1. Before The Journey

A trip down memory lane

My relaxed hair

 

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So, Kale Got The Best of Me...I Got Something For That!!

Spinach!! That's right, spinach.

I couldn't get the kale to do right, so one of my bloggers suggested spinach. A light bulb went off in my head. Before I ran across kale, I kept saying I would give spinach a try.

I did!

I went and bought a very small can of it! LOL...and it was decent, but I wanted to be able do it the right way. I got swept up into work and personal life things, so I forgot about it. Thank goodness for my Mi-ettes!

I gave spinach a whirl!! I bought a big bundle of spinach and googled a recipe. Guess what pops up?! The same recipe I used the first time I cooked kale. I was very, very skeptical but I told myself to go for it. This was a totally different green from kale, so I didn't want that to stop me.

I had a lazy night and cooked hamburger helper...don't let
the pic fool you...that hamburger helper was dabomb.com!
Try it (Patty Melt)!

For the steps to cook it, click here (see Attempt #1). The only thing I didn't mention was I had to cut the stems off of both the kale and spinach. Also time frames were different. After I put the spinach  in the pot with the oil and garlic and coated all the leaves, I let it cook until the leaves were wilted. Then I drained the remaining juice from the pot, sprinkled it with oil, and salted it to taste...resulting in what you see to the right! It was on point too!! Very, very tasty. I tend to like my greens very salty, but if I'm trying to be healthy...I'm definitely trying to stay away from too much salt! My sister and I have to fuss at my mom about the ridiculous amounts of salt she consumes.

I guess I should mention this as well. Anytime a recipe calls for garlic, I use minced garlic (in extra virgin olive oil), which comes in a jar. I think this garlic tends to have more of a citrus-y taste which can affect the flavor of some foods. With this recipe it definitely did. The next night, I cooked spinach again but this time I used garlic powder instead. It was much better. I'll get brave one of these days and actually try to cut a clove of garlic, but for now...I'll stick with what I have.

So, with all that being said...spinach was a hit. I really appreciate all the suggestions from the kale post and I'm very much looking forward to trying more new things and sharing it with you all!!




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May Natural Hair Challenge

I follow teamnatural_ (and a few other natural hair profiles) on Instagram. I like looking at other naturalistas for inspiration of all kinds, but mostly for hairstyle ideas. I've even used a few hairstyles from these profiles. This month ohcurl (a profile I found through teamnatural_) is doing a May Natural Hair Challenge:

Now, I've tried photo-a-day challenges before and I've never made it through a whole month. I think these things can be pretty difficult and I'm someone who loves to take pictures! However, I'm super excited about this one!! I love things that help me reflect or chronicle my Natural Hair Journey. Looking at this challenge, I can tell it may be a little tough, but it's my goal to make it all the way through. So far so good! 

When you do this challenge, you're supposed to "#ohcurl" so they can share your picture with their followers...but in order to do that you have to have a public profile. I'm not comfortable with public profiles. Those of you that follow me on Instagram can attest to that!! I'm not sure if I'll ever get to the point where I'm comfortable with being more public than I already am, but I figured I could at least share a few of my favorites with you all, especially on days I don't have posts. The days may not correspond to what the actual date is, as I will randomly post these throughout the month, but if there's a certain day you're interested in seeing, let me know (or just follow me on Instagram @ curlymilah)!

Here goes...I hope you enjoy!

May 6. Blue

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Silent Sunday...Sort Of

Confession: Whenever I don't feel like doing anything to my hair, I wear a straight Afro! then I walk around feeling retro all day...lol.

Peace and Good Blessings this Sunday!!

 

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What In The Kale Is Going On?!

I'm slowly trying to transition my menu into a healthier version of itself. I'm not going on health binge like everyone else around me, but the people I love are eating healthier, so it's important for me to be able to provide healthy meals.

My best friend cooked some kale recently for dinner and I fell in love with it. It tasted so much like mustard greens and I  LOVE mustard greens. It was her first time cooking it, so there were improvements to be made, but I decided to take my own stab at it.

ATTEMPT #1

I went to the grocery store, bought the kale and was ready to go! I was tempted to buy a bag of pre-cut kale, because it would have been much easier to just open a bag, wash it, and pour it in the pan. But the cost was what changed my mind. Buying bundles was much cheaper. So, I got home googled a recipe for how to "sauté" kale, prepped my kale, and got going. Here are the steps I followed:

• Sauté garlic in oil until the garlic is soft
• Add 1/2 a cup of water
• Add the kale to the pot and coat the leaves
• Cover the pot and let it cook for 5 to 15 minutes (I chose to let it cook for 5 minutes because I only had a small amount of kale)

I followed all the instructions so I thought everything would work out...wrong! Wrong!! Lol. I was so busy cooking the other food and washing dishes so I wouldn't have to do it later that I got distracted. I began to smell something burning. Really? Burning?!? I check the pot of kale and it had burned so badly that it was burnt black and stuck to the bottom of the pot. IT HADN'T EVEN BEEN FIVE MINUTES YET!! I think I went wrong in two places - I used a metal pot and the heat was on a medium-high setting.
 

I was going to say forget it and eat my fish and rice without the kale, but I really wanted kale that night so I gave it another try. This time I used a non-stick pot and I did not take my eyes off of it. I cooked it, but it turned out really tough and very bland BUT here's what it looked like:

Before After

Don't get me wrong. It tasted okay after I added salt, but I want to be able to cook it so that when it goes from the pot to my plate, it's a complete product.

ATTEMPT #2

I was determined to redeem my name because I think I'm a decent cook. I was not about to let kale take me out of the cooking game. This time I tried to boil it. I thought this should be simple enough. Here are the steps I took:

• Fry bacon in the pot (for seasoning)
• Add water
• Add salt
• Add kale
• Boil

Simple enough, right?! When I googled a recipe for this, the time span was the same...about 5 to 15 minutes. I tasted it at 5 minutes and it was tough. I tasted it at 15 minutes and it tasted just like it did at 5 minutes. I was so discouraged. I let it cook for 10 more minutes and it still wasn't tender. It was past time for me to eat, so I turned the stove off and called it a night. I didn't even eat the kale with my dinner. When I reheated the leftovers, it was more tender that it was the night I cooked it. However, my goal is to get it tender the very first night I cook it.
 

I told my mom of these fiascos and she told me to try the first way again, but cook it on a lower heat setting (and I will also use a non-stick pot).
 

Please, Mi-ettes, give me some pointers you might have for cooking kale (or any type of greens - collards, mustard greens, etc.). I'm very interested to hear ways that have been successful for others.
 

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