Weddings and Comfort Food

This week has been full of wedding planning for our family. My cousin got married yesterday which meant a lot of our family got together. I love big events like this because family trickles in from everywhere. We have a pretty big family and we don't live as close together as we'd all like. If any of you have thrown a big family event, you know it's busy, busy, busy. Everyone was running around the day of the wedding, while the boys and I stayed home. Liam was in the wedding and we decided to keep them home and tried to stick to their routine as much as possible. Realizing it could be a stressful morning, I tried to think of something comforting I could do for everyone. So, what did I do? I made chicken curry and coconut green beans! It's by far my families favorite meal and it was perfect. Here are a few of our other favorite dishes. Here is our favorite rice dish, beef dish, lentil dish, snack, and dessert. 

What's your favorite, comforting meal? Share it in the comment section or tweet it using #almostindianwife

Meal Planning

The moment I told Joel we were having our third boy, he responded with one thing… “They’re going to eat us out of house and home!” My kids eat a lot now and they’re all under three. I can’t imagine three teenagers. 

 

Other than my husband becoming a millionaire, we’re going to need to learn how to stretch a dollar. One way I do that now is meal planning. Oh the dreaded meal planning. Most singles or couples without kids laugh when I say I meal plan. They comment on how much work it is and how it’s not worth it. Although, three boys later… I think it will be worth it. It also saves us a lot of money already! 

 

I’m going to help you out. I’m going to teach you a few things to make meal planning easy and possible!

 

Keep it simple     

Choose recipes you and/or your family have had before and like. Then you can add a few new recipes. Be careful not to overload yourself on new recipes. If you try a new one and like it you can add it to the list of we love it recipes! 

 

Keep ingredients in mind

When you are choosing your meals, keep in mind how much of your ingredients you will be using. If you decide to make pulled pork sandwiches and coleslaw, you will probably have extra cabbage on hand. Instead of wasting it, you can make another meal using cabbage. This helps stretch your ingredients. 

 

Plan a few leftover meals

We call this fend for yourself nights. Chances are you will have enough leftovers for a few meals. This is great for those busy days where you’d rather binge watch your favorite show than head to the kitchen and cook. 

 

Stock your pantry with some basics

Think about the meals that you typically cook through out the week. What are the basics you tend to cook with frequently? In our house we use a lot of rice, black beans, bread, and Indian spices. Our pantry ALWAYS has plenty of those things. 

 

Get a calendar

Get a calendar and put it on your fridge or use your phone’s calendar. Write down the meals you choose for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Write a grocery list based off your meal choices. You don’t have to stick to the exact meal you schedule for each day, but it gives you a list of meals you have groceries for. 

Chicken Keema

I think all of the pregnant mothers should come together and protest against pregnancies going past 37 weeks. The last few weeks of pregnancy drag on forever! All you want is to be done being pregnant and meet your newest little addition! Add in constant contractions that never do anything and the waiting can drive you crazy! Liam is getting impatient too! Every morning he asks me, "Mama, when is baby Lucas coming out and your belly getting small?"Isn't it crazy that my three year old understands my pregnancy that much!? Levi just yells, "Baby" and hits my stomach, proceeded by an, "I'm sorry baby," with a kiss. I'm pretty sure that is a look into the future of their relationships together. Liam will be the big brother always trying to help with the baby and Levi will have a love/hate relationship with him.I've heard the third baby is always more scrappy than the others. I guess it makes sense!We're trying to fill our time with fun things. This week it's been making Indian food and dealing with a clogged sink. Dirtying up more dishes is probably the last thing I should be doing with a clogged sink, but how can a family live without Indian food? Much less a pregnant woman CRAVING Indian food!Are you dying to know what we made? I know you are! We made chicken keema, Sharline's famous coconut green beans, and roti. YUM.Liam even taught grandma how to eat with her hands! He was so proud to share what he's learned!Ingredients:1 tbs ginger garlic paste2 tsp salt2 lb ground chicken1 handful of roughly chopped cilantro1/2 a diced onion2 tbs butter1 jalapeño, halved1 tsp turmeric1 heaping tbs coriander1 heaping tbs cuminDirections:Heat your pan on medium heat. Add in your butter, jalapeño, and onions. Allow your onions to brown. Drop in your ginger garlic, salt, turmeric, coriander, and cumin. Cook down your spices for 2-3 minutes. Crumble in your ground chicken. Let your chicken cook 2/3 of the way and then add in your cilantro. Turn your heat down to medium/low and simmer until your meat is done. How easy is that!? Serve it with Sharline's famous green beans and some roti and your life will be complete!

Sharline's Famous Coconut Green Beans

We all have that one person in our lives. That person who's known for one recipe. One amazing dish. Joel's family has Sharline or Chinnapinni as we call her. She makes this dish every time she has people come over. It's famous with all of her Indian and white friends! The true test is that Joel hates vegetables and this is one of his favorite sides! What is it you ask? Coconut green beans. While we were on vacation, I begged her to teach me how to make them. I've tried to make them before with no success. They were missing a key ingredient, the coconut! As soon as you try these bad boys, they'll be a staple in your house. There is just one rule that comes with these green beans. Tell everyone they are Sharline's Green Beans!!

Ingredients:

1 pound of frozen green beans2 tbs oil2 tbs ginger garlic paste2 tsp turmeric1 tsp Indian chili powder1-2 tsp salt1 1/2 tbs coconut powder **I got my coconut "powder" from the Indian store. It looks more like coconut flakes.**

Directions:

Heat your pan to medium heat. Add in your oil. When the oil is hot add your onion and brown. Drop in your turmeric, ginger garlic paste, salt, and chili powder. Cook down for 2 minutes. Add your green beans.**You can use fresh or frozen green beans. If you decide on using fresh, add in 1/8 cup of water.**Put a lid on your green beans and cook until tender. I like to cook mine and leave a bite to it. At the very end, add in your coconut and cook for another minute or so.Serve and enjoy! 

