Christmas Cooking and Sewing

Living in El Salvador has drastically cut down the amount of Christmas cooking I do--after all, Christmas cookies just aren't very portable.  Before we took the trip to Panama, I made cranberry pear butter (like apple butter, but not apple) to share with friends.  Tuesday, I made saltine toffee (recipe) and strawberry cookies (recipe) and today I'm taking a tray full of both to the church office.  Hopefully, everyone likes things that are sweet, because the toffee is the definition of sweet.

I started my Christmas sewing about a month ago, but it's still going to come down to the last minute.  I made 30+ miniature fabric trays (pictured below) using Christmas fabric I ordered in August.  I've given almost thirty of them away to my Bible study ladies, our IDEM group ladies and more.  

I also finished the sewing gift for my three grandkids.  (Not going to put a picture because their parents may read this and I want it to be a surprise.) 

I'm making two quilted table runners.  One of the tops is done and the other is still in pieces.  The fabric for the border, backing and binding is on it's way to California, so I'll have to find time to finish them when I get there.  If not, they'll be after Christmas gifts and will be ready to decorate the house for Christmas 2016.  That's just the way it goes when I don't have access to everything I need.

Two more days to get everything done before we fly to California--my "to do" list has never been longer.

New recipes this week

I'm sure it's not the first time that I've mentioned that I like change--quite the opposite of most people.  It's true in almost all facets of my life--what I read, what I study, what I do; but no where is it more true than with regard to food.  

I'm completely bored if I eat the same thing and prepare the same thing over and over.  Because I cook everyday (can't change that) I compensate by changing up the things I cook.  As a result, I'm always on the lookout for new recipes, most of which I've been finding by following several "healthy eating" bloggers.

I usually sit down once a week or maybe a little more and plan out our main meal.  Because we have some many evening activities (this week we had evening events Monday through Thursday), we normally have our main meal at lunch time.  The menu never includes breakfast and rarely include our dinners, unless we're going out or hosting people in our home.  There's usually at least one family favorite recipe during the week, like tacos, spaghetti, meatloaf, etc.  After I've planned the menu, the next step is the grocery list.  For some reason, going anywhere here in El Salvador is more of an ordeal than in the states.  Everything takes longer and there's no just "running to the store" to pick up a few things without dealing with traffic, parking and lines.  So, the fewer trips I have to make, the better for me.  (Because we're leaving next week and I'm trying to clean out the freezer, this weeks menu had fewer new recipes than normal.)

Menu (salads/sides aren't listed unless it's something new)

• Monday--tacos
• Tuesday--Garlic Mustard-Glazed Chicken Skewers*
• Wednesday--Homemade chicken noodle soup/BLT's
• Thursday--Turkey zucchini burgers, strawberry cucumber salad*
• Friday--Sweet/Spicy Tilapia*, baked parmesan pesto tomatoes*
• Saturday--out for dinner with friends
• Sunday--spaghetti
• Monday--meatloaf, light mac and cheese*
• Tuesday--fiesta of leftovers
• Wednesday--fly to US

*New recipes we enjoyed this week:

Main dish:

http://preventionrd.com/2015/06/garlic-mustard-glazed-chicken-skewers-weekly-menu/

http://www.myrecipes.com/recipe/sweet-spicy-citrus-tilapia

Side/salad:

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2015/07/strawberry-cucumber-salad.html

http://www.skinnytaste.com/2015/08/pesto-parmesan-baked-tomatoes.html#more

I follow the recipes when possible, but, for example, we don't have a grill.  

Dinner with Friends

I totally forgot to take pictures on Tuesday evening, but we had a great dinner with friends here at the apartment.  My two co-leaders from Hilo, Aguja y Biblia, Maria Elena and Isabel, and their husbands, Mauricio and Luis, joined us for dinner.  

The menu was Italian all the way, including Artichoke Salsa (recipe) as the appetizer, Baked Chicken Kiev, whole wheat pasta and spaghetti sauce, green salad with poppy seed dressing (recipe) and garlic bread.  Dessert was a peach pie cookie (recipe) with vanilla ice cream and salted caramel sauce (recipe.)  The dinner was as healthy as I could make it.  As far as the loaf of garlic bread and vanilla ice cream, they are part of the "all things in moderation" category, right?.  Thankfully, everything turned out delicious.

However, the company was even better than the food.  Besides being good friends, Maria Elena and Isabel are sisters-in-law.  Isabel is married to Maria Elena's brother.  It was nice to spend time with their husbands.  Mauricio is an artist--one of the well-known painters in El Salvador.  Some of his paintings hang in the national art museum.  Here are some examples of his beautiful work.

Isabel's husband, Luis, graduated from Texas A&M, is an engineer who works with installations of water wells and facilities to bring clean water to the people of El Salvador.  

It's wonderful to see how God brings people together . . . we were honored to have these wonderful men/women of God in our home.  I've loved getting to know Maria Elena and Isabel and we are looking forward to spending more time with both of these great couples.  

Back on the Wagon

I've been trying to do a better job about getting back in the swing of healthy eating.  For  me, this requires menu planning each week.  If I don't plan the menu, then we eat whatever's easy which is not usually the healthiest thing.  

The thing about my menu planning is that it takes a long time!  I love to change things up so I'm always looking for new recipes to try.  I also try to vary the menu and serve beef and fish at least once a week.  I use Feedly to follow lots of "healthy" food bloogers so I get plenty of ideas.  Nevertheless, sitting down to do the menu and grocery list and then going to the grocery store takes a lot of time, especially down here.  I quite often have to adjust the recipes to fit the ingredients that are available here.

Here's a list of a few of my favorite "healthy" food bloggers.  Click on the blog time to go to their sites.

