Meal Plan 16 Nov

The last two weeks I just haven't made time to post meal plans. I've made them, but sitting to post it hasn't happened. Jonathan started back to teaching and trying to catch up for 6 weeks in 3. And presently he doesn't have a motorbike license which means a lot of trading off vehicles and child and back and forth. But we've eaten. And more than expected, we've eaten at home.

Monday noon: Orik Arik, Rice, Tempeh
Monday p.m.: Curried Chicken Salad - you should try this!, toast, grapes
Menu: Spinach Tomato Omelet, Naan
Menu: Grilled Chicken Breast, Sour Cream Noodle Packet, Steam Veg
Menu: Baked Potato, Brocolli, Shredded Carrot, Cheese
Menu: Ful, Naan, Feta

Apples were on sale last week so applesauce is on the dessert and treat list.

I got a chance to make Granola the other week- heavenly.

I bought cucumbers by mistake the other week, happiest mistake i've made it a while. Pulling out the last box of freezer pickles this week. May need to make that mistake again.

Ful is easy to prepare if you have beans ready. 35 min in the pressure cooker. Pack into old peanut butter jars, cool, freeze = 1 can of beans.
Stew chicken 20 mins in the pressure cooker and make the chicken salad.

I shred carrot on top of everything (not really) but shredded carrot is pretty.

Go on over to India Snacks. You don't need a recipe for Chai, but you should refresh your memory at how deliciously easy it is. And then use their curry powder recipe (which is how i stumbled onto the site). Then try some kind of other goodness. These are pretty user friendly.

We'll be alternating Mango Lassi's and Chai for the next few days...

A vacuum cleaner

@ comes into room carrying his loose change. Mostly 100 and 200 Local Currency coins , worth 1 to 2 pennies.

@: look at all the money I have.

Me: that's a lot of money. You're rich.

@: I'm bigger rich.

Me: what are you going to do with all that money?

@: I'm going to buy stuff when I grow up.

Me: what kind of stuff would you buy?

@: a vacuum cleaner.

Me: A vacuum cleaner. Why a vacuum cleaner?

@: to clean the house.

Me: what would you clean with the vacuum cleaner.

@: the floors in my house.

Me: Do you need a vacuum for the floors in your house.

@: I will.

Me: What kind of floors will you have?

@: I don't know.

 

@ has lived in a carpeted house for maybe 9 months of his 5 years of life. Where he got the idea that he needed a vacuum is beyond me. Vacuum cleaners are one of my least favorite appliances and I never miss not using them.

never good to turn up on BBC

Last week while flipping channels on a very hot afternoon we came across a program on BBC called Hot Cities. Last week's program was on Bangladesh and the rising number of climate migrants flowing into already crowded urban areas, thus decreasing the quality of life for everyone. They promoted the next week's city- our capital city. You don't want your capital city to turn up on the BBC, nothing good can come of it. Well we happened to catch a portion of it again this week. It was fun to hear the professionals being interviewed because we could understand them without the subtitles at the bottom. They were only echoing things we had been percieving in our city also. The rains maybe starting later but they are also coming at odd times throughout the year. And the tide is getting higher and things that were once percieved to be safe and high enough, aren't anymore. All of this just spells disaster on the health front. Dengue Fever (here called Blood Fever) and Malaria are occurring at times in the year that never used to be possible and at elevations that used to be safe. All very discouraging news.

Last month they started lifting another road about 6 blocks down from us. They are raising the road in front of the church we attend and the pharmacy we go to, a meter. That's 3 feet. The parking lot to our church has a 3 foot wall bordering the street. The church will be 3 feet below the road 12 feet away. I stopped in at the Pharmacy yesterday. All they can do is given a weak smile and sigh. They have no idea what they are going to do.

We've been hearing rumors since the close of last rainy season that there was a plan in the works to raise roads and install new pumps and deepen the canals. They've only really just started on some portions of the plan. We live 2 blocks from a major Artery Road that loops around the city and they've already raised that road on the other side and there looks to be a deepened canal and pump. I have no idea where the water that will be pumped will go as the neighborhoods are still lower. This week we got a for sure verification that the main street 2 blocks from us that is our connection to town, will be raised in the next month. They are planning to raise it a meter, 3 feet.

