Vegan: Creamy Dhal with lightly sauteed collard greens and tomatoes

Aynaria 3 Comments
Dhalwcollardsntomatoes_2.png

Creamy Dhal with lightly sauteed collard greens and tomatoes

Earlier this week, I wrote about the Chana Masala I created. It was fun to make, and my daughter and I enjoyed eating it too. I love Indian food. You’ll usually see me preparing at lest one Indian dish weekly.

Yesterday, I decided to create another Indian dish, this time I choose Dhal. My daughter and I both love Dhal, we don’t eat it as much as we might like. There are so many other delicious and healthy vegan recipes out there; I definitely don’t limit what I prepare. I like variety.

Initially, I didn’t know what I wanted to accompany the creamy Dhal. There are so many choices; potatoes, zucchini noodles, rice, carrot salad, etc. but I finally decided on collard greens. Collard greens, along with many other dark leafy greens, are plentiful in our garden. Additionally dark greens are delicious and nutritious too. Don’t overcook your greens. Trust me, they taste great! I headed to our garden and picked four large collard greens. I stepped over to our row of onions and pulled up one yellow onion.

Once I was back in the house, I grabbed my favorite stainless steel skillet, added some olive oil to it and started to lightly saute four cloves of garlic, three basil leaves, and some freshly ground cumin seeds. I must say, the aroma that filled the house was heavenly. 🙂 After a few minutes I added one freshly chopped yellow onion. Once the onions turned clear I stirred in the collard greens and tomatoes. I lightly cooked them for about three minutes.

My sauteed collard greens with tomatoes served as the bed, and I topped it with the creamy Dhal. I like creating dishes that are on the table within minutes. If I didn’t count the cooking time of the Dhal (lentils), this meal was made in less than fifteen minutes. It was short on prep time, but definitely not lacking flavor-wise. I made enough for leftovers! No surprise there, since I usually do.

In yesterdays post, I mentioned that I’d be attempting to post one recipe weekly. In addition to that, you might see posts of the food I eat. In many cases, I won’t post a recipe at the time, but eventually it might get here at Celebrate Life!

After all not only am I posting the recipe via MarsEdit. I’m also storing the picture in MacGourmet Deluxe. As I mentioned in an earlier post, MacGourmet Deluxe is a recipe and wine management software program devoted solely to the Mac platform.

A few days ago, my daughter asked me what was my favorite cuisine? I was stumped, there are so many different types of cuisine I enjoy. I couldn’t narrow it down to just one, but three of my favorites are; Caribbean, Indian, and African.

Question? What’s your favorite cuisine?

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Recipes, Vegan, Vegetarian, whole food

Celebrate Life: One recipe per week

Aynaria 2 Comments

recipe-book-place-mat.06.22.10.gifYou want to know something? I’ve been finding it hard to sit down and write down the vegan recipes I create.

A few years ago, I created a vegan cooking website where I created and posted Vegan recipes. Thanks to a personal website I owned, I had gotten into the habit of writing down the measurements of whatever I prepared so now it’s simply a matter of doing that again. I’ll admit it’s not easy. At times when we break a routine, it can be hard getting back into it again, yah know?

I’m not one to follow a recipe; I’ve always created my own, when I was a little child I took directions from my mother. I’ve been doing that since I could remember. During childhood, I can think of many bombs I made in the kitchen. I wasn’t afraid to explore, and try new ingredients in whatever I created. However, as I got older that didn’t happen, I knew what would work.

I guess that’s understandable; I’ve been cooking for 35 years now and I enjoy being creative. I first learned to cook on a wood stove. I started cooking when I was four years old. Naturally, I was supervised at that age, and for a few years after that too. I can still remember the excitement I experienced creating simple meals that people actually enjoyed eating! These days I’m passing my love of cooking on to my daughter. It’s wonderful to see that she truly enjoys being creative in the kitchen.

Even though I don’t follow recipes, I do have a lot of recipe books. I find it inspiring to read what others are making, reading their thoughts on techniques, and listening to the stories they have to tell.

Since I’ve always come up with my own recipes I do find it hard to take the time to write down what I’m preparing. My natural tendency is to just create, but I’m trying to change that. Again, I find myself trying to remember to write down the measurements as I cook, so I can pass on the created recipe to others.

The good news is I remembered to do that with the Chana Masala recipe I made earlier this week, so yes Janet I’ll be posting it on Celebrate Life! sometime this week. 🙂

If you like creating jewelry, or simply love looking at pretty things be sure to check out Janet at her virtual home, Singing Woods. Janet’s a jewelry maker and has created some gorgeous pieces, and yes she has an Etsy shop too.

