Last weekend, the Rugby World Cup began here in New Zealand. It is the first time NZ has hosted the event since 1987--the same year they last won the cup. So as you might imagine, there are a lot of expectations for greatness in NZ during this time. It is pretty exciting, since NZ is such a small country. We get to hear a lot of complaining at the same time--about how terrible the public transport is, criticisms on the decorations, and moaning about the referees making bad calls against the All Blacks(NZ's idolized Rugby team). At work everybody is getting into the excitement, which makes my days a little more interesting. I work with a lot of Pacific Islanders(Samoan, Tongan, Fijian, etc.), and they are all getting very into it, proudly cheering for their home teams. Tomorrow we are having a potluck to celebrate Samoa's first game of the world cup. I decided to make these banana chocolate chip muffins (blue and red to support USA!):
I made those to compensate for the healthy eating lifestyle Erlo and I are attempting. We always try to eat healthy, but after watching the documentary Knives over Forks which is all about Plant-Based Eating, we are trying to have less meat and dairy in our diets. It's a very compelling movie, and while I realize that it is probably biased, I think the evidence they present begs for at least a little conscious lifestyle change. Watch it and see what you think!
Anyway, tonight, I made this amazing dish:
It is roasted butternut squash stuffed with Quinoa mixed with chickpeas and caramelized onions. I used ginger, sprigs from our curry plant and fresh garlic to season it. Erlo agreed it was great. This was a completely vegan meal with plenty of protein. It was so filling neither of us could finish it! This doesn't mean that we are becoming vegan(Erlo definitely couldn't), but we both want to experiment cooking with a lot less meat and dairy. I know the muffins don't really follow the whole no dairy thing, but they are a treat... :)
