wontons

an obsession.

We have been in such a chinese food eating mood these days. Or rather I suppose that I should actually say that I have been in such a chinese food making mood lately. I think it has something to do with me figuring out how to make some wontons.. and I'm addicted so instead of making the wontons to accompany soemthing else I try to think of something else to accompany the wontons. But seriously. I'm pretty excited because this is something that just came to be one day when we needed a little something else with lunch. 


I sauteed some garlic and green onion (i wanted to add ginger... but Jultons not quite so in love with it, especially in his food)... then added it to some soy sauce and fresh cheese. wrap those up in won ton wrappers and fry them... eaten with sweet and sour sauce = my new food addiction. 


i've also gotten pretty stuck on making juices. i love passion fruit juice... and often drink it pure without sugar or water at night if i am having trouble sleeping. Julton told me it helps you relax to sleep, a friend thats a nurse told me it lowers your blood pressure. either way... we are friends. i've also learned how to make chicha morada which is a drink made from purple corn, it took me a while to figure that one out. lemonade and star fruit juice are also on the list. ive gotten a little addicted to the star fruit juice actually, its just so easy! But with the chifa (chinese food) i made apple juice. that probably doesn't sound quite like it goes together huh? when one thinks chinese food i dont think they automatically think apple juice. but eh, i wanted something different. the only thing is that its just a little thick because of lack of a juicer to actually just get the juice. it gets a tiny bit applesaucey when you just blend it up and strain it. 


back to the food.


I used this recipe to make the orange chicken, but added a few things. I added chunks of green onion and broccoli. And actually in her recipe she marinates the chicken... but instead of marinating ( i didn't have time by the time i read it) i tried tossing the chicken in corn starch and frying it... i heard that thats how they get the chicken so soft in chinese food... must be right becuase it worked! 


and that my dear readers has been our obsession as of late. and note: that is obviously my plate... for all the vegetables instead of chicken... hehe

green.

i was pretty excited about our lunch on saturday. it involved a packet of ranch dressing and baked "fried" chicken. i have had pictures of it... but.... i'm not posting them. i even deleted them from my camera and computer and am incredibly trying to erase them from my memory. you see, i got sick on saturday... and am just now getting over it (i hope). i don't know if it had anything to do with that food or not... Julton ate the same thing and didn't get sick. all i know is that at about 3 AM sunday morning... i was remembering that chicken like i never wanted to. enough said.
since then i've been a little fragile. its a funny and strange thing. one of my students had been sick with the same thing a couple of weeks ago... and his doctor told him it was because of the weather recently, it was making everyone sick. ...i've heard of the weather causing colds.. but a stomach illness?? i'm not convinced.
i am convinced however that ginger helps. to settle your stomach that is. because i gave it a try. i have always heard that ginger tea helps, but its been hot and i wasn't in the mood for tea. so i tried... a green smoothie. and no it wasn't green because it had kiwi in it, although it could have, it was green because it had spinach in it! fresh ginger, a handful of spinach, one lime, and fresh pineapple. it looked a little something like this: 

i found this recipe a while back and it interested me... but i never got up the guts to drink it. some people say it looks good... i'm not one of those people. i just couldn't get over the idea of drinking spinach. but after i tried it... i have to admit it is pretty tasty. Julton took one look at it and told me to take it slow! I've read on another blog of a lady and her daughter that drink them (green drinks aka smoothies or fruit juices with some leafy green added) everyday. she says she hasn't had a cold since. and her daughter is healthier than ever. i've read on lots of blogs that drinking the green smoothies helps them to feel better. i'm still not quite sure, i'm going to have to do some more reading. but today so far so good! (and that's better than i can say for yesterday)

sidenote: i was seriously considering going out to the beach today to get in some quality time between me and the sun, because today is such a beautiful sunny day... but have decided against it because i have several things to do at home and for planning my classes since i've been sick the past few days... i hope its this beautiful later in the week so i can have another chance!!!!

merry christmas and happy new year!

we have had such a great Christmas and New Year... instead of going into too great of detail I'm going to post a few photos and summaries...

 we spent Christmas Eve with our friend Kenedy whom is from the same town as Julton, he moved to Trujillo this year for college, and since his university was slow in starting because they were waiting for more students to enroll... they didn't get a break for Christmas. We went to our church's Christmas Eve service. Lots of singing and lots of reading the Bible, and lots of paneton and chocolate milk. It was a great time. When we finished there we walked by the plaza on our way home. They had different Christmas trees up and decorated around, there were a ton of people there.

 after visiting the plaza we three went home and made Christmas dinner (here its tradition to wait up until midnight on Christmas Even to eat dinner and celebrate) It's a good thing we were planning on it too because since we live in a busy neighborhood, and on a corner.. there were fireworks on all sides of our home and we would have celebrated had we wanted to or not since I'm pretty sure every teenager on our block bought fireworks and invited their friends. 

