life & style // 16 sar as Sophie Isbister Life & Style Editor Mlifeandstyle @theotherpress.ca [° the land of “how to meal,” you could consider using a slow cooker as playing on cheat mode. It certainly is a great way to pile your main and your side into one easy, sloppy dish, best served over rice or quinoa. But, all’s fair in love, war, and dinner. Cheat away, and dazzle your family (or just yourself) with this tasty, Thai-flavoured, veggie-laden chicken dish. I hope you like leftovers, because this recipe makes a few meals! The best thing about slow cooker meals is that while it’s a good idea to follow a recipe for your sauce, you can kind of ad-lib the vegetables. I tend : to throw in any kind of hearty : vegetable I have laying around. : : In this case, the recipe called for : : onion, squash, and bell peppers, : : but I happened to also have : some cauliflower in my fridge : that I knew could stand up to : a rigorous eight-hour session : in my Crock Pot. So, without : further ado, here’s the recipe: Slow Cooker Thai Chicken (with files from TheLawStudents Wife. com) You will need: Two 14-ounce cans light coconut milk 1cup chicken stock 1/4 cup peanut butter (any kind) bate Ty as arachide 3 tablespoons red curry paste 2 tablespoons fish sauce 2, tablespoons brown sugar 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes 2 pounds boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into 1 1/2- inch pieces 3 cups peeled and 1/2- inch cubed butternut squash pieces (about 1 pound) Two red bell peppers, theotherpress.ca cored and sliced Two green bell peppers, cored and sliced 2 cups chopped cauliflower One large onion, thinly sliced (about 3 cups) 2 cups frozen peas, thawed 2 tablespoons lime juice (about 1 lime) Chopped fresh cilantro, for serving : Directions: : : Once you prep all your veggies : : and chicken, prepare the sauce : : in your (large) slow cooker. Mix : : the fish sauce, coconut milk, : chicken stock, sugar, peanut : butter, curry paste, ginger, : and garlic all together. Add : the rest of the vegetables and : the chicken (except the peas), : and turn on your slow cooker. : This whole process should take : about 30 minutes (45 minutes : if you're me). Then, carry on with your : day! Go to the spa! Watch eight : episodes of The Sopranos! Or : go to class, whatever. Your tasty : chicken meal will take eight : hours to cook on low, or four : hours on high. The final step to this easy : recipe is to add the peas 30 : minutes before the dish is done : cooking (mostly just to warm them up). Serve this dish over rice and garnish with the fresh lime and the cilantro. Sit back, : enjoy, and pretend you're in : Bangkok! Delicious. Diary of a starter novelist » Week three: Blowing it all up and starting from scratch Patrick Vaillancourt Senior Columnist Patrick Vaillancourt is a political essayist and seasoned His first book, a memoir, is scheduled for publication later this year. He is participating in National Novel Writing Month, otherwise known as NaNoWriMo, for the first time. admit that if there is one flaw that will cost me success in NaNoWriMo, it’s that I am thinking too much about designing the perfect plot and getting to the end of the book. It has cost me valuable time that could have been otherwise : spent on writing. So this week, I did the unthinkable: I threw away : the concept I had previously : envisioned and began writing : anew novel, one that, with any in the arts of non-fiction writing. luck, will see me to the end of : this contest. Tam still struggling with perfectionism, something that : has led me to procrastinate : more than once this week. : It was only when I came toa : realization that perfection isn’t : required for a first draft that I : started making considerable : progress, though much later in : the week. Perhaps not a good : sign for me given that I am already playing catch-up with ? my word count as it is. Though it will definitely : sound like an excuse, the : weather also became a factor : last week. Though sunny, it : was a little too cold for me to : sit outside at Starbucks (I can’t : sit inside and write for some : quirky reason) or for me to sit : at Kitsilano Beach and type : ideas and dialogue into my : phone. The mere fact that it : was nice actually had me doing : other things, like doing some : window shopping downtown ; to gather Christmas gift ideas. : That being said, I am sure some : other excuse would be made if : the weather had been different : this week. It’s not that I dislike : writing or that I am trying to : avoid it— is simply not my forte. it’s that novel writing This week, I am committing : myself to 16 hours of writing— : two hours per weekday and : six hours on the weekend. It : might sound like a lot, but it : : really isn’t. The first draft of my : : Memoir was written inabout — : : 120 hours of dedicated writing, : but I was writing about a story : that had already been played: : out. My novel could generously : : be described as an “unfinished: : idea” at best; it is essentially a : mélange of personal anecdotes : from my own life, with some : fictional events filling in the : gaps to the story. It’s much : more complex than one may realize. Tam hopeful that this coming week will get me over ; the halfway point, especially : considering that I am running WORDS WRITTEN: 3,214 TOTAL GOAL: 50,000 DAYS LEFT TO COMPLETE: 3 AVERAGE NUMBER OF WORDS PER DAY NEEDED: 1,852 words per day : short on time. I signed up : for NaNoWriMo to put a : manuscript together by the : end of the month, and I am : still committed to meeting that objective.