Karina's Kitchen- Recipes from a Gluten-Free Goddess: Purple Cabbage & Sweet Potato Soup

A taste of Thai without leaving my kitchen!  

Karina's Kitchen- Recipes from a Gluten-Free Goddess: Purple Cabbage & Sweet Potato Soup

I wasn't entirely sure about this soup last night, but I have been wanting to try a purple cabbage dish for a while. Silly me, I didn't read the entire recipe, and my lovely neighbor Katie graciously lent me a can of pinto beans. The peanut butter and coconut were concerning at first, but the lime brightened the flavor and tied everything together. It was incredibly beautiful and delicious! We had Katie, the Siscos, and us for dinner - and we had enough food for leftovers! I encourage you to try this recipe - you will never even miss the gluten! It had somewhat of a Thai flavor, but the yellow curry gave it a southern Indian flare.

I used Walker's brand Curry Powder, which is really flavorful.  I also added cumin, which was an optional ingredient.  I had the minced Anaheim peppers as a garnish for those who preferred a spicy dish, and I added another cup of chicken stock after adding the peanut butter, omitting the "1/2 cup boiling water."  I eliminated any of the spices used to make the soup spicy, because these could be added as garnish.  

It was quite delicious!

Back to School!

I'm back in school -- I have been teaching at Pueblo Community College for a semester-and-a-half now, and I'm taking some classes through their employment benefits program. I'm taking Anatomy and Physiology I and ServSafe/Food Sanitation 101. These are great - and greatly time consuming! Between teaching and studying, I have 11 credits. I'm ALMOST full time :) I'm also still working with That's Natural and with the Colorado Farm to Fork Grant project.

I spend most of my days studying - mostly at Solar Roast Coffee, The Loft, and Wireworks. On occasion, I'll bend and go to the green national coffee chain, but I try to support the local businesses on a poor teacher/poorer student's income. And I think it would be more accurate to call it an out-go than an in-come. My cashflow is provided by Dr. Donna Hinders who has me come and file for her on occasion. She has also tutored me through my first Axial skeleton quiz (skull and vertebrae).

Today it was actually cold, so the fireplace is burning, and I'm sipping a lovely cup of Solaris coffee. I'm obviously taking a break from studying...

There is something inspiring about smelling ground coffee and brewing smells in a coffee shop. I think it opens up my blood vessels or something. :)

The other nice thing about studying at coffee shops is that you meet great friends here. I've struck up friendships with several of the staff and owners of the shops, which brings me to the random statement about having relationships with businesses. These relationships are WHY living is worth it! So thanks to my coffee shop friends who feed my addiction!

Junior League Kids Korner at Pueblo Health Expo

The Expo was great!

We had great attendance, and I think lots of it was due to the fact that That's Natural created special postcard invitations for the women of the Junior League to hand out to kids to augment the marketing that the Expo itself was doing.  There was so much participation for the Zumba and jump roping activities!  I think the extra marketing may have brought more families this time!

Arwen Christian, Tisha Casida, and a few other bleary-eyed chics joined me at 6:30 a.m. to set up for the Expo.  We didn't turn out to have much to do at the get-go, but that relaxation disappeared when the kids started to arrive!  

Arwen and I hosted the Nutrition Jeopardy game for the kids, and we handed out great prizes, including donations from Pamela' Products, a gluten free company, and others.  Arwen, Liz Marco, and I had stayed up on Tuesday working on the board and writing questions for it.  It was fun!  There are some great resources online, including the NAFWA, that provide nutrition material free of charge.  

I also helped out a Sodexho chef who was having microphone difficulties - anything to be on stage, right? :)

Other significant women: Anne Weirbach, Laura McGowan, Cara Housman, Lindsey Pacheco, and Janna Nolt.  They all dedicated chunks of time to help out at the Expo.  

  

Joshua took this goofy shot of me dressed like a carrot, compliments of That's Natural.  But my bravery was beat out by Susie Cauley, our Junior League chicken.  

I also took at stab at the Tree Pose, taught by Hilary Pacheco-Hall from the YMCA.  

Here's Arwen helping with the jump roping... I shied away and was hanging out with the chef at the other cooking demo! :)

We also donated some of our booth space to the Sangre de Cristo Art Center, and Stuffy and Joey helped children learn about the internal organs of the body.  He pulled out not-to-lifesize organs to educate the kids!  How fun!

Skiing

We went skiing last weekend with my dad as part of a Christmas gift package we gave him. We paid for most of the trip! He drove though, because between three sets of skis, boots, poles, bags, food, me :) we would barely have fit! We had a great day - sunny, warm -35 degrees, no wind! But I skied like a dweeb and fell several times! Oh well. I even took out a mogul-hill with my shoulder -- those are those hideous bumps that you either turn between them or on top of them....something like that. Not totally clear on what I'm supposed to do, but I do know this. NOT THE WAY I WENT.

Back to School

Well, after several months of discussing - and lots and lots of thoughts and prayer - I've decided to go back to school.  Joshua has gotten closer and closer to finishing his hours to get fully licensed as a practitioner in Colorado, and as he ticked hours off, I began to look forward to what we would be doing next.  I still hadn't gotten my RD, and that's been on my mind lately, so in August, Josh and I decided that I should apply for some dietetic internship programs and see if I got into any.  

I've been working on applications to several programs in a few states, and we'll find out in the end of April - April 20th - whether or not I am accepted into any of the programs.  I'm nervous for a few reasons: I spent a majority of my Pepperdine time volunteering with different groups, working on Coffee House and for the Nutrition Science division, and attending ROTC classes, and I didn't spend much time working to get A's.  So... I feel quite a bit less competitive than other applicants.  I'm hoping that my last two years of extremely involved activities, paired with my military experiences and college experiences, will give me an edge over the 4.0's.  

To refresh my education and my memory, I'm taking some classes at Pueblo Community College - where I'm teaching.  I'm taking ServSafe, the National Restaurant Association course with exam, and Anatomy and Physiology I.  I haven't had any biology or anatomy classes in a while - okay 4 years - so I'm feeling the fear that most students probably experience when they go back to school!  

Joshua received his full license in December!   Now he can practice under his own license without a supervisor.  I'm really happy he persevered and got his hours in!  I think in the end it results in more paperwork and "independence," but now it's official.  He's a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist!  Congrats to Joshua! :)