 Saturday was an awesome day of relaxation, very long awaited since Julton works Mon-Sat and we have church activities all day Sundays. Then on Sunday we had a church lunch after the service... (sorry no pictures yet) then it was home to prepare another dinner. Gillian arrived for a visit in Trujillo! So we had another Christmas dinner to celebrate. Very well acompanied by the snowflake table cloth and snowmen plates my mom had sent, and cranberry sauce from my grandmother!

 For New Years we celebrated with our friends from church, hats and grapes to be found everywhere... and... Jamesson asked Gillian to marry him! The next day we tried to make our way out to the beach. It was so crowded even though sadly it was a pretty cloudy day. There were tents and kids and teenagers playing soccer on all sides.

 Apparently our lives have been full of lunches and dinners at home recently because we had another one to finish off today after church. Gillian was talking with Jacqui (in the turquoise) last night and I was so excited to see her at church this morning. She and her boyfriend work as clowns? I'm not sure what they are called.. but.. the people that walk on stilts? The funny thing is that Julton and I saw some people on stilts near our house in a park recently... then we found out it was them! They always go there to practice. Jacqui was my (and also Gillian's) student wayy back when.

So, there you have it. Our holidays have been great. Great time spent with friends and our new family. Also.. everyone should try this recipe, which I made for Christmas and was incredibly surprised that everyone (mainly Julton) liked. They are spiced/baked chick peas... delicious. Actually, I received one of the best comments Katy came with her brother for dinner and after Katy told me that her brother loved the food (typical Christmas food from the states) and wanted to know if I had a younger sister! hahaha Katy jokingly said.. she has a younger brother do you want me to introduce you?

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

food food food

it's funny the things that you start to miss when they aren't so readily available for you... since i have been living in Peru I have had that thought strike me.. lets just say a few times. and for me its usually those things that i never even really liked - or thought i liked - or gave much care to it's existence for that matter, until one day i realized i wasn't surrounded by it... and suddenly i wanted it. the other stuff  (that i did care existed) i think i knew i wasn't going to be able to have once I moved here.. and I prepared myself for it. i remember how much my mom would laugh at me when i went home for Christmas the past couple years, because well.. I love grocery stores. And we could have (probably did) spent an hour getting things that should have only taken 10 minutes. Because what else can you do when you go into a Kroger's (a well stocked Kroger's) but stand in each isle for at least 10 minutes just gawking at... everything. look at that! hey did you know they made this?! hey look at what's ready made in this box... just.. add.. water. by the end of it all i caught myself saying hey i could make that, for a lot cheaper too.. and without all those words you can't pronounce in the ingredients. that's what i've learned about things that i have missed about being readily available, i've made them myself.. and had more fun doing it. 
i'm currently trying to figure out why i started to miss eggnog. eggnog.. i don't know if i ever even drank it but one year in college when a friend made me try it. but this year... when its not sitting on each grocery shelf i pass.. quite out of nowhere i developed a craving for it. and i'm currently looking for a recipe so i can make it myself. although i'm a little nervous about it since you use eggs... any suggestions are very welcome!


speaking of food.... we've been i think i saved up a lot of cooking energy all that time that Julton's grandma was here, and cooking lunch everyday... and I've started sending Julton's lunch with him to work... since I found out that he was ordering his lunch from the restaurant all the others there order from.. but he didn't like it/wasn't eating it. new plan: get up early (for me) to make it... but its actually working out well, i don't like mornings but i like to cook so the cooking is slowly turning my mornings around :)

 i found a website that i really like for peruvian dishes... yanuq they have everything! although its in spanish so if you want to make something let me know and i will help! i used it for this lomo saltado recipe. but.. it doesnt usually come with broccoli, and i would never put broccoli in jultons lomo saltado, that was my dish, the broccoli in his plate would just return in the same box i sent it in anyway... its basically stirfried onions/pepper/meat/tomato on rice with fries. yum. oh, and i dont want to forget to mention pineapple water, which is what is pictured there also. jultons grandma taught me to make it... well... she didn't go into detail.. we had several conversations over the measurements (i'm beginning to think all grandmas are that way...!) and i nervously tried it out. you boil the pineapple... skin? then strain it and add sugar. 

