Category Archives: Curry

3rd Prize Chili

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Red potOrganic 3 Bean Chili Con Cashew (Vegetarian)

This is my variation of an original recipe known as Chili Con Cashew by Kathryn J. Canfield, in Whole Foods for the Whole Family, published by La Leche League International. All the ingredients are organic, if they were available. This chili won 3rd place in a local chili cook off.

  • 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 4 carrots, chopped
  • 3 stalks of celery, chopped
  • 2 onions, chopped
  • 1 to 2 jalapeño peppers, chopped
  • 1 to 2 tbsp. coconut oil
  • 1 tsp. each basil and oregano
  • ±1 tsp. chili powder, or to taste
  • ±1 tsp. curry powder (can’t get enough of those spices!)
  • 1 tsp. ground cumin
  • 1 tsp. turmeric powder (great anti-inflammatory food; add to everything!)
  • 1/2 tsp. salt or less
  • a few dashes of black and cayenne pepper
  • 1 bay leaf
  • 1 1/2 cups raw cashews
  • 2 cups black beans, cooked
  • 1 can garbanzo beans
  • 1 can kidney beans
  • 42 ounces chopped/crushed tomatoes, with their liquid
  • 1/3 cup raisins
  • 1/4 – 1/2 cup dry red wine

Salute garlic and all vegetables (except tomatoes) in the coconut oil in a saucepan for several minutes. Add all the spices (except the bay leaf) and stir.

Stove Top Method: Add the remaining ingredients to the pan and simmer on low, stirring occasionally for ±2 hours.

Slow Cooker/Crock Pot Method: Dump the contents of the saucepan and all the remaining ingredients into a slow cooker and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 5+ hours. In order not to waste any of your spicy flavor, add some of the tomato liquid to the saucepan, stir and pour into the crock pot.

Serve with sour cream, cheese, tortilla chips, corn bread, or WHATEVER YOU LIKE! It is also great as leftovers and can even be eaten cold!

ENJOY!

Becky Hastings

The Best Curry You Ever Made, Mom!

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curry-powder-1554845-640x480Once upon a time, I didn’t know how easy and delicious curry was! I didn’t know the wonderful medicinal properties of the spicy combinations. Then I started practicing. I realized it was a lot easier than I thought, and I’ve been getting better and better at getting just the right mix of flavors! When you cook curry on low heat and add lots of beneficial spices, it delivers great nutrition.

I like to cook by intuition. It’s gotten easier over the years. Every once in a while I will cook something so tasty I have to stop and write down every step so that I’ll be able to do it again, or share it with my daughters.

This is my curry recipe that received rave reviews by my 15 yo daughter so I thought I should write down EXACTLY what I did! I must apologize for not taking a picture.

Please try it and let me know how it works for you. I’m happy to answer any questions you may have. I generally try to use all organic ingredients.

CurryUPDATE Slow Cooker/Crock Pot Versions: Alternatively, you can throw it all in a slow cooker and cook on high for about 2 hours, or on low for 4-6 hours! You don’t even need to brown the chicken! Just put any vegetables on the bottom, then the uncooked chicken, topped with all the other ingredients that you sautéed in the pan (including the coconut milk). You can add some kefir or yogurt just before serving. Delicious and EASY!

IMG_0423Becky Hastings, married to John for 34+ years, mother of 5, author and curry loving grandmother of 4 so far! I have a passion for Jesus, health and family. 

 

 

Avoid Cancer Eat More Turmeric

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Turmeric_main_0127The video below, Turmeric Curcumin Reprogramming Cancer Cell Death, is full of great information. I LOVE the beginning. Please at least watch the first 2 minutes for a great explanation of how your body is a brand new you about every 100 days! Every cell in your body is freshly made that often – so the building blocks your body has to work with are VERY IMPORTANT! There are only 3 components for building the new you.

Turmeric is excellent in programming cancer cell death. It is also a great anti-inflammatory and that is why I look for ways to imbibe it EVERY SINGLE DAY! I add it to my breakfast, add it to my raw milk afternoon pick me up, every stew or soup, and even in raw chocolate! Enjoy your curry!

