Sunny California

We arrived in Irvine yesterday and I can confirm that the sun is nice. We spent the last two weeks in Nebraska with my family. While it could of been much colder, it was still cold. 

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving celebrating with family. Enzo was a bit overwhelmed at first but soon adjusted to the craziness of a full house. For his first Thanksgiving day meal, he enjoyed turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, and green beans. Day 2, he tried ham and sweet potatoes and I think those were a bigger hit. We started the day off by doing the Fremont YMCA Turkey Trot. That was probably one of the coldest days and I felt like I was running through an ice bucket. I finished my 5 miles in just over 42 minutes and felt good with that. I think Felipe finished in 35 minutes. I was happy to participate. 

While in Nebraska, Enzo started walking with a baby walker. His legs are getting stronger by the day. He is also talking so much more, now I just need to figure out what is being said. 

He loved playing with his cousins, chasing the dog that wasn't a fan of him, and exploring some local parks. 

He also had his first official haircut. Chris did an amazing job but Enzo was still a bit hesitant. Hopefully, haircut #2 will go a bit smoother now that he knows the drill. 

We arrived in Irvine on Tuesday and are having fun with the other side of the family. Today, we went to a really fun park and loved feeling the sun on our faces. More updates to come.

Sweet potato curry experiment

Tonight, I was getting ready to make a simple beef vegetable soup for dinner and when I took the beef out of the fridge it didn't look the best. I needed a backup plan and veggies were what I had to work with. I was missing some ingredients in every Sweet Potato curry recipe that I looked up, so I decided to make up my own. The recipe that I came up with turned out pretty good so I decided to post it here for future reference. And if any of you would like to try it, go for it. I served it with white rice but it would also be good with quinoa, I think. There is also this rage out there for cauliflower rice. We didn't have any cauliflower in our medley of veggies but maybe next time. Oh ya, we've almost been home for a week from our big American holiday and visit with family and friends. It was a really nice trip with Enzo getting all sorts of lovin'. Things are slowly getting back to normal. Without further ado, here is the recipe. 

Sweet Potato Curry

1 small onion (chopped)

3 cloves garlic (chopped)

2 small carrots (sliced 1/4" thick)

1 stalk celery (diced small)

1 sweet potato

2 small tomatoes (chopped)

1/2 cup red lentils (soak and rinse in warm water before use)

1 2" knob of fresh ginger grated 

1-2 tbsp mild curry spice mix ( http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/curry-powder-blend-recipe.html)

12 kafir lime leaves

1 pinch of red chilli pepper flakes

2 cups vegetable stalk

Heat a tablespoon or so of coconut oil in medium to large sauté pan. Next add the onion, garlic, carrot, celery, red pepper and ginger. Cook until soft, 3-4 minutes. Next add sweet potato and lentils. Add curry powder. Give a stir and let cook 1 minute. Lastly, add the chopped tomato, vegetable broth, and kafir lime leaves. Cook covered for 20 minutes, then uncover and cook for another 12. Enjoy!!

                 Enzo was also a fan.