 shrimp and grits! another thing i strangely had a craving for... although i never ate it much in the states. i used this recipe. but actually i added mushrooms.. i'm not sure if that's against the rules in making shrimp and grits, but if it is, i probably wont do it again anyway because i think it changed the flavor too much. but.. julton was a fan! he was a little weary about the grits though. he had to have everything separated... which i'm pretty sure means he just set himself up not to like them to begin with. after we ate he said.. you know.. i loved, loved the food.. but you know what would maybe make it better? fried potatoes!!! i couldnt help but laugh... of course adding another starch to a starch would make the starch taste better!  (ps i definitely saw that one coming... as i was cooking it i was already considering if i should make some rice or potatoes too...) and you can see in that picture... we got our oven! i am beyond exited about it... since we've been married we've been cooking with the top of a stove, never an oven. the first stove we had it didnt work, then when we moved jultons family gave us the stovetop... actually a lot of families here only have the top portion. i'm not even going to tell you how long the list is of things i have been wanting to make since we decided to get one. i have been... waiting! the only tricky thing about is that the oven dial doesn't have degrees.. in F or C it just says high and low. so i've got some figuring out to do on that part.. but.. we have an oven!!!!

and... surprisingly.... one of the first things i made with that oven was... meatloaf. i can't even remember the last time i ate meatloaf.. its had to have been years. and then a few more years. but when i was trying to think of something from home that julton would like... this was at the top of my list. and it was a winner.

an extra note on the Monday post :D

I almost forgot to add a little something about the drink I tried out and fell in love with but happened to en up being a Julton repeller because he doesn't like ginger. 

It's a ginger, lemon and honey tea that I tried out. That I found on a blog through FoodGawker: The Weather In Cascadia you can find the actual recipe there (the picture isn't mine its from that blog also)


I'm already a fan of ginger tea. But it had been a long time since I drank it. The lime (i used) cut down a little on the spiciness of the ginger. (which really does get spicier the longer you let it steep)


It went perfectly with lunch! 

monday

i don't often venture into the center of the city... not that it's so far away... it just naturally repels me. every time i need to be there, especially if its in the middle of the day... i feel like all the dirt and fumes from the jam packed traffic are accumulating in my lungs. i dont like the feeling. i think thats one thing that growing up in west virginia and then moving to south carolina stayed with me. i get a little itchy to see something green. and the chewing gum wrapper the guy walking in front of me just nonchalantly threw onto the ground doesnt count. (thats a pet peeve of mine... seeing so many people throw their trash right onto the ground or out the window of the bus (probably on top of someones head) when theres a trash can not too far away.)


our neighborhood may still be in the city, and still have too much traffic for me to care for (noise), but at least there are a few trees and parks to trick you into thinking that your lungs arent in such bad shape. even if theres too much dog poo in the parks to even think about laying a blanket down there, if you got past caring about other people staring at you wondering what you were doing factor. 


today i had to go into the center for a few things. i had my list and my mission. on that list was to go to a book shop where they have lots of old books and magazines, mostly textbooks. i wanted to go there because ive had in my mind to make something like an art journal/scrapbook/keep recipes that Julton and I eat a lot.

something a little like that, which is a mix of collage art and "creative response" that i did for a psychology class in college (inside an old book).

weve (ive) been talking about doing it. talking and talking. and yesterday i was finally on track to get the book to get started... as i went into the shop there were two people working and following me and asking if i needed help. i told them i was just browsing and with that the man left the shop. as i moseyed around and found a couple books i liked i started to ask the price for them... one was too expensive for what i wanted to do with it... the other... "i don't know the owner didnt leave me a price for that one" i, assuming the owner was the man that had previously left said "and when will he return?" she replied... "i dont know, hes going to be a long time, he left for lunch" (with an, i dont really care tone in her voice) me.. annoyed because i wanted the book.. responded with "so... if i want to buy the book?? what am i supposed to do?" (with a hint of, just a hint!, of annoyance in my voice) she looked at me blankly and said "come back later" 

im not exactly sure what kind of chemical reaction happen in my body, because i usually dont react this way. but i got super annoyed and aggravated at the fact that she was content with not selling the book and telling me to come back later. i was thinking to myself "what kind of business is this?! there are all these books and i find the one that i need and i cant buy it??!" i quickly placed the book back in its place and rushed out the door. the girl asked when i return and i just looked at her surprised. i said i couldn't (which was just my reaction to the situation) and left. i might go back... another day... not anywhere near lunchtime. 

