Kala Chana

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I spent my sophomore year of college at North Carolina State University in Raleigh.  What a different place than Oregon!  Most of that time was spent with a roommate from India who spoke better English than I do.  I still miss you Archana!  

We also had a very good friend from Sri Lanka named Indi.  The weekend of President's Day, Archana and I visited Indi's home in Charlotte, NC.  Indi's mom cooked for us and while I had been eating Archana's Indian cooking, she did not eat her food as spicy as many Indians.  Indi's mom cooked spicy and I mean spicy!  It was the first time I had real Ceylon tea...her family would send her tea directly from Sri Lanka.  And, it was the first time I had kala chana or black chickpeas.  These little jewels are like the chickpeas or garbanzo beans we typically see except they are smaller and have a thick outer skin that's typically brown.  She made these with salmon.  I loved it!  Plus, the black chickpeas made it almost bearable to eat the salmon that was so spicy it burned my mouth. 

I loved them so much that Indi's mom sent the rest of what she had home with me.  Apparently, the rest of Indi's family wasn't too keen on the black chickpeas.  I wish Indi's mom had spoke better English...I think I could have learned lots about cooking yummy foods from her.


That was almost eleven years ago.  In February, I saw those yummy little black chickpeas in a little Indian store at Pike's Place.  I had to buy a bag.  Tonight, I finally got around to cooking them. 

Why is it that we forget how good simple food can be?  I made salmon...although in no way near as spicy as Indi's mom and the black chickpeas.  What a wonderful memory and a wonderful taste.  While, I haven't done a good job of keeping in contact with my friends...haven't spoke to Indi since I came home from NC, tonight's dinner took me right back to that great weekend and my wonderful friends.  What meal takes you back to a fond memory?

Gluten-Free Pride of Iowa Cookies

Growing up, my grandmother always had cookie dough in the freezer.  Pride of Iowa cookies were always there...I thought she called them Pride of Iowa since my grandfather is from Iowa.  Turns out, it was a brand :)  Anyway, Andrew grew up loving these cookies too. 

Gluten-free Pride of Iowa Cookies

1 c. butter or shortening (I've used both, prefer the butter)
1 c. brown sugar
1 c. white sugar
2 eggs
1 T. vanilla
2 c. gluten-free flour mix 
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
2 c. oatmeal
1 c. shredded coconut
1 c. dried cranberries

Cream together butter and sugars.  Add eggs and beat.  Sift together flour mix, salt, baking powder and baking soda.  Add flour mixture and oatmeal gradually to creamed mixture.  Stir in coconut and dried cranberries.  Drop onto ungreased cookie sheet.  Bake at 375 for 8-12 minutes.  Let cool for 5 minutes on the cookie sheet then transfer to wire rack. 


Notes: I have also used pecans, almonds or chocolate chips.  They all taste good!

 

Naturally Knocked Up

The title is stolen from a blog with the same name...check it out.  It's a great blog on fertility by someone who also has PCOS!

Photo taken December 19th, shortly after conception :)

Speaking of PCOS or polycystic ovary syndrome, I was diagnosed at 15 (as discussed before).  Within the next few years, I decided there was no way I was going to have children.  For one, I'm not terribly fond of most kids and for two, PCOS was going to make it difficult if not impossible to get pregnant.  Well, we know what usually happens when we say "never" but I digress.  I've never been fond of artificial fertility stuff either.  So, no children.  And, with poor self-esteem/body image I "knew" no guy was going to be interested anyway.

Then, I got a bit older and my cousin had her first kid.  Then, I joined the Mormon Church and everyone was having babies.  It started to not seem like such a bad idea.

Then, I got married (so much for no guy being interested) and eventually left the Mormon Church.  Married life was stressful and children again seemed like an unreasonable idea.

As we know, different things are important at different points in our life.  Suddenly, I became important...my health, both physical and mental became important.  Over a 2 year period, I lost over 60 pounds, became physically active, ate healthier, and worked hard to make strides in my self-esteem/body image.   

