Mama's Bombass Chicken Curry

I must confess. I have an obsession for anything Indian, especially when it comes to Indian food. When eating out and given the decision to choose the place, I almost always opt for Indian food. If not Indian, then you can find me at a Thai restaurant, a sandwich shop with a twist, or ANYWHERE that sells boba boba boba drinks! Yum! I think I should make a list of my favorite SF bay area restaurants for a future post. If you can't tell by all my Yelp posts already, eating out and reviewing restaurants is a die-hard hobby of mines. Hahahaha...^_^;

This is my first time cooking chicken curry and it tasted soooooooooo bomb! I just had to call it Mama's Bombass Chicken Curry. :)

Mama's Bombass Chicken Curry

Prep time: 5 minutes

Cook time: 15-20 minutes

Ingredients:
4 tbsp oil (or enough to cover the entire bottom of your pot)
1 medium onion, minced
5 cloves of garlic, minced
2 tbsp masala powder
1 tsp methi (fenugreek)
1/2 tbsp chili powder
1 tsp turmeric
1 tsp mustard seeds
1 tsp cumin
1 chili pepper or 1 tbsp of hot sauce
3/4 cup water
4 boneless skinless chicken filets, cubed
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 tbsp shredded cheese
*Additional water, as needed (or chicken stock or some liquid)
**This additional water could be milk or cream. This will give you a restaurant-like, creamy flavor.

Some of the ingredients

Directions:

1.) Finely chop your onion and garlic. Chop chicken into cube-sized pieces. 

2.) Add enough oil to coat the entire bottom of your pot. Heat up oil in a pot or pan. When hot, add in onion and stir until browned.

3.) Add in garlic, methi, masala, chili, tumeric, mustard seeds, cumin, and chili/hot sauce. (If your oil has dried out, add ~ 3/4 cup of water so that all your spices, onion and garlic doesn't stick to the bottom of the pan & so that you can get that sauce-like, curry consistency.)

After step 3, it should look something like this.

4.) Add in the cubed chicken, salt, pepper and simmer until your left with minimal liquid. Stir occasionally. (~10-15 minutes)

5.) Stir in cheese. Adjust spice to taste.

6.) Serve with brown rice or roti & enjoy!

Makes ~ 5 servings. 

Tada~! The finished product! 

This dish was very quick and easy to make! It's high in protein and if you serve it with some veggies and whole grains, you're bound to feel happily satisfied. :) It definitely did not take me more than 30 minutes to make and it was full of flavor! If you need a way to gauge how good this dish was, let's just say all my lovely roomies ate it all up. <3

In the words of my super awesome roommate Manisha, "...tastes just like my mom's curry." YAYYYY! :D

Nutrition Info (per serving): Calories 159.0 Total Fat 6.5 g Saturated Fat 1.6 g Polyunsaturated Fat 1.3 g Monounsaturated Fat 3.3 g Cholesterol 52.8 mg Sodium 524.3 mg Potassium 41.1 mg Total Carbohydrate 3.7 g Dietary Fiber 1.2 g Sugars 0.1 g Protein 21.3 g Vitamin A 9.3% Vitamin C 3.2%

Calorie counter used: http://www.sparkpeople.com/calorie-counter.asp

Top 6 Tips to Relieve Stress

As a college student, I constantly feel stress. During my first year in college, I absolutely did not know how to manage my time and before I knew it, a test, in which I was unprepared for, was coming my way like a surprise slap on the face. My days went like this:

Monday: Lalalalala~ lots of free time. Let me just watch an episode of Suits and then I'll get to work. -After Suits episode ends- Ooooh some new YouTube videos just got released!!...and gotta stay updated on that Instagram grind...oh and can't forget StumbleUpon! (Thanks Maria...-_-)

Tuesday: Woo! Just finished a lab! Time to kick back, chillax and bake cookies and cupcakes.

Wednesday: HOLYYYYY SHITTTT. I have a f%^*@$' midterm tomorrow. -Pull an all-nighter and feel like shit the next day-

Consequently, this led me to binge eating on a crap ton of sugar and carbs (like bread, energy bars, ice cream, etc etc), drinking tons of sugar and caffeine (in the form of boba, lattes, mocha, whatever I could get my hands on), while I cram the test, and crashing afterwards, OR WORST, during the test. NOT FUN!!! My problem was that I didn't know how to balance out my time between friends, family, schoolwork, extra curriculars, and hobbies. This time period was definitely a negative time period in which I would feel stressed about upcoming tests, depressed for not doing well on a test, anger at myself for eating my feelings away, and a decreasing sense of self-confidence because negative thoughts were tearing me away. I still don't know how to deal with stress completely yet, but that's okay, it's all a learning process! To not disappoint myself with my overly high expectations, I remind myself to make small goals and take it one step at a time. I am strong and all things amazing. You are strong and all things amazing. I got this. We got this. <3 :)

My first year in college was definitely a journey of figuring out what worked best for me. Below I've listed some things that help me out when I feel on edge and hopefully it'll be helpful to you as well! :)

Top 6 Tips to Relieve Stress

1.) EXERCISE! This is magic. This puts me at ease within a matter a minutes of doing some sort of heart-pumping activity. As your adrenaline rises and feel good hormones kick-in, you're bound to feel relaxed after your workout. Another plus is that you will get a good night sleep. Some examples can be jumping jacks, running, squats, push-ups, pull-ups, anything!