but my lunchtime... lets talk about that. its a happier subject. recently (especially today) my body has been screaming no to anything fried or anything in anyway related to meat. that happens sometimes. on those days, veggies make me really happy. and so does my favorite recipe since... forever ago. Pad Thai.  

it makes me really excited to see so many vegetables and fruits in the kitchen at one time.

today i changed up the recipe i usually use to make my pad thai, and added kaigwa.. a vegetable here thats like... umm.. well... the top right is what it looks like! (the seeds are a little scary)

since today was a "julton doesn't eat lunch at home day" day, it was perfect timing for my vegetable craving. i searched and searched for the one recipe that ive had in written form for years. (you can probably tell my the food stains) since i tried out being a vegetarian at the age of 16. its stuck around that long. i have no idea where it came from. i just know it came from some vegetarian website somewhere. the ingredients i use change each time i make it, and now sometimes (especially if with friends) involves chicken instead of tofu. but today was just me and vegetables, no chicken, no tofu. 

i sauteed half a red pepper, half a smallish eggplant, half a kaigwa, bean sprouts, green onion (that i didnt chop up, i cut them right where they start to turn dark green, and also slit them in half so that there were just big chunks of onion) also some broccoli (lightly steamed). 

all that gets sauteed with olive oil. then you add the (key) sauce:

1/3 cup soy sauce

1/3 cup lime juice

1-2 Tbsp. peanut butter

1 tbsp. tahini 

(i never use tahini, even when i lived in the states.. sorry pad thai, sorry homemade hummus..)

2 green chilies ( i usually just add some spicy red powder that i can find)

1/4 cup sugar (i seem to always forget that part)

seeing all the things i forget or dont use, i realize that my actual Pad Thai probably doesnt taste anything like its supposed to. but it tastes exactly how i want it to. which is delicous. 

if i had had them i would have thrown in peanuts also. it adds a little something. and i always eat it with rice, or noodles. 

if you have never tried this dish, you really and most certainly should. then tell me what you think.

about some food part 1

you may be asking yourself "is she really about to update me on what theyve been eating? is that really necessary? has her life been that boring lately?"

and to answer your questions i 'would' say to you "yes i am about to update you on what weve been eating. and this is only the first part. no, it might not be necessary but its happening. and no my life has not been boring lately. it just seems that all my photos are of food. my classes have picked up, but i think my students would think it a bit weird if i tried to picture them. on the topic of students, i have a new one from spain. hes a super nice guy, but... if i try to help him out by telling him the meaning of the word in spanish.... he turns around and says okay, thats what peruvians say but do you know how to say it in spanish? with a grin on his face. uhmmm i say... i guess i don't? but, i am taking it in a way that he is teaching me more vocabulary so that i have a wide range of spanish words just in case we ever travel in spain where they might not know that a terno is a traje (suit). just in case im ever out buying a suit in spain.

so back to the food.

my first ever attempt at cooking or eating for that matter... beef stroganoff. i was oddly excited to make this. i dont know where the idea came from, and i realize that this picture actually doesnt make the food look that appealing, but i assure you that it tasted wonderful. the origional recipe that i used was a little different than what i ended up doing (steak instead of ground beef) but we're fans nonetheless. and apparently often when i make pasta it must not have much meat in it, because when i told julton what we were having, his only concern was "is there meat in it?"

fish tacos!!!!

(and mangos are back in town!!)