All right back to my cooking ramble, the Chana masala I made a few days ago didn’t last long in our house. It was delicious when it was hot, and amazing the next day when I served it as a cold dip.

Oh, one last thing… I’m publicly challenging myself to post at least one recipe per week on this website. Initially, it will be tough but after a while I know it won’t be an issue.

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Recipe, Vegan, vegetarian, Vegetarian, whole food

Enjoying our Chana Masala

Aynaria 3 Comments
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Chana Masala

About fifteen years ago, I was introduced to really amazing Indian food. Of course, I had tasted it before but it was the watered down Americanized version that frequently plague restaurants.

Although the Indian cuisine I tasted was fine, I wasn’t thrilled. Fast forward a few months later when I started dating a man who just happened to be from India. At that time, they had lived in the USA for about 15 years. A few months after we started dating, he introduced me to his mother.

I recall being slightly nervous, wondering what she would think of me. I knew his mom wanted him to date an Indian girl, and I definitely wasn’t that. His mother wore saris which I’ve always loved and she made the most amazing traditional Indian dishes too. The first few moments were slightly awkward, but as we started chatting We discovered that we shared a few passions; Cooking and gardening. It wasn’t long before we became friends.

I learned a lot from her, asked numerous questions and soaked in all that knowledge. She opened my eyes to a new world of spices, tastes, flavors, new techniques, and a multitude of recipes. Which was perfect for a foodie like myself, right? The boyfriend and I eventually, parted ways, on friendly terms, and the mother and I? We still keep in contact with each other.

For the past few days, I’ve been craving Chana masala. I haven’t made this dish since my daughter was about two years old and so yesterday I gathered up the ingredients, pulled out my stainless steel skillet and switched into creative cooking mode.

Although I love colorful and flavorful sauces that accompany quite a few of the dishes, I create. I also love the dry dishes too, and the Chana Masaa definitely delivers here. For those who aren’t aware, Chana Masala is a fairly dry dish, it’s overloaded with chickpeas (garbonzo beans), it has an abundance of fragrant spices, combined with the slightly sour citrus taste that I love.

As I prepared the Chana masala the aroma from the spices filled the house and my daughter came bounding into the kitchen wondering when the meal would be ready. I smiled and said,”It won’t be long now!”, not satisfied she perched herself on a bar stool and watched while I finished preparing the meal.

The Chana masala was amazing. I savored mine, while my daughter gobbled hers quickly. We had a great time hanging out together & bonding while we ate that Chana Masala. What made it even better was knowing I had made enough for leftovers…

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Recipes, Vegan, vegetarian, Vegetarian, whole food, Chana Masala

Vacation: The countdown continues

Aynaria 2 Comments

Fireworks-show.06.20.10.jpgWould you believe my daughter has started counting down the days until the Fourth of July?

This has been going on for a few weeks now. Several times daily she tells me how many days are left before we go away on vacation.

Fourth of July and Thanksgiving are two holidays she looks forward too even more than the others. The reason is simple; we’re around a lot of family. A very large family… My mother has 16 brothers and sisters, and most of them pack up and make the trek to South Carolina.

Why South Carolina? Well that’s where they were raised, with the exception of one, all the children (all right so they aren’t children anymore) have moved to other states. It’s still a familiar spot, time to gather around the now small house and talk about old times, catch up with one another, speculate and at times debate current events, and chat about future endeavors too.

I really enjoy chatting with many of the family members. I only get to see twice yearly, sure we catchup with each other via phone and email but, it’s not the same, yah know? Hanging out in South Carolina is a welcome change and for me it’s a time for me to relax a bit.

Things move slowly in that part of South Carolina, real slow… It’s a time to soak up the good ole sun-baked lazy days of summer vibrations. With a touch of crazy tossed in — come on now we all have at least one crazy family member, right? Even with the token crazy, I still enjoy the family bonding and good natured ribbing too. It’s also a great time to remember how fortunate I am and to celebrate life.

For my daughter it’s a time to hang out with a lot of cousins, dare one another to do off the wall things before the grown folks catch on (yeah nice try kids, that never works) and basically play games, be silly, and just be a kid.

Who can forget the fireworks? Our family is really into that; Big fireworks, little fireworks, sparkly things, rockets, you name it we’ve got it. We set of tons of our own fireworks yearly. Who needs to go see a show, when we provide our own?

I guess I can tolerate the daily countdown. I have to admit it’s hard not getting caught up in the whirlwind of excitement my daughter is generating. We have 11 days to go, let the countdown continue…

Europe: The Final Countdown

Lyrics: The Final Countdown
Songwriters: Tempest, Joey

We’re leaving together
But still it’s farewell
And maybe we’ll come back
To earth, who can tell?
I guess there is no one to blame
We’re leaving ground
Will things ever be the same again?

