Garden

Did you know that Peru is the land of potatoes? Many sources say there are around 3,000 varieties of potatoes grown here!  I've seen a bunch of different ones here--long, thin, finger shaped things, along with white, yellow, brown, and red potatoes. And don't forget the ones that are purple and white inside. There are sweet potatoes too--the kind that is orange on the inside and a kind that is white on the inside.  There are also a LOT more varieties that I still don't recognize and I haven't tried.

Last year, when we moved in this house, we didn't realize that there were potatoes already planted in the little garden area and in the terraces.  We don't know who planted them, and we were sure surprised when we saw the plants starting to grow!  (We've seen enough potato plants to be able to recognize them.)

This year, rainy season is just beginning and so it is the time to start planting.  We weren't sure at first what to plant; then we decide to stick with what we know grows the best here--POTATOES!!

Hopefully, we'll see some little purple flowers growing soon as those potatoes start to form! :)

New Apron

It all started when I got a couple of new pairs of jeans last month.  One day, as I was baking some bread, I looked down and saw a flour hand print on my darker pair of jeans.   Hmm...I never noticed that before on the light color jeans.  I decided if I am going to unconsciously wipe my hands on my pants, then maybe I should actually get an apron. 

A friend had posted a picture on Facebook of aprons that her and her daughter made.  I thought it was such a cute idea, and I knew that I needed to try it!!

I found a pattern and instructions on line, spent a couple of afternoons during nap time, and WA-LAH---a new apron!!

Birthday

This post is only a couple of weeks old, but I had to share some pictures from my little man turning 3!!


While we were in the states, we wanted to do a party with family.   We've never been able to give him a big party, and this was the first year where he really understood it all.  He was So excited to be able to pick out Thomas the Train as his theme!

Wearing his Thomas shirt, of course!  He's showing off his new bookbag--Thomas!

In Peru, on his actual birthday we did something small for him, and he was excited to wear his party hat again.

Homemade Pecan Pie Larabars

Ok, so these came out even better than I expected! They are great!!

I had to share right away!  I saw this recipe a little while ago and I've just been waiting for time to try them out.  It was SO easy to make them! The only problem is that I haven't been able to find dried dates in Peru (I brought these back with us last month). 

Here's the recipe from deliciouslyorganic.net:

Pecan Pie Larabars
Makes 10 bars4 1/2 cups pitted dates
3/4 cup almonds
3/4 cup pecans
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
3/4 teaspoon cinnamon
pinch of sea salt
1. Line an 8×8 baking pan with parchment paper (horizontally and vertically) and then brush with coconut oil.
2. Pour dates into food processor and process until they become paste-like and form a ball in the bowl (if your dates are very dry you can add a tablespoon or two of hot water to help them break down). Pour dates into a large mixing bowl. Place almonds and pecans in food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Pour the nuts over the dates and also add the vanilla, cinnamon, and pinch of salt. Using your hands, mix all ingredients until combined. Press mixture into baking pan, cover (I just used the parchment that was hanging over the sides of the pan) and place in the fridge for about 30 minutes. Remove from fridge and cut into 10 evenly-sized bars.

I wrapped mine up in individual pieces to keep in the fridge/freezer for when we want a handy, healthy, snack! :)

Pop tarts!!

 It’s been awhile since I’ve updated the blog, mainly, because of traveling during our vacation back to the states. I still need to do a blog on that topic, but for now, I need to share a new experiment I tried this afternoon—

Homemade Pop Tarts!

 

Now, I have to admit that there have been plenty of times that I craved these treats over the past few years living overseas.  When we were in Costa Rica, there was 1 store that sold them, and our school happened to have some for sale at the little snack bar as well.  While I was pregnant, there was awhile where I had a frosted strawberry pop tart for snack every day!

However, after leaving Costa Rica, I haven’t bought them overseas again.  A few teams have brought some to us as a special treat though. 

 

Lately, since trying to eat healthier and avoiding most packaged and processed foods, I haven’t thought too much about them.

Until this recipe--

http://deliciouslyorganic.net/pop-tarts-two-ways-whole-wheat-or-gluten-free/

Hmm…a healthier version made with non- processed food items.  I thought, “Let’s try this!”

