Wednesday, December 17, 2014

Comfort Food






Nothing screams comfort food like rice and beans!  My favorite rice and bean recipe includes two of my favorite spices cayenne pepper and cumin!  This recipe can easily be modified and you can make it more spicy if you wish simple by adding more cayenne pepper. 

More Than Rice and Beans
*If sharing this recipe please link to this page, thank you!

Ingredients:
1 C dried brown rice
1 can (15.5oz) Black Beans (can also use kidney beans instead) rinsed
1 stalk celery, chopped
1 pepper, chopped
1 carrot, chopped
1 yellow onion, sliced
2 T olive oil
3/4 C tomato sauce (Make sure to measure in liquid measuring cup)
1/3 C water
1/2 tsp cumin
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
pepper
salt (I never add salt, but you can add some if you feel like it is necessary)

1) Cook 1 cup of brown rice according to package.
2) While brown rice is cooking you can chop up vegetables.  In a medium sauce pot add olive oil and heat on medium heat.  Add in vegetables and cook until onions are translucent.  Add in a dash of pepper and cumin. 
3) When onions are translucent and carrots, peppers and celery are cooked add in the sauce, water, cumin, and cayenne pepper.  Switch to low heat until the rice is done cooking.
4) Add in beans to the vegetable mix and then add in the rice. Stir until everything is combined. 

If you like more spice then you can add in more cayenne pepper, if you like less spice then you can add less. Simple! 

Enjoy!




Sunday, December 14, 2014

Cosmic Color







School is almost done and that means a lot of personal time for me! I've been spending my time knitting, reading, sewing, and working on some Christmas gifts for friends. It has been so nice spending my time doing things that make me happy and I think my projects reflect that.  I've been working with a lot of bright purples and blues and pinks or *cosmic colors* and my projects have been flying off the needles! So here is a wrap up of what I've been up to! 

First off I've been working on some Christmas gifts for two of my best friends.  I special ordered some yarn from Gynx Yarns in the Moogle and Howl's Castle colorways and I am obsessed with them! She does not offer the color ways anymore which is so upsetting because I would love to get my hands on some more of her Moogle colorway!  I am making my friends the Molly Hat and I have been making a few modifications. I decided that due to time constraints I did not want to knit the cable up the side of the hat and I also made the hat a little bit shorter which was a good thing because I almost ran out of yarn while knitting! I double stranded the yarn and I love the way it came out!  I am going to add pompoms to the top of each hat when they are both finished! 

I also started a new project for myself, mittens! I have wanted hand knit mittens for the longest time now and I decided I would start to make myself some.  I am using the Grammy Mitts pattern and I am using some KnitPicks Stroll yarn.  I doubled up the yarn and changed the number of stitches I cast on and I am going to be knitting more ribbing then recommended. I would love to be able to fold the ribbing over for extra warmth! 

In other news a few exciting things have been happening around here.  First The Patchwork Peach Podcast is now on youtube! You can search The Patchwork Peach Podcast.  I will be uploading them onto the blog soon when finals are over!  We also have a Ravelry Group that you can join and post photos and chat with other members! I also just passed my huge exam and I am officially a Dietetic Technician, Registered!  In honor of my big accomplishment I will be posting a new recipe in the next week! 

I hope everyone has been having a good week!