious, too. I'm a huge fan of chickpeas and zucchini so I knew this really couldn't go wrong. It had a sweet potato in it, too, which worked nicely to counteract the bite of the curry. I subbed an orange one even though it called for yellow-flesh because I could not find unique colored ones anywhere. I didn't mind since I figure the more vitamin A, the better (my "squash-tanned" hands can definitely show you that I live by that). Again, this dish was a winner. I'd say the first curry was more satisfying, though. If you're looking for a sweeter dish, this is your curry.

And while we're on the subject of tomatoes, do any of you use fresh tomatoes when recipes call for canned? After Avery's comment and talking to my friend who works for a food research and marketing company about the BPA in cans, I figured it's best to reduce my intake. If you have any solutions of how to go about subbing this, I'd be glad to hear them.

Ta-ta for now, my fellow foodies. I'm off to work on my paper about the role of race and ethnicity in South Africa's poverty due to their past, present, and future. Oh, the joys of high school!

xox,

Mandiee

P.S. I have lots of great news coming up and I can't wait to share it with you all. What's one nice thing that's happened to you lately? I love hearing things that make others happy. Doesn't it just feel good to tell someone sometimes? Well, I'm all ears!

P.P.S. chia seed giveaway here