(sorry for the random silverware sticking out everywhere in the photo)

pollo al horno

because we dont only eat pasta or tacos, we also eat alot of peruvian food

its basically chicken cooked in a sauce made with soy sauce

and lastly, another pasta dish... a random mixture of taco seasonings

equallying something like beefaroni.

ps: those were all lunchtime meals. we eat a lot at lunch :)

a day of eating

do trips to the grocery store always make you want to eat a lot? someone should do a study.

yesterday was decided to be our grocery store run day.... since well there was basically nothing in our kitchen. unless you are a cilantro fan. which i am. but i like a little guacamole with my cilantro.

so... we usually eat at home after church but well... the bare cupboards have been explained already so we made the executive decision to eat out. wow. it was my first menu in a while, i forgot how much food you get. appetizer...main dish of a meat/veggie (potato) /rice... drink and dessert? we were both stuffed. which ive read is a good way to go to the grocery store. you shouldnt go hungry or you will buy too much.

so we hit up the store then later while julton was cutting up the chicken (see previous post) he requested... french toast. im not sure how you make the move from chicken to french toast... but... well there was french toast for dinner. actually, i wasnt that hungry so julton ate a huge stack of french toast.

then later while watching a movie... me: you know.. im kind of hungry. julton: me too... (hes always hungry) julton: are you thinking about making something? (with a glimmer of hope in his eyes) me: yes....

and i disappeared into the kitchen....

and made potato soup! i think. i mean, all that requires to be called potato soup technically is the presence of potatoes right? so technically all of the soups i make could be called potato soup... hmmm

anyway im really excited about this. i think i had potato soup on my brain because earlier in the day i was talking with my mom about her sending me my grandmother rogers potato soup recipe.

this was not my grandma rogers soup. but i have to say... im pretty proud of it and its going to get made again. i will admit that i was afraid of making potato soup. for a few reasons. if youve never made it before and you have the memory of your grandmothers in your mind... its a little intimidating to take on the task, i mean lets be honest you arent going to just pull the recipe out of thin air. especailly if you are me. and i feared, will it be similar will it be horrible all those comparisons. well. the good thing is julton has never tried my granmothers potato soup. he hasnt in fact tried anyones potato soup. so he had the potential of being a good guinea pig... but when i said i was making soup hes got chickeny brothy soup in his head.

so i weighed all this against my sheer craving for potato soup. -the craving won. i looked at several potato soup recipes on the internet and then just mixed a bunch of them together based on what we had and didnt have in the kitchen (it was late... super... super late). je..je..je. and it worked! so.. if you wanna give it a try...

"Julies every potato soup recipe possible plus or minus a few things wrapped up in one explosion of a potato soup. "

half red onion

2 large garlic cloves

1 1/2 (ish) tablespoons butter

4 strips of bacon

let all of this get happy together in a pot, set the fire on low so the garlic doesnt burn. burnt garlic is not a good thing

once the onions are all clearish and the bacon cooked but not crispy, add two cups chicken stock. 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley and about 3/4 can of evaporated milk. salt and pepper to taste. also add two large cubed potatoes. let simmer until potatoes are done and enjoy!

and we did, two bowls each. if that doesnt go against the dont eat anything heavy late at night or you wont sleep well rule then i dont know what does. but we passed out. im not sure if it was because it was so late, or the soup just put us both in a coma. (not the healthiest soup)

on a different note... im still really enjoying the dried cranberries that gillian sent (salad)

and im really content with being able to have time to make my lunch again instead of rushing home at 2:30 famished and ready to eat anything visible.

todays lunch:

left: spinach/boiled egg/dried cranberry/cheese/tomatoes/balsamic vinaigrette

right: tomatoes/garlic/onion/shrimp sauteed in extra virgin olive oil pasta

yum.

plate 3

which is really just a mixture of.... everything. today is teacher appreciation day... we didn't have classes :) and i was in the mood for a big lunch.

aaaand my lovely awesome and wonderful friend Gillian had sent me some dried cranberries in the mail a while ago... and this was the perfect time to use them. So today I lunched on a little bit of everything.... I found a recipe to make hummus on this blog not too long ago. and it has been way too long since i have eaten hummus. i mean.. it was basically the bread of my life... way back when. so i tried it out and... went a little overboard on the garlic... and... started wreaking of garlic... i think it was spilling out of my pores. but it was worth it. the funny this is, the girl writes on her blog that her husband travels and she makes this hummus and its basically the only thing she eats the whole time hes away and she wreaks by the time her husband comes back (early) from his trip. so if i eat enough hummus does that mean that julton is going to show up at the door early? hmmmm

so here it goes :

one hummus friendly sandwich with lettuce alfalfa sprouts bean sprouts tomatoes and onions and queso fresco. check.