It’s the final countdown
The final countdown

Ohh
We’re heading for Venus and still we stand tall
‘Cause maybe they’ve seen us and welcome us all, yea
With so many light years to go and things to be found
(To be found)
I’m sure that we’ll all miss her so

It’s the final countdown
The final countdown
The final countdown
(The final countdown)
Ohh ho ohh

The final countdown, oh ho
It’s the final countdown
The final countdown
The final countdown
(The final countdown)

Ohh
It’s the final countdown
We’re leaving together
The final countdown
We’ll all miss her so
It’s the final countdown
(The final countdown)
Ohh, it’s the final countdown
Yea

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Family, Independence Day, Fourth of July

Happy Father's Day

Aynaria 4 Comments

HappyFathersDay.06.20.10.jpgJust dropping a note to all the wonderful men out there who just happen to be fathers, or are a father figure. You’re definitely appreciated.

I would like to take this time to personally thank my father. Who’s done a lot for me over the years.

Dad, I really appreciate the support and love you’ve given me over the years. You were a tireless worker, who made numerous sacrifices for my brother and me. Of course, you aren’t perfect (who is) but you’re the perfect dad for me. Thanks for being a great dad, and being the only ‘dad’ my daughter has ever known.

My daughter’s father killed by a drunk driver while I was pregnant, so she never met her father. He was a great man, and I know she would have loved him as much as I did. You could say my dad is a father figure/grandad for my daughter. Thanks dad for spending the time with my daughter, and making her feel special too.

Dad, you’re appreciated, Happy Father’s Day.

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Holiday, Father’s Day

Slow Dancing with the Moon; A new user name…

Aynaria 4 Comments

Besides the obvious switch from free service to paid, swapping Word Press themes yet again, I’ve made another change. Some of you might have noticed it, since I’ve had a chance to comment on a few blogs. It’s something I’ve wanted to do since I created my WP website a few weeks ago.

Once the the virtual dust died down here at Celebrate Life I decided that there was one thing that needed to go, my user name Nyomomma. Writing Not your Ordinary Momma wasn’t in the cards when it comes to leaving a note on someone’s blog, which is why I shortened it to Nyomomma. Deciding on a name… well that’s always been challenging. What should I choose?

Moondancer.jpg

Moon Dancer

Photo Source: Garden of Graphics

No, I didn’t want to have vegan or vegetarian in my name. I’ve been there, done that. I’m Vegan but… I’m more than that yah know?

It took me a while, but I finally decided to use the name… Moondancer. It definitely fits me. I didn’t just come up with that name. It’s a name I’ve used for at least a year.

I’ve always been fascinated with the moon, read quite a few articles focused on the lunar cycle and its effects on humans and animals. Additionally, there are certain things I do depending on the lunar cycle but even though the fascination was there, I didn’t pick the name Moondancer until I started playing a little known MMORPG called World of Warcraft. Ok, so I’m joking about the little known part. Regarding MMORPG’s, WoW has the largest number of players. Moondancer was/is one of my Night Elf Druids in that game. I haven’t played with that character in months, (miss people like the lovely & talented Kaozz.)

I was slightly surprised when I found many with that user name. I guess I shouldn’t be. It’s very pretty. It’s kind of interesting knowing that others enjoy that name too. Moondancer has that earthy vibe that I like, and well… I do love gazing at the moon. I like dancing, and at times I dance while watching the moon. That’s normal, right? 😉

Isn’t the above picture beautiful? I usually dislike websites that have songs that automatically play when I visit their page, but I didn’t mind in this case. The music seemed to fit, yah know? I’ve always been fascinated with Native Americans and so it’s no surprise I’ve learned a lot about the culture and interacted with many over the years.

Perhaps part of my fascination is because my grandmother was Blackfoot Indian/African American/Irish. I never thought about her ethnicity when I was young. Although she did talk about her heritage, she was my grandmom. A very light could pass for white (if she wanted to and she did to get jobs back in the day) sweet little lady who had so much love for others. Yeah grandmom was doing the ‘don’t ask don’t tell’ back in the day. They didn’t ask her race, and she didn’t tell. I can’t say I blame her, times were tough and she and her husband took the jobs they could to survive.

What a great role model she was, and I did my best to emulate her. You want to know something? She was even shorter than me! She was 4’10, small but powerful. I’m 5′. My grandmother was a Rosie Rivetor I simply adored her, and wanted to learn as much about her as possible. She lived a long full life and died a few weeks before she turned 94. Even if she weren’t Indian, I know I would have read up on their culture. Learning about different cultures has always fascinated me. My daughter’s father was an interesting mix of Lumbee Indian, German, and Irish.

