Cabbage Stir Fry Recipe

This cabbage stir fry recipe is one of the best and simple side dishes you could whip up on a busy night! It's full of Indian flavors and you get a bite of freshness each time! 

Need a little mid-week dinner inspiration?

Growing up, I used to hate cabbage! I mean seriously was there anything worse than coming home to your mom whipping up a plate of cabbage.... Nope. It was awful.Fast forward about 30 years and now it's one of my favorite Indian side dishes! If you need any convincing that this is indeed a delicious vegetarian side dish, MY KIDS ARE OBSESSED! They love having this to pair with KEEMA CURRY during the week. It adds a bit of crunch to the meal and lightens a dense meal.Still don't believe me? My super duper extra picky husband even likes it! Now, I don't think I will be converting my family to vegetarians anytime soon, but serve this with a tasty Indian main dish and you have one happy family! [amd-yrecipe-recipe:46]

A Quick And Easy Dinner- Chana Masala

People tend to have quite a few crazy ideas about Indian food. They think it all tastes the same and takes days to make to start off with... Well, this mom of 3 (about to be 4!!!) is all about quick and easy. I need recipes that make my life easier!Today, I'm showing you a simple vegetarian dish that will make your bellies thank me!All you need is a few ingredients and you're off! It hardly takes anytime at all! You can serve it alone with a chapati or serve up some Karahi Chicken with it! Guess what... It's even kid approved!Heat the butter over medium heat. When the butter has melted add in your onions and jalapeño.When these have browned add in your ginger garlic paste. Cook for 1-2 minutes. Add in your coriander, cumin, and turmeric. Allow these to cook together for another 1-2 minutes.Stir in your tomato and cook for five minutes.Add in your potatoes, chickpeas, and water. Turn up the heat to medium/high heat. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer.Sprinkle in the garam masala, salt, and squeeze in your lemon juice. Allow all of the ingredients to simmer until the potatoes are tender.Serve with rice or next to another one of your favorite Indian main dishes.

[ If you like this, you'll love my Karahi Chicken Recipe ]

[amd-yrecipe-recipe:43]

How To Challenge Racism And Prejudice As A Family

Over the last eight years in my interracial marriage, my eyes have been open up to a new world.

I had no idea how sheltered I was in my own little bubble. I grew up in a white community, with a white family, and white friends.I loved everyone I met, so it wasn't an issue of any ill-feelings on my part. I simply didn't know a life outside my own. I never learned about cultures around the world other than the little bit they teach us in history class.It wasn't until I married my wonderful husband that I saw the harsh reality that racism exists. The fact that an entire people group could be stereotyped as one personality or one characteristic of an extremist. It's easier for society to clump people together rather than get to know the actual people involved.Even though you may have the same ethnic background as someone, by no way means your culture was the exact same growing up. Our culture is so much more than just our ethnicity. It's the way you grew up, your beliefs, whether or not you were the oldest in the family, the situations you've experienced, and everything that has shaped you to be the person you are today.

Racism and prejudice aren't hidden from society. It's out in the open every day.

We see it in the news.We see if when we walking in town and someone crosses the street just to avoid walking next to a man of color.We see it when people make a rude, stereotypical joke to a friend.We see it when people spew hateful, toxic things to people they've never even met.It's happening every day, all around you. Here's the problem. People either give excuses to why they did what they did or claim they didn't know any better. We're no longer living in a day and age where those excuses work. We are fighting for a better world for our kids. This fight means we have to stand up and say this is not ok. We have to challenge wrong thinking and start learning about those around us.

Let's start by learning a few definitions.

Racism: prejudice, discrimination, or antagonism directed against someone of a different race based on the belief that one's own race is superior.Prejudice: preconceived opinion that is not based on reason or actual experience.Ignorance: lack of knowledge or information.Racism and prejudice are both learned behaviors. Through out our lives people have shaped what we believe. Maybe you grew up in a family that made racist remarks. Or maybe they lived in their bubble like I did growing up and didn't know better.

Either way, ignorance leads to both racism and prejudice.

So how can we stop it? What can we do to make sure our kids don't learn this hate?We can teach our kids. It starts as simple as that. We can help them to have a deep love for cultures around the world. We can remind them to ask questions when they don't know something rather than lay a stereotypical label on it.Remember, kids learn by example. You need to be the right example to them and challenge yourself. If you mess up, admit it to them and have a conversation about it. If you see someone in their life, whether it's a family member or someone in the media, call out bad behavior. Don't ignore it when it happens. If you do, your kids will be left trying to figure it out on their own.