Nicole at PreventionRD
Gina at Skinny Taste
Lauren at Oatmeal with a Fork
Megan at Detoxinista

I just recently found this site Amy's Healthy Baking, which looks promising!

Here's a few of this week's recipes.  Clicking on the name will take you to the recipe.

BBQ Chicken Quinoa Bowl (had this yesterday and we both thought it was fantastic)

Turkey burgers with zucchini (made a very juicy burger)

Watermelon Caprese Salad (I stacked spinach, mozzarella and watermelon, but it didn't look like this.  It was tasty, though.)

Apple Juice Chicken (trying this later in the week)

In the bakery

One of our friends from church, Ronnie, owns a bakery with his brother, who is a bread maker by trade.   It's just a few blocks from us in an affluent (more of less) part of the city.   Another friend, Kenneth, is working for him and is in charge of managing all aspects of the business.  Because the business is new and small, with only one location, Kenneth decided to try to negotiate a contract with a newly opened convenience store.  Success--as of last week, the store began selling their breads and pastries.  

Beyond this, Kenneth also wants to do something that will differentiate their bakery from the myriad of other bakeries here in the city.  He talked with me about whether I had any recipes that they might try.  He was specifically looking for some different types of cookies, healthy muffins and other kinds of sweet breads.   Friday we had a baking day here in my kitchen!  He left with a loaf of poppy seed bread, healthy whole wheat blueberry muffins and craisin oatmeal cookies.  He shared the samples with Ronnie and his brother and said that they both loved them.  For now, he is going to start the search for the ingredients, which will likely be no small task.  For example, we don't know if he can find poppy seeds and I've never seen applesauce (it's a main ingredient for the muffins), except snack size with sugar and/or cinnamon. 

We've got another baking sample day planned soon.  They would like to have 2-3 healthy muffin options so next time we'll be making carrot/apple muffins and whole wheat banana muffins.  We're also thinking about some good bar recipes and maybe peanut butter cookies and a chocolate, chocolate chip cookie.  We'll see . . . sounds like fun to me.

Stay tuned and I'll keep you posted on whether or not these goodies end up in the bakery!

  

Traditional Cookies

I made two kinds of sugar cookie dough yesterday morning--used 4 sticks of butter.  Yikes!  The dough needed time to chill before our late afternoon cookie making event at my sister's house.  Jon and I packed up cookie dough, cookie cutters and sprinkles and headed to Kristi's house about 2:00 p.m.  

First up were the Snickerdoodles--it just isn't Christmas without these cookies.  I've been eating these cookies my whole life and not just at Christmas.  I always found it difficult to turn down a snickerdoodle cookie, but not a single one ever tasted as good as my mom's recipe.  Rolling them is therapeutic!  Laken and Jon handled the cinnamon/sugar layer.  Even after everyone sampled the wares, we had more than six dozen left.

Second, we made Sand Tarts--don't know where my mom found the recipe or where the recipe got it's name.  She starting making these when I was in high school (maybe), but even so, that makes the recipe at least 40 years old.  Kristi and I have really struggled to get them right--we're so much better at them than when we first started making them by ourselves.  The trick is to roll them as thinly as possible.  If done correctly, they are the ultimate in crispiness.  No frosting for these, just an egg wash and sprinkles to decorate.  Some family members prefer one shape over another (angel vs. reindeer or mitten vs. light bulb), but I think they're all equally tasty.

By the time I rolled out the last batch, the freezing rain was coming down like crazy, so Jon and I left before the final pan came out of the oven.  We will be enjoying the fruit of our labors on Christmas day!

General Tso's Chicken

We HAVE found one Chinese restaurant here in San Salvador that we enjoy.  Its name is Restaurant 168--the Chinese number that means "prosperity all the way."  We do like the food and the lunch prices are about the same as in the states. When we are out of the country on campaigns, we have to eat out everyday, so lunch and/or dinner out is not the norm when we are at home in El Salvador.

Although it wouldn't bother Stephen to have a standard menu, i.e taco Monday, spaghetti Tuesday, grilled chicken, Wednesday; it drives me crazy.  Not only do I not like to eat the same thing every week, I don't even like to cook the same thing.  Last weekend as I sat down to plan the menu for the week, I realized it was time for some new recipes.  Unlike the "good ol' days" when you had to ask/beg family/friends to share the recipe for something you ate and enjoyed at a family or church potluck, there's no lack of recipes available on the Internet.  However, because there are so many recipes out there, it takes me a long time to narrow down the field to the 2 or 3 I want to try any given week.  Unfortunately, sometimes the ones that I crave the most contain ingredients that I can't find here (see my previous blog.) 

Plus, the only beef I buy is hamburger--all of the rest of the cuts of beef are unrecognizable and, on the rare occasion I have purchased beef, it is so tough that no amount of Adolph's or number of hours in the crock pot can render it tender and juicy.  I know that limiting consumption of red meat is good, so I'm okay with this.  We eat our red meat when we are back in Kansas City where they know what they're doing with beef.  I buy whole chickens, boneless skinless chicken breasts and boneless skinless chicken thighs.  Tilapia is the only fish I am comfortable purchasing here (enough said.)  

Since we eat so much chicken, I decided to see if I could find a recipe for General Tso's chicken--Stephen's favorite dish at Master Wok in Lee's Summit.  Yep, found a recipe and it was even a light version (click HERE for the recipe--thanks, Martha Stewart.)  Sunday lunch:  General Tso's chicken (minus some of the heat since it doesn't take much to get my mouth burning) with rice and stir fried vegetables (the recipe called for snow peas, but can't find fresh or frozen here.)  Next task is finding a good egg drop soup and egg roll recipe.