How To Cut Your Cooking Time In Half

While on vacation with Joel’s family, I’ve learned the tricks of the trade. I’ve usually seen Joel’s mom and dad cooking Indian food. Joel’s mom works most of the day and then will come home and cook. She has a bit more time to come home and do everything from scratch. Joel’s dad has even more time to prep food and cook meals throughout the day. 

 

What about when you’re busy with kids all day and then have to help them with homework at night?

 

Or you have work all day and school at night?

 

Is there a way to make Indian food a little quicker? Yes!Here are a few things I saw Joel’s aunts and uncles do. 

Keep some prep food frozen. 

I’ve always said fresher is better. However, there are a few things that you can have frozen and won’t change the taste at all. A few of those would be diced onions, halved green chilies, diced tomatoes, and ginger garlic paste. 

Prep food at the beginning of the week. 

There are a few things you’ll need whether you’re making Indian food, Mexican food, or American food. Diced onions are a huge staple in our house. Look at your meal plan at the beginning of the week and see what you’ll be using a lot. Then you can have the diced tomatoes, diced onions, shredded chicken, cut lettuce, etc in separate tupperware containers. This will definitely save you time in the long run.

Cook Multiple Indian Dishes On The Weekend. 

This is by far my favorite. I always wonder how Joel’s family has the motivation to cook huge dishes every single day. I learned the secret… They don’t! Joel’s aunt, Chinnipinni, made three main dishes, four sides, and rice on the weekend. She also had some chapatis and roti on hand. This way she could take them out each night and change up the combinations each night. It was brilliant! 

Left over Indian food!? I know what you’re thinking. You’re thinking about reheating a hamburger and fries you got from the restaurant over the weekend. It’s never good. The difference is that Indian food is way better reheated. The spices have time to develop and it just gets better. 

 

If you wanted to do this with American food, it’s just as easy. You could make up a big thing of shredded chicken, black beans, seasoned ground beef, and grilled veggies. Then have some staples on hand like pasta, rice, pesto, etc and you can change it up all night.

What do you do to save time when cooking?

 

Must Haves For Cooking Indian Food

As our little family has been cooking Indian food more often, I’ve realized there are a few things I’ve needed to make it easier. Or that I’ve had to go out and buy because I refused to hand cut lamb one more time. If you’re planning on making Indian food, here are a few things you should have. Although, I’m sure these things are great tools when cooking anything and you’re probably all going to laugh and tell me you’ve had these things since you moved out on your own. 

Cooking Scissors

When you’re making biryiani, chicken curry, chicken tikka masala, lamb curry, etc. you’re going to need to cut your meat. You’ll either be cutting them into bite sized pieces or cutting the skin off and scoring them. Whatever your need is, cooking scissors are a MUST. It makes the job go so much quicker and you don’t destroy the pieces of meat because you’re using dull kitchen knives like I did. Rice Cooker 

I don’t think I’ve ever had an Indian meal without rice. It’s one of those staples that you pair with everything. My kids are also HUGE rice fans. I know that some of you are way smarter than me and know how to cook rice on the stove. However, when you’re already using your stove to simmer all of you curries, it’s nice to have a rice cooker tucked off in the corner to use. You don’t even need a huge one. We upgraded from our teeny-tiny-barely makes a cup of rice rice cooker this year and have a good medium sized one. One day we’ll move up to the huge Indian sized rice cookers, but for now our little one suits us just fine. 

A Sharp Knife Or A Knife Sharpener

Notice I didn’t say sharp knives. I said a sharp knife. Joel and I need to save up and buy a great sharp knife collection. The problem is that Joel and I have different taste. I would buy the cheapest sharp knife set and he would buy the best of the best. Seeing as that is a HUGE gap, we’ve been waiting. As long as you have a good sharp knife or a knife sharpener you’re good. Trust me. Cutting tomatoes with a dull knife ruins your whole day. 

Plastic Or Glass Containers

As you start to cook Indian food, you will end up with a new set of spices. I always recommend buying in bulk or going to the Indian grocery store. The spices are amazing and a way better price. A mistake a lot of people make is bringing them home and keeping them in opened bags inside a pantry or cabinet. The spices will be ruined if you keep them like this. You need to keep them in airtight containers. 

Lot’s Of Friends To Experiment Your Indian Food On

This one is my favorite. I’m always trying out Joel’s families recipes or finding new ones online. I need to have some people around to taste the food and see what they think. I’m usually nice to my friends and try it out on my family first. If they don’t like it we just order pizza. Indian food is the best to have with a group of people! 

Ginger-Garlic Paste

When you start cooking Indian food, you'll notice a few ingredients repeat themselves. One of those is ginger-garlic paste. It's delicious! I've been making Indian food for a little over five years now and I've noticed I'm becoming a better cook. This has nothing to do with me. It's the fact that I've seen the light!!! Or rather how delicious food can be and I've used some of the techniques I learned in making signature Indian dishes in my everyday meals. I've started using ginger-garlic paste in just about everything! It deepens the flavor and adds a bit of a kick. You can go straight to your local Indian market or you can make it in your very own kitchen. I like to make it because I know it's fresh and like I said we use it all the time. Ingredients:Whole gingerWhole garlicOlive OilDirections:Cut the skin off your ginger and chop it up into chunks. Smash your garlic and take the skins off. Add equal parts ginger and garlic to a food processor and then add a bit of olive oil. Puree. Add enough olive oil for the ginger and garlic to become a thick paste. Make sure you add a little at a time because you can always add more if it's still too thick.