A little bit about food on a fertile island in the Tropics

I'm glad we reached the end of the leftover holiday treats. Me pants are a bit tight, ya know?

I'm feeling quite happy about being back into the regular routine as far as eating goes. Somehow we got out of the habit of our meatless Mondays. We do often have meatless meals but sometimes we can forget to make dinner a meatless meal. I like the weekly reminder to cut the meat and find some new and fun veggie recipes. Some of my very favorite cookbooks are the Moosewood Restaurant series. They are probably my most used cook books, especially the Moosewood Restaurant Cooks at Home, Moosewood Low-Fat Favorites, and Moosewood Celebrates. So good.

So I stocked up on a few days worth of produce at the local market this morning. I am amazed at how much I can get for 300 pesos ($7 USD). All of this is grown (save the apples and mandarin oranges) on Cebu Island. I can point to the mountain where these mangoes were grown. I love that if we need to save money on the food budget, all we need to do is eat simply using more stuff available at the market. I often buy fish there as well (if I can get there in the morning since the fish is not on ice) and can get 8 small fish (enough for two lunches for me and Ella) for about 20 pesos.

For 7 bucks I got 1.5 kilos of some of the most delicious mangoes in the world, 6 mandarin oranges, 6 Fuji apples, 2 carrots, long beans, 2 eggplants, some pumpkin-like squash, tomatoes, a handful of chili peppers, 1/2 kilo of water spinach, kamote tops (greens of the local sweet potato), plum tomatoes and the shredded meat of one small coconut, which I used to make fresh coconut milk for our dinner tonight. 

What's on the menu? (From Moosewood Celebrates)

Red lentils & brown rice

Mango chutney

Curried greens with cashews

Ella and I went outside for a bit and I noticed the papaya tree we had cut down in November is back in full-force. These papaya trees grow like weeds here! It's nice to have fresh papaya but I have a hard time keeping up with it all and much of it ends up falling to the ground and rotting in the hot sun. Not a nice smell. Maybe I should sell some at the market down the street. Unfortunately it's not the best papaya. My neighbors like to make achara (pickled papaya) with the unripe papaya but I don't enjoy it much. My favorite is the red lady papaya that I can find at the supermarket for about 20 pesos. It's oh so sweet and Ella loves it.

A little fun in the sand box before lunch

Today's lunch: Crispy fried fish, rice, bananas and mangoes.

 

What are some of your most used and loved cookbooks?

Thanksgiving 2011

I know this post is super late but wanted to document this important holiday...

We had a really nice time. We hosted about 15 people on the Saturday after American Thanksgiving, including three families mainly related to my husband's work. I got off relatively easy this year since I was offered so much help. I only ended up making the turkey, gravy, green beans with toasted almonds and dried cranberries, cream cheese corn, whole wheat butterhorns (pictured below), pumpkin pie (made with our local squash) and whipped cream. I decided to opt out of making stuffing this year and I didn't miss it.

Thanks to my dear friend Lonna, who made these for our very first Thanksgiving in Thailand, whole wheat butterhorns are now a Thanksgiving staple. They are so delicious. I make tons so I can throw the extras in the freezer and we can eat them for weeks after. I just ate the last one tonight.

If there was ever a time when I felt compelled to pray over my oven and my turkey it was this Thanksgiving. I seriously thought I was going to have my first Turkey Day disaster.  My oven is small so the only way my turkey roasting pan would fit was by putting it in length-wise. When I tested it without the turkey it seemed to fit just enough to where I could close the door. But when the turkey was all ready to go and I went to put it in, the door only nearly closed and must have been open by a few millimeters. It was just enough to let hot air escape.  Well, gauging by the fact that with a gas oven it is really hard to keep the heat up when you open the door, I was worried. Visions of my guests vomiting violently from food poisoning the day after they ate turkey at my house cooked in a leaky oven plagued me. So this is what I did.

I closed the oven and let it get as hot as it would get - about 450 degrees F. This took way too long and I was beginning to stress about my turkey getting done on time. Once it was as hot as possible, I quickly opened the door, threw the turkey in (with the thickest part toward the back of the oven), placed the oven thermometer on top of the turkey near the door, closed the door as far as it would go,  stuck foil in all the cracks surrounding the door, then anxiously ordered everyone in my house to stay away from the oven and don't you dare open it!





















Then I sat on a stool staring at the oven thermometer drop and keep dropping down to 325 degrees. Thank God it stabilized at 325. But it was still low enough to make me stress, since the turkey is supposed to cook at 350 degrees. But I hoped that if it was 325 in the front of the oven then the back of the oven should be hotter than that. That was the time I was compelled to pray over my turkey. Oh Lord, I know this is so silly and so not important in the big scheme of things and I feel so silly even asking this but PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE let my oven stay hot enough and let my turkey cook well and not make anyone sick, oh and it would be really great if it was cooked on time for dinner!


Everything worked out in the end. My turkey was perfectly cooked and it was on time! (It actually took less time than I thought, which meant my oven got hot enough and stayed hot.) It was my Turkey Day miracle.