How can you challenge racism, prejudice, and ignorance around you?

Intercultural Couples: Why Should You Cook For Your Loved One?

This post is sponsored by Saffron Fix. As always all my opinions expressed here are my own. 

As a wife in an intercultural relationship, I can tell you making food from a culture so new to me can be intimidating. When I first started making Indian food for our family, I had no idea what I was doing. The first time I made chicken curry was a disaster and to be really honest, I wasn't extremely motivated to keep trying. There are so many couples out there facing similar situations. They want to learn to make the food their loved one grew up with, but they're intimidated and tend to give up early. Taking the time to learn how to make food from your loved one's childhood means more than you think. 

It shows your spouse you love them. 

When you take the time to learn something new, it reminds your spouse how much you love them. Sometimes, you need to go beyond just saying "I love you," and actually show them. 

It brings you and your spouse together. 

Food has always been the thing to bridge cultures and bring people together. Whether you're eating or cooking together, you're putting everything else on hold and making each other the priority. 

It reminds your spouse you want to blend cultures. 

Blending cultures in your food is a great idea because it means you're both experiencing it together. Every bite you have and every minute you take to prepare the dish, is another moment you're blending cultures in your family. ---You can see how important it is to blend cultures in your family meals, but don't let it intimidate you. All you need to do is ask for help. If this is you and you're looking for a little help to learn how to make authentic dishes for your family, Saffron Fix is the answer.Saffron Fix is a meal-kit service that will send you everything you need to make delicious Indian dishes in no time! All you need to do is go to their site, choose from mouth watering recipes, and checkout. They'll send you a box full of pre-chopped ingredients, authentic spices, and the recipes. All of the meals are ready in under thirty minutes!Whether you want to learn how to make authentic Indian dishes or need quick and easy meals throughout the week, Saffron Fix is for you. 

How Can You Use Education And Laughter Against Ignorance?

There was an article that made it's way around Facebook a few months ago. A friend of ours had shared it with my husband, Joel and it went viral! So many people could relate to the hilarious questions people ask. When people find out my husband is East Indian, they tend to ask him a lot of questions. Most of the time, the questions are simply... ridiculous. My favorite question people have asked me about my husband is, "Does he speak Indian?"I truly hope I have at least taught most of you at least a few things about Indian culture. At least enough to know that no one speaks Indian, rather one of the hundreds of dialects found in India. Joel speaks Telugu.  I used to ignore people's mistake and answer their question, pretending they said the right thing. Now, I just laugh. It would be like me walking into a room of people and asking someone if they spoke American. We've seen the same things with our kids. People are already asking us hilarious questions about our mixed kids. It's funny to think about the questions our boys will have to answer through out their lives. Some of them will be funny like this and others will be insulting. I want my husband and I to raise our kids to respond well, regardless of what people do or say. We can't control what people do, but we can control our response. 

[tweetthis twitter_handles="@almstindianwife" display_mode="box"]"Two things reduce prejudice: education and laughter." -Laurence J. Peter[/tweetthis]

I love this quote because it really hits the point head on. It's easy for people to let anger take over when faced with prejudice or ignorance, but it won't change anything. Anger only fuels more anger. Instead, we need to teach our children how to respond. They can either teach people or laugh. 

 

If someone ignorantly says something that offends you, take a minute and teach them something. They probably didn't realize that they said was offensive. Bring laughter to the situation and make a joke!

 

[tweetthis twitter_handles="@almstindianwife" display_mode="box"]Keeping your calm in the face of ignorance creates an opportunity for change.[/tweetthis]

 

What Do We Do About Bullying?

As an adult, you start to take pride in what sets you apart. You want to stand out and be different, one of a kind. 

 

As a child, you want to blend in. You do everything you can to avoid being different. You want to be just like your friends. 

 

Growing up, I had one thing that set me apart from most of my friends, my freckles. As you can see, I don’t just have a few. They’re everywhere. During the summer, they multiply like bunnies and take over. I would even try staying in the shade to avoid the inevitable. 

 

Now, I love my freckles. They make me unique. I even prayed my little Indian babies would be born with beautiful freckles. I’m still praying for them to come every summer. 

 

If only our children could bypass the shame and go straight to being proud of their differences. 