one dried cranberry friendly salad with more queso fresco balsamic vinagrette marinated tofu lettus alfalfa sprouts tomatoes onion.... basically everything on the sandwich but the bread :)

and it was tasty. tasty indeed.

on the menu for tomorrow? more hummus of course. :)

plate 2

of this vegetarian experience.

sorry that the picture is blurry. but what we can see here... is my second days dip into being a vegetarian again. (sort of ... and for a while... )

Julton made me smile a lot when we were buying the whole grain pita bread and he asked me three times before we left the store if i was sure that that was the kind of bread i wanted for the week. :)

today i played around with making balsamic vinaigrette and i used an emeril recipe. its delicious. and sitting in the fridge in an old honey jar.

in those pitas you could find.... tofu that i marinated in garlic salt and lime.... cucumbers and tomatoes.... bean sprouts and 'sprouts'.... red onion and avocado... and lettuce. basically... too many things for one (or three) pitas. so once i started to eat it... it all came spilling into thankfully my plate making me decide that from that point on it was necessary to eat it like a salad with pita mixed in. but it was pretty pretty good. with the vinaigrette of course. oh, and its accompanied by papaya juice. of course :)

so if you are thinking about going vegetarian for a meal. i recommend this. and i recommend you eat it with feta cheese if you live in a place thats so blessed as to easily obtain it at an affordable cost.

today i finished up lots of errands.... standing in never ending bank lines... making copies of recipes that moms of friends had given me :D and bounding the recipes that the girls gave me at my despedida (finally) it feels good to have some things accomplished.

Julton made it to Uruguay just fine... (i was a little nervous). He called today won't lie I was pretty excited that I was at home to get the phone call. It's supposed to be a very pretty place... and it sounds like hes going to have more friends than me by the time this is over ..haha... i say that because he was excited about meeting people from a few different countries right off the bat.

pad thai

i dont think that you can proportionally understand how big this bowl is. so im not going to go into detail about width/depth. because then i might get embarrassed.

yesterday when julton and i made our first of the month grocery store run... there was a difference in the list. you see usually we walk away with lots of chicken and beef and pork... yesterday, well i was convinced about the chicken. but... instead we walked away with tofu, lots of veggies, chickpeas, peanut butter, bean sprouts... you know... that stuff i used to eat on a daily basis. its not been in my diet in too long. so. i told julton that i am reverting back to vegetarianism while he is on his trip. and to be honest i wasnt sure i could do it. since yesterday i was craving fried chicken, potatoes, egg, and rice... with mayo ...which is what he makes me for lunch sometimes. which i had never eaten altogether in one plate in all of my life until i met julton. i told him the other day he had really changed me.

but then today i made pad thai. one of my absolute favorite foods. and my fears that i couldnt handle veggie food were thrown quickly out the window. i havent made it for julton before... just like the scarf, im nervous about him liking it. its not exactly the same as fried rice. (which we do eat). and its far from jungle food.

one of my favorite memories of pad thai is from when we lived in the outhouse (...oh... memories) one night an old friend of mine had come to town, and we made pad thai and carried the table outside to the deck, strung lights and candles... and it was one of the most perfect nights i have spent.

so, im going to share my recipe with you. in no way is this traditional pad thai.. ive eat at restaurants... but who am i to say that this is pad thai. so we will just say its my recipe that stuck in my head from a recipe from who knows where that lost some ingredients, gained some, and changed for moving to another country. and please forgive me for the quantities/measurments. ... i dont know.... i just do it. again... like my scarves.. i dont follow patterns well for them... i dont follow a set measurement system for this food. i just throw in what looks good.

so.

Julies Comfort Food Pad Thai Style

broccoli

carrots

bean sprouts

green onion

garlic

cumin

a spicy spice, red pepper perhaps

soy sauce

peanut butter

lime juice

peanuts

tofu (or you could use... chicken... you know, if you had to)

noodles or rice

combine: maybe 2 cloves of finely finely chopped garlic with a tablespoon of peanut butter, half cup soy sauce, teaspoon cumin and spicy spice. juice of one lime. shake it all up really well. if its too thick add more soy sauce. too thin more peanut butter. test taste for spices and lime. (set aside)

boil the noodles or make the rice... ohhh jasmine rice.....