2.) Take a niceeeeee hot shower. Ohhhhhh yeahhhhhh~ no explanation needed. You know what I'm talkin' about.

3.) Drink herbal tea. I really love mint teas! The warmth of the cup and the relaxing flavors are very soothing. Chamomile is great too, but it can put you to sleep (so if you're planning to do work, keep this in mind).

4.) Nap. Take a 10-15 minute quick nap for an energy recharge, especially if you feel sleepy. There's no point in doing work if you can't concentrate. Tip: If you plan on staying up late, drink coffee or tea and then take your nap. When you wake up, you'll feel extra refreshed!

5.) Meditate. Yoga, deep breathing, stretching, whatever form you prefer as long as you're mindful and aware of your thoughts, your feelings, and your surroundings. Tip: Close you eyes.

6.) Go for a walk. If it's daytime, look for colorful flowers. If it's nighttime, try to find a spot where you can see the moon and the stars clearly. Beautiful images and fresh air is good for both the soul and the mind.

Here's a picture from one of my walks:

I hope you found this article helpful! :) Let me know what you think by leaving a comment below. I like hellos too. ^___^

Tofu Mushroom Spinach Stir Fry

Man, this week of midterms is kicking me in the butt. I am sleep deprived, walking to classes in a delusional state of mind and craving all things chocolate. Thankfully, I took my hardest midterm of this week this morning, so I can chill a little bit before memorizing the night away for my Human Food Practices midterm tomorrow morning. Why, oh why, do I torture myself into pulling all-nighters when I know the after effect turns me into a starry-eyed zombie that isn't able to function as a coherent human being? Maybe I should learn to not procrastinate...after I write a post for you all! :) Then, I swear I'll get started on studying.

Before I introduce my dish, I want to explain how I came to making this dish. One of my apartment mates loves loves loves LOVES LOVES LOVES mushrooms and tofu. (Shoutout to my girl Camille!) She asked me to help her cook up her tofu somehow and, of course, who am I to turn down an opportunity to experiment and build upon my cooking skills? So, duh, I humbly abided. I was feeling Asian-flavors today, so that's why we have stir fry, a quick and simple method to cook up a tasty dish! As a college student, you make use of what you have and you keep things efficient. Therefore, my top 3 tips for kitchen efficiency are: one-pot wonders (let's be real, ain't no one got time to wash a billion dishes), keeping a spice drawer (you never know what your dish may need), and washing kitchen utensils as you go (especially while I'm waiting for things to cook).

ONE PET PEEVE ABOUT THIS DISH. Crumbly tofu. Every time I end up cooking tofu, it breaks from a beautiful square cube into gazillion chunks of white blobs. -______- Unfortunately, like many times in the past, it broke into small little pieces this time as well (IN MY DEFENSE, I used multi-use tofu as opposed to firm tofu because that was all I had on hand.) BUT IT'S OKAY. It ended up tasting friggin' DELICIOUS~!!!! Thus, I proudly present to you...

Tofu Mushroom Spinach Stir Fry

Ingredients:

2 tbsp. oil
1 onion, chopped
1 tsp. chili powder
6 tbsp. rice wine vinegar
3 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tsp. black pepper
3 tsp. brown sugar
1 package of mushrooms, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 lb. package firm tofu, drained and cut into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cup spinach, chopped

Directions:
1.) Warm up the oil.
2.) When oil sizzles at the drop of water or a small piece of onion, you know it's ready to drop in the chopped onion. Brown onion.
3.) Add chili powder, vinegar, soy sauce, black pepper, and brown sugar.
4.) Add mushroom. Cook for ~3 minutes.
5.) Add tofu and spinach. Cook until everything looks cooked. :P ~ 5-7 minutes. Adjust seasonings to taste.
6.) Serve with brown rice or whole grain bread to soak up the delicious sauce!

Serving size: ~3 servings

This nutritious dish is definitely a must-try! Tofu is packed with protein to help keep you full. Mushrooms are a good source of vitamin B, which helps provide energy by breaking down carbs, fat, and protein. Spinach is a good source of vitamins like A, K, D and E, trace minerals, and cancer-fighting antioxidants! Spinach is great for keeping your bones (vitamin K), eyes (vitamin A), and skin (vitamin E) healthy. This dish is also loaded with calcium at 76.8% per serving! 

If you make it, please share it with me because I'd love to see how it turns out for you and any personal twists you placed into it! :)

Enjoy! :)

Nutrition Info (per serving): Calories 155.2 Total Fat 7.9 g Saturated Fat 1.2 g Polyunsaturated Fat 3.0 g Monounsaturated Fat 3.1 g Cholesterol 0 mg Sodium 961.3 mg Potassium 490.0 mg Total Carbohydrate 11.4 g Dietary Fiber 3.2 g Sugars 5.9 g Protein 14.1 g Vitamin A 46.3 % Vitamin B 12.4% Vitamin C 13.2% Vitamin D 11.1% Calcium 76.8% Iron 22.7%

Calorie counter used: http://www.sparkpeople.com/calorie-counter.asp