chicken

Cooking with coconut

I went to the grocery store last week and saw it. The coconut milk. It is one of those things I always look at and think about cooking with, but never buy. I finally decided to buy it and cook with it!

It’s no secret in my house that I adore curry. Pretty much no one else does. Fine, more for me ;). I decided to make coconut -curried chicken and vegetables for dinner.

I popped open a can of coconut milk and got to work. First, I marinated the chicken for an hour with olive oil, curry, lime juice, garlic powder, and coconut milk. After marinating, I plopped the chicken in a hot skillet and cooked it in more coconut milk.

I cooked the chicken for 6 minutes on both sides.

Then I put peas, onions, and green peppers into the pan to saute with with…more coconut milk lolz.

The chicken came out nicely and the veggies were creamy.

0009

I will have the recipe for this and stuffed cabbage (from my last post) up shortly.

Other than some easy peasy cooking, my life has been filled with relaxing with animals.

My baby girl Lola was all curled up on the couch^

Jimmy’s dog, Tobi, kept my lap warm.

“The girls” Callie and Lily.

Just for giggles, Jimmy and I went to a pet store recently to browse around. We saw a cage full of cute pups.

*

Okay, that is all I have for today.

After church Jimmy and I are going out to eat and bowling with friends. Yay 🙂

*

Have you ever cooked with coconut milk? (any recipe recommendations?!)

What are you up to today?

Announcement/confession

My vegetarian confession: I ate meat. 

(^Thai chicken soup)

I’ve been a vegetarian since March 17th 2011-so a little over 6 months now. Vegetarianism slowly turned into almost veganism. Let me explain. I read a great book titled “The Kind Diet” (By Alicia Silverstone) and it prompted me to try vegetarianism again after some unsuccessful attempts in 6th and 9th grade. (Aka: getting sick because I wasn’t getting enough nutrients)

I started out by simply not eating meat. Somehow, over time, I developed a pretty severe intolerance to lactose. By having to cut lactose out of my diet I was cutting out a major food group that I enjoyed and I still really miss. (ICE CREAM, yogurt, cow’s milk)

Stupid lactose intolerance means that I can’t enjoy pumpkin ice cream this year without puking or having diarrhea for 2 days straight.

Being an athlete, I have been finding it hard to get enough nutrition- calorie and protein wise. I have been relying mostly on peanut butter and tofu for protein and vegetables just don’t keep me full. I know it is no excuse and plenty of athletes are vegetarian/vegan but I don’t think it was working for me. Since March I have suffered from head aches and fatigue. It has made me so sad to think about eating meat- I think about how so many animals have been tortured for me to just sit and eat them. Sometimes you have to put your health first though. I’m not out to lose weight and I’m sick of head aches/constant hunger.

Another thing that bothered me about being a vegetarian is being a “burden” at times. I’m fairly social and every time I go to a dinner party i’m “that person who needs a special meat and dairy free meal.” I don’t want to seem like a brat when I go places and make a host prepare a special meal for me when my current diet isn’t working well for me. Going out to eat is a whole other problem as well at times and I hate that- I love going out to eat and I dislike limitations.

Saturday Jimmy and I went to cafe and I wanted soup…. guess what… all of the soups offered had meat in them so I figured what the heck, i’m just going to eat it. I felt full and energized after-woo! Yes I felt guilty about the moral aspect of the poor chickens in the soup but again, I don’t feel as if vegetarianism is working well for my health.  

I’m not saying that I’m going to eat meat for every meal and every day, but I’m going to include it in my diet.

My mom made meatballs for dinner last night… I ate some. They were good.

Also enjoyed: salad, spaghetti, and bread.

So yeah, that is my announcement/confession. I ate meat and I didn’t die. I feel a little guilty about the moral aspect but I’m more concerned for my health.

Have you ever had to make a decision that you knew was good for you even though you didn’t want to do it?