The snow is falling, I think I’ll spend time with the yarn today.
Monthly Archives: January 2016
Veggie Dish: Let’s Make Some Chickpeas
I’ve had a few NicoStuff buddies ask for recipes, so I thought I would try and post a few. Today’s recipe is for Chickpeas, a staple in my kitchen for veggie eats.
The ingredients are simple. You need Dry Chickpeas, Water, various spices (whatever you like). You also need a few kitchen tools, one pie plate, measuring cups. one bowl/ pot with a lid to soak the chickpeas, a colander for rinsing, and a crock pot to do the cooking. Also a slotted spoon is helpful, and don’t forget containers to store your yummy cooked chickpeas in.
Let’s get started:
Start off by measuring One Cup and a Half of Dried Chickpeas, and place them in a pie plate.
Next sort through the chickpeas, and remove any ones that are broken, or look slightly off.
Transfer the chickpeas to the colander, and give them a good rinse under the faucet. Then you can move them to a pan, or bowl to soak. My favorite pan has a lid that is made for draining.
Completely cover the chickpeas in water, plus a little bit more as the chickpeas will absorb the water. Put the lid on the pan, and find a spot in the kitchen to let them rest, and then find something else to do because they need to soak, well overnight. I like to soak mine at least for 10 hours, but a few hours longer won’t hurt them a bit.
Also I drain off the water, and add in new water every couple of hours.
So while you are waiting, crochet a couple of headbands, clean the house, do some laundry, and see what Dylan is up to. Then get some sleep.
The next day…..
Once the chickpeas have soaked over night, it is time to drain them one last time. I also give them one more rinse under the faucet.
Then it is time to transfer them to the Crock Pot to cook.
If you are going to use the chickpeas in savory dishes add in a good amount of kosher salt, 3 teaspoons of Cumin, a dash of pepper, and 2 teaspoons of chopped garlic. If you are going to use them in sweet dishes, just add in a bit of kosher salt. Then cover them up with 8-10 cups of water, and set the crock pot to high. Then it is time to find some more crafts to do, because they need to cook all day.
Time to crochet some more ear-warmers for Agnes.
I like to start mine in the morning, and let them cook until dinner-time. I switch the crock pot to low for the last two hours of cooking.
When dinner-time rolls around it is time to enjoy your fresh Chickpeas.
Use a slotted spoon to remove the chickpeas from the Crock pot, and transfer them into dishes for storage. I store mine without the liquid in the fridge for 10-14 days.
The cooked chickpeas can be added into burritos, roasted with veggies, or just roasted on their own. I also use about half of the cooked batch to make homemade Hummus!
I know this may seem like too many steps when you can just pick up a can of them from the store. But there really is something about turning the little pebbles of dried chickpeas into yummy food.
Hope you enjoy this recipe, and let me know what dishes you like to use chickpeas for.
2015: The Year of the Veggies
Well, I am happy to report that I met my goal. I remained a vegetarian for the entire year of 2015!
Let me tell you how it went.
The first three months were the toughest. I wasn’t feeling too good, and my stomach was adjusting to the changes in my everyday diet. I also felt hungry, a lot.
After that, months three through six were not too bad at all. I had a check-up with my doctor, and blood-work done. My levels were great, and I was starting to feel better. My digestive issues were gone too, along with heartburn, and any acid-reflux.
The following three months were good. My usual stress-ocular-almost daily migraines were gone. I tried more vegan dishes, and made lots of tasty vegetarian dishes too. Cooking was actually fun again.
The last three months of the challenge were a breeze. I stayed a vegetarian through Thanksgiving and Christmas. I closed out the year with a tasty dish. Even the kiddos were happy that I met my goal.
Here is the good, the bad, and the very strange during my year as a vegetarian.
The Good: Cooking became fun again. My stomach troubles, and digestive issues went away completely. I didn’t use a single tums or pepcid once in 2015. The coolest thing though, is that my migraines almost vanished. I still have the monthly “horomonal” ones, but the everyday stress ones are completely gone.
