Thai Coconut Curry Soup!

So, I've decided to try something NEW!  Over the last several years, I've developed a love for Asian/Thai flavors and have tried to replicate several of my favorite recipes.  I've also discovered how EASY it is to cook with rice noodles and decided that today I would try a Thai soup!  It was fairly easy and SOOOOO flavorful!  My hubby's going to LOVE this one!

I followed this recipe on Pinterest:
http://www.feastingathome.com/thai-coconut-noodle-soup-khao-soi/

Here's how it turned out!

MMMMMMMMMMMM!

All the ingredients blended together before adding the shrimp

Red curry with onions and ginger

Soaked Rice Noodles

The last two weeks....

Well hello there!  It's been a few weeks since I've posted!  But if you follow me on Instagram, you'll know I've been VERY busy with my two little ones and my sister and her little one in town!  I did cook a few AMAZING dishes that I want to share and so I decided to just put up a pic and the link to the Pinterest page that I used for the recipe :)

Here are my zucchini and carrot muffins!  I make these ALL the time because my husband and 2 year old love them!  They're made with no sugar and use maple syrup instead!
http://cupcakesandkalechips.com/healthy-carrot-zucchini-mini-muffins/

Rice stuffed peppers!  I used my mom's recipe for the rice which she usually makes her stuffed grape leaf and cabbage rolls with!
http://dearcrissy.com/ground-turkey-stuffed-peppers-recipe/

We also stuffed some of the peppers with a ground turkey mix that my sister made and topped those ones off with cheese!

The peppers before going into the oven

My sister made us a classic Egyptian breakfast dish called "foul".  This is made with fava beans and some lemon and cumin!  Soooooo Yummy!

This is one of my go-to breakfast dishes when people come into town!  They are crustless quiches made with whatever frozen mixed veg bag I have on hand, eggs, and cheese put into muffin tins and baked!

My sister found a recipe for a veggie burger made with red kidney beans and potatoes mashed together and pan fried. They turned out great!!!! Now, I'm a MEAT EATER, so I wouldn't call this a burger, but it was a good patty and a nice alternative :)
http://www.myfoodandhappiness.com/red-kidney-beans-veggie-burgers/

Mashed kidney bean, potatoes, and seasoning before making into patties

Baked macaroni pie!  This is the West Indian version of mac and cheese!  So yummy with some grated onion, mustard, a can of cream of mushroom soup, carrots, and a seasoning pepper!
Check the Trinidadian Naparima Girls Cook Book I always reference for the recipe!

Stuffed Mushrooms!

I needed another "something" to add to my vegetarian leftovers from yesterday and decided to try this stuffed mushroom recipe!  I've tried it once before and it turned out FABULOUSLY and so I thought I'd give it a shot again.  The first time I did with ricotta cheese and this time I used cream cheese.  I have to say, I liked it with the ricotta better!  Next time, I'll go back to using the ricotta!  They were still yummy, but I think the cream cheese had more salt than the ricotta did, so it gave it a thicker, saltier taste.

Here's the Pinterest recipe I loosely followed:
http://allrecipes.com/recipe/15184/mouth-watering-stuffed-mushrooms/?e11=cream%20cheese%20stuffed%20mushrooms&prop24=SR_Title&e8=Quick%20Search&event8=1&e7=Recipe&event10=1

Here's how the stuffed mushrooms turned out:

Right out of the oven

The recipe doesn't call for a "broil" at the end, but I like it to crisp the tops a bit

Before going in the oven

Cheese mixture - I added sauteed spinach to it also

Blending together the cheese mix

Mushroom caps with stems removed

Chana and Potatoes

This is one of my favorite, go-to recipes!  It's super easy and tasty - especially if you have some fresh roti skins to go with it!  I decided to make some white rice to go with it so it would be easier for my 2 year old and my husband to go with for lunch tomorrow!

I use the recipe found in the Naparima's Cookbook (if you like West Indian food - you need to get this cookbook!!!).  I tweaked the recipe a little because I didn't have enough chana (chickpeas) or potatoes so I needed to add a little more to it to make it hearty.  I decided to cut up a sweet potato and some carrots to supplement the one can of chickpeas and the 2 potatoes I had.  I also added about a quarter tin of coconut milk to the pot when adding the water.  I think the coconut milk gives it a richness that's always missing when I don't add it.

My husband also steamed a piece of breadfruit and made an easy eggplant and tomato dish to go along with it!

Here's how the Chana and Potatoes came out!

Complete plate of food: chana and potatoes, white rice and green peas, eggplant and tomatoes, and steamed breadfruit!

Adding the chickpeas at the end and stirring

Adding the potatoes and carrots to the curry mixture

Cooking the curry with some oil, onions, and garlic

Conch Fritters

Many years ago, I took my first trip to the Bahamas!  One of my closest friends (Jodie) is from there and introduced me to the conch fritter!  If you've ever been to the Bahamas you know that you MUST have a conch salad and some conch fritters!  But then, you get back home and there's no conch and eventually you crave it!  Now, another of my closest friends (Yolanda) has an aunt that lived in the Bahamas for many years (Auntie Sissil) and she makes AMAZING homemade conch fritters.  She used to make them for us when she would come up to visit and would make them when we would go down to visit!  My mother in law sent some conch (lambee as it's called in Grenada) up from Grenada with his aunt and we got some great, fresh conch and so I decided to call up Aunite Sissil and see if I could get that recipe!

I also looked it up on Pinterest (of course) and sort of combined what Aunie Sissil told me and the recipes I was finding on Pinterest.  Here's the one I loosely followed:
https://www.keyingredient.com/recipes/146922/conch-fritters-with-caribbean-dipping-sauce/

Here are some pics of how they turned out!!!!

Yum, Yum!

My daughter's portion!

The sauce is made from mayonnaise, ketchup, and a little mustard all mixed together!

Frying up the fritters

Fritter SAUCE!!!

The conch mixed into the batter

Conch, peppers, onions, and garlic mixed with spices

Chopped up conch

Everything that went into the batter