fry up the tofu. in a skillet with oil. the best way to prepare tofu to be fried, is to set it out on papertowels, under paper towels, and with something heavy on top to try to squeeze out the water.

while the tofu is frying steam broccoli and carrots.

when the tofu finishes, add the sauce, onions and bean sprouts, broccoli and carrots and stir up until its all good and ready.

then serve over the noodles or rice top with peanuts and wa lah! :)

i hope that you give it a try. happy friday everyone :)

ps since Julton is on his trip we are going to be without pictures pictures for a while. so get ready for some photo booth goodies. (he took my camera with orders from me to photograph EVERYTHING) :)

sweaty fish

what do you do with a husband that wakes up and says i dont feel good... i think im pregnant? well... you take away the breakfast you just made because its too greasy, and you have banana juice for breakfast.

then for lunch you have sweaty fish. really. :)

meet sudado de pescado. sweaty fish.

(dont worry no real sweat goes into it... the fish sits in a pot of sauces and tomatoes "sweating" and thats how it cooks, thus its name. if theres a more formal word for that... i cant think of it right now and ive got an english block... sorry)

julton wasnt feeling well today ... one of those.. i dont really know whats wrong, but hide the mayo because it makes me feel worse. and sudado is the opposite of mayonnaise. its a typical dish (i smile every time i say/hear that.... its common for students to ask "and whats your typical dish of your city/state/country?" in a very serious voice. its because its a common question in spanish, typical just doesnt get translated into english in a way we are used to hearing it.) so anyway, its common to see it on restaurant menus. i had never made it before, but i was up for the challenge. im pretty excited that ive gotten pretty good at reading recipes in spanish without jultons help (cooking vocabulary is outside my daily spanish conversations). writing recipes in spanish? im getting there.

so... if you feel up to making some sudado, im going to give you what i used today which is taken from this websites recipe. i used it... but just like my crocheting i follow patterns or recipes to a certain extent then just do my own thing.... either because i dont know how to do the pattern, or im just still feel rebel-ish like i was 16.

*another note... the origional recipe was for six servings, but i only made two... which means... my sudado was probably alot stronger or spicier than the origional because i always cut down on the main ingredient then forget to cut down the rest of the recipe.... oops!...also..... theres a lot of mixes that you can buy in the stores or markets, of pureed cilantro... or peppers... just lots of stuff... and sometimes a peruvian recipe will call for example "a spice mix for fish" so i went to the store and told them i what i was making and they threw a few sauces into a bag for me. but im going to tell separate that out for you as well as i can.

Sudado de Pescado

2 filets of white boneless fish

enough oil to saute some onions

1 large onion, sliced in quarters

2 pieces of garlic, minced

1 teaspoon of ginger, minced finely

1 tablespoon finely chopped parsley

1 tablespoon finely chopped cilantro

1/4 cup white wine

1 large tomato, peeled and quartered and quartered

the juice of one lime

salt and pepper

*a teaspoon of aji rojo (or im thinking paprika could work)

*a teaspoon of aji amarillo (or... another pepperlike spice)

(i think i used more than a teaspoon, but just add to taste for your spice level)

Saute the onion, garlic and ginger, but dont let it brown.

add the spices, lime, and wine, let the alcohol cook out

add the parsley and cilantro, and season with salt and pepper

(at this point i did a taste test to see how i felt about all the spices)

add the tomatoes... then add the fish

turn the flame down and cover the pot, let simmer until the fish is tender

(halfway through i flipped the fish to make sure the sauce covered all sides of it)

serve with a generous portion of white rice (that youve cooked with garlic of course)

and boiled potatoes or... like today we had boiled yuca... if you dont know what that is, its like a potato, looks like a root... becuase it is... and its delicous fried... but since Julton was saying no to all things with grease today, we stuck with boiled.

Torta de Galleta (cookie cake)

since he was sick and today was jultons day... as i was walking out the door to get the spices to make the sudado, he made a request for torta de galleta. so... you know i gave in.

torta de galleta is basically.... vanilla cookies in layers with chocolate and vanilla pudding.

pretty simple :)

i hope that youve enjoyed your sunday and relaxed like we have.... here comes monday! im actually looking a little bit forward to the morning since we made the trip to the market and got the fruits to make juice for breakfast :)

stew that chicken

Estofado de Pollo. Thats what Julton immediately responded with when I asked him what we should have for our Saturday lunch. My first reaction... okay. great! and where do I start... I've made some Peruvian dishes, but never alone. Well I take that back, I made Aji de Gallina at home for Christmas, but thats a different story. That wasn't for my Peruvian husband. That was for my US family that didn't know what it really tasted like.