 

I was talking to one of my husband’s cousins recently. She was talking to me about school and shared something with me. She told me she would never bring Indian food to school for lunch. I thought she was kidding, but the look on her face said there was a story behind this declaration. 

 

She told me she brought a curry dish to school one day. Her mom is constantly making Indian food, so it would be like you bringing leftover spaghetti. As soon as she opened the tupperware, her friends noses went straight up. They instantly started making fun of the “gross Indian smell.” They ganged up on her asking how she could like something that gross. 

 

My heart broke for her. She brought one of her favorite meals to school. She wanted to show it off and share it with her friends. Instead, she was mocked and ridiculed. Now, she has declared to never repeat the situation again. 

 

How can kids be so mean? It makes me want to hide my children away forever in a little house in the middle of nowhere. I guess I can’t really do that. Instead, I’m going to do everything I can to teach my children to be proud of who they are. 

 

If they can remember to celebrate their differences, they won’t be so caught up in covering them up from everyone. I want them to remember that God has made us all different.

Often times, society tries to tell us we’re all the same. Buy the same clothes, do your hair the same way, get it cut the same way, say the same things, but we can’t ever be exactly the same. We need to challenge our society and remind children their differences make up who they are.   

Do you have a similar story? What makes you unique? Were you always proud of it?

 

 

Our Life In Pictures

Our life is always crazy and full of silly moments. Here are a few pictures of our week.

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!

Our Children's First Haircuts

Levi's hair. Oh Levi's hair. It's beautiful. It's luscious. 

I prayed for that curly hair. Not that I expect it to work for baby number three... Although I am trying. 

 

Most parents pray for their kids to be born with a full head of hair. We definitely don't have a chance of anything but thick, dark hair. I had it when I was born and well have you have seen an Indian baby without hair? I think not. 

 

Hence why I was so surprised when Joel's mom asked if we were going to shave his head. Do what!? 

 

Apparently it's very common to shave your baby's head (boys and girls) for their first haircut. Some Hindu families even have a ceremony. This tradition changed depending on religion and the region you are from in India. 

 

The biggest part of the first haircut that is so important to Joel's family is the fact that it's a big first! It's also said to make their hair grow back thicker and fuller. The common practice with my culture and Joel's culture is that we all like to keep a little lock of babies hair from the first haircut. 

 

I try to be open minded on all of the new traditions. I want our kids to take part in so many of them. I was hesitant when she wanted us to do it with Liam, but willing. We ended up not all being together for his first haircut and Joel and I decided to just give Liam a trim. 

 

When Levi was born, I was so excited to see his curly hair. We decided to let him keep his hair long and trim it when he starts getting the "Oh what a cute girl," comments. We've cut it dozens and dozens of times, but usually keep it the same length. Joel's mom mentioned cutting it a few times. Then it happened. She fell in love with his hair too!!! Then she even said we will never cut his hair. She even went as far as to say his personality is in his hair!

 

We're contemplating changing his name to Samson. 

 

One day we will actually cut his hair. Not trim, but cut. That day is not today. It's far from now. Until then I'll just smile when grocers call him princess and flight attendants call him a little girl. I'm so used to it that I don't even correct them now!!! Is that bad? I know he looks nothing like a little girl and that's enough for me. 

How old was your child before you cut their hair for the first time?

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! 

Half Indian Toddler Problems

A toddler's life comes with many difficulties. People don't let you do whatever you want, discipline your younger siblings, eat cookies all day, and the worst of it all... they don't always understand what you're saying so clearly. Now, try being half Indian and half White on top of it!

We've been slowly teaching Liam and Levi little Telugu words. I only know the ones Joel and his dad have taught me. I've tried to look a few up online, but I was only met with hysterical laughter after I used one of my internet taught words. They were either completely wrong or I was using them in the wrong context. Joel sure got a kick out of it. 

As we started to teach Liam some of the Telugu words, we ran into a problem. So many of them sounded like something else in his toddler vocabulary. 

Annum

Rice is served with just about every Indian dish so we have a lot of it around here. When we told Liam what the Telugu word for rice was he just looked at us and laughed. 

"Mom, this isn't annum, it's rice!"

He thinks it's hilarious because he calls our cousin Autumn, annum. When we tell him he's eating annum, he thinks we're teasing him. 

Thatha

Obviously, the "th" is always hard for a kiddo to say. Liam calls Joel's dad Sasa instead of Thatha. It's never been a problem until this weekend. I gave him chips and salsa for lunch. He asked me what the salsa was. No this is not the first time he's ever had salsa, but it's the first time he's actually paid attention to it. I told him it was salsa. He just stared at me. 

