Thirty before 30

As much as I hate to admit it, I will be the big 3-0 this year. Even though I didn't keep up with this blog as much as I would have liked, I did accomplish a great deal of my short term goals;I cooked my way through a cupcake calendar and I adopted a gorgeous Blue Heeler/Gold retriever mix (pictured below) just to name a couple. 

Her favorite spot is under [any] bed 

I decided the best way to ring in my thirties was to try one of those "30 before 30" bucket lists. It took me a while but I found one that I liked that I thought was obtainable and realistic, with a bit of tweaking. A few of these bucket list items I can already cross off but I may attempt again if time permits. It's already the end of March. I can use all the help I can get.

1. Run a 5 K

I [mostly] ran the Bolder Boulder in Boulder, CO last year. The Bolder Boulder is a 10 K. I ran most of it. Let's split the difference and say I ran 5 K. For the purpose of this list, mission accomplished. 

2.Be Debt Free
This one I would recommend to anyone at any age. I don't want to get into a debate about whether or not credit cards are good or bad but my philosophy is to use your credit card and pay the monthly balance every month to avoid any interest and service charges. One of the best ways to build your credit is on time payments. I calculated that I am 11 months away from being completely debt free!!

3. Hike a Mountain
Last summer, we were all about hiking, That is one of the great benefits of living in Colorado. There are tons of outdoor activities during the summer time.  Perhaps my favorite hike would be Hanging Lake in Glenwood Springs.

Hanging Lake

4.Cross Stitch

5.Take a Painting Class

6.Take a Road Trip
Before starting my undergrad, We drove my car from CO to NY and then back four years later. I think that counts.
There are talks about driving to St. Louis to catch a baseball game.

7. Join an Intramural Sports Team

8.Write a Living Will
This was one of the original items on this bucket list. I kept it because I thought it was a good idea. Tomorrow is never guaranteed and it doesn't hurt to have documents prepared just in case.

9. 30 Days of Yoga 
I stopped practicing yoga for a little bit. I would love to get back into it. Here's the Yoga Challenge on Pinterest that I'm planning on trying.

10.Write a Story

11.Go to a Vineyard

12.Take a Cooking Class
I've been trying to find a vegetarian cooking class to take with my boyfriend, I didn't have much luck so I may have to give in and take a meat cooking class and have him eat my portion of it.

13. Get the Perfect Little Black Dress and Black Heals
I think it goes without saying that every women should have a LBD in their closet. (I have a few but I may use this as an excuse to go shopping) I may replace the black heals with black bootie.

14.One Week Without Internet
This one will be a challenge for me but I think it might be good to go offline for a week.

15. Take a Pole Dance Class

16. Watch a Meteor Shower

17. Declutter; Donate Old Stuff
Sometimes I find that I can be a bit of a hoarder. I did recently give away some things but I think that I could do a bit more.

18. Get a Tattoo

19. Go Horseback Riding

20. Get a Headshot

21. Go on a Hot Air Balloon Ride

22. Learn How to Change Flat Tire
I know how to change a tire in theory, I would love to put it in practice as well as learn how to fix other things on a car,

23. Read a Book a Month
I don't know that I will actually be able to read 12 books this year but my goal is to read more.

24. One Week Without Spending
Besides the necessities, my goal would be not to spend any extra money. I think this will mostly mean to pack lunches this week,

25. 30 Days of Drawing
My boyfriend and I bought Animal Kingdom and Tropical World, respectively, by Millie Marotta.

26. Learn a New Instrument

27. Shoot a Gun

28. Try Therapy
This was another item that was original to the bucket list that I wanted to try.

29. Create a Scrapbook

30. Plan an Amazing 30th Getaway.

Vegetable Korma

I've been sticking with the Asian theme these past couple of times I've been cooking and anyone who knows me knows that I like Indian food. Mainly because a lot of Indian dishes are vegetarian and the dishes contain tons of flavor; some spicy, which I love. This recipe is a milder recipe but very delicious. I would definitely recommend this if you want to jazz up your vegetable dish.

