Mango Mania

It's been a week since I've blogged and although it has been nice, I've kind of missed it. This past week I went out to eat for the first time in over a month. What did I have? A nice big veggie burrito from Panchero's! It tasted so good...and even better since I didn't have to make it! It's nice that I don't feel that I must stick to my rules, but I often feel like I'm cheating or being "bad" if I'm not following my old rules. I guess it's good in the sense of it keeping me on track.

Although I'm not Catholic...tomorrow is Fat Tuesday and Wednesday is the beginning of lent. I had considered giving up something...that something being wine. I'm not sure that is really going to work out so well. So instead, I'm thinking of just participating in Fat Tuesday. That's OK, right?

I've had this jar of mango nectar sitting in my cabinet for about 2 years. A long, long time ago, my friend Linnette and I went to Whole Foods and I found this jar of nectar. It was almost summer and my plan was to make mango margaritas. Well, that never happened. I keep looking at it from time to time and tell myself: you really need to use this soon. Well...here's what we did:

Champagne + mango nectar=Mango Mimosa Awesomeness. You really should give this a go sometime. It's slightly sweet and is a nice change to the OJ.

I had been telling Brian that I wanted to try making ice cream sometime. I had an extra can of coconut milk and wondered how it would be in some homemade ice cream. So...with the mango nectar already open...some inspiration from Aarti Party on The Food Network that morning...here's what we did:

1 can coconut milk
1.5C mango nectar
1/2C almond milk
2T sugar
1/2t vanilla extract
1/2t cardamom
1/4t cloves

Mix all together and place in freezer. Stir every 30 minutes until desired consistency. If you have an actual ice cream maker...that will make it even better!
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This turned out icy, but really flavorful. I'm really wishing that I had a ice cream maker because I'm pretty sure it would be awesome! There are so many different things going on in this. You get a slight taste of coconut, not enough of the mango but a real warmth from the spices. Next time, I would definitely add some fresh mango cubes to this!

I'm considering sending this to Aarti Party...just letting her know that she inspired me to make this. I'm secretly hoping that she in turns reads this blog and makes me the next Food Network Star! Let's face it...that Sandra Lee...well, I'm not sure how she got her own show. I'll leave it at that.

Now for dinner. Brian got me a new cookbook for Christmas: Moosewood Restaurant, Low-Fat Favorites. Click here to see their website! This cookbook is so good. It's primarily vegetarian with a little seafood section thrown in there. I would highly, highly recommend this cookbook. We decided on Tamale Pie:

This recipe will definitely become a staple. It takes a lot of chopping, but otherwise is really easy. The flavors are incredible and is nice and low-fat, yet filling. We omitted the cheese and egg whites (cheese was optional and use a replacement for the egg whites) which helped bring the fat/calories down as well. It is topped with cilantro and scallions...two of my favorites! So, so good! It's also nice because I see it being very versatile. Next time I might add some seitan, more or different kinds of beans and a touch more heat.

So, that's about it. The famous Scranton St. Patrick's Day Parade is this weekend...the weather looks to be dry, which is always a good thing. I'm having some folks over for a little pre-parade party. It should be a good time!

Happy Monday...and until next time.