Coconut Curry Soup

I've made this a few times now. I've altered the original recipe quite a few times, and this is the best one that my family really loves!

 

Somen noodles with shrimp



Here's what I put in it:

1 Tbsp vegetable oil
2 Tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 stalk lemon grass, minced
2 tsp red curry paste
1 ½ tsp Oriental curry powder
½ tsp ground coriander
½ tsp ground turmeric
2 cups Not Chick’n broth
2 Tbsp fish sauce
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 (13.5 oz) cans coconut milk (A Taste of Thai)
½ lb. fresh mushrooms, sliced (shiitake or large Portobello)

¼ cup white/yellow onions, quartered and sliced thinly
½ lb snow peas

3 cups bok Choy

¼ cup chopped fresh cilantro

½ cup green onions (scallions), cut about 1” length

Lime wedges
Salt to taste

Optional Additions:

1 lb. medium shrimp - peeled and divined

2 med Asian eggplants, sliced

2 tomatoes, quartered and cut in half

Serve over:

1 small pkg Asian noodles of your choice (pad Thai, Somen, Ramen, Udon), or 3 cups cooked rice

Depending on what noodles you use, it will taste a little different. All have been delicious!

How I made it:

Blanch greens and peas. Bring 4 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add bok choy and peas to pan; cook for 1 minute. Remove vegetables from pan with a slotted spoon; place in a large bowl. Add noodles to pan; cook as directed. Drain; add noodles to bok choy mixture in bowl.

Microwave mushrooms for 3 minutes on high heat. Drain and set aside. 

Heat canola oil in pan over medium-high heat. Add white/yellow onions and the first 7 ingredients to pan; sauté 1 minute, stirring constantly. Add broth to pan, and bring to a boil. Add coconut milk to pan; reduce heat, and simmer 5 minutes. Add shrimp, sugar, and fish sauce to pan; cook for 2-3 minutes. Remove shrimp, add mushrooms. Stir in cilantro. 

Distribute noodles, peas, bok choy, any other additions in 4 bowls. Pour mushroom soup mixture over noodles and vegetables in bowls. Garnish with lime wedges.  

Serve warm.

pad Thai noodles with eggplant

Vegan No Beef Stew

I made a vegan no beef stew. I brought it to a potluck and it disappeared pretty quickly, even though I got there almost an hour late. By the time I had to leave, there was only one bowl left! I think if I had stayed the whole time, there wouldn't have been any left at all. :)
 

Here's what I used, and how I made it.
 

Ingredients:
Olive oil
1 large onion, quartered, then chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
About 1-2 lbs red potatoes, diced
4 med carrots with tops, sliced 1/2" thick
4 stalks celery, sliced 1/2" thick
1 bell pepper, any color, chopped
1 cup red wine
1 tsp dried rosemary
1 tsp dried thyme
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp ground mustard
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1 tsp salt
3, 8 oz packages of mini Bella mushrooms, quartered
1 oz dried shiitake mushrooms
1 can of tomato sauce
About 1 Tbsp, or more cornstarch (for thickening)
2 cups hot water, divided
2 Not-Chick'n bouillon cubes
2 Tbsp soy sauce, optional
 

Directions:
First you'll need to cut and prepare all the vegetables. Don't throw away the carrot tops. Pluck off all the leaves from the stems and set aside. Soak the dried mushrooms in 1 cup hot water, once softened, cut into small pieces, place back into water. Disolve the bouillon cubes in 1 cup of hot water and the 1 cup red wine. Set all these aside.
 

In a large pot, sauté onions and garlic slightly, until fragrant. Add potatoes and carrots, sautéing  for about 2-3 mins, add celery and peppers, sauté for about another 2-3 minutes. Add fresh mushrooms, all the spices, except black pepper, sauté for about 3-4 minutes. Once the mushrooms have let out some of their water, add the shiitake mushrooms, including the water it was soaking in, and all the rest of the liquids (tomato sauce too).
 

Lower heat, simmer for about 30-40 minutes. Thicken with cornstarch to desired thickness. Check potatoes, once it can be cut with a spoon, add carrot tops and freshly ground black pepper. Taste, add more salt and pepper if needed.
 

Serve with crusty bread, or over rice.

Ps. I have a secret, I put a handful of crushed toasted Nori in this too, it really ups the umami (savory) flavor!
  

*I love fonts! These are the fonts I used: Cherry Cream Soda, Josefin Sans, Reenie Beanie, and Walter Turncoat.

Vegan Lettuce Wraps (Asian tacos)

I made these last week for the first time. My boyfriend Robert, really loved them, so I had to make them again.

