So Excited!

Well hello there! So my sister, Tiffany, created a recipe blog and my other sister, Taunalee, recently posted recipes to her blog and it got me thinking. Why not do a sister recipe blog?! We're always sharing recipes with each other anyway, so why not create a blog to do it! I'm excited and hope my sisters are excited too! We all do the kitchen thing a little differently, and I think this will be a fun way to share ideas and insight.

I recently have been making some huge dietary changes in my life. I found out I was mildly allergic to dairy, and have since cut dairy out of my diet. I stopped eating meat at the same time to see if I felt better. My energy levels have been off the charts! Not only do I have more energy, but I sleep better, no longer have food cravings, my skin has cleared up, my digestion is better, and I've lost some weight (an added bonus). :) I think everyone's body digests and functions differently and by no means think everyone should embrace a vegetarian diet or stop eating dairy, but making those changes has revolutionized my life and my relationship with food. I feel amazing-like I have a new lease on life, and I'm excited about cooking again! So sharing recipes sounds fun. :)

Here's one I made a few weeks ago. I got this recipe from eatingwell.com, though I did make some alterations from their original recipe. This recipe makes about 4 servings of 1 1/2 cups each, though I found that 1 1/2 cups was way too much, and I got about 6-8 servings out of it. It took me about an hour to make, and was worth it! We grew up eating red curry, and this was a little different-more mild-but I loved it!

Red Curry with Vegetables

Ingredients:

• 4 teaspoons canola oil, divided
• 1 14-ounce package extra-firm tofu, rinsed, patted dry and cut into 1-inch cubes (Make sure this is really dry or it's nasty! I squish mine between paper towels multiple times to get it as dry as I can before I cut it. Oh, and I rinse it off first too.)
  
• 1 pound sweet potato, cut into 1-inch cubes
• 1 14-ounce can lite coconut milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable broth (or reduced-sodium chicken broth)
• 1-2 teaspoons red Thai curry paste (I couldn't find the stuff Dad gets, so I used curry paste out of a bottle, which was still yummy, but a little different. I want to try this recipe with Dad's curry paste to see if it's any better.)
  
• 1/2 pound green beans, trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
• 1 tablespoon brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons lime juice
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/3 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• 1 lime, quartered (I did this, but it's just garnish-it doesn't really add anything to the taste, but it's nice for presentation.)
  

Preparation:

1. Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add tofu and cook, stirring every 2 or 3 minutes, until browned, 6 to 8 minutes total. Transfer to a plate.
2. Heat the remaining 2 teaspoons oil over medium-high heat. Add sweet potato and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned, 4 to 5 minutes. (At this point I transferred everything to a soup pot because my pan was too small. If you have a wok, it would probably work better.) Add coconut milk, broth and curry paste to taste. Bring to a boil; reduce to a simmer and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until the sweet potato is just tender, about 4 minutes. Add the tofu, green beans and brown sugar; return to a simmer and cook, covered, stirring occasionally, until the green beans are tender-crisp, 2 to 4 minutes. Stir in lime juice and salt. Sprinkle with cilantro and serve with lime wedges.

   

YUMMY!!!