RAIN!!

AHHH! Its raining for the first time this year!! YAY! I absolutely love the rain. Like, its my best friend. It smells so good! And it puts me in a fantastic mood. The kind of mood where you just wanna go outside and say, "Bring it on life! I can handle it!" You ever get that feeling? Yeah, you know you do. Say it! Say it!! There you go! :) Of course, its a bit chilly. But not really! Let's see, *checks temperature* *Gets frustrated because her computer isn't working* AH! Here it is. In little ol' Wisconsin, it is...50 degrees!! YAY! That is warm for us here in WI. Well anywho. I made dinner again tonight, although it wasn't my night. It was rather tasty though. Gosh, I'm really craving an egg right now. DANG! I might just have to go and make an egg quick. Eh, after this posteroonie. So. It was Chickpea & Sweet Potato Curry. We put it over rice and everything! We ran out of curry, so I supplemented cumin instead, and it was a little too cumin-y for me, but nonetheless, good. We also omitted the jalapeno Chiles because my mom can't handle spicy foods. I recommend it! Here it is.

• 2 Tablespoons Canola Oil
• 1 Small chopped yellow onion
• 2 Cloves finely chopped garlic
• 1 Tablespoon chopped fresh Garlic
• 1 Seeded and finely chopped Thai or Jalapeno chile
• 1 Tablespoon Curry powder
• Salt and pepper-to taste
• 1 Large Sweet Potato peeled and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1 Can (15 oz.) Chick Peas/Garbanzo beans drained and rinsed
• I can (14 oz.) Coconut milk well shaken
• 1/2 Cup FROZEN peas(put em in there frozen ;])
• 1/3 Cup Canned diced tomatoes drained
• Steamed basmati rice (for serving)

1. Make the Curry Base

• In a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium-low heat, warm the oil. Add the onion, garlic, ginger, and chile and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion is translucent, about four minutes. Stir in the curry powder and cook, stirring constantly, until fragrant, about thirty seconds. Season to taste with salt and pepper.

1. Cook the Vegetables

• Add the sweet potato, chickpeas, the coconut mile, and 1cup water to the pan. Raise the heat to medium-high, bring just to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer, uncovered, until the sweet potato is tender, about ten minutes. Add the peas and tomatoes and cook until heated through. Serve in bowls over steamed rice if desired.

There you have it folks!! So yeah. I'm assuming you know how to cook rice, so thats all good. By the way, most of the recipes I post are from the fabulous book, "Vegetarian" by Williams-Sonoma. :) I shall post another one tomorrow, not today, because I still want an egg. Haha. Well, Goodnight readers/fellow bloggers!

Quinoa Veggie Bean Burritos Enchilada Style

Ok. So I found this recipe on www.vegweb.com. I highly recommend this recipe!! I made if for my family a few weeks ago and it is so worth the work. It takes a while to prepare, but it is really delicious. Can I say how good it is one more time? Haha. ITS GOOD! So here you go you veggie cooks out there. I give credit to a Mr. Kmouse.

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 large green or red bell pepper, chopped
• 1 small zucchini, chopped
• 2 cups baby spinach, roughly chopped
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon taco seasoning or chili powder
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1- 14oz. can diced tomatoes, drained and juice reserved
• 1- 14oz. can black, kidney, or pinto beans, drained and rinsed
• 2 cups water
• 3/4 cup quinoa
• 1 cup frozen corn (optional), thawed
• 1- 8oz. can tomato sauce seasoned with 1/2 teaspoon each cumin and chipotle chili powder
• 1/4 cup vegan mayo
• squirt of ketchup
• squirt of lime juice
• 6 soft taco size flour tortillas

1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.

2) Heat olive oil in a medium sized pot and saute onion, bell pepper, zucchini and garlic until they are soft. Stir in the cumin, taco seasoning, and oregano and then add the drained tomatoes and spinach. Add the black beans, water and quinoa. Bring to a boil and then lower heat to medium low and cover. Simmer for 20 minutes or until quinoa is tender. Stir in thawed corn (if using). Season with salt and pepper.

