Category Archives: Nico in the Kitchen

Jan 16

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:

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Start off by measuring One Cup and a Half of Dried Chickpeas, and place them in a pie plate.

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Next sort through the chickpeas, and remove any ones that are broken, or look slightly off.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Then it is time to transfer them to the Crock Pot to cook.

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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.

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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.

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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.

 

 

Jan 13

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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Call it Veggie Goulash, or Veggie Chili Mac, I love it with extra Okra!

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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!

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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.

 

 

Jan 6

December’s Veggie Meals

December was the last month of my vegetarian 2015, and I finished out the year successfully. I also made some really delicious dishes.

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Veggie Lo Mien is one of my go-to dishes when we are ordering take-out. I made a pretty delicious batch of it at home too.

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We have a bunch of food allergies in our household. I’m trying out new recipes and snacks for the family. This batch of Homemade Pretzels, was vegan, and perfect.

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I kept the dishes simple for Christmas, and we had lots of yummy leftovers. I tried my hand at making restaurant style Queso, and it was pretty close. Besides the queso I had a veggie double decker with Mexican rice and cheese. So tasty!

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I made a Veggie Tater-tot casserole for one. I added in frozen corn, and plenty of broccoli. It was delicious!

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My last meal of the year. Lemon Pasta with Roasted Veggies, and Steak Fries. This meal was absolutely delicious, and filling even without the meat.

Well, we are six days into the new year, and I’ve stuck with my vegetarianism. The kiddos keep hoping that I’m going to break down and get some Arby’s.

Jan 2

December’s Tasty Treats

December was one of those months where I barely left the kitchen, but I forgot to take photos. I do have just a few photos to share with you.

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I made the kiddos a Giant Chocolate Chip Cookie for an afternoon snack. I sliced it up like a pizza, and they finished it in one setting.

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With the kids home on Christmas break, the kitchen has become a 24 hour diner. I’m shoveling out sandwiches, snacks, and meal after meal. Speaking of snacks, this was a batch of Hot Cocoa Brownies. They needed to be eaten with a fork because they were super giant and messy.

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I made some (vegan) Giant Soft Pretzels. The breadmaker did the tough part of mixing and taking care of the first proofing. I’m getting a bit better at my pretzel rolling skills.

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I also whipped up some Homemade Cheddar Cheese Dip for the kids. The tiny kiddos went crazy for this dip, but Thade prefers his with Mustard. Every single pretzel was gone in a hurry. Next time around I am going to have to double or triple the recipe.

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Then it was time for Christmas… There were pies, cakes, snacks, two meals, lots of family, and the house is still trashed. This pie is my RR Cherry Pie before it went in the oven.

I’m still cooking and cleaning. The kids are back to school on Tuesday, so I hope to get the house back together sometime next week. We’ll see though, I’m exhausted.

 

Jan 1

January 2016 Monthly Dinner Menu

Hello 2016! It is time to start a new year off with a new monthly dinner menu. I’ve got lots of yummy winter friendly meals planned for the month.

  • 1/1/2016: Tacos, Tortilla Chips, and Homemade Salsa
  • 1/2/2016: Pancakes and Bacon
  • 1/3/2016: Chicken Noodles, Mashed Potatoes, and Dinner Rolls
  • 1/4/2016: Popcorn Shrimp, Fries,  and Pasta with Roasted Veggies
  • 1/5/2016: Tacos, Tortilla Chips, and Homemade Salsa
  • 1/6/2016: Salmon Bites, Salad, and Breadsticks
  • 1/7/2016: Chicken Soft Tacos, Re-fried Beans, Mexican Rice, Tortilla Chips, and Homemade Salsa
  • 1/8/2016: Panko Popcorn Chicken and Steak Fries
  • 1/9/2016: Cinnamon Rolls, Bacon, Toast, and Breakfast Potatoes
  • 1/10/2016: Steaks, Baked Potatoes, and Roasted Veggies
  • 1/11/2016: Chicken Noodles, Mashed Potatoes, and Dinner Rolls
  • 1/12/2016: Beef Soft Tacos, Beans & Rice, Tortilla Chips, and Homemade Salsa
  • 1/13/2016: Panko Chicken Sandwiches and Tater Tots
  • 1/14/2016: Tacos, Tortilla Chips, and Homemade Salsa
  • 1/15/2016: Chili, Saltines, and Cornbread
  • 1/16/2016: Homemade Pizza and BBQ Wings
  • 1/17/2016: Fried Chicken, Spaghetti, and Homemade Bread
  • 1/18/2016: Chili, Saltines, and Cornbread
  • 1/19/2016: Tacos, Tortilla Chips, and Homemade Salsa
  • 1/20/2016: Chicken Chow Mien, Veggie Lo Mien, and Rice
  • 1/21/2016: Chicken Soft Tacos, Re-fried beans, Tortilla Chips, and Homemade Salsa
  • 1/22/2016: Panko Chicken Strips and Curly Fries
  • 1/23/2016: Snack Dinner
  • 1/24/2016: Baked Ziti and Breadsticks
  • 1/25/2016: Pizza Rolls and Chips
  • 1/26/2016: Tostadas, Tortilla Chips, and Homemade Salsa
  • 1/27/2016: Panko Chicken Sandwiches and Tater Tots
  • 1/28/2016: Tacos, Tortilla Chips, and Homemade Salsa
  • 1/29/2016: Homemade Pizza, Panko Popcorn Chicken, and Fries
  • 1/30/2016: Chicken Noodles, Mashed Potatoes, and Dinner Rolls
  • 1/31/2016: Pot Roast with Potatoes, and Dinner Rolls

The last three months of 2015 I was over my grocery budget… I hope to get back on track in January. Happy 2016 everybody!