"If you say I'm eating my Sasa one more time, I'll tell daddy."

I tried to explain the difference between Thatha and salsa, but he told me to go into time out for not listening instead....

Naan

Naan is the delicious Indian flat bread that we always find an excuse to make around here. It. is. delicious. We didn't make it with an Indian dish one time for my family and they all looked at us like we were insane. Naan is definitely not a hard word to say. However when you're family is always making naan jokes, it gets distorted quickly. What are naan jokes you ask? Oh, let me tell you. 

As a response to someone asking you if you had any naan. "Nope, I've had naan." 

"I'll have naan of that." 

You can see where it goes. It's one of those jokes that happens at least a few times during all of our Indian dinners. Even Liam is doing it! He has no idea why it's so funny, but he loves saying naan while running around the house laughing. 

I wonder if Indian families sit around the dinner table making naan jokes during dinner. Oh yeah, that's probably only something us whiteys do...

We Went "Camping!"

One of the big jokes last year with our family was Joel planning a camping trip. He, my cousin Beau, and cousin Kyle went camping together. Let's just say it was an evening of camping on an illegal camp site (which they found out later), going home early to play video games, and eat pizza... 

He tried to plan multiple trips over the summer only to make all the preparations and not go. Something would come up or they couldn't agree on a spot to go. My family is definitely not one to let it go without teasing mercilessly over the following months. My cousin Chase got wrapped up in a family joke and his response was, "Of course it had to happen in this family! Now they will never let it go!"

This year we decided to make a stand and actually go camping!

Our first attempt... Camping in the backyard. Hey, that's a two year olds dream! We also wanted to see if the tent we got would hold up through out the summer. 

The evening started with tent flying. Or realistically, Joel and I trying to fly a kite for Liam only for him to stomp away yelling, "You guys never let me do my kite!" Hey kid, that kite was really hard to fly! Not to mention there wasn't a ton of wind and it was impossible to put together, but don't worry stomp off pouting after we spent thirty minutes tripping over ourselves attempting to fly your dumb kite. We finally gave in and said have at it even if it flies off. 

He thought he was the coolest two year old out there. 

At the end of our kite flying adventure, my one year old Levi walks over to me holding. my. camera. I ran over, inspected it, and didn't see any damage. Then I tried to take a picture... Something fell off inside my camera.

I took it out and it's still taking pictures fine, but I figure it was in there for some reason... The cheap side of me says keep taking pictures until it stops entirely and that's probably what I'll do. 

Levi LOVED the tent. He ran around and fell onto his back for ten minutes straight. As for the rest of the night? Well, let's just say Liam did great. He was worried about monsters for a bit and then grabbed his sword. That was enough to put him at ease. Levi on the other hand... He was up every hour. He's definitely not our best sleeper, but he's been sleeping through the night this week. He woke up every hour asking for water. I guess "camping" takes a lot out of you. 

Now, Levi and I are awake in the house and Liam and Joel are still sleeping in the tent. I'm pretty sure Liam is going to try and live in the tent along with my Survivor Man Husband. 

So. Are we ready for camping. Possibly everyone except for this sweet face. 

Our May Adventures

If you live in a place with constant sunshine all around you, you will never understand Pacific Northwest problems. We, here in the PNW, experience a few short months of summer and almost an entire year of clouds and rain. What do we do when the sun rarely shines?RUN OUTSIDE IN A SWIMSUIT AND SOAK UP THE VITAMIN D!!!Yes, that's right. The temperature doesn't matter because the sun makes it feel glorious. We get a little sick of the Vitamin D pills, light therapy, and daydreaming of a rain free day. This week the sun has been out and every single person in the PNW is out and ready to enjoy. My boys have been loving this nice weather! We've had so many adventures this week. The boys have been living in their pool. Inspecting "terrifying" itty bitty bugs.Being as cute as can be. Eating "Elsa snacks." Yes, Liam is still obsessed with Frozen.Then of course Levi's adorable new Zoolander face he makes when he's told to do something he deems ridiculous.Levi wasn't quite sure about the beach.Then he went for it and never came out! At the end, these little cuties decided they were too cold and hungry to move until they were served hot dogs.What's a fun post without my favorite Liam quote of the week?"Liam will you pick mama a flower?""Mom, there are no more flowers," as he stands next to this.....