3) To make the sauce, mix the tomato sauce and the reserved tomato juice in a bowl. Season with cumin and chipotle chili powder. Stir until combined.

4) Prepare drizzle by combining vegan mayo, ketchup and lime juice in another small bowl.

5) To prepare burritos, spread a little bit of sauce in the bottom of a baking dish. Fill a tortilla generously with the quinoa mixture. There will be a lot of filling so don't be afraid to fill them to bursting. Roll the tortilla closed and place seam side down in the baking dish. Proceed with the rest of the tortillas. Pour remaining sauce on top of all the burritos. Drizzle with vegan mayo/lime juice mixture. Bake uncovered for 20 minutes.

SO like I said. This recipe takes time, but it really is worth it. I used corn tortillas instead of flour, and they were really good. Authentic latin food! I give it five stars!! BTW. You will have TONS of filling left. I used it for chip dip. Kinda like a salsa thing. Its REALLY yummy. :)

Vegetarianism..

Softball! How I've missed thee so. Of course, my injuries do not. Don't sprain your ankle, and definitely don't fall down the stairs. Not fun. But alas, one must practice to achieve goals! I do believe I will be sore tomorrow though. Hm.. Not much happened today. Unless you want to hear about how my boyfriend bought me a bracelet and why my friends and I were laughing like hyenas during lunch. Yeah, you don't wanna hear about that. Well, what do you wanna hear about?! I could tell you about what I had for dinner, but I didn't actually make it tonight because of the whole softball thing, so it doesn't really count. It was delicious none-the-less. BY THE WAY. I am a vegetarian. (did I mention that already?) Have been for a while now, so everything I post on here is all veggie friendly. I cook from this really amazing cookbook. I really haven't had one bad thing from there. I will also be-a posting recipes for your viewing/cooking pleasure. I will make a separate post for the BEST ones, so keep a look out for that. I'll repost the recipe later, when I have time, and no headache. So, alas. I bid thee farewell fellow blogger/readers!

Nite.

Kate

Fly me to the Moon

Well Hi again. As I was choosing a suitable profile layout for this wonderful blog of mine, I stumbled upon the one currently occupying said space and thought, "Wow! Isn't this beautiful?" I do oh-so love the stars and the moon. (FYI. I changed my layout. :) so its this new flower water cloud one) When I walk my dog, I often just look up at the moon and stare for a good half hour before freezing my buns off. I do live in Wisconsin you know, and it gets a mighty cold up here. Do you ever do that? I just find that space is so fascinating. I really do! I guess I chose the name of my 'blog' because it's quite ironic once you get to know me. I'm not really a typical teenager, give or take a few things, as you'll see once you get to know me better through my blogs. In fact, I do things many teenager's wouldn't. Such as, blog for instance. I also cook for my family as often as I can, keeping in mind my homework and extra curriculars. OH! Before I forget, I am a vegetarian for those of you who don't know me, and my parents, not so much. So whenever I cook, I usually make something veggie friendly. I think I'll use this blog to post some pictures of the food I make. Good idea? Wow. You can really tell I'm tired when my sarcasm is feigning. So, toodle-oo. Sleep well fellow bloggers!

Kate

Newsies.

Hello Y'all. This is officially my FIRST blog posting. Aren't you proud? Of course not. You don't know me! But, to me, this is the first step in becoming completely immersed in the phenomenon known as the Internet! What with Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, and several other sites in my internet history, I felt it was time to actually start doing something productive, instead of taking quizzes to see how good of a kisser I am, or how many kids I'll have. Now, you may see me as a complete stranger that has decided to post her daily doings on the internet, and you're absolutely right! I felt that my time could be salvaged somewhat on here, [plus, my parents think I'm doing homework] and I enjoy writing! So it's a win-win. And...You get to hear all about my life! How cool is that? Get's ya goin', doesn't it? Well, I do believe this concludes my introductory first post.

Au Revoir,

Kate