Ingredients:

4 TBSP vegetable oil

1 large onion, CHOPPED

2 garlic cloves, CHOPPED

1 fresh red chili, CHOPPED

1 TBSP ground ginger

CHERRY tomatoes 

1 YELLOW bell pepper, seeded and cut into bite size pieces

1 large potato, cut into CHUNKS

CAULIFLOWER

1/2 TSP salt

1 TSP tumeric

1 TSP ground coriander

1 TSP garam masala

1 CUP vegetable stock

2/3 CUP plain yogurt (or plain Greek yogurt)

2/3 CUP light cream

1 OZ fresh cilantro, CHOPPED

FRESHLYCOOKED RICE, to serve

Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat, add the onions and the garlic, and cook for 3 minutes. Stir frequently. Add the chili and ground ginger and cook for another 4 minutes.

Add the tomatoes, bell pepper, potato, cauliflower, salt and spices. Cook, stirring constantly, for another 3 minutes. Stir in the stock and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 25 minutes.






Stir in the yogurt and cream. Cook, stirring frequently, for an additional 5 minutes without boiling. Add the cilantro and heat through.

Serve with rice and enjoy!!

Lemon Cream Cupcakes

March: Month three of my year of cupcakes. This month is all about the lemon. Lemon Cream Cupcake.
This recipe yields a lot of cupcakes so I hope you're hungry for this tart treat!

Makes 30 cupcakes

Ingredients for Cupcake:

1 cup of margarine (softened)

2 cups of sugar

3 eggs

2 teaspoons of grated lemon peel

1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

3 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder

1/2 teaspoon of salt

2 cups of sour cream

Ingredients for Frosting:

3 tablespoon of butter

2 1/4 cups confectioner's sugar

2 tablespoons of lemon juice

3/4 teaspoon of vanilla extract

1/4 teaspoon of grated lemon peel

1 tablespoon of milk

Cupcake Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. In a large bowl, cream the margarine and sugar. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the lemon peel and vanilla. Mix well. In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients. Alternate adding and mixing the dry ingredients and sour cream to the creamed margarine mix. The batter WILL be thick. 

Fill your muffin pan with your favorite cupcake paper cups. For March, I thought I would celebrate Saint Patrick's Day.

Fill the cups about half full. Bake for about 25 - 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Remove from pan and let the cupcakes cool. Meanwhile make the frosting;

Frosting Directions:

Cream butter and sugar in a mixing bowl.  Add lemon juice, vanilla, lemon peel and milk. Beat until smooth.

(I like to pipe my frosting so I always double my recipe. If you prefer to pipe, I recommend doing so.)

When the cupcakes have cooled, frost cupcakes and ENJOY!!

(More Sweet than Sour) Sweet and Sour Tofu

I had some left over tofu from making the kimchi mondu, so I decided to fry them up into a stir-fry with some sweet chili sauce. This recipe is actually a friend of mine's that I've adapted as my own. Its simple to make and I like it because of the festive colors.

Ingredients:

1/2 a block of tofu (drained)

1/4 of an onion, chopped

1/3 of a red, yellow and orange pepper, chopped

1 small carrot, chopped

vegetable oil

1/4 cup Sweet chili sauce

2 tsp Thai chili sauce (optional)

1/2 a small can of chopped pineapple, drained

(if you need to sweeten the sauce, add a tsp of pineapple juice)

Slice the tofu then. Cut each slice in half then cut each half diagonally. They will make triangle shapes...

     as shown in these two photos

Pan fry the tofu in some vegetable oil on med-high heat until they turn golden brown.

Once the tofu is golden, drain any excess oil and leave about 1/2 tbsp oil in the pan. Add the vegetables and stir fry until the vegetables become just tender.

Turn the heat down to medium. Add the Sweet Chili and chili sauce (if using). Season to taste. 

Add more chili sauce if you want more spice or add pineapple juice to mellow out the spice and add more sweetness. Add the pineapple right at the end (just before taking the stir-fry off the heat) and cook for an additional minute.

Serve immediately with rice and ENJOY!!!