The last few months as we have seen these projects begin we've had a little sense of anxiety creep into the back of our minds. Our contract on the house we are in runs through Jan 2011 and we have every intention and desire to stay in this house. We love our landlord. We have a terrific house and yard at the world's most ideal price. We have neighbors and friends. But the house in our neighborhood don't sell, they barely get renters. Everyone knows it floods but the question is how much deeper will the water be when the raise these main roads. No one believes the pump installations will help. They can pump whereever they want but it doesn't change the fact that the lowest guy will still get water when the canals they are pumping into are filled.

So we have been sighing a fair bit lately. We know there is a limit to the amount of time we will stay in this house. The demands of Jonathan's job location will inevitably pull us away. But the thought of having water come into this house that we've made into our home... its happened to our friends and watching their sorrow was impossible. Sigh... and we're powerless against it.

But we find ourselves waiting for rainy season, if only to confirm or but to rest our concerns. Either way, we'll ride it out. We're still in a good position to help and encourage our neighbors. But sitting in this crazy heat makes me wonder what's to come...

adding to the mayhem

Its been a bit of a day and its not quite noon yet. Feel free to skip because really this is a long winded sigh...

The electricity has been spotty in the kitchen for a day or two. A friend clued us into the possibility that its probably just the circuit that is dead- not the wiring for the house going bad as I had feared. After snap, crackling and popping at me this morning after Jonathan had gone to class, I shut off the electric to the whole house- when in doubt, better not to burn down the house. Jonathan came home from work today, he found an electric shop open, bought a new circuit and got it installed. So far, so good, the electricity is staying on and there is no more snap, crackle, pop. That's good, because it is wicked hot and the fan is doing its best but still its just blowing around warm air.

On another front, realization has been setting in that @ and I don't have paperwork from Immigration and our last extension expires tomorrow. Probably that means something should be done. Thing is we are waiting on the national level office to click 3 things for each of us in the computer before the local office can complete our visas. Its been like 10 or 12 days and they haven't done it so I'm not counting on them finishing before tomorrow when our extension keeping us legal, expires. So I got out to the local office to see what needs to be done. I tell them that we aren't clicked yet but my extension expires tomorrow. Funny thing, they are in a quandry too. There is no procedure or rule for this kind of thing. So they check the computer, just to double check our statuses, not that they don't believe me, just they too are hoping against hope. Well it seems that sometime in the last hour the national office did a little work- I have my clicks from the national office, now I'm just waiting on one click from an office across town. So they give me the phone number and name of that guy in the office across town- this shouldn't be a problem they say. Then they check @'s status from the national office. Seems the national office quit work after all that hard work clicking my name and they haven't done anything for the 5yr old. So the question remains, but now its taken on a real element of the ridiculous, tomorrow does the 5 yr old need to leave the country alone because he doesn't have his paperwork/clicks from the national office? Should we petition the justice dept for another extension for the 5yr old? Because we are out of extension technically according to the immigration office, we would now have to ask justice for special permission to extend longer. Do you see how ridiculous this is? After only 10 months this is how far we've come...
SIGH...

Good news: I have a houseworker who makes this awesome crazy addictive fried chicken. I was smart enough to have her make it while Jon was doing electric and I was doing immigration. Very good decision on my part.

knock-off pumpkin spice latte

see, i put up with a lot. i've got every other tom, chris and jason telling me about the wonders of their pumpkin spice coffee. singing its praises for all of its restive benefits. and here i sit in 90 degree heat at 7:30 in the morning with no pumpkin spice coffee for hundreds of miles. my friend an hour away isn't even running her coffee shop regular hours and thus it really is hundreds of miles. then dear Owlhaven links to this lovely lady's site. Now, mind you I don't have a can of pumpkin. But my morning plans now involve going to the store to buy a pumpkin, roasting said pumpkin and then storing the pumpkin puree so as to have homemade "canned" pumpkin. but i have a sneaking suspicion that it is going to be SO worth it!