Sadly, I didn't get any decent photos of the actual gathering after the food was done but thanks to my friend Hannah, I have a few to share.

Slicing up the bird

 

Apparently it's not a good idea to shake hot gravy and flour in a closed container, as you can tell by the mess on my top.

In addition to what I made, friends brought glazed carrots, a salad, wine, beer and sparkling cider, apple pie, ice cream, and the most amazing potato dish I ever had called potato passion. Oh man it was delish. It was just the right amount of food.

I had fun making place cards for our guests, although you can't really see them in this photo.

Tasty Tacos

Finally, a recipe!

I have realized recently how satisfying it is when I make something that is healthy, delicious AND takes only 30 minutes or less to make. This recipe fits the bill.

Since living in the Philippines I've had to make tacos less often because tortillas are not available and must be made from scratch. Although easy to do, it takes a little time and thus defeats the purpose of throwing some tacos together for dinner in a hurry. I also usually have to make my own salsa and cilantro isn't always available so that's another deterrent.

Well, this past week I found some decent-looking whole wheat tortillas at the store so I bought about five packs to stock up and try them out. Turns out they are pretty good! Too bad there is no guarantee they will ever show up at the store again. That's just how it goes. Also, this week, cilantro has been available and tomatoes, too. So I've made tacos a few times this week already.

Easy Vegetarian Tacos

Elements:

Tortillas (preferably whole grain)
Grated cheese
Salsa (store-bought or home-made)
Creamy black beans
Stewed winter squash

For the black beans:

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 onion, chopped
1 green bell pepper, chopped
dried ground cumin
dried cayenne or chipotle powder (unfortunately I have to leave out the spicy parts due to my stomach issue but ordinarily I would add something spicy)
1 can black beans, drained and rinsed
2 cloves of garlic
splash of vinegar

Method:

Heat oil in small sauce pan, add onions and green peppers to pan and saute till soft. While they are cooking add a little salt, ground black pepper and a few shakes of cumin (my favorite spice!) and whatever spicy element you choose. Add the black beans and mash with a potato masher until creamy. Add about 1/4 cup of water or broth while you are mashing. You don't have to mash it completely, just 1/2 to 3/4 of it till you have some chunky black beans in the midst of creamy black beans. Add more liquid, if needed. Bring beans to simmer. Add two cloves chopped garlic and heat together for few minutes. Turn off heat and add a splash of vinegar.

A note about garlic:

Adding garlic at the end of a recipe preserves more of the flavor and the nutritional benefits. To maximize the disease-prevention power of garlic, mince it at least 5 minutes before cooking it. Chopping garlic activates enzymes that convert allantoin to it's active state. Allantoin is the powerful chemical in garlic that it's anti-disease properties are attributed to. Eating onions and garlic daily reduces risks of cancer and other diseases. Onions also should be chopped and allowed to sit for a few minutes before cooking, for the same reason. This also applies to broccoli. Different plant chemicals, but same idea behind it.

Stewed Winter Squash

Ingredients:

1 tablespoon olive oil
2-3 cups winter squash, chopped into small cubes (I use something like acorn squash here because it's available year-round; whatever orange winter squash you have available is fine)
1 onion, chopped
1/4 cup water or broth
salt
1 tablespoon of honey or maple syrup

Method:

Heat pan to medium-high in a large skillet, add squash and onions and sautee for few mins. Add water (or broth), a few shakes of salt and the honey or maple syrup. Bring to boil, cover and simmer for about 5 minutes, till squash is almost completely cooked. Uncover and continue to simmer till liquid evaporates and squash is soft but not overcooked. Taste and add more salt and/or honey, if needed. Squash should only have a hint of sweetness.

Salsa (in case you want to make your own, this is how I make mine)

Chopped tomatoes
Fresh lime juice
A huge amount of chopped cilantro
Chili peppers (if you don't have a stomach problem like me. I miss spicy food!)
Finely chopped white or red onion
A few shakes of tabasco or Mike's hot sauce or whatever you have on hand
About a tablespoon of veg/olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

Mix and let sit at room temp until ready to eat (I usually make the salsa first, then set it aside so the flavors meld together)

Other filling options: (on the next night I made this filling to augment what we had leftover)

Chicken & bell peppers (our old stand by)

Sautee sliced onions and bell peppers in hot oil, add chopped chicken, add salt, cumin and pepper, sautee on high heat till cooked. If you use a large enough skillet, the chicken, peppers and onions will start to char and get browned like when fajitas are served in restaurant. I love this. The key is not have a too-crowded pan and high-heat. Sometimes I add about a tablespoon of tequila for flavor and to help scrape any bits off the pan before serving. Can also squeeze a lime over it at the end, then it can be called margarita chicken. Yummy!

So easy!!!

This recipe may seem a little strange but I'm telling you the combination of sour/spicy salsa, mild beans and slightly sweet squash is yummy! Andrey agrees. I got the idea to use squash from my favorite tacos in Seattle at a place called Aqua Verde. They have these sweet potato tacos with crumbly cojita cheese on whole grain tortillas and they are SO delish! I have no idea if kids will go for this as I have no idea about that yet.

