Vegan Chickpea curry

It has been a busy December this year! I went into it with all the intentions of continuing to post every week. Then some of my recipes flopped, I didn't have the time nor the inclination to make them over to figure out what went wrong, though I do have some suspicions. We celebrated Orion's second birthday early in the month with extended family we see about once a year. We were lucky enough to be graced by the presence of the "Yuletide Flu" which ate up a little over a week of our month. Then preparations for Yule took over, 4 days later it was Christmas. Now it is Boxing day and we can settle back into our normal routine. We have had an overdose on all things white and refined this season, too much white flour, white sugar, white rice and too many treats for all of us (Too many "Fruit" snacks for Orion and too much dairy containing chocolate for me)  The inspiratation for this meal comes from my book club book, "The secret daughter" While it makes me cry regularly as I'm reading it, it also leaves me with a longing for curry, specifically vegetarian curry. So I got up last night at midnight to dig dried chickpeas out of the cold room to soak for today. I have taken my recipe for butter chicken and changed it bit to make a chickpea curry. If you are used to traditional Indian food this is by no means the recipe for you. If you just want something tasty that has curry flavour, yet is mild enough for kids you have found the right recipe. Enjoy!

2.5 cups dried chickpeas (Soaked over night)
1 onion diced
8 garlic cloves, minced
4 Tbsp coconut oil
4 tsp ground cardamom
6 tsp mild curry powder
6 tsp garam masala
1 tsp ground ginger
2.5 cup coconut milk (I use coconut dream, if you use a canned milk leave out the cornstarch)
2 Tbsp corn starch (Feel free to substitute for any other type of thickening starch)
1 small can tomato paste


3 cups chopped fresh Baby spinach
2 Tbsp lemon juice
1 cup plain Coconut milk yogurt plus 1 tbsp lemon juice (So nice makes a great one) (Reserve for just before serving)


Turn crockpot on high, put Chickpeas in, cover with coconut oil.
In a measuring cup whisk together, coconut milk, tomato paste, lemon juice and corn starch and spices. Pour over everything. Cook on high for 2-3 hours then turn down to low for another 4 or so, Stir occasionally.


15 minutes before serving stir in yogurt, lemon juice and spinach. Serve over rice with fresh Naan (I used this recipe and it was great!  I made it with 100% whole wheat pastry flour) on the side

Sloppy Joes with a twist

I haven't been feeling like cooking this week for some reason, we have Orions birthday party on the weekend and many things to do to get ready for it. I made up this easy recipe to just toss in the crockpot. The twist is that these contain carrots, but you barely know they are there.

Sloppy Joes (Marikas style)
1lb beef (Thawed, never use frozen beef in the crockpot)
1 1/2 cups grated carrots (About 3 medium)
1 tbsp 3 onion dip mix (Epicure)
1 Diced onion
1 400 ml can of tomato sauce
1 tbsp sucanet (or brown sugar)
1/2 tsp EACH salt and pepper
1 1/2 tbsp Apple cider vinegar

Put everything except the liquid smoke in the crock pot and cook on high for 3 hours or low for 8 hours.
10 minutes before serving stir in the liquid smoke.
Serve over buns with a salad on the side.

Dairy free Butter Chicken

Sometimes I just get a craving for something that will not be satisfied until I make it. This time around it was butter chicken, Clay hates curry so I have to pick and choose which ones I make. He actually ate this one without complaining. Orion gobbled his up. I searched and searched for a dairy free butter chicken recipe. The ones I found just seemed to leave ingredients out instead of substituting them, so I found a normal recipe that got rave reviews and substituted items to make it allergen friendly.

Here is the original recipe at "Crockpot 365"


Here is my allergen friendly version:


2 chicken breasts with backs attached, deboned and diced (You could use other chicken this is just what I had in the freezer)
1 onion diced
8 garlic cloves, minced
4 Tbsp coconut oil
1 1/2 tsp ground cardamom
2 tsp mild curry powder
2 tsp garam masala (I only trust Mcormick brand)
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1 3/4 cup coconut milk (I use coconut dream, if you use a canned milk leave out the cornstarch)
1 Tbsp corn starch (Feel free to substitute for any other type of thickening starch)
1 small can tomato paste
2 T lemon juice
1 cup plain Coconut milk yogurt plus 1 tbsp lemon juice (So nice makes a great one) (Reserve for just before serving)


Turn crockpot on high, melt coconut oil in bottom.
Place garlic and onion in bottom of Crockpot.
Debone and dice chicken. Place in Crockpot.
Mix spices together and sprinkle over chicken stirring to coat evenly.
In a measuring cup whisk together, coconut milk, tomato paste, lemon juice and corn starch. Pour over everything. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 8. Stir occasionally.
15 minutes before serving stir in yogurt and lemon juice. Serve over rice