Meatless Monday- Curried Eggplant

This week we made curry eggplant with tomatoes, chick peas and onions on coconut rice! 

It's 100% vegan!

We are starting to run out of ideas for recipes, so Ryan actually had to do research for this one! The recipe was found at http://www.realsimple.com/food-recipes/browse-all-recipes/curried-eggplant-tomatoes-basil 

Curried Eggplant with Tomatoes and Basil

1 Tbsp Olive Oil
1 Onion, chopped
2 Tomatoes, chopped
1 Eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 1/2 tsp curry powder (we found this amount a bit weak, you may want to add more)
1 (15oz) can rinsed chickpeas
1/2 cup fresh basil (cut in half if you use dry.. we forgot to do that part)
1/4 cup plain yogurt (optional) (we didn't use any yogurt)

1. Heat the oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 4 to 6 minutes.

1. Stir in the tomatoes, eggplant, curry powder, 1 teaspoon salt, and ¼ teaspoon black pepper. Cook, stirring, until fragrant, about 2 minutes.

1. Add 2 cups water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, partially covered, until eggplant is tender, 12 to 15 minutes.

1. Stir in the chickpeas and cook just until heated through, about 3 minutes.

1. Remove the vegetables from heat and stir in the basil. 

Coconut Rice
1 1/2 cups water 
1/2 cup coconut milk

1 cup long grain white rice 

We have a rice cooker! So Ryan just set the rice cooker with all the ingredients inside.. I don't really know how to use it (wow that sounds sad...) I really should learn! It makes amazing rice!

The Costumes of 2014

So I like dressing up... Quite a bit. I don't like spending buckets of money on my costumes however...

So here is a summary of my outfits/costumes of 2014!

December

4 bags of bows... $4 and a clearance skirt from Walmart!

$4.25 Frenchies... Yay!

Santa Shuffle prep... I had everything hiding in the house somewhere!

November

$5 Clearance sale!

$4 Clearance Sale!

October 

Wig.. $7.99
White Shirt.. $7
Dress.. $4 on clearance!

Halloween Win!

Zellers Out of Business Sale... $12 :)

September

Buy one get 2 dresses free deal? Done!

$7 dress

0.25 in felt and stuffing!

Summer!!

$9 clearance

$4 clearance dress

$0.50 in felt! Dundundun DUNdundun Dundundunnnn

$7 clearance!

$22... A little more then I like to spend...

 Remember this dress?

+ $0.50 in felt!

Value Village! $5.99!

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas from my family to yours!

Here are all my DIY Christmas creations this year!!

Frog Tape Snowflake

Leopard Print Ornaments!

Olaf Pullapart Cupcakes!!

 Button Wreath

Here's the tree again!

Ugly Sweater Party!... Went with a skirt!

Ferrero Rocher Cupcakes Again!

Merry Merry Christmas!!!

Meatless Monday- Grilled Asparagus

Monday night was my first attempt at grilling up asparagus! It was fairly simple all I used for a small bunch of asparagus was...

1 heaping tbsp Margarine

1 tbsp Lemon Juice

1/2 an Onion, chopped

Salt and Pepper to taste

Using a grill on medium heat, wrap the asparagus, margarine, lemon juice and salt and pepper into a piece of aluminum foil and grill for 2-3 minutes or until they are as tender as you would like them.

I also made some Dill Carrots and Roast Potatoes to accompany the asparagus!

Dill Carrots

4 large Carrots, sliced

Enough Water to cover Carrots

2 tbsp Margarine

2 tbsp Brown Sugar

1 tbsp Epicure Lemon Dilly Dip Mix

Salt and Pepper to taste

Place the carrots and lemon dilly spice either in a skillet or in a very shallow pot and pour just enough water to cover the carrots. Bring the carrots to a boil and let simmer over medium heat until the water is completely evaporated and the carrots are nice and tender!

Stir in the margarine, brown sugar and salt and pepper and enjoy!

Roasted Potatoes

Enough potatoes to feed your family, chopped into 2-bite pieces

Enough Olive Oil to coat the potatoes

1/2 an Onion

Salt and Pepper to taste

Wash the potato wedges and coat with oil. Pour into a large pan and add onions, salt and pepper.

Bake at 425 degrees for 45-50 minutes or until potatoes are crispy.

Enjoy!

Ferrero Rocher Chocolate Cupcakes

Christmas Baking anyone?
I love to make cupcakes or some sort of baking item for people who don't quite make the christmas present list!

This year I took my awesome chocolate cake recipe teamed up with the best Chocolates on the market! Ferrero Rocher!

Chocolate Cupcakes

1 3/4 cup All-purpose Flour

2 cups Sugar

3/4 cup Cocoa Powder

1 tsp Baking Powder

1 tsp Baking Soda

1 cup Milk

1/2 cup Vegetable Oil

2 Eggs

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup Boiling Water

• Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder, and baking soda in a large bowl.
• Combine the Milk, oil, eggs and vanilla. Make a well in the dry ingredients and pour the milk mixture into the bowl. Mix Well.
• Add the boiling water and gently fold into the batter.
• Bake cupcakes at 350 degrees for 22 minutes. 9" cake for 35-55 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
• Enjoy!

Now the fun part... Adding the goodies!!

Since these chocolates can be a little expensive I cut them in half. I baked half in the cupcake and places the other half on top.

The Finished Product!

Makingerby Blogging Challenge

This was fun getting used to posting on a regular basis!

Here is the Makingerby blogging challenge to get to know ourselves better!

An Animal

Day 14! At last! And this is an easy one! A picture of an animal!

No one should be surprised by my choice! I take any excuse to show off pictures of Princess Peach!! <3 I am very grateful that my little kitty has no interest in my christmas tree at all. She watches it from her perch but I have no fears of her climbing it or knocking it down while I'm at work.
She's gained a bit of weight this winter and I think that may be a contributing factor to her good behaviour, I'm sure that weight won't last when the weather starts to warm up!