The PCOS was still there...but a child seemed like a possibility again.  So, Thanksgiving 2009, Andrew and I decided we were open to the idea of a child, through natural means, but that we weren't really going to "try."  Ironically, I was pregnant by Christmas.

I still have issues.  I still have problems with poor self-esteem, eating foods that make me feel like crap, not getting enough exercise, etc.  But, most of the time I know the difference.  I know things or issues aren't permanent...they ebb and flow.

On one hand, I joke that with how quickly I got pregnant, it is a good thing I wasn't promiscuous in high school.  On the other hand, I firmly believe that without the changes I made this would have never happened.

Yummy Mounds

I'm not especially creative when it comes to recipes.  I do like adapting others recipes to my style or ingredients.  Having said that, I think this is the first recipe posted by Kimi at The Nourishing Gourmet that I've tried.  She calls them Mounds but hers are really Almond Joy.  I think I would leave the almonds off myself since they seemed to have been more of a pain then anything...but I also didn't have whole almonds.  I also didn't feel like taking the time to melt honey so I used agave syrup which is liquid at room temp.  I think they came out a little different but were easy and tasty.

Andrew's reaction was "Damn, this is good."  Ed's was "You can bring this anytime," and the ladies at work all wanted the recipe.  So thank you Kimi for an awesome treat!


Yummy Mounds

1 1/3 c. unsweetened coconut flakes (seriously folks, unsweetened!)
1/2 c. of coconut oil
1/4 c. of agave syrup
1 tsp. almond extract

Muffin tin or 12 silicon muffin cups (this is what I used and they just peel back to get the Mound out).

Melt the coconut oil in the microwave.  Add the agave and almond extract.  Stir well.  Then add the coconut.  Mix well.  Use about 1 T per muffin tin and tamp the mixture down with your fingers.  Freeze for 15-30 min.

3/4 c. cocoa powder
1/3 c. agave syrup (Kimi used a scant 1/4 c honey, but 1/4 c of agave didn't seem sweet enough; taste to see how sweet you want yours)

1 c. coconut oil
1 T. vanilla extract

Again, start by melting the coconut oil in the microwave.  Add the agave and vanilla and whisk in the cocoa (preferably you sifted it to get rid of the lumps). 

Once thoroughly mixed and at desired sweetness, use approx. 2 T per muffin tin.  Put them back in the freezer for another 30 min. 

These do need to be stored in the freezer because coconut oil can get soft at room temperature.  But, you won't care because they taste so darn good straight out of the freezer.  I think these will be my go to treat this summer!

Keeping up with the Joneses...All 10,000 of Them!

We have been talking about this for a few years...and it was just talk.  Apparently this year is the time to increase the Jones household.  Their plush accommodations have been waiting for  2 months.  Luckily it didn't take 9 months to bring these little babies home.

Yesterday was the introduction of honeybees.  We ordered 3lbs of them from Ruhl Bee Supply in Gladstone.  They were delayed by a day due to poor weather driving up from California but they finally made it.  We even managed to get them into the hive without either one of us getting stung!  That was even with not knowing really what we were doing and not using our veils properly...we both ended up with a couple in the veil.  No big deal though.  They are at their calmest right now.  This fall when the want to protect their honey stores...that will be a different story.

And for the question everyone, who hasn't had bees themselves, is asking..."Why bees?"  My flipant answer is always, "Why not!" But, let's be honest.  There's more to it than that.  

I do not harbor back to the land yearnings as my husband suspects.  Nor do I want to turn our small city lot into GreenAcres which he also is very concerned about.  No, neither of these things are the reason.  But, I do have agrarian needs.  I do worry about things like colony collapse and bee decline.  I am wise enough to know (I hope) that my one hobby hive is not going to be enough to stop the devastation.  

I do know though that I am setting a precedence for my children...the idea that nature is not to be afraid of...that nature is a nourishing part of our soul.  Its important to us. Important to remember that we are not healthy when we try to shut nature out of our lives.  We depend on nature and visa versa.  

I look forward to learning about my Girls, their habits, and their needs.  I look forward to teaching my child about nature and respect. Our bees will be just one little part of the natural world that can bring peace and interest into our lives.  So when people ask, its "Why not?" and so much more.