Curry Roasted Vegetable Wrap and Turquoise Earrings

Turquoise Earrings
I've been looking at my copper cuff bracelet blanks differently.

I came up with this long, dramatic design. I found the wire is difficult to coil after texturing but managed a small coil on the bottom. These turquoise pretties are available in my Etsy shop.

Curry Roasted Vegetable and Avocado Wrap
The original inspiration recipe found here is a curry roasted veggie and avocado naan-wich from Naturally Ella.

The only big differences for me were leaving out the onion and using a wrap instead of naan. Changing the bread is a great way to reduce the calories!

The filling includes:
1 cup of diced red pepper (I used yellow because it was $1 less a pound!)
1 cup cherry tomatoes sliced in half (I used one large regular tomato)
1.5 cups diced zuchinni
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon curry powder
salt to taste
1/2 cup chickpeas, drained and rinsed 

Preheat the oven at 425 F. In a roasting pan, toss all ingredients except the chickpeas. 

Roast for 15 - 20 minutes until veggies are tender. Then stir in the chickpeas and continue to roast for 5 additional minutes. 

The avocado is used like a mayonnaise. Mash up 1 avocado with 2 tablespoons of cilantro or to taste. I used the freeze dried. Sprinkle in the lime juice if desired. 

Then you spread the avocado on the wrap followed with the veggies. So delicious and healthy! 

Next time a make it I'm going to spice it up a bit since both Jim and I like our curried foods to have some heat.

Thank you for stopping by! Have a beautiful week. ~Val

This Week's Blog Post

New Earrings
These pretties are garnet and iolite. Both beads are handcut giving them character!

All metal is sterling silver. Available at Miss Val’s Creations.

Coconut Curry

Jim and I love coconut curry and have eaten is at Thai restaurants, Indian restaurants and P.F. Changs. However we have never attempted recreating it!!! If you love coconut curry but have never cooked it before it is really easy and super healthy to make at home!!!

We made a HUGE batch with this easy sauce.

• 2 cups of coconut milk
• 8 tablespoons of soy sauce (we used light to keep the sodium count down)
• 2 teaspoons curry powder
• 4 tablespoons of brown sugar (more could be used if you like saucers sweeter)
• 8 teaspoons of rice vinegar or cider vinegar
• 2 cups of peanuts (yummy)

Just mix them all together. I looks totally disgusting but tastes heavenly!!!

Then we sautéed our veggies of choice in olive oil. This could include:

• carrots
• sugar snap peas
• regular potatoes or sweet potatoes (we prefer sweet since they are more nutritious)
• mushrooms
• bell pepper (green is really good in this)
• cauliflower
• broccoli
• peas
• onions

• 
 After sautéing for a few minutes, then add in the sauce and cook further. Then taste test. You could add more curry, maybe cumin, black pepper….whatever suits your fancy. It is ready when the veggies are at the texture you prefer.

While this is going on, cook up some basmati rice to serve with the dish.  The first time we made this we used regular white rice, but what a difference when using the “correct” rice!!!

It really tasted like we got take out from the local Indian restaurant!!!!  Unfortunately they may not see us anymore since we are now confident in our Indian cooking!

The Walled City

My town is a bit walled! These structures look like they belong in Europe.

I could not find information explaining these online. There is a street with high walls that go on for quite a length!

There were a few key wealthy families in town back in the day that had some fabulous structure built so I am sure this was the brainchild of one of them!

They certainly add character to the town!

If you live in the U.S., have a wonderful Thanksgiving! This is my first year going to Thanksgiving on a gluten free diet which kind of stinks but at least I can still eat my mom’s sweet potato casserole! Cranberry sauce it still my friend too.   ~Val

This Week's Blog Post

Copper Stamped Pendants
So I played with my metal stamping kit! Here are my first attempts!

These are for my nieces and nephew for Valentine’s Day. I used a heavy duty 20 ounce hammer per a video recommendation watched on metal stamping. What a loud activity this is!!!

Valentine’s Day Cards
Speaking of Valentine’s Day here are my latest Etsy card purchases for the kiddos!

The illustrator is Joy of Sugar Beet Press. I love the whimsy in her work. It just makes you smile! The alien is my favorite!

This butterfly is so cute!!!

How about this big dinosaur holding a little tiny gift! So fun!

This card is great to give to someone with a devilish side!

The Bearded Lady is quite unexpected! It would certainly get some laughs!

Joy also has a sweet selection of baby announcements!

Visit Joy’s website, Etsy shop and blog!

Fruit and Vegetable Curry
Jim and I made a delicious curry. If you like to excite your taste buds, this will do it! We started with 2 chopped potatoes in 1 can of chopped tomatoes, 2 cups of veggie broth and some water.

We added 1.5 teaspoons of ground coriander and ground cumin. We played with the flavor and heat adding cayenne pepper. When the potatoes were almost cooked we added a frozen bag of each chopped squash, peas and cauliflower.

The dish started to dry up a little and we dumped in some red Cote du Rhone that Jim picked up at the store and we did not care for. This way it did not go to waste. Once the veggies were all ready, we added a fresh chopped mango and a chopped apple (with the skin). Before serving we mixed in cashews and jasmine rice.

It was super tasty and prep was really easy using the frozen veggies. So many things can be substituted in this and no recipe is needed! It can be made hot and spicy or mild depending on taste buds. If you attempt something like this I would suggest onions too! Maybe raisins! We strayed far from the original recipe I had which included carrots, fresh ginger root and creamed coconut.

Silly Pet Photos
I am sure these guys are gentle giants but I feel a little nervous for this baby!

This photo is from the Ellen website. If you are a cat person or a dog person you will love these since it is about half and half!!!

Since I am a cat person I am throwing this one it too! The hairy ears are a riot!

Thank you for stopping by and have a great week!!!! ~Val