chioma.ihekweazu@gmail.com, Author at A Bit of Chi

Food

Mini Appliance Haul (under $100!)

April 14, 2016

I finally went ahead and bought some kitchen appliances that have been on my need to purchase list for years. Don’t ask me why it took so long. There’s no excuse.
These are all basic appliances that are commonly called for in recipes. I think after seeing the 50,000th recipe calling for a food processor, I thought to myself maybe I should just buy this thing. It’s clearly not going anywhere. So I did. And it’s funny because getting the food processor inspired me to pick up some of the other appliances I’ve been procrastinating on purchasing.

I got the slow cooker, digital scale, and lemon zester from Amazon. The lemon zester was $15, the scale was $12, and the slow cooker was $29.The best part is that I got all four of these items for under $100 (tax included).
I got the food processor on sale at Target a few weeks ago for $40.

I’m excited to put these babies to use. I think I’m going to make some type of chicken dish in my slow cooker first. The idea of throwing ingredients in it in the morning, and returning home at the end of the day to an incredible smelling house with a fully cooked meal is magical. Bonus points for the slow cooker being pretty to look at:)For my food processor, the first thing I’m planning to make is going to be a pesto (which I’ve been dying to do). I’m also considering a nut butter, or a recipe for these vegan sweet potato bars with a gingerbread crust using dates that I found online.

For my lemon zester, it’ll likely be some variation of a lemon poppyseed or lemon blueberry muffin.

I’ve already used the digital scale to make an apple cinnamon bread recipe (delicious) that I’ll be sharing with you shortly. So far it’s worked well.

Happy Friday’s Eve!

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Thrill of the Thrift

April 8, 2016

Few things compare to the thrill of a good thrift find. Insert this 97% wool red Ralph Lauren Blazer with ornate gold buttons that I found at a thrift shop a couple years back. I paid a whopping, wait for it, $10. Crazyyy! Once I saw the price I snatched it up immediately before I could blink and it was gone.

Here’s where the story gets a little sad. This beauty was sitting in my closet for over a year because I couldn’t get my butt to a tailor. I finally said enough was enough and took it in October of last year.

After a few tries (I meant it when I said “snug”), it was perfect. I’m in love. This will be in my closet for a long time (read: forever).

What’s your best thrifted find?? Tell me in the comments below!

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Food

Culinary Pursuits: Banana & Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Overnight Oats

April 1, 2016

There are probably a million overnight oats recipes floating around the Internet. Change that to a million and one. I’ve been hearing about this overnight oats business for ages, but never got around to making them. Well, I finally decided to make my own and I’m quite happy with how they turned out. Check out my recipe below:

Banana & Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Overnight Oats

Ingredients:
1/2 cup of old-fashioned rolled oats (no steel cut or instant oatmeal packs will do!)
1/2 cup of almond milk
1/4 cup of vanilla greek yogurt
1 banana (half for the oatmeal base and half for the topping)
1 tbsp of Kalot Dark Chocolate w/ Coconut Almond Butter Spread (I found this at Fresh Market. If you don’t have this a tablespoon of Justin’s Vanilla Almond Butter or Chocolate Hazelnut Butter would also be great)
1/2 teaspoon of vanilla extract
1/4 tsp of cinnamon
2-3 tablespoons of granola (optional)
Directions:

Combine all of your ingredients (minus the half of the banana and granola) and mix thoroughly until evenly combined.

Banana & Dark Chocolate Almond Butter Overnight Oats

If you’re not making this using a mason jar or some other lidded container, then cover what you put the overnight oats base in with some saran wrap so that the liquid doesn’t start to evaporate. Wrap up your other banana half in saran wrap and put it in the fridge as well.

The next morning, take it out of the fridge and top it with the other half of your banana.

If you like, you can also add a couple tablespoons of your favorite Granola (I love how customizable these can be).

Enjoy!

What an awesome little invention. This meets all my breakfast criteria:

Quick & Easy to Prepare
Portable
Yummy
Good for You

Doesn’t get any better!

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Food

Blue Apron Meal #3: Spicy Spaghetti w/ Cabbage and Toasted Breadcrumbs

March 28, 2016

Today it was time to prepare my last Blue Apron meal. This one involved shrimp, panko breadcrumbs, and cabbage.

Out of all the meals I got, this was the quickest to prepare. Between toasting the breadcrumbs, slicing and sautéing the cabbage, cooking the shrimp, and boiling the pasta, I was in and out of the kitchen in under a half an hour. Minus the time I spent washing dishes, taking pictures, and wiping down countertops (let’s be real).

Blue Apron

I would never have thought to cook cabbage in butter or to put it in spaghetti for that matter, but it was delicious. Now I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t make a small tweak to the recipe. In addition to seasoning the cabbage with salt, I also used an Olive Garden garlic and herb seasoning that I got from Walmart (see it pictured below).

Blue Apron It took the cabbage over the edge. I will be making this combo again and you should make it too. No, seriously.