What is your favorite way to include more turmeric in your diet?

 

Quick Easy Chicken Butternut Curry

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IMG_0488For those of you who don’t always plan in advance as well as you would like (my hand is up), I thought I might share a very easy last-minute recipe you can make which will surprise you by how fast it is ready and how good it tastes.

It does depend on having a few things in your refrigerator on stand-by, which is a good habit to get into, especially if you try to figure out last-minute healthy meals like I do.  These quantities serve about 4, but you can add a bit of everything to serve more. Preciseness is not that important in most of my cooking, much to the dismay of some of my family members!  Prep time is about 10-15 minutes, depending on your chopping speed.  Cooking time is about 10-15 minutes too!  You can hardly go out and get fast food for under 30 minutes!  And this is WAY more delicious and healthy!

Ingredients & Method all mixed together:

  • 2 Chicken breasts (organic, if possible.  They can be frozen, so don’t worry if you didn’t thaw it out!).  If you are able and want to cut them into pieces, you can, but for a faster result, just use them whole.  If they are still frozen solid, then use them whole, and you can break them into smaller pieces somewhere along the cooking process!
  • Coconut Oil, 1-2 Tablespoons (depending on your budget and how much you have on hand, more is always good!)
  • Onions, chopped.  Either ½ onion leftover in the fridge, or a whole one, your choice.
  • Garlic, couple of cloves, chopped or pressed (I’m still chopping, though I am hoping for a Pampered Chef garlic press for Christmas!).

Throw all of that into a largish pan on a medium low heat (it can go in stages, whatever works!).  Cover and simmer on a low heat, turning the chicken occasionally to brown.  If frozen, this stage will take a little bit longer.  You can also use a firm wooden spoon to break the chicken breast into pieces whenever you are able to do so.  Wait until it’s cooked a bit, so that it is not a difficult thing to do). I never use metal on metal when cooking, just saying.

  • Curry Powder, 1-2 Tablespoons.  Add curry powder to the pan after the chicken has mostly changed color on all sides and stir everything around so it gets impacted by the curry powder.  The chicken does not have to be cooked through the middle. The curry powder likes to sauté with the other ingredients to share its flavor. I have been enjoying Simply Organic Curry Powder, which I think I buy from Kroger.  It is a staple in my cupboard. I will also experiment with different curry powders.  It’s great to get one with Turmeric, since it has so many beneficial qualities.
  • Butternut, chopped.  I chopped about ¾ of a butternut into small pieces (while the chicken mixture was browning).  I actually left most of the skin on, but it was cut small.  It was fine with the skin on, and it is a lot faster than having to peel it!  (I took the seeds out and put them in a glass dish (see picture) with coconut oil and salt to roast in the oven at 350 for about 20 minutes – makes a wonderful snack for later! Once I figured this out, I was amazed about how I had been wasting butternut seeds for years!  Don’t worry about cleaning them, just dump all the insides in!)  If you don’t have any butternut, you could use carrots or any combination of vegetables that you have on hand, and change the name!IMG_0487
  • 1-2 Cups Chicken Stock.  This is a great thing to find in your fridge or freezer!  If I didn’t have any homemade chicken stock, I would have just added one cup of water
  • Ground Salt, Himalayan Crystal.  A few turns.
  • Ground Pepper, a few turns.

Allow to simmer on low for about 15 minutes.  Put some Quinoa or rice on to cook and it will be ready at the same time.

Optional:  cashews.  If you are a bit short on the meat, add cashews, or if you have an abundance of cashews, just add them for the taste!

While simmering, make a quick salad and Voila, a wonderful dish to delight the family – and they didn’t even guess I wasn’t prepared!  I promise I didn’t use any recipe for this, except what was stored in my head.  That doesn’t mean no one else gets any credit, I just can’t remember who I need to acknowledge for how I’ve learned to make curry.  I used to have no idea how to make a nice curry and asked a lot of people along the way.  It turns out, it isn’t really all that hard!  And it gets easier and better with a bit of practice!

I don’t think this curry was spicy at all.  If you want it a bit more spicy, add a chili pepper with the onions during the sautéing process.