The Bad: This one is one of those bad, but good, but well hmmm things. I lost five pounds right off the bat, but only kept off those five pounds for the entire year. Weight loss wasn’t a goal of mine when I decided to stop eating meat, but I was a little surprised that I didn’t see a little bitty bit more drop off. I also had really weird dreams of Christmas Hams, and Agnes force feeding me Chicken Taquitos. One more thing, I now have a zero tolerance for fried foods. My Doctor says that a great thing to cut out anyway, but now I can’t eat anything that involves the fryer.
The Strange: Want to have a complete stranger call you a weirdo, tell them you are a vegetarian. Want to have a close friend say that you are crazy, tell them that you are a vegetarian. Want to anger relatives who bring meat to family get-togethers, tell them you are a vegetarian. I think I isolated myself from just about everything with my stint with vegetarianism, but my stomach loves me more now, so it was well worth it.
One of the best things was getting back into cooking. My family tends to be a, well, a little picky. Like they will only eat about four dishes. That causes a bit of a rut for me in the kitchen. Going vegetarian gave me new dishes to try, new recipes to learn, and it was really refreshing. Here are just a few of my favorites.
Roasted veggies with Pasta. This is a great clean out the fridge or see what’s in the freezer dish. You can even throw in some already cooked Chickpeas to roast along with the veggies for a little added protein.
Call it Veggie Goulash, or Veggie Chili Mac, I love it with extra Okra!
Vegan Veggie Pizza! O.k. this is the one dish that scared my eleven year old the most. He was afraid that if I could turn pizza into a vegan dish, then everything else would be vegan too. The tiny ones tried it, and they really liked it. I make the dough from scratch, and no milk, eggs, or butter is involved. This vegan pizza also didn’t have cheese or a sauce, just late-season Summer veggies. It was delicious!
Homemade Potato and Broccoli soup with fresh Homemade bread. I love soup, and well my family doesn’t. It doesn’t keep me from making a giant batch and having lunch ready in the freezer for weeks.
Now that we are in January I have remained a vegetarian. I just haven’t wanted to eat meat or fish. As for the future, I think, I’m going to remain mostly vegetarian. When I’m cooking at home, I’ll still prepare vegetarian meals for me, but I’m making take-out an option to order off the regular menu. There aren’t enough veggie options around in my neck of the woods. We’ll see what happens though, I’m feeling pretty good right now, so I don’t really want to change it.
Handmade Christmas Gifts 2015
Throughout 2015 I crocheted many handmade gifts for friends, teachers, and family too. I had set a goal last year to crochet a blanket for each and every family member. That meant eight blankets needed to be made. I am happy to report that I made my goal, and I think my family appreciated the gifts too.
I think I made at least twenty scarves for the kids teachers and friends of the family too.
I also crocheted wreaths for Agnes and Dylan to pass out for gift bags at Christmas. I think I crocheted forty-five of them for the kiddos.
Here are some photos of all of the handmade blankets that I gifted this year.
I made this colorful granny-square blanket for my Mother in law. She was the one who taught me how to make a granny-square a few years ago.
I made this African flower blanket for my Mother. She said that her grandmother made a blanket just like this one many years ago. I think that is pretty cool.
I made this super cozy grey blanket for my soon to be Brother in law.
I called this one my granny-burst blanket for my Brother’s girlfriend. This blanket had little granny-circles encompassed in squares, and the white yarn made the bright colors pop.
I made this lovely hexagon blanket for my Sister (in law) . I loved the look of this blanket, it looks like stained glass.
I made this bright-striped blanket for my Brother. This blanket came together quickly. This one was the biggest blanket that I made, but it only took me about a month and a half to complete it.
Just in time for Christmas, I finished up these beautiful granny-square blankets for my darling nieces. How I love those darling little ones.
It was really fun crafting and crocheting through the year. I am so happy that I met my goal for handmade gifts. This year I’m teaching myself how to knit. Maybe I’ll make knitted gifts for everyone next Christmas.
Sunday Stills
Cold Sunday