Greetings from Costa Rica and Some News!

I think I escaped winter just in time. The few days following my departure were the coldest days this winter, and now there's massive snow storms flying about.

Costa Rica is beautiful, as can be expected. It's also taking me a little while to adjust to the climate, since we're pretty close to the ocean, it's very humid. I love the humidity, such a great change from the dryness of heated houses in the Canadian winter.

That being said, I am still working out our kitchen. Since we are in a long-term rental, all the kitchen ware has been provided and it certainly isn't what I'm used to. Although, I did bring the Blendtec. There is no way I am ever going without a high speed blender!

Meals so far have been very simple. Tons of amazing tropical fruit, like the papayas above, have been my staple and will continue to be as long as we're here. I also have a few recipes in reserve from when we were in Canada, which will probably be the next month or so's posts. I'll be playing a lot with local ingredients during that time, as well as mixing up some great raw items for you. I also need to get more familiar with the grocery stores and fruit stands around here to really get a lay of the land.

All these gorgeous flowers grow everywhere, which just makes me want to take pictures all day long.

We are very lucky for a few more reasons. One, vegan food is abundant in the nearby town, there is an option at every restaurant, with two of them being organic with many (labelled) vegan choices. I will definitely be posting about them here and on the Facebook page once we've decided to treat ourselves to a night out.

Also, fresh fruit smoothies are everywhere. It's easy to ask them to make them with water instead of milk, although they aren't cheap (around $3-4). My favorite combination so far has been guanabana (soursop) and strawberry. I'll definitely be making it at home when I get my hand on another soursop.

Red Bananas growing on the property

Now that we've begun a New Year, I want to ramp up this blog a bit. I'll be adding some non-food lifestyle posts, such as skincare and fitness. I believe that whole foods eating and veganism are a lifestyle, not simply a diet and being healthy involves so much more than just food! So from now on, food is definitely still going to be the main topic of posts, but we'll be diversifying it a bit to really dig in to health and what it's all about!

I am now also officially a Blendtec Affiliate, if you are interested in purchasing one, all you need to do is click the Blendtec image on the right to purchase through me. I use mine daily and stand behind it 100% in terms of usability and quality. Check it out!

View From the Kitchen Counter

I would love to know what you guys want to hear from the blog. Any types of requests are more than welcome. I have one already on the many ways to use avocado that will be coming up in the next week or so.

Yellow Thai Curry

Thai food has always been on my list of favorites, but for a few reasons, it isn't in my habitual repertoire of go-to recipes or restaurants. The primary reason being that plenty of restaurants use fish sauce in, well, everything and some places won't or can't make their dishes without it. So finding a good, authentic and fish-sauce-free restaurant can be tricky. Nevertheless it is no excuse not to enjoy the delicious flavours that Thai food has to offer. Turns out that there is a veg-friendly Thai place right around the corner, and it was so amazing that I just had to recreate it at home.

I had tried to make Thai food at home years ago, but could never quite get the hang of it. Turns out the recipe I was basing mine on wasn't quite right, although the dish was tasty, it really didn't capture the essence of Thai food. What's a cook without a few failures under her belt?

Is this one authentic? Probably not. I chose to vary the ingredients from the dish I had at the restaurant with what I had on hand. Nonetheless, it was delicious. I could tell by the dead silence that accompanied it's consumption that I wasn't the only one enjoying the contents of my plate. I also tailored it to my dietary guidelines: that being I wanted it to be low-fat, low sodium, oil-free and plant strong. It already being a gluten-free friendly recipe I didn't have to change much.

You might have noticed that I haven't given specific measurements for the spices. This is for two reasons: I rarely measure them myself and I believe that they should be added to taste. They can always be adjusted and so I suggest starting small and gradually increasing them until just right if needed. After a few tries it almost becomes second nature and makes cooking that much more intuitive.

Thai Yellow Curry

This is a large recipe, feeding 2 very hungry people with leftovers. I'm sure it feeds a family of five, so half the recipe if you don't have a family or have a very healthy appetite.

Ingredients:
- 1/2 large Sweet Onion.
- 2 large Portabella Mushroom Cap, diced.
- Several large handfulls Baby Spinach.
- 1 large tomato, diced.

- 2 cans low-fat coconut milk.

- Turmeric.
- Cumin.
- Ground Coriander.
- Fresh Ginger, minced.
- Sriracha Hot sauce or Fresh thai chili.
- White Pepper (can substitute Black Pepper).
- Salt.

1. Heat a large deep pan over med-high heat, once the pan is hot, splash with water and add onion. Cook until starting to soften.
2. Add spices with a little more water, let cook for about a minute.
3. Now add the coconut milk, I added the full cans but you can choose to buy the fuller fat versions and use one full can and just the top off the other for a richer dish.
4. Let this cook down for about 5-10 minutes, then add in all the veggies. Let cook until sauce has reached it's desired thickness.
5. Serve over steamed jasmine rice.