 

Here's what I used:
1 head Romaine lettuce, rinsed and dried (we mostly used large leaves)
1 carrot, thinly julienned
2-3 stalks green onions, sliced on the bias
1/4 package of rice stick noodles
About 1 tsp of chili seasoning, or more if you like it spicy
About 1/2 tsp Chinese 5 spice
1/2 a package of Gardein beefless ground
1/2 a package of shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
About 1 handful of chopped cashews

 

For the sauce I used:
About 1/8 cup vegan sweet chili sauce
About 1/8 cup vegan pad Thai sauce
About a Tbsp of mirin (rice wine vinegar)
About 1 tsp of Asian red curry paste

 

Here's how I made everything:
Make noodles according to package. Drain and rinse with cold water. Set aside to cool.

Slice and julienne all vegetables. Set aside.

 

Heat a skillet to medium heat. Brown the beefless ground, add seasonings, cashews, and mushrooms, stir a few times for about 3 minutes. Turn off heat.

 

Mix the sauce with the noodles and then assemble the "tacos," adding the "meat" mixture first and building upwards. Meat, noodley sauce, onions, carrots. Spooning on more sauce as needed.

Eat over a plate cause its messy.

 

Ps. I made these vegan. You don't have to. Also, I make my own seasonings and sauces... a lot of the Asian sauces have fish sauce in it, so remember to check the ingredients.
 

He loves my cooking so much!

*I love fonts! These are the fonts I used: Cherry Cream Soda, Josefin Sans, Reenie Beanie, and Walter Turncoat.

Easy Eggless Shrimp Carbonara

I made this. Here's what I used, and how I made it.
 

Ingredients I used:
1 lb spaghetti noodles
1 lb headless raw shrimp
1 stick unsalted butter, divided (5 & 3 Tbsp)
1/4 cup heavy cream, or as much as needed
1-2 Tbsp minced garlic
1/2 an onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup or more grated Parmesan cheese, divided
Salt, to taste
Freshly ground black pepper, to taste
About 1/3 cup fresh chopped parsley
Dry thyme leaves
 

Here's what I did:
Make noodles according to package. Drain, set aside to cool.
 

Using medium high heat, heat 5 Tbsp butter in a pot big enough for noodles. Add 1 Tbsp garlic and about 1 tsp salt, sautée slighlty. Add 1\4 cup Parmesan cheese, and about 1/4 cup cream to make a thick, creamy sauce. You want this sauce to be thin enough to coat the noodles, but thick enough that it's not saucy. Season with about 1/4 tsp dry thyme leaves. Turn off heat, set aside.
 

Heat a skillet to medium high heat, melt rest of butter, and cook the shrimp with about a pinch or 2 of thyme, until just turning orange. Remove shrimp, cool slightly, and peel, cutting half of the shrimp into bite sized pieces and leaving the other half whole. Lower heat to about medium, add onions and garlic to the pan, soften (about 4-5 minutes). Move onion garlic mixture to one side of the pan, add the cut and whole shrimp back into the pan, mixing cut up shrimp with the onion mixture and keeping whole shrimp separate, don't overcook, about 1-2 minutes depending on size of shrimp. Remove whole shrimp from pan and set aside. Pour sauce into skillet with cut up shrimp and garlic onion mixture. Heat through.
 

This part goes quickly.
Place drained and cooled noodles into pot that had the sauce cooking in it. Pour sauce mixture over noodles, fresh cracked black pepper, 1/4 cup parmesan, and chopped parsley. Stir, coating all the noodles.
 

Serve immediately with the whole shrimp, divide evenly per serving.

 

*I love fonts! These are the fonts I used: Cherry Cream Soda, Josefin Sans, Reenie Beanie, and Walter Turncoat.

Berroco® Free Pattern | Dagmar

Wow, I've not posted in a whole year... too many things happened...

I'm going to make this as soon as I can find some of this yarn.
Berroco® Free Pattern | Dagmar

loveshoppingholics.com Cirlce Lenses Review

loveshoppingholics.com

I purchased Fynale J01 Honoo Gray Circle Lens and Japan Barbie Circle Eye(Ring)-Blue. I had a code to receive a third pair for free, which was EOS Gray (I think it's from the Max Pure series). I placed this order in February and it arrived quicker than the 21 days that it said. The free pair expires this month, so I won't be able to wear it after this month, but it was free and I'm okay with that.

I had pictures of my order when I first received it, but I accidentally deleted them... (´＿｀。) All I have left are just pics of me wearing the lenses...The outer packaging was very discreet and plain, but they used pretty stamps and the inner packaging was very cute.  (*^▽^*)

Japan Barbie Circle Eye(Ring)-Blue
Colour: ***** This is a very pretty dark blue color that blends well with my eye color. The design is vibrant and also very unique. It's kind of a swirl pattern. I get lots of compliments whenever I wear these lenses!
Comfort: ***** These are probably the most comfortable lenses that I own. I can wear these all day without and dryness or discomfort!
Enlargement: ***** Really gives a doe eye look without looking like an alien and also as you can see in the pictures below, I have minimal makeup on.
Overall: ***** These are one of my favorite lenses. I wear these quite often! I will eventually be ordering these in all the colors that are available! (◕‿◕✿)

Fynale J01 Honoo Gray (Sorry I don't have a picture yet...)

