We’ve had a few snags and set backs during Reno-cation week and things are going much slower than expected. We’re not too surprised though because this happens with every single reno project that we do! We’ve been going strong from about 9am until midnight most days this week and we still aren’t done yet.
After spending the entire day yesterday painting the trim and ceiling (oh wow, I almost wrote ‘sealing’, I must be tired!), today we begin painting the COLOUR (Hint: it’s BOLD!). We have been planning this colour since we moved into the house in 2008 and it is so exciting to finally see it coming to fruition!
We matched the dining room trim colour to the trim in the kitchen so it would flow nicely from one room to another. (The trim doesn’t look very nice in the picture above because it is next to harsh white primer!)
In the background of this photo you can see the kitchen trim + wainscoting. It is the same in the dining room. 
I have a feeling it will all come together in the end…
Sort of like this delicious Dal Makhni dish that I made earlier this week, adapted from Vegan Yum Yum.
Oh She Glows
Vegan Dal Makhni
Adapted from Vegan Yum Yum.
Yield: 2 cups
Ingredients:
- 1 cup uncooked masoor dal (or French or green lentils- I used green)
- 2-3 cups water
- 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1 cup chopped onion
- 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon (or 1-inch piece cinnamon stick), or to taste
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves, or to taste
- 1/4 tsp ground cardamom (or 2 green cardamom pods), or to taste
- 1 inch piece fresh ginger, peeled and minced (I only used 1 tsp b/c I don’t care for ginger that much)
- 1 garlic clove, peeled and minced
- 1 and 1/4 cup tomatoes, diced
- 1/2-3/4 tsp kosher salt, to taste
- 1/2 cup water, to thin out
- 2/3 cup cashews
- 2/3 cup water
Directions:
1. Cook the lentils in 2 cups of water until tender, about 40 minutes. Bring lentils to a boil and then reduce to medium heat. Add more water when necessary to avoid burning (I think I used 3 cups water over the course of cooking the green lentils). You can prepare the lentils the night or morning before to save time.
2. Heat the oil in a large skillet. Add the onion and cook over medium-low heat, stirring often, for about 5 minutes. Now add in the spices (cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaf, and ground cloves) and cook for another 3 minutes or so.
3. Add in the minced ginger and garlic and stir well. Cook for another 2 minutes. Add in the tomatoes and salt, and cook until slightly reduced for about 5 more minutes.
4. Stir in the cooked lentils and additional 1/2 cup water, if needed, to thin out.
5. Make the cashew cream sauce by blending the cashews in a blender and then gradually adding the water to create a sauce. Stir this cream into the lentil mixture in the skillet, saving a little to add on top for serving. Makes two 1-cup servings.
First things first, cook the lentils. You can do this ahead of time of course.
I used ground spices which are never as good as using fresh, but I didn’t have the fresh spices on hand so I used what I had. You can always sub in fresh spices if you prefer (see recipe).
Sautee the onion for about 5 minutes and then add in the cinnamon, cardamom, bay leaf, and ground cloves.
Now add in the garlic and ginger and cook for a few more minutes.
Stir in the tomatoes and cook for another 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, make the cashew cream sauce by blending the cashews with water until smooth.
Stir in the cooked lentils.
Stir in the cashew cream sauce, reserving a bit for serving.
Cook for another few minutes and serve with a big hunk of bread!
The cashew sauce made this dish so creamy and rich…I loved it. It was a delicious meal…I only wish I had doubled the recipe!
Well, I have some BOLD and FUN colour to paint now and I’m very excited! This is the fun part. 
After the wall colour is done, we have wainscoting to paint and then install. I’m not sure if we will finish today, but I really hope we can!
Do you have any funny (or disastrous) reno stories to share? Feel free to link to before and after pics if you have some too!
{ 84 comments }
Mmmm…great recipe Angela! That cashew cream sauce looks SO good. Definitely going to give this a try soon!
looks so good!!!!!! have fun painting!
That looks so good! You guys have good reno fuel!
Can’t wait to see this color you speak of!! As for that recipe-I’ve been trying to like lentils since becoming vegan a year ago but haven’t been so successful. This is one that looks so good though that I shall have to try it! I love that it has a bit of cashew cream with it…mmm.
have you tried the orange/red lentils? They get all fluffy when cooked
Okay, you have awakened the lentil dragon inside of me! I’ll definitely give the orange/red lentils a try, as well as use up my bag of black-eyed peas that’s been sitting in my cupboard for too long to make Jessica Porter’s “Black Eyed Pea Croquettes” (from “Hip Chick’s Guide…”)
Thanks!!
In my family, we eat lentils like they are going out of STYLE. I am making this tonight, anything with lentils, and especially cashew cream, is a winner in my book!:)
Looks sooo good! Nice hearty winter meal! Do you need to soak the cashews before you blend them? Any other recipes for a cashew cream, I’m intrigued! Bisous from Paris
No the recipe didn’t call for soaking, although you could if you wanted to!
This looks so good!! I love all those flavors and lentils
Good luck with the painting!
My bet is you’re using some red paint today.
I can’t get enough Indian food right now. This may have to happen tonight! Do you think there would be any problems using black beluga lentils instead?
Omygoooshhhhh that looks freaking good
I love lentils + bread, they just go together so well for some reason!
Gah I used up the last of my cashews yesterday, otherwise I would seriously make this TONIGHT! Lentils are the love of my life
Any renos that involve wallpaper are just absolutely horrible. My mom redid our entire kitchen stripping it of wallpaper and it was the longest project ever.
