day two

day two is better than day one; for curry, i mean.
all that extra time in the fridge lets it sit and soak. yum!

we had curry for dinner last night, and ate the leftovers tonight.
this recipe is delicious, healthy and cheap!
make it!

Coconut Curry Chicken

1/2 cup all purpose flour
3/4 tsp each salt and pepper
12 skinless chicken thighs
2 tbsp vegetable oil
2 onions chopped
4 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup chicken stock
1 can (14 ounce/400 ml) coconut milk
2 tbsp mild curry paste
4 carrots sliced
1 can (19 ounce/540 ml) chickpeas, drained and rinsed
2 cups frozen peas
1 cup cashew nuts
1/4 cup toasted shredded coconut

In shallow dish, mix flour with 1/2 tsp each of the salt and pepper. Add chicken and turn to coat. Reserve 3 tbsp of the flour mixture for sauce.
In large skillet, heat 1 tbsp of the oil over medium high heat; brown chicken, in batches if necessary. Transfer to slow cooker.
Drain fat from skillet; add remaining oil and heat over medium high heat. Saute onions and garlic until softened, 3 minutes. Scrape into slow cooker.
Add stock, coconut milk, curry paste, carrots, chickpeas and remaining salt and pepper to slow cooker. Cover and cook on low for 5 hours or until vegetables are tender.
Whisk reserved flour mixture with 1/3 cup water; stir into slow cooker. Add peas. Cover and cook on high for 15 minutes or until slightly thickened. Serve sprinkled with cashews and coconut.


mmm. curry...

awesome

just thought you should see this.
cat on cats on brian.



my husband is rad.
this shirt is just one of the many animal shirts he owns. we like this one.
when i do laundry, i've got the entire animal kingdom in my washing machine.
lions, tigers and bears! oh my!
really though. and some wolves and fish and ducks and all sorts of things.
the shirts are awesome.
and i love him!

p.s. cutest kitten ever?
our good friends, kevin & rachael, just moved to edmonton. yay! welcome!

top three

best parts of our day?

1. asking our sunbeams in primary what they should thank Heavenly Father for when they pray. our little chatterbox boy piped up and said, "um! my mom & dad said i'm not allowed to use the word 'butt' anymore!" we love three year olds. and the things they tell us.

2. having a sunday afternoon nap. and then wrestling brian. the only way i could defend myself was to grab his face and contort it. that didn't turn out so well. i just ended up laughing so hard i couldn't do anything. it was really really hilarious.

3. going to the mendenhall family dinner and enjoying the company of our delightful family. and then playing a game and realizing that my uncle looks alarmingly similar to steve carell...awesome.

snow way, jose!

remember that one time it snowed so much in two weeks that the piles in my backyard were taller than i am?
i do.

remember that one time i got to work in the morning but i couldn't open the door because it was frozen shut?
i do.

remember that one time (okay, lots of times) that brian pulled the e-brake when we drove around corners because he loves doing it when its icy?
i do.

remember that one time we didn't drive for 24 hours and our car got almost completely buried in snow?
i do.




i am so done with the snow. so done.
i wish it was gone...and that we were back here...







wanna come?

pennies & pinching them

...quite literally pinching pennies.



when brian & i were home at Christmas, brian found a pottery jar he made in grade nine art class. and inside the jar we found 26 dollars! in change. nothing bigger than a quarter. we emptied it out into a ziploc bag, leaving the precious pottery behind for his mother to enjoy.

the week we got back from holidays, we found ourselves with an empty fridge and empty stomachs. we went to superstore and ended up with a bill that was about $51.00. we used the gift card that grandma abbott gave us for Christmas, (thanks, grandma!) leaving around $26.00. you wanna know what we did?

we dug that ziploc bag out of my purse, and began the process of feeding every single quarter, nickel, dime and penny through the slot. (please note; one of brians favourite things to do at the grocery store is putting loose change into the self checkout.) near the beginning we got a little too excited and jammed the coin slot, which really annoyed the zitty 15 year old boy that was in charge of all the self checkouts. we did better after that, but he still shot us dirty looks. we stood in front of the self checkout for twenty minutes, until we had paid all of our bill with coins! yes! i totally thought we would sissy out and pay some on debit, but we prevailed! awesome!

also. when we walked out of the grocery store and past the kid who was glaring at us, i said to him, "you might wanna empty your machine tonight."

i'm so mean.

the magicians nephew

my first reading project for the new year?
all of c.s. lewis' narnia books!

i have memories of my mom reading them to me before i went to bed when i was a kid. we would lay on my bed together and i would relax and listen to her voice as she told me the beautiful stories.

i just finished reading the first book, "the magicians nephew". have you read it? i loved it. its the beginning of the story; the establishment of the land of narnia and the arrival of the white witch into the land ruled by aslan, the lion.

this excerpt is from the end of the book, as polly & digory are leaving narnia.

"Both the children were looking up into the Lion's face as he spoke these words. And all at once (they never knew exactly how it happened) the face seemed to be a sea of tossing gold in which they were floating, and such a sweetness and power rolled about them and entered into them that they felt they had never really been happy or wise or good, or even alive and awake, before. And the memory of that moment stayed with them always, so that as long as they both lived, if ever they were sad or afraid or angry, the thought of all that golden goodness, and the feeling that it was still there, quite close, just round some corner or just behind some door, would come back and make them sure, deep down inside, that all was well."

click. listen. love. repeat.

i've been listening to this song. a lot.

holiday!

we're back from almost three weeks, punctuated by three days of work, of Christmas holidays. so delightful.

hi-lights of our holidays?

going to see "despicable me" at the cheap seats and then using our dq gift card from my grandma & grandpa! (thank you! such a good treat!)

brian acing all of his finals. he's a little smarty pants and i'm a proud wife. he's doing really well, and we are ever so glad. high marks = co-op program!

good roads to travel on. bad roads are scary in our tiny car. it weighs like 57 pounds.

cheese. lots of it. cheese with prosciutto and basil rolled into it. so. good. brians dad served his mission in italy and knows pretty much everything there is to know about good cheese.

games. games into the early morning.

going to see "honk!" at the globe theatre on christmas eve. my family knows how much i theatre, theatre at the globe theatre, and got brian and i tickets. it was so fun! the costumes were silly and the songs were delightful. thanks family!

lots of visiting.

the fact that i got three messages on my phone from someone trying to get a hold of "ron" or "jenn". awesome.

getting to hang out with brian without school work hanging over his head. finally!

the Christmas nativity on Christmas eve.

joviah following brian around for an entire week, saying his name. "bri? bri? bri?" brian goes to the bathroom. joviah stands outside the door. "bri? bri? bri?" brian sits down to eat dinner. joviah nearly climbs out of her high chair just to get a good look. "bri? bri? bri?" so cute.

being with my new family and learning new Christmas traditions!

never making dinner in almost three weeks.

new years. since when has my family expanded to an astonishing 23 people? and yes. if you're wondering, we did all stay in the same house. and yes. it was rad!

watching all my nieces and nephews (12!) play with brian. they love him so much.

feeling lots of love and support from the people we love.



we feel blessed. we are looking forward to the many wonderful things we know 2011 will bring!
all the best to you & yours,

love,
the thomsons