Chana Masala and NaNoWriMo

The weather is finally starting to cool down now and I couldn’t be happier. The sooner that happens, the more energy I will have and the more creative I will be. This leads into two things: good foods and choices of insanity.

Part One….

Good food!

Chana Masala is by far one of my favorite Indian dishes. Depending on how you make it, the dish could be creamy, spicy, tomatoee, and so on. It even tastes good on pasta noodles, although I prefer it over the traditional rice.

Chana Masala

1 – 13 oz can of Garbanzo Beans(Chickpeas)
2 1/2 Tbsp Ketchup
1/2-full – 14oz can of Coconut Milk (How creamy you want your meal depends on this.)
2 Tbsp Curry Powder
2 cloves of Garlic
1 Medium Onion, diced
3 Tbsp Olive Oil
1/2 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1/2 tsp Salt
1/2 tsp Pepper
1-2 tsp Cayenne Pepper (Test this out slowly! Some Cayenne spice is spicier than others so it varies. I like spicy so you can do less or omit it completely if you’d like)

-Pour olive oil into pan and saute onions and garlic

-Once sauteed, add in tomato paste, curry powder and cayenne pepper. Mix until onions and garlic are covered evenly in spices.

-Add garbanzo beans, lemon juice, coconut milk, salt and pepper on medium heat for 15-20 minuets, stirring occasionally.

-Serve over rice or pasta

Part Two…

…The insanity.

I have heard about NaNoWriMo for a couple years now. For some reason, I was under the impression that you had to be in high school to actually participate. I was talking to a friend about it yesterday and she informed me how wrong I was. It appears I was getting confused with this and their Young Writers program. I looked into it some more, and just couldn’t get away from how intriguing it sounded.

The goal is to write 50,000 words within the 30 days of the month of November. A little crazy yes. Okay, a lot of crazy–but still fun. True, I am already writing a book (something I will have to put aside while I’m working on this) and true that I’ve already past 50k words in length. However, I feel that this challenge will really push me to my limits, transform me not only in writing skills, but also show me what I am actually capable of.

So, during the month of November (and the weeks of prep leading up to it), I’ll keep you updated not only with foods, but with the progress of the challenge. I’m really looking forward to it.