Chickpea Curry

A couple of weeks ago, I saw this recipe in Cooking Light.  I have been getting Cooking Light for over a year, and while I love flipping through it for ideas, I don't think I've actually made anything from the magazine since I started getting it.   But a few days later, with nothing in the fridge except quickly wilting spinach and week-old greek yogurt, I remembered the recipe and threw it together.  This recipe is quick. Like, 15 minutes flat.  It is also healthy and makes great leftovers to take for lunch (a huge requirement in my book).

Chickpea Curry (Cooking Light January 2013) 

Ingredients:

• 1 (3.5-ounce) bag boil-in-bag basmati or brown rice (I just made my own basmati rice)
• 1 tablespoon canola oil (I used olive oil)
• 1 large onion, diced
• 1 1/2 teaspoons garam masala (I added a little extra corriander)
• 2 (15-ounce) cans chickpeas, rinsed and drained
• 1 (15-ounce) can unsalted crushed tomatoes
• 1 (6-ounce) package fresh baby spinach
• 1/2 cup plain 2% Greek yogurt
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup chopped fresh cilantro
• (I added 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper for heat)

Directions:
1. Cook rice according to package directions; drain.
2. While rice cooks, heat a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Add onion; sauté 5 minutes or until tender, stirring frequently. Stir in garam masala; cook 30 seconds, stirring constantly. Add chickpeas, tomatoes, and spinach; cook 2 minutes or until spinach wilts, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; stir in yogurt and salt. Sprinkle with cilantro. Serve over rice.

And, because I don't have any pictures of what I made, I'll leave you with this gif of how I feel when I add spinach (or kale) to recipes: 

 

January Report

Wooohooo!  Time for my first status update on my goals:

1) Exercise Intentionally: run a 5K

Generally fail.  I hate to start with a "fail" because I feel like I've actually done a good job of being active this month.  I started out the month with several Couch to 5K runs, and was feeling pretty good with it.  Then we went skiing, and when we got back I went to the gym, but went to Zumba and spinning class instead of running.  I also did one day of Jillian's 30-day shred, and holy cow, I am still sore.  Between all of this, I think I've "worked out" at least every other day this month.  So, I don't feel badly for missing this goal, but without doing the Couch to 5K training, I am no closer to running the 5K (without stopping) in May!

2) Eat Intentionally:  record what I eat

Success! I've been using the Lose It! app and recording what I eat.  I love that I can upload recipes I've made to help calculate my daily caloric intake.  I've made a ton of veggie-focused meals lately and will share those soon!  I definitely don't meet my calorie goal each day, but recording everything has made me realize that eating 4 cookies can really be a calorie suck.  These delicious cake-batter ones were worth it though.   

3) Buy Intentionally:  spend less than $60/month on myself.

Semi-success.  I'm still figuring this one out:  what counts as personal spending and what counts as joint spending?  Do I count personal spending "needs" in this group?  What exactly is a personal spending "need?"  For example, I had to get new ski gloves for our trip because the pair I've had since 1998 finally died.  Did I need new gloves?  Not in the strictest sense, because this was for vacation.  But I wasn't going to be able to ski without them.  I hate to count them towards my budget because I wasn't planning on needing them. . . but isn't that the point of a budget?

Per usual, I bought a few things this month and then returned them.  I still find myself buying things because they are a "good deal," and then realizing that I do not need them, or, if I want them, they are not exactly what I was looking for and I only bought them because they were cheap.  This is what happened with these awesome navy chevron pillows (still looking for the picture I took on my phone).  They were such a steal at HomeGoods, and super well-made, but they weren't exactly what I was looking for for the living room (to replace the pillows Stella ate), and while they looked super cute on our wicker chairs, I hadn't been looking for pillows for those chairs.  I also bought a black sheath dress from TJ Maxx that I haven't decided if I'm keeping or not.  It's a perfect work dress, and I've been looking for one for a long time, but I don't actually need more work clothes and I'm trying to decide if that's what I want to spend my money on this month. 

In full disclosure, here is what I bought:

2 books on Amazon.com:  $16
Chevron throw pillows: $50 - returned
Black sheath dress:  $40
Ski gloves: $80 (these were more expensive than they could have been, but considering I had my last pair for 14 years, I figured I should get exactly what I wanted)
Total: $136

Even though I went over budget this month, I still count it as a semi-success because the budget is making me to think hard about what I purchase. 

4) Learn Intentionally:  read 6 non-fiction books in 2013.

Success.  I'm still reading Catherine the Great on my kindle, and also started listening to No Easy Day on audiobook in preparation for seeing Zero Dark Thirty.  No Easy Day has been really good so far, and has a great narrator.  I find myself staying in my car after I've parked just because I want to keep listening. 

5) Give Intentionally: begin volunteering.

Fail.  Seriously, have not had time to give this any thought yet.