Shakshuka

Hello everyone!

It has been forever since I last wrote a post, but we have had a bit of a fiasco with moving and renovating our new apartment... Not to mention school starting up...

I don't think there will be much time for blogging this year, period, but I'm going to try to do my best to continue documenting our lives together  =)

For our first post from our new apartment, I have a Shakshuka recipe for you guys!  

I first encountered Shakshuka when David and I went to Stephanie's for brunch with Ted and Pamela. For someone who doesn't like eggs, brunch is never a fun experience, but this miraculous dish is what changed my opinion of eggs, so I knew we had to try to recreate it at home!

It was actually pretty easy to recreate at home as well  =)  

For this, you will need

1 onion, diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 green pepper, diced

28 oz can diced tomatoes

2 tbs tomato paste

half can vegetarian baked beans

1 tsp cayenne pepper

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp paprika

4-5 eggs

In a cast iron skillet, sautee the onions until the onions are translucent. 

Then, add some garlic,

and finally, the green peppers.

Once the vegetables have cooked a little, pour in your tomatoes, tomato paste, and the beans and mix it about.  At this point, turn up the heat a little until the sauce starts boiling, then turn it down to  a simmer.

Add your spices (paprika, cumin, and cayenne), and wait until the sauce thickens.  Make sure to keep stirring!

Once the sauce is your desired thickness, crack in your eggs (you can do as many, or as little as you want. I only did 4 -- I'm now at the point of tolerance with eggs, but not quite to the liking point yet haha)

Put a lid on it, and let it simmer away for a few minutes while you prepare your bread!

Cut it up, throw it in an oiled/buttered pan, and toast away!

Once the whites of the eggs are about cooked, take it off the heat, crack some black pepper over it, and serve!

The eggs will continue cooking as you mix it about and begin to eat  =)

Perfect for a quick brunch for just you and your love, or for a few guests!  =)  This recipe makes more than enough for 2.  we definitely had enough leftovers for another meal  =)

Quick, easy, and filling.  Can't ask for much more on a lazy weekend morning, right?

I hope you enjoy the recipe, and please let me know if you like it!

Thanks for stopping by!

--Janny

Green Thumb?

Hello everyone!

Growing up, I've always been surrounded by plants in the house because my mom has crazy green thumb skills. Unfortunately, I don't think I inherited her green thumb because I've already killed a bamboo plant during my undergrad years, and I've heard that those are virtually impossible to kill... you know me, always trying to do the impossible.. ha. ha..

Anyway, David and I are currently in the process of moving to a new place, and we have always talked about getting a puppy together.  Unfortunately, the apartment doesn't allow us to keep pets, so I thought maybe we'll try a plant baby together?

and that is how our first plant baby was born!

I did some research, and learned that succulents and cacti are also pretty impossible to kill.  Since I've already tried and killed the bamboo, I thought we'd try the other impossible-to-kill kind.

So I got all of the ingredients including the vase, potting soil, decorative rocks and sand, activated charcoal, and 3 different succulents, and got to work!

my new babies!

The process was really quite simple:

First, I put down some bigger rocks,

then, smaller rocks,

some activated charcoal,

then the succulents!

sigh.. my bangs never stay clipped back..  

Tada~ 

the finished product!

Actually, I ended up putting down some white sand on top later, which also looked good.  However, I don't mind the way it looks just like this  =)

Wish us luck with our new plant baby!  Hopefully this one survives!
Thanks for stopping by,
--Janny