As a disclaimer, I didn’t follow the original recipe in the fact that I don’t have a variety of flours available to me.  I buy 1 kind of wheat, the only kind I can find here, and I grind it.   I basically did the whole wheat version, but I just used the whole wheat flour that I have.

Pop Tarts – Whole Wheat

Makes about 12 –  4″ x 2 1/2″ tarts.

For the dough:
1 1/2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup brown rice flour, plus 2 tablespoons
1/4 cup arrowroot flour, plus 2 tablespoons
1 1/2 teaspoons coarse sea salt
1 cup plus 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
10 tablespoons ice water

For the filling, I used homemade blueberry jelly that I made last month.

They were surprisingly easy to make! And pretty yummy!! Now, I have to admit—because I didn’t have the different flours, mine did taste a little heavy and not quite like a light and flaking pastry.

My 4.5 year old food critic said, “They were good. They weren’t yucky.  Yummy, yummy, yummy!” 

Update on my health

Many have been praying for me over the last week or so, and I want to say thank you!!

For those that don't know, I went to the ER on 8/2 after an episode of dizziness, racing heart beat and extremely low oxygen levels in the blood. I spent 2 nights in the hospital.  They had me on constant oxygen and my levels were finally normal.  The doctors released me and said that everything was fine, they didn’t know why it happened and it shouldn’t happen again.  Well, we headed to the capital in order to do some further testing, just to be sure.  I continued to have dizziness and a racing heart beat from time to time for the next week, but no more problems with my oxygen levels (Praise the Lord because this was the main problem before!). 

After a full work up, I am thankful to say that everything has come back normal!!  I have not had any other symptoms since this past Monday, and the dr. is convinced that it was a bad side effect to a medicine I had been taking previously (last day to take it was Monday and I went to the hospital on Tuesday). 

And so for now I am healthy, and I have an answer as to what the cause was! God is good!!

I also had an interesting experience on the plane that I got to ride to Lima.  First of all, let me say that I have NEVER been on a plane so small before!! I have always been afraid of small planes, and I was this day too!! I was definitely praying that God would calm my nerves (I was afraid that if I was too nervous my heart would start racing again and I really didn't want that up in the air!).

Well, God really answered prayers, b/c after I saw this plane, it was SMALL!! I first had to climb up the 3 stairs and then duck my head.  Now, I'm not tall and I couldn't stand up in the plane.  Turning sidewise, trying to squeeze down the aisle, I quickly found my seat.  Laying there waiting for me was my snack, and also a pack of EARPLUGS.  I knew I was in for it then!

All 7 passengers quickly found their seats in the 18 passenger plane, with 1 pilot and 1 steward up front.  The steward proceeded to give his safety spill, which included the instructions, "In case of loss of cabin pressure, please pull your oxygen masks from under your seat.  Open this plug on the ceiling and then plug in the mask."

The ride was loud, but surprisingly smooth and a very fast method to travel to Lima.  It is normally 8 hours by bus, 6.5-7 hours by truck and this was only and 1 hour. I made it safely to Lima, quickly might I add, and had plenty of time to make it to the first of many doctor appointments.

I also need to mention that I had one of the best views I have had in Peru, the view of Mt. Huascaran (highest montain in Peru)  from the air--absolutely beautiful (too bad I didn't have a camera on me at the time!)

Homeschooling Joys

Homeschooling has been a rewarding experience so far. I enjoy the time that I get to spend with my son, and I have seen all the ways that he is growing and learning.  Also, I don't have to worry about him coming home from school and asking, "What did you do today?" just to have him respond with, "I don't know."  I already know everything that he did at school! :)

Now, I do have to admit that some days we have a rough day, even a frustrating day.  These days are challenging.

But then some days I listen to my 4 year old READ and I am just so proud!

This is the little book that we read yesterday in homeschool:
Sid Hits
Sid has a bat.
Cam has a mitt.
Sid has a cap. Cam has a cap.
Sid hits. Bam!
Cam is fast.
Cam taps the pad.
Rats! Sid is mad.
Sid sits. Sid is sad.

I enjoy homeschooling (so far!) and I'm a proud mommy!  :)