Coconut Chickpea Soup

Now that I have three weeks of blissful nothingness ahead of me, I can finally spend more time experimenting in the kitchen! This soup turned out to be delicious...maybe a little spicy for the kiddies or PopPop, but do try it, it's very tasty, I promise!

1 onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 tbsp cumin

1 grated nubbin of fresh ginger

S n P as you like

Saute these ingredients in a bit of olive oil in your favorite soup pot, until onions are translucent. 

Then add:

1 can diced tomatoes

1 can chickpeas

1 tomato can-ful of broth or water

Let this simmer for about 40 minutes, then add the star of the dish

1 can coconut milk

Ahhh...this made my soul all warm inside on a rainy Friday afternoon. As you drink in each spoonful, think about how much you spent:

1 can store brand diced tomatoes               $0.79

1 can store brand chickpeas                         $0.69

1 can coconut milk                                         $0.99

Onion, spices                                                  $ Probably no more than 50 cents 

This makes it taste even better!

Teeth chat

A snippet of a conversation I had yesterday that made me laugh...

Boy: " So, you're in dental hygiene? You must have nice teeth."

Me: " I guess, although I do have mild generalized fluorosis and my mandibular second molars                  are rotated mesially."

Boy: " I thought you were gonna say that."

My Vice

The first step is admitting you have a problem.

Sometimes, I walk through the mall to get to the bus terminal to look in my favorite stores. I breathe in the scent, stop blinking, and touch the fabric, all while walking very quickly so that I do not spend money I do not have. Some of you probably think I'm kidding, but I'm really not. Serinda knows this addiction of mine is no joke. After living with her for about a year, I wonder how long it was until she started to notice my 'shame shopping'. We have never spoken about my closet addiction, (mind the pun) but I know she knows. 

I would go shopping, back in that time of my life when I had time and money, at least once a week. If I just bought one or two items, I could usually stuff them into my purse so she wouldn't notice when I came in the door. More often than not, I would have six or seven items, so when I returned from work at 2am, I'd just bring them inside them. On Mondays, when I had the house to myself, I would dispose of all the shopping bags and take out the recycling. Serinda was too kind to ever call me on it, although her adorable, observant 4 year old usually blew my cover with something like this:

 Abby   "Auntie, is that a new dress? I've never seen that before!"

Nunu    " Oh, this old thing? No...besides it's for work! "

Abby    " No, I don't think so. I've never seen it before "

Nunu   " Well it was on sale for $ ( insert real price - $40 ), so I had to! "

It's been very, very hard for me to stop the shopping thing since I've become a student. Luckily, school keeps me very busy and away from temptation. And it has made me realize that it can be superficial and unnecessary. But oh, how I miss it; how my heart aches.

I think when I start waxing poetic is a good time to stop. 

Enjoy!

Sabba, fabulous roommate of the year, had recently been training for a show. A show, as in eat a lot of protein shakes, go to the gym twice a day and oil up your muscles. For reals. After about 4 weeks of this silly behavior, the smells of my peanut butter cookies finally brought her back to earth.  And the past few days have been full of celebration, tonight's being goat cheese rolled in herbs. It reminded me of Paris, sigh. 

And so here is a picture of Bunny and I, walking in the gardens of Versailles. Who, incidentally, does not eat goat cheese. Enjoy! 

P.S. I think I often sign off with 'Enjoy' after serving tables in restaurants for 2 years. Can't help it. 

The Difference Between Having a Fat Bum and Being a Fat Bum

One of the great things about living in the GTA ( Greater Toronto Area ) is the cultural diversity. Having grown up in Small Town, Northern Alberta, the only other ethnicities I ever really saw was the single black family in town and the really nice Chinese family that have ( I stand corrected, 'had' ) a monopoly on the Sawridge Plaza food courts. 

Now, I am usually the only white person wherever I go. It is very cool to be able to put a name and face to countries that I would have otherwise just referred to as 'somewhere in Euro-Asia'. These wonderful, multilingual, international friends of mine bring with them the traditions of their country, of which I am so grateful. For instance, the $3 eyebrow thread of the Indian people. And the $2 falafel of the Middle East. I love them all!

Today as I was walking to my bus stop, a gentleman, in all seriousness, asked me to explain to him what a 'fat bum' means. He had to be at least 35, and was wearing a business suit, and just wanted some help because his English wasn't very good. I couldn't stop laughing, I kept looking for cameras to zoom in on my reaction or something. I then had to explain the difference between ' You are a fat bum ' and ' You have a fat bum '. And I also defined the word 'bump' for him, and to not confuse it with 'bum'. Apparently some juvenile delinquents had yelled this at him earlier, and he was unfamiliar with the slang. After he finally ended the conversation, I looked like a complete idiot on the bus ride home trying to quell my laughter. 

Now, I'm home, and I can fully let my laughter out and share it with you!

This is such a funny comic, based on a real group of guys living in Toronto. They're always featuring local haunts, and it is updated every Thursday. So after reading Betina's TTT, check out butternutsquash.net for a good laugh and a subtle dose of Canadiana. This is one of my faves!

Dreams

I've been dreaming more often lately. Or at least, I have been remembering my dreams more often than I usually do. Here's a taste of my subconscious from the past week. 

- One of the girls from school, I can't remember who, ate the rest of my peanut butter. My organic, delicious, chunky peanut butter that I had forgotten about and discovered in the back of the cupboard just a few days earlier. I gave random girls at class the stink-eye the next day for their dream crime. Just kidding.

- After studying occlusion and crossbites all week, and how oral habits such as tongue thrusting can affect them, I dream about my teeth being horribly misaligned and wake up convincing myself that I can't be a dental hygienist with bad teeth. Because sometimes if I'm nervous, I chew on my tongue. I know it's weird and gross, and I'm trying to stop so that it won't affect my bite. 

- I dreamt that I was an RA at Augustana, and my partner RA was Rudi. It was a crappy dream, because it made me think about ex-boy for the first time in a long time. And cafeteria food. 

- These dreams are usually set to a steady beat of a female voice saying " X-ray " over and over. And over. 

I like it better when I don't remember my dreams. It really weirds me out how what happens to you in real life can squeeze in there. I much prefer a peaceful, undisturbed and dreamless sleep.