Whatever comes...

Do you ever just sit down to blog because it's been several days but you don't where to start because your head feels all jumbled and busy? Well there you go. That's how I'm feeling right now. I figured if I just start writing, a post will come. I'll give it a shot.

I sent off my NARM application today. That feels good. There was quite a bit involved in getting it together so it is quite satisfying to have it no longer in my hands. Hopefully, it's not missing anything and I'll get word in a few weeks that I am able to take the test. I'll go ahead and make travel arrangements at that time. The test is in Eugene, Oregon so that means I'll get to see my friends in Seattle, where I will fly to/from. My mom is going to meet me and then drive with me to Oregon. I'm so glad she's coming and I won't have to make that trip alone. It will be good to have some moral support before the test. Afterward I'll spend several days in Seattle to celebrate and relax and enjoy being with my dear friends there. I love going to Seattle! Oh yeah, that's happening in February.

For the application I had to determine total numbers of birth experiences including births I delivered, assisted or actively participated in, births I observed, and births that were transported to hospital. It's quite interesting to see it quantified and I thought I'd share what I've gotten to experience in two years at Glory Reborn so far.

Births I've observed: 14
Births attended as an assistant midwife: 41
Births attended as primary midwife: 32

I wonder what these numbers will look like in another year?

Here's some fun news - Andrey's sister had a baby girl last night. I don't know many details yet but hope to get them soon. This is a pretty big deal for our family. Mike & Lisa haven't had the smoothest road to becoming parents and God knows Andrey's Mom & Dad have waited a long time (patiently) to be Grandparents. We are so, so happy for our family! This is quite the significant event and even though it's been hard being so far away while it took place, we have been able to be in pretty close contact and feel like we participated. Part of that was because she was overdue so we were constantly praying and calling and eagerly checking email to see if there was any news.

I am a little too busy for my liking these days. I have a feeling these next few months are going to go by very quickly. I think I might ask for a slightly lighter schedule at the clinic, especially while I'm studying for this test.

I've been thinking about Thanksgiving lately. What I will prepare. Who will come. The nerdy trivia we will do. I'm getting excited. I love this holiday. I just wish I could invite everyone! I think I'll put our Christmas decorations up soon. Of course in the US we never did this till after Thanksgiving but it's been Christmas here for months already so I'm willing to budge by a few weeks. Strangely, I found myself enjoying the Christmas music in the grocery store today. Weird, I tell you. This is not like me. I was just in good spirits. And I was finding Thanksgiving/Christmas-type products. There's already Butterball turkeys and canned pumpkin and cranberry relish on the shelves. Well, the turkey was in the freezer. Anyway, I realize that a happy part of these holidays for me is the food prep involved in them and how naturally, a trip to the grocery store to buy all the stuff needed is a big part of those memories of past holidays for me. I recall trips to the store with my mom and buying tons of butter and potatoes and granny smith apples, and yams and the cart being super full. My mom always cooked for huge crowds around the holidays, especially Thanksgiving. It's just how it's done and I love it.

I'm also trying to be a bit more prepared this year so I think I'm not feeling stressed at all and am hoping it will continue. I am learning that this is key to enjoying the holiday season, especially as it relates to gift-giving. It seems we've waited till the last minute in years past and I'm determined to do it differently this year. So far so good.

I made pita bread this week. That's a first. How delightful to pull it out of the oven to discover the air pocket formed like it's supposed to. Okay, well only some did but it was still very exciting. We enjoyed them hot out of the oven with some home-made hummus, feta, cucumbers and fresh basil from the garden. (We're eating a lot of basil lately.) Tonight I roasted some red peppers and plan to make a chicken filling for the leftover pitas and of course, some more fresh basil. I think we'll have some salad on the side. Speaking of which, it's time to get dinner together. Andrey will be home soon and I'm getting hungry.

I really want to try to blog more about food and share recipes that I try and like. I put a lot of time and thought and effort into what we eat each week that it would stand to play a bigger role here. I do promise to share some of the Thanksgiving recipes I mentioned before. So look forward to those.

See, I knew something would come if I just started writing... I'm determined to keep this frequent blogging up. I am continually inspired by my blogging mentors. Unfortunately though I think that the more often I blog, the less interesting my posts may be as they are sure to include more day-to-day details of life. Oh well, hopefully there's something interesting in it for you. If not, you can always skim. ;-)

Localicious

A day of apple-picking and a trip to an herb garden, meat shop, cheese house and a farmer's market resulted in a tasty dinner meal with beloved friends who we are privileged to call family...

Items purchased: 10 kilos of apples (hand-picked), sausage made from local pork, quark cheese, smoked gouda, whole wheat bread, broccoli, sweet potatoes, blueberries and ginger lime thyme jam

The hungry bunch

maple sausages with homemade apple sauce, roasted sweet potatoes and steamed broccoli
(this came after our appetizer of cheese and ginger lime thyme jam on fresh bread)

Apple pie for dessert, of course...