Cooking amazing meals & renovating!?! Gosh, you’re like super woman!
It does take longer than expected to do home renovations. We recently painted our hallway and foyer and it seriously took a month!
I love lentils and am excited to try this dish with the cashew cream sauce! Good luck on the remainder of your reno!
Holy moly!! That looks delicious! I had a contractor
Do my renos . It was a mess. Hehe… Thank God that’ s over.I’m still trying to get my house
Together.all in all it was a blessing that I could have it
Done. Plus, I have an amazing bathroom;-)cc
WOW you guys are putting in a lot of hours! I’m sure the final result will be totally worth it though. Can’t wait to see it!
I’m SO making this tonight! I have all the ingredients
.
I recently painted my room then realized I hated the color and had to repaint it the next day…
5+ hours one day followed by another 5+ hours repainting over the horrible color = not a good time!
It did turn out great though once it was done.
agh it’s the worst when you dont like the colour!
Wow, I never would have thought that making a cashew creme sauce would be so easy!
we are smack in the middle of redoing our kitchen. since we bought a very old house-built in 1924-we come across some major problems all the time. everything takes twice as long and costs twice as much. but we love our home!
i plan to do some renos here at our condo, when we have some money.. i dont know how people can afford to do so much at one time.
that dish looks fab.
For me every event involving moving everything out of a room is a disaster. I can’t stand chaos and right now I am surrounded by boxes and huge bags that make me want to run away. I sympathize with you in this and I really wish there was someone to cook some comforting lentils for me while I’m moving out
.
I’m so impressed by all that you do in your work and your home life–thanks for inspiring us!
I’m so impressed by all that you do in your work and your home life–thanks for inspiring us!
Thanks Elizabeth
This recipe will definitely get made this week! The kitchen looks like it’s really coming along.
I’ve never tried Dal, but it looks thick which is a bonus!
I really just want the bread though
Seriously, can you come cook for me?
I will cook for you and you can come do renos….sound good? haha
I think all renovation plans end up taking a lot longer than anyone expects…no matter how much pre-planning is done!
I agree! It’s that ‘wishful thinking’ I guess.
Yum, I love lentils. I’d probably really like this recipe.
I’ve never had the opportunity to Reno, hope to soon, though!
Oooooooooo I can’t wait to see what colour you chose! I love following your reno posts
P.S. Good thing painting is a good workout too!
haha umm yea…totally skipping my traditional workouts this weekend!
Looks like the perfect dish to cap off winter with! I am always looking for new ways to incorporate lentils – I love them, but don’t get very creative on my own – thanks for the inspiration!!
We’re renovating right now too, and it’s a pain in the rear end.
A
Oh yum, I love dal. Thanks for the recipe. Hang in there re: renos. It’ll all be soooo worth it!!!
This recipe looks delicious!!
I’ve been exploring your blog for a while now. But this is my first time commenting.
I think the only kind of reno stories are the nightmare ones. My childhood (as I grew up in a 100 year old house) is full of them. Including the time that we decided to move the shower and discovered that the structural wall when we opened it up had been involved in a fire and was basically just charred wood. Scary!
And I’m so excited to try this recipe. I’ve been making an effort to eat more lentils and I may very well have everything I need to make this baby for dinner tonight. Thanks!
This looks sooooo good. I have all the ingredients except for cashews. I can’t seem to keep those in the house – I eat them all up before I have the chance to use them. I probably buy about 5 containers before I ever get around to making that delicious vegan mac n cheese.
This recipe looks amazing! I am going to make it tonight! Last night I made your brushetta, and it was to die for! I also made your detox coconut macaroons, and my mom LOVED them (she wants me to forward her the link to your site) and my boyfriend who HATES coconut gobbled up 3 of them and declared that they were amazingly good. He couldn’t believe he actually liked something with coconut in it! Thanks Angela
Glad you all enjoyed them!
Funny renovation story- My dad was out of town for the weekend and my mom thought it would be nice to surprise him by making over a few things in the house. (I have no idea why she thought to do this since he is better at stuff like this but it was too late to convince her of otherwise.) So we ended up picking out what we thought was a nice subtle green for our laundry room- it ended up being blinding, neon green like Shrek! Boy was he surprised with how much work he was going to have to do when he came back!
haha ouch!
I just bought Vegan Yum Yum! I need to make something out of it, but currently I’m just staring at the beautiful photos!!
the broccoli dal and tomato risotto are both fab!
As much as I loved building our house from the ground up, there’s something to be said for an older house that you can slowly work on together. I’ve always found older homes to be warmer and more inviting, new houses don’t have that [at first anyways]! So, since our house is new, we don’t have any reno stories. But, I do have a couple pictures of our house being built!
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/11255_350747165703_829895703_9923326_1859932_n.jpg
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/18534_439034865703_829895703_10746311_5052069_n.jpg
http://a1.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/25148_10150160718515704_829895703_11666352_2476674_n.jpg
http://a3.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/28128_393577584588_512414588_3831358_3815209_n.jpg
http://a8.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-ash1/28128_393577569588_512414588_3831355_5090175_n.jpg
gorgeous! Love your cabinets
My reno-nightmare has to do with our window trim. It was covered in layers of white paint and I had the great idea to strip it back to its natural appearance to match our mantle and our wood floors. We pulled all of the trim off of every window. ALL of it. I started to strip the paint off and it took me an entire day to do ONE piece and all of the paint didn’t even come off! That night, we junked all of the old trim and bought all new. I tried to save money by redoing the old trim, but in this case, the cost of new trim was well worth it!
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