Well whaddya know…
My Google search pulled up a song titled Slow Dancing with the Moon by Dolly Parton. I’ve heard many of Dolly’s songs, like most of them, but I’ve never heard this one. I’m really enjoying it. Thanks Dolly!

Dolly Parton: Slow Dancing with the Moon

Lyrics
Dolly Parton: Slow Dancing with the Moon

Sweet little cherry blossom, blooming before her time
Moving her lips to her favorite song, cherishing every rhyme
Swaying her hips to the rhythm, humming along with the tune
Lost in her own little dream world, slow dancing with the moon

Watching her I cannot help but go back in my mind
And suddenly I find I am 15 again
Slow dancing with the moon
Oh, the stars got in my eyes long time ago
And I’ve lived my life like a love sick clown
In a bittersweet cartoon
Just a dreamy-eyed kid slow dancing with the moon

Watching the girl I’m reminded she’s quite a lot like me
Trapped in the suburbs of wonderland, lost in her own fantasy
Somehow my heart never grew up, no one ever burst my balloon
So here I am swirling in star dust slow dancing with the moon

Still believe someday my wildest dreams will all come true
And I’ll find someone who’ll make me 15 again
But until then I’m slow dancing with the moon
Oh, the stars got in my eyes long time ago
And I’ve lived my life like a love sick clown
In a bittersweet cartoon
Just a dreamy-eyed kid slow dancing with the moon

Still a starry-eyed kid slow dancing with the moon

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Dolly Parton

Celebrate Life; Settling in

Aynaria 2 Comments

Hey, how are yah? If you’re popping by my virtual home on the same day I’m posting this or few days after this post was published, chances are you found me via my old WordPress blog, Not your Ordinary Momma. I know the search engines haven’t picked up my website that quickly!

First, I want to thank you for clicking on the link and stopping by my new home. On my free WordPress blog I mentioned I was growing tired of writing there. I simply didn’t have the freedom to do many things that I’m used too.

I’ve been writing online since the early 90’s, have had a hosting provider for many of those years and just recently tried out a free blog. I didn’t like it at all, and so now I’m back to hosting my rambles under a paid service. Enjoy it, since I have more freedom to do whatever the heck I please, and I can play with my WordPress themes too.

I still have a lot of work to complete here before it meets my satisfaction but I’m happy I’ve moved to a hosted server. Celebrate Life is my new virtual home.

This WordPress theme won’t be staying; I just tossed it up until I have time to play around with themes that interest me.

As with my other personal/professional sites I’m using customized permalinks. It’s great for SEO, and I always thought it looked cleaner than having a number assigned to a post.

It took me a little while to come up with my url, but since my tagline is Celebrating Life I decided to include that in my url. Life’s too short, I celebrate the time that is alloted to me. Negativity is something I go out of my way to avoid; it’s simply not healthy.

Broken links/Things acting screwy…
Although I think I’ve updated most of the links on this site, I could have overlooked something. If you do find something please leave a comment here or send an email to info at imcelebratinglife.com just remember to use the @ in place of at.

calvinonwriting.06.18.10.jpgOn Writing…

A few years ago, I created a website that focused on natural skin care and cleaning products you could make at home. I posted a lot of recipes I’d created over the years; I even sold a lot of my products too. I’ve always enjoyed sharing what I’ve learned with others. I believe in playing it forward. It’s always a great feeling to help others out too. Creating that website was amazing since I was able to interact with more people. I could never meet that many in person. Eventually I’ll bring that website back online, but until then you’ll see me posting organic recipes here.

Protecting our environment, gardening, and enhancing our health naturally are a few things I’m extremely passionate. In fact, it’s something you’ll see me writing about a lot on I’m Celebrating Life.

I do hope that my readers don’t ever think I’m attacking them because it’s simply not my style. If I can make you think (like may writers have made me do over the years) well then that’s great. I’m vegan, but you don’t have to be vegan or vegetarian to be healthy. You simply need to make informed choices when it comes to eating.

There’s so much misinformation out there, at times it can be hard for people to cut through the crap to find credible information. It’s my hope that I can pass along tips I’ve learned or at least point you in the right direction.

What can I say, I love Calvin & Hobbes and the above cartoon has always made me laugh.

Small Honey Bee update…

Bees (more specifically honey bees) have been on my brain a lot lately and so I’ve been doing a lot of honey bee reading. I’ve picked up books from the library, chatted with some fantastic folks (like Two-Honeys) online, and thanks to Organically Managed Beekeeping (The podcaster lives in Maryland just like myself) I’ve stumbled upon some amazing podcasts. There’s so much valuable information that I’m taking my time to digest, and savor the wealth of beekeeping information.

I’m hoping everyone has a sparkling day!