Colour: ***** These are one of my favorite lenses! They are slightly lighter than depicted on the website. They blend pretty well and look quite natural.

Comfort: ***** These are pretty comfortable, I was able to wear them for 6 hours before I had to use re-wetting drops. After the drops, I was able to wear them for another 4 hours before my eyes felt fatigued.

Enlargement: ***** Looks more like regular contacts, but gives a slight enlargement. Still very pretty and gives a very nice doll eyed look. 

Overall: ***** These are such a lovely pair of lenses. This is my third favorite pair of lenses. I think I might buy a few more colors. 

EOS Gray (Possibly Max Pure series) BC: 8.6 mm, Diameter: 14.5 mm
Colour: ***** I love gray lenses! I have three pairs of gray lenses and these are by far my most favorite of them all! They blend in very well and look very natural to me.
Comfort: ***** Even tho these are my favorite lenses, they are not the most comfortable. They dry out very quickly. (I think because it's the last month I can wear it...)
Enlargement: ***** These also give a nice doe eye effect without looking like an alien. As you can see I am wearing minimal makeup with these lenses as well.
Overall: ***** Did I mention that these are my favorite lenses?! I love the color and the blend and the enlargement! I got these for free and I'm ordering them so that I can wear them all year! I will be ordering these in other colors as well... Gray lenses are my favorite!!  ｡◕‿◕｡

So much shopping... not enough time/money

(I wrote this a few weeks ago and forgot to post it...)
It's been a little while since I've posted. I thought I should update everyone on what's been going on with me the past couple of weeks.

I got my taxes back and did some shopping. I got quite a haul.

Twice from Sephora and twice for circle lenses. I ordered from geocolouredlenses.com and from loveshoppingholics.com during the Valentine's day sale in February. I also bought quite a bit of clothes as well. I am a bargain shopper, so I got a lot of clothes for me and the kids. (loveshoppingholics review will be on a different post.)

Sephora

First haul from February 21

Ole Henriksen Seven Skincare Sensations, tokidoki Adieu, ALTERNA Caviar Anti-Aging Experience Set, GLO Whitening Antioxidant Toothpaste; free samples: Murad Time Release Retinol Concentrate For Deep Wrinkles, REN Hydra-Calm Global Protection Day Cream, NUDE Skincare ProGenius™ Treatment Oil; free with code: First Aid Beauty Dual Repair Face Cream deluxe; deluxe samples (used points): Dr. Brandt Skincare glow by dr. brandt™ ruby crystal retinol hydracrème, Bumble and bumble Straight Blow Dry.

The only things I've really used from this haul are the Ole Henriksen products, Adieu, and the ALTERNA hair set. I really love the Ole line! There are a few items that I will have to get different products of tho. I like the On the Go Cleanser much better than the cleanser that came in the kit and I need and oil-free moisturizer rather than the one that came in the kit. Adieu has a slightly sweet and fruity scent that I like a lot. It's very spring summery and feminine without being too childish or girly smelling. As far as the hair set goes, I think I like it, but I have not really gotten a chance to use it yet. the package I received was damaged, so I had to get it replaced. I will make a different post about how I like it. ヽ(‘ー`)ノ

Second haul from February 23

Hello Kitty HK Grafitti Suitcase (not pictured), SEPHORA COLLECTION Deluxe Airless Travel Kit, SEPHORA COLLECTION Putting On The Spritz Atomizer,Betsey Johnson Too Too Gift Set; free samples: Hydra-Calm Global Protection Day Cream, NUDE Skincare ProGenius™ Treatment Oil, Escada Especially Escada. 

There's not really much to say about this haul as I haven't used anything yet. I am going to Florida in April. Once I have used these items, other than the perfume, I will make a post how everything worked out for me. As far as Too Too, I really like this scent. It's a little hard for me to explain the scent tho. It's floral, sweet, but it has this edge to it that says, feminine, quirky, fun and  strong... I can't really explain well that other scent, woodsy maybe...? I especially love the little party clutch with the huge bow that came with the set I bought!! It's too too cute!! ☆*:.｡. o(≧▽≦)o .｡.:*☆

I purchased in the store: Too Faced Air Buffed BB Crème Complete Coverage Makeup Broad Spectrum SPF 20 Sunscreen. I had initially bought the BB cream from Tarte, but did not end up keeping it. I played with the sample I had received more and wanted something with more coverage. I decided to go ahead and exchange the Tarte BB cream for the Too Faced BB cream and I'm glad I did, I love this cream from Too Faced! It has all the benefits of the BB creams, but with better coverage. The only thing that I don't like, the brush is so small. I bought a Sonia Kashuk® Kashuk Tools Synthetic Flat Top Multipurpose Brush - No 04 from Target. It feels exactly like the brush that came with the Too Faced BB cream, but larger. This made putting on the cream so much easier. (ヘ。ヘ)

geocolouredlenses.com

This was a gift for Valentine's day. Geo Angel CM-831 Edge Violet

 

 

Princess MiMi Almond Brown