Day Seventy-three--Chana Masala

I know, I know. I've been slacking, not lazy, just slacking. We made a spur of the moment decision to drive over to NY Sunday afternoon. It was mostly because we couldn't figure out what to have for dinner and Tim's mom had called earlier and invited us over for a bbq over there. We spent the afternoon outside in the little blowup pool in the backyard and then we debated about what we wanted to have for the 4th. Nobody wanted to venture to the store and deal with the holiday crowds so at 4:3o we just piled everyone into the car and drove three hours.

We had some pretty amazing food waiting for us though. I wish I had thought to take a picture but honestly, we were so hungry that taking a picture was an afterthought. For food we had steamed clams (in a wine sauce), burgers, hot dogs, sweet potato salad, coleslaw, pasta salad, a corn salad, cider baked beans, and I'm pretty sure there was other stuff too. It was delicious. It was washed down with some of Ed's home brew. The beer was pretty good too. It was all enjoyed on the back deck and thankfully the temps had cooled from the 99 it was when we were out in the yard.

We came home Monday afternoon and because I still hadn't been food shopping and we were tired (and slightly lazy) we stopped at Wegmans and picked up subs for dinner. Tuesday night we were back on track. I had some chick peas in the cupboard so I made some channa masala. I made it in the afternoon so when Tim got home I could run and do food shopping before he left for aikido.

Chana Masala

This is a favorite go-to dinner for us. It's easy to make and it's full of flavor. If I'm careful with how much red pepper flakes I put in it then Aidan will eat it too. We ate this on top of brown rice and there was enough left over for Tim to take a big container of it to work with him and I have a container for my lunch too. Yay.

The rest of the week should be good. I'm kind of excited for tonight's dinner. I'm trying something new and I hope it works out. We're moving our pizza night up one night because Friday night we head to NY again for the weekend. I'll be sure to take pictures this time. =) Until later, stay cool!

Day Thirty-four-- Chana Masala

We had dinner later last night that we usually do. Chalk it up to poor planning and brown rice. Connor had his karate class so while he and Tim were at karate, I ran down and used our treadmill for 30 minutes. By the time I came upstairs I only had 15 minutes before they got home. I immediately put on the brown rice because it takes so long to cook. The chana masala came together pretty quickly.

Chana Masala

This was a request from Tim. He loves this stuff. I have to admit it is pretty tasty. Plus, it used up pretty much the rest of the spinach that I had so we didn't waste it. My only problem was that the brown rice took FOREVER to cook. It worked out in the end though because Connor came home with a pretty low blood sugar from karate and we had to treat that before he could eat. Somehow, it all came together and we were eating by 8.

I love this recipe. It's really easy to make and it has so much flavor to it. I cut back on the red pepper flakes these days because of Aidan. He actually ate a bowl full of it and said he liked it.

Well, I was up at 5:40 this morning (probably because I was asleep at 8:30 last night) and now that I have this post done I am going to treat Patchy to a nice morning river front walk. I'm looking forward to tonight's dinner. I'm making something new and I hope it turns out. Until tonight (or tomorrow morning), Happy cooking!

Day Seventeen--Channa Masala

I was back in the kitchen tonight and it was an easy one tonight. I pulled an oldie but goodie out from our vegan days. The good 'ol chana masala.

Chana Masala on top of coconut rice.

This is a super easy dinner to make. I used organic chick peas and spinach. I fry the onions up in a little bit of peanut oil and when the onions start to caramelize, I put in some garlic and garam masala powder and ketchup. The original recipe called for tomato paste and I never have paste in the house. Out of desperation one time I used ketchup and it was good. I was happy that I have just replaced our old ketchup with organic ketchup. Once that cooks for a bit, I then add some chickpeas and a bit of coconut milk (the rest of the can of milk goes into making the rice) and some red pepper flakes. I didn't use as many red pepper flakes as I used to because I wanted Aidan to eat it. After it's salted and peppered I put in a whole bunch of spinach. Then it just simmers until the rice is done.

We haven't had this for a while so it tasted so good. Connor said he didn't like it before he even ate it but we suggested he try it anyway and he ended up wanting a second bowl of it. He does this every time we make this. I don't if it's because he doesn't like the smell of it when it's cooking or how it looks, but he always ends up eating it and loving it. Aidan ate it and said he loved it and said he could have handled it a little spicier. He's so funny. Maybe next time I can ramp up the spiciness a tiny bit again.

That is about all I have for tonight. Tomorrow night I'm not really sure what is going to happen. We are going to a 6 pm presentation by one of my friends and there will be pizza provided. I know the boys will be all over that so I probably won't bother with making anything. I'll just have to wait for the weekend to make my own pizza...which I prefer. Happy cooking!