Blue Apron

After all was said and done, the spaghetti was delicious. The cabbage proved to be a great complement to the dish adding a distinct texture from the toasted breadcrumbs and shrimp. I wouldn’t call it spicy per se, but I have high standards when it comes to the use of that word.

Blue Apron

Unlike my other Blue Apron meals, this one was spot on about the two person serving. I guess you can’t win em all. I’ll be enjoying the second serving tomorrow for lunch. Nothing brightens up my day like having a good meal to look forward to.

Thoughts?
Overall, my Blue Apron experience was great. I feel inspired to create healthier versions of some of these meals (think curry baked chicken with a coconut lime cauliflower puree). I’ve also added some new dishes to my repertoire (garlic and herb seasoned sautéed cabbage), and revisited some old cooking techniques (stovetop chicken).

Repeat customer?
Probably. If the right meals came along.

The Pros
You may be able to get more than 2 servings out of the 2 serving meals.
Interesting dishes with step by step instructions.
Perfectly portioned ingredients so there’s no waste.

The Cons
You can’t always get the specific meal combos you like.

I hope everyone had a fabulous Easter! Here’s to an equally fabulous week.

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Color pOp!

March 24, 2016

Spring break has come and gone, and now it’s a mad dash to the finish line. It was a pretty good break though. I managed to check off some big to do list items while also trying out a couple new restaurants. One in particular had a banana caramel cheesecake maki dessert on the menu which I had to try. Best. decision. ever. It was so delicious.

Dress: TJ Maxx, Shades & Necklace: Target, Bracelet: J. Crew, Bag: Ralph Lauren via Macy’s, Lipstick: MAC Heroine, Sandals: Steve Madden

Here’s to making it past the hump. Now there’s a cool slide in to the weekend:)

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Spring Fever

March 19, 2016

Spring is lurking! Although if I’m being honest it felt like it’s been here all along. This “winter” was unseasonably warm. With the exception of a few snow days, it didn’t get cold. I mean people were wearing shorts and flip flops on Christmas Day?! And this was all along the Eastern Seaboard not just in the South.

I feel a little gipped. I enjoy cold weather (as long as I don’t have to be standing outside in it). It’s cozy. You snuggle up under a warm blanket, light some candles, and sip on some tea or cocoa while reading a good book or watching a movie.

I didn’t get to do that this winter. I also hardly got a chance to wear my scarves or pull out my knee high black suede boots. What a shame.

Gray Crop Top: Target (it was on sale for $5!), White Top Underneath: The Limited, Jeans: Asos, Shoes: Modcloth, Necklace: Versona, Bracelet: J. Crew, Ring: Thrifted, Shades: Nordstrom

All that being said, spring has its own great qualities – the birds chirping, the blooming flowers, and vivid, vibrant colors.

I’ve definitely been reaching for my lilacs, periwinkles, and fuchsias more often. My MAC heroine lipstick is going to be in extra heavy rotation this season as opposed to just heavy rotation;)

What are you most looking forward to this spring??
Let me know below!

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Food

Blue Apron Meal #2: Acorn Squash Risotto with Radicchio Salad

March 15, 2016

It’s my spring break! I want to start it off by thanking whoever decided to put it up against Daylight Savings Time. Losing that hour sucks but it sucks a little bit less when you don’t have to go to classes for the week. I kicked the “break” off by making my second meal from Blue Apron – the Acorn Squash Risotto with Radicchio salad.
Blue Apron Acorn Squash Risotto Generally, I’m a fan of risotto but I only eat it when I order it at restaurants. This was my first time making it for myself. I had also never tried acorn squash before so this meal promised to be full of firsts. Eager to taste the final result I quickly got to work.

I discarded the rough ends of the acorn squash and then sliced it into fours. I put that in the oven at 450 degrees for about a half an hour.

Blue Apron Acorn Squash Risotto

Next, I fried the fresh sage using a tablespoon of olive oil.

Blue Apron Acorn Squash Risotto Once the sage was done, I sautéed the diced onions in the left over olive oil adding their spice blend.

After that I added the risotto, toasting it before adding the water and bringing it all to a boil. Blue Apron Acorn Squash Risotto Once the water started boiling, I reduced the stove temp to a medium simmer and let the risotto finish cooking for about 14 minutes.

While that was going, I took out my roasted acorn squash from the oven and let it cool for a few minutes before finely chopping it.

I made sure to keep an eye on my risotto so it didn’t overcook. Once it was done I mixed in the squash, the butter, and shavings of the Piave cheese.

Blue Apron Acorn Squash Risotto My last step was to quickly prepare the radicchio salad and dressing, before plating it all.

Blue Apron Acorn Squash Risotto

Similar to the first meal, I was easily able to get more than two servings out of this one. It’s more like four. While the recipe card said it should take about the same amount of time as the first meal, I found this one faster to make since there were less moving parts.

As far as taste goes it was good, but not amazing. It definitely doesn’t compare to some of the restaurant risottos I’ve had. For my first attempt at risotto though I was quite pleased.
Blue Apron Acorn Squash Risotto
My final Blue Apron meal will be the spicy spaghetti with cabbage and toasted bread crumbs. Stay tuned!