Continued Love for Peanut Butter

Last night, I played beach volleyball with a group of friends.  It's a fun way to break up the week and get together with friends.  Plus, the weather was great last night so it was fun to be outside by the lake.  We've won a couple of games, but last night was not our night.  You win some, you lose some!

My friend Lindsey recently moved into a new apartment and did a Target run.  Living in the city without a car, Target is a little difficult to get to.  So, I asked her a HUGE favor.  I have fallen in love with a new cereal that I have only found at Target (I think people are hoarding boxes of it at the grocery store by me).   This cereal combines one of my favorite cereals, Cheerios, and my favorite flavor, peanut butter.  That's right...Peanut Butter Cheerios!  I recommend that everyone try them.  An enormous thank you to Lindsey and her mom Cindy for picking them up for me!

It was either a post volleyball or post shower picture. I opted for the cleanliness of post shower picture.

This week, I tried making a new and different dinner.  I love Indian food and have eaten it out several times.  I don't usually think to make it at home for 2 main reasons:

1. Indian food uses a lot of spices that I don't tend to have on hand.

2. It is known to smell.  Living in a small studio apartment, I don't have the luxury of containing smelly dishes (even if those dishes are tasty too).

The other day, I saw a pre-made Indian sauce at Whole Foods.  Having a pre-made sauce took away reason 1 for not cooking Indian food at home.  I decided to take a chance with reason number 2.

Maya Kaimal makes several different types of sauces.  I chose the vindaloo sauce, which is a coconut and chili flavored sauce. I had tried a vindaloo sauce at my favorite Indian restaurant in Chicago and liked it.  Also, it said that it was spicy and I tend to opt for spicier flavors.

I decided to go vegetarian and roasted a zucchini, mushrooms, onion, and a mixed bag of cauliflower and broccoli.  I set the oven to 420, coated the vegetables in olive oil, and put them in the oven for 20 minutes.  

Toward the end of the 20 minutes I started to simmer the sauce.  I then added the vegetables to the sauce and continued to simmer together for 5 minutes.

This recipe can easily be made using a pound of meat and/or chick peas and whatever vegetables you enjoy.  Be sure to buy naan to make your Indian meal complete!

It might not look pretty, but it was delicious!  And not to mention...smell free (an added perk)!