abundance of sunshine

I woke up at 7:45 this morning because the sun was streeeaming in my window. Although I would've liked to have slept more (I was up late finishing my paper that was due this morning!) it is pretty great being woken up by sunshine and chirping birds (there's a big park behind my house) instead of obnoxious college kids and the T.

I started my day with STOVETOP OATS! Like most of the bloggers out there, they are my preferred oatmeal cooking method, but at school I lack both time and equipment. But I whipped up my mom and I a batch, cooked low and slow Kath-style with currants (I was craving them for some reason). SO PERFECT!

It's so awesome eating yummy oatmeal, in your own kitchen, with fresh flowers and your favorite mug of tea and streaming sunshine!

I made the batch for my mom and me with 1 cup milk, 1 cup plus a few extra tablespoons (because of the currants soaking up liquid) of water, and about 3 tbsp. currants.

After some leisurely paper reading, I also had some apple and peanut butter.

Yesterday, like all travel days, was a weird food day. I ate my packed snacks on the train, then some afternoon nibbles, and I was very very happy to have a REAL MEAL for dinner!

This is another fabulous Madhur Jaffrey creation:

Chickpea and Tomato Stew

1/2 cup olive oil (I just used enough to coat the bottom of my pan- about 1.5 tbsp)

2 medium onions, chopped (I used one large)

4 cloves garlic, minced (I used 3 HUGE cloves)

6 medium tomatoes, blanched and peeled, then chopped (I just used canned, and since they were smallish I used like 8)

1 can chickpeas, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup fresh parsley

1/2 tsp dried thyme

Heat the oil over a medium flame in a medium to large frying pan. Add onions and garlic and stir and cook until the onions are soft, about 5 minutes. Add tomatoes, and stir and cook them until they become pastelike, another 3 or 4 minutes. Add the chickpeas, parsley, thyme, and 1 cup water (I used the tomato juice from the can), bring to a boil, and cover and simmer for 10 to 15 minutes.

This recipe is SO EASY and SO DELICIOUS! The flavors are so fresh and vibrant! The parsley definitely makes the recipe. I love having fresh parsley at home. The tomatoes were also really good- Mom got the organic ones and I think I did notice a difference. And I know tomatoes are on the "dirty dozen" list (meaning they're especially vulnerable to pesticide contamination) so I was pleased to have them! And the onions, cooking for that long period of time in a healthy amount of olive oil... yummmmmm!

Aren't the colors beautiful, too?

To accompany- spelt toast with mango chutney. YUM YUM YUM! Mango chutney is the bomb.

I also had tea made in my teavana perfect tea maker. It really is perfect.

And finally... dessert.

My auntie lives in Belgium and was here for a visit, which I unfortunately missed, but she gave my sister to pass onto me... A CRUNCHIE BAR! Anyone lucky enough to live in a place with access to Cadbury candy knows how awesome these are. Cadbury chocolate is just... better!

I ate this in bed, after I finished my stupid paper :D My grandma claimed the secret to her long, happy live was eating chocolate in bed, so I'm delighted to follow in that tradition. I still have about 1/3 of it yet, and greatly look forward to eating it!

Now I'm going to go do yoga on my deck. It is like 70 degrees outside! Man oh man I love home.