Kimchi Mondu (김치만두)

This recipe is to pay homage to my Korean heritage. I used to make this in Korea all the time in big batches and freeze them for later. You could make the dumplings without kimchi but it gives the dumplings an added spice. Oh... did I mention, mondu is Korean for dumpling. (in case you were wondering)

Ingredients

1/2 a small green cabbage (finely chopped)

1/4 of an onion (finely chopped)

1 large white mushroom (finely chopped)

1 medium carrot (grated)

vegetable oil

vermicelli noodles (1/2 a cup, cooked; chopped)

tofu (1/2 the container, drained)

1/4 cup kimchi (finely chopped; optional)

2 Tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame seed oil

salt and pepper to taste

1 egg

1 pkg wonton shells

water to seal the shells

You want to be sure that all your vegetables are finely chopped because you are filling small wonton shells and if the mixture has too many big chunks it will overflow out of the shells. 

In a large pan, cook the first four ingredients in some vegetable oil on medium heat until the vegetables are almost tender. At this point you want to season the vegetables with some salt and pepper.The vegetables will shrink in size. Meanwhile, cook the noodles according to package instructions.

Once the noodles are done, drain, set aside and let cool. Once the vegetables are tender, add about half the kimchi and juices into the mixture.

At this point you are just combining the flavors so cook vegetables for another minute then take off the heat to cool.

In a large mixing bowl, crumble the tofu by hand. Add the remaining kimchi and juices along with the cooled chopped noodles. Combine. Add vegetables, egg, soy sauce and sesame seed oil to the mix and combine.

WARNING; the mix is not pretty. Spoon a tsp of the mixture in to the center of the shell. Using your finger, apply water to the edge of the shell, fold the shell over and crimp the edges with a fork.

Repeat... Then repeat... And repeat some more until all the shells are filled. 50 by my count.

Cook the dumplings on low heat with very little vegetable oil until the dumpling shells start to bubble very slightly. At this point, take off the heat and let the dumplings cool before placing in freezer storage bag and store in the freezer.

To serve, pan fry the dumplings on medium-high heat until the shells become golden brown. Serve with some soy sauce and enjoy!

(If you don't want the kimchi, or don't have any, follow the recipe and just omit the kimchi.)

Vegetarian Soul Food (Part 1); Smothered Cabbage

For those of you who don't know me, I am of African-American and Korean decent so you know I got to have my soul food. Growing up my dad (the Black parent) would make cabbages from bacon (and it's grease), and as much as I loved that as a kid, I needed to a recipe for cabbages that was vegetarian friendly. I had a similar recipe to this one but when I found this recipe, I knew this was the one I would stick to for life.

Ingredients:

1 small cabbage (chopped)

2 tbsp of olive oil

1&1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

1 tsp mustard seed

salt

1 tsp sugar

5 tbsp of water

In a pan on medium heat, toast the mustard seed and red pepper flakes until the mustard seed start to pop. As soon as it begins to pop, quickly add the cabbage to the pan.

Cook the cabbages for about 4 minutes until the cabbages start to wilt. Season with salt. After the four minutes, add water and sugar. Cover the pan and cook for another four minutes.

Add pepper to taste. (At this point if the cabbage needs more salt feel free to add some more)

Enjoy by themselves or with other soul food comforts such and mac and cheese and sweet potatoes!

Citrus White Chocolate covered Strawberries

Looking to make something sweet for your sweetheart this Valentine's day? Look no further than these Citrus White Chocolate covered Strawberries. It is really simple to make and it only involves 5 ingredients!! Who doesn't love chocolate covered strawberries???

Ingredients:

Fresh strawberries

Baking white chocolate

(or microwavable dipping white chocolate)

1 orange

1 lemon

1 tsp sugar

First clean the strawberries and let them dry on a paper towel. Don't worry... The strawberries won't stay naked for long...

As the strawberries are drying, grate half of the orange peel and the peel of the entire lemon into a bowl. Add the sugar and combine. Let the fruit peels sit for 15 minutes or more. CAUTION: the sugar will draw out the moisture of the peels... discard any excess juices.

Meanwhile, in a double boiler, melt down the white chocolate bars. (If using the baking chocolate, otherwise follow the instructions on the microwavable chocolate)

Once the chocolate has been melted (and the strawberries are completely dry), dip the strawberries and lay the strawberries on parchment paper to set. Sprinkle the fruit rind on the strawberries as you lay them on the parchment paper. Put the strawberries in to the fridge for at least half an hour.

Enjoy the strawberries responsibly; WARNING: these strawberries are HIGHLY addicting and may cause your valentine to fall madly, deeply in love with you!

Happy Valentine's Day!!