So what do you do when you want to know the recipe for something you dont know how to make? Well for one thing when its a Peruvian dish, odds are you dont foodgawker it. Because although I love that site, I havent seen that many peruvian dishes. Lots of asian dishes though. hmm. So I googled. And I found a great simple recipe. I really should have called a friend for the recipe. But i tackled this one. I used all of these ingredients in the photo below: (minus the oranges and bananas.... which im noticing we eat as though the last ones ever to exist were produced last month)

(if you want to make a peruvian dish.... by the way its really "chicken stew" in english. its tasty. here are the ingredients... if not... skip the next several lines until the conclusion)

(from what I used to make enough for the two of us)

4 pieces of chicken (thats a lie i used 3 because i eat one and julton two but just for you lets say keep at a nice even 4)...but the recipe called for 8 (how big? your guess is as good as mine)

flour

oil

a tablespoon of minced and minced more garlic (i always use more garlic)

1 cup chopped up onion

2 tablespoons tomato paste (i used some leftover tomato sauce)

2 tablespoons chili powder

1/2 cup peas (fresh)

1/2 cup sliced up carrots

1/2 cup port wine (we didnt have wine so i added more chicken stock)

4 potatoes halved... chunked...however you like but in larger pieces

1 cup of chicken bouillon (or if you dont use wine 1 and a half)

salt

pepper

and of course you need to eat it with rice(white rice cooked with garlic :) )

and we had corn on the cobb with ours too

the recipe called to flour and salt and pepper up the chicken but i forgot the flour part. (i will fill you in on where i remembered that part later)

1- brown the chicken then set aside.

2- throw the garlic onion chili powder and tomato paste or sauce into the same pan you were just using

3- soften those onions up then add the peas carrots and chicken stock and or wine (this is where i remembered that i forgot the flour, so i added it to the stock so that it would thicken the stew) and let that boil for 5 minutes

4- add the potatoes and the chicken then simmer until potatoes are cooked

small intermission: we like the kool aid gillian! :D

the finished product: i was (am) very excited with how things turned out. i feel like i accomplished a little something today. i love to cook, and its exciting to cook something that i havent before and it.... turn out! although i will admit that if you are going to divide the recipe in half you should do that with all the ingredients instead of just the meat like i absentmindedly did today. weve got leftovers. but no meat there. im thinking its got my name and not jultons on it. oohhhh!!! and i added green onions. because ive apparently been on an "add green onions to everything because it makes eeeeverything better!!!" kick. weird. there. now i think you should go make yourself some peruvian food. and if someone says hey you made chicken stew! you say shut your mouth i made estofado de pollo!!!

espinaca y ajo

today i think i had one of my new favorite lunches. when Julton and i stopped in Wong last night, (we were on a mission for about three things.. bacon, bananas, and more oranges... what more do you need to make a jungle boy feel better when hes sick than orange juice, meat and bananas?... nope, nothing) when i found myself standing in front of the spinach while the bananas were being priced. i still wish i could get a sweet little bag of baby spinach. but im getting used to the mature stuff. i didnt realize i was staring at the spinach until julton walked over and said... add a fourth... lets get some spinach. you see, he doesnt like it. he doesnt like veggies. so im going to conclude that im the more passive one since weve been eating more meat and less veggies recently. but today. today...

i took some linguine.... (contrary to what a friend who married a peruvian told me before we married that "you cant make pasta everyday" weve been eating a lot of pasta. and i didnt even eat that much before... i guess we are just on a pasta kick for a while)

and i fried some bacon... just long enough to be cooked but not crispy

then i took the bacon out and cut it up while i was melting some butter and garlic on the stove (we eat a lot of garlic... a lot.)

i put the bacon back in then i at the last minute added salt pepper and lots of spinach. just long enough that it didnt wilt too much but well, tasted like garlic :)

and it my friends, was delicious. im pretty proud of it.

and i got to enjoy it with some green tea that Gillian sent. i made a whole pitcher. threw in some honey. and let it be happy in the freezer.

awesome lunch for a long day? yes.