Just Like Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte
Makes 1-2 servings

Ingredients:
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons canned pumpkin
2 tablespoons sugar or sugar substitute – adjust to taste
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1/2 teaspoon pumpkin pie spice
1/2 cup strong brewed coffee (or 1/4 cup of espresso if you have an espresso machine)

Directions:In a saucepan stir together milk, pumpkin and sugar. Cook and stir over medium heat until steaming. Remove from heat, stir in vanilla and pumpkin pie spice, transfer to a blender and process for 15 seconds or until foamy. I don’t usually bother with the blender and just whip the mixture really well with a wire whisk.
Pour into a large mug or two mugs if you decide to share. Add the coffee or espresso on top.
Optional: (But don’t even think about skipping this step. I mean it). Top with whipped cream and sprinkle pumpkin pie spice, nutmeg, or cinnamon on top.

meal plan- watercolor edition, oh & burying the lead

Yesterday @ was watercoloring at the project table. He really wanted someone to work with him. I did a sunset and painted another picture. He wasn't done. I needed to get on to some list making and thinking for the week ahead. But it occured to me, what hinders me from watercoloring my grocery list? I wrote the menu plan in crayola marker but the grocery list is in watercolor. Seemed like a good use of time and energy.

Sadly the menu plan is already somewhat sprained. I planned to do Zuchini Garden Chowder today for lunch, but somehow the zuchini's I bought turned out to be cucumbers. Not sure how that happened. So the Cukes become freezer pickles along with the last red onion. Perhaps this week i'll have better luck at buying Zuchs instead of Cukes.

From the oven this week:

Granola- been meaning to make it for 2 weeks

Mango/ Applesauce- thought it sounded like something to try

Monster cookies and Choco-Raisin Cookies- for Jonathan to take back to school for his students.

**Jonathan just walked in and he has a work visa, his police book, and his passport in hand! He is officially finished with immigration!!

Now if only @ and I could get our paperwork...

about christmas

I've started to kind of vaguely think about christmas. A friend sent me a christmas stamp set so that I could switch up some of my christmas cards. I have a bit of fun making the cards but then it comes to addressing them and posting them and somehow the magic dims a little. I started playing with the stamp set yesterday after having them sit on my desk for 2 weeks. Wasn't feeling clever enough to have such pretties so it took me a while to work up the courage. I made some little lovelies- at least in my estimation.

Last week we were up in our first town and i stopped at the ribbon shop that i like to go to. Its small but things are out on the shelf so that you can touch them. That's kind of unusual here. Small things are often kept in a cabinet and you have to ask the keymaster to open the cabinet and tell her which one you want to touch. If you're window shopping, as I often do, this gets a little on the tedious side. Having someone stand there waiting for you to either buy or ask for something else. Anyway, I came away with a few meters of ribbon, some slicky paint to finish off stockings and some fake poinsettas. I'll add them to wreathes and homemade christmas ornaments this year.

Jonathan and I have entered into idle discussion of christmas for @. He's 5 and we are going back to the states 7 months after christmas. He's WELL STOCKED for toys and oys seem silly because we aren't bringing them with us. He has a bike. A list of the things we've talked about as family presents:

We've talked about a keyboard for the family- I like to play, or attempt it, and we've both thought @ should learn and instrument. Jonathan's family all play something or had a lesson when they were kids. So for Jonathan its how kids grow up. I've just always fancied the piano. A keyboard would start somewhere around $120.

We've talked about a camera for @. I know that sounds wasteful but we will be in the states for a good 8-10 months. Meaning the 5yr. old will be without the bedroom he's used to, in the house that he is used to with his bike and friends and toys for 8-10 months. That's kind of a lot it seems like to me. We walked by a display of Fisher Price 1st cameras when we were in Singapore some months ago and as was the display's intention, it got us thinking that might be a way for him to take some memories with him. What he wants, not just what I take pictures of for him. But then i read the reviews and it doesn't sound like its much of a decent camera. We've talked about buying his a cheapy here ($50) but then that seems silly too. Or I could just take pics of what he tells me to- which is what we already do and it seems to work just fine.

We've talked vaguely about a handheld video game system for the family. They are everywhere here. Our thought is that we have 30 hours in the air back to america, another 30 to get back here and countless car trips in the states. Maybe a game of tetris would be pleasing to everyone. We haven't looked at them or really even talked about it more than in passing but i think they would probably start at $175.

Now understand, we don't do lots of presents for christmas or birthdays. Normally its one present and then some books or a new set of markers, paints, etc. The grandparents send the child plenty of stuff! Indeed, presently we need to work through some of his stuff again to get rid of some of the things. We try not to buy him things that he will grow out of quickly. And these are all items for the most part that will be family gifts- even the camera to some extent because I'd love to see what his eye sees.

So tell me, what do you think? What do you do for christmas gifts? Tell me about your kid and taking pictures? Am I just crazy on that idea?