Cooking Around the World: Egypt

Tonight I cooked a meal from Egypt. I used recipes from The Global Table Adventure. Sasha, the author of the blog, mentioned that you would need every pot in your kitchen to prepare these dishes. She was not kidding! I used five of my stove burners. I needed six, but one of mine does not work. I also used my oven and my microwave.

 preparing the meal

First of all, this meal took a long time to prepare! And I made only three dishes: Fava Bean Mash, Kushari with Spicy Egyptian Tomato Sauce and Umm Ali (a dessert). You can click on the link on each recipe title for the recipes with pretty photographs. 

Here is my report.

Fava Bean Mash:

I could not find fava beans at my Kroger. The store manager didn't even know what they were! I googled fava bean substitutes right there in the grocery store and bought 1 can of lima beans and 1 can of butter beans since both were listed as acceptable substitutes. 

Here is the fava bean dish before it began simmering. 

 While the bean mixture was simmering, I cooked in three separate pots the lentils, macaroni, and angel hair pasta for the the kushari. I cooked the rice in my rice cooker.

I used only 1/2 the amount of cayenne pepper called for in the original recipe. That was spicy enough for us. Both the fava bean mash and the kushari were good. Jimmy, Leah, and Sam were all good sports and ate everything!

the kushari 

Here is my little bowl of fava bean mash with the toppings (lemon juice, olive oil, parsley, and chopped boiled egg). We did not care for the soft pita bread. When we eat the leftovers for lunch tomorrow, I plan to spread some melted butter on the pita triangles and bake them in the oven until they are crispy. Pita chips would be good with this bean dip too.

My bowls of fava bean mash and kashari with the tomato sauce.

The dessert was delicious! It called for only 1/8 cup of sugar, so it was not sweet at all. I don't care for raisins....I think chocolate chips would have been better!

Umm Ali

Before we ate, I explained to my family what each dish was and read a little bit about it from the recipe's website. We listened to Egyptian music (found on Apple music by Leah) while we ate and also while we washed the one million dishes that we used preparing and serving the food! During the meal Leah read us a few facts she found online about Egypt. The food was not too strange, and I think everyone enjoyed the meal.

One country down, over 190 to go!

Her Children Rise Up and Call Her Blessed

Granmomma--on the far left--looking so pretty at Olivia and Brian's wedding.

During the night last night, Jimmy's sweet mother passed away.

She was a lovely lady who always had a smile and kind word for everyone. In recent years she was plagued with a chronic illness that left her unable to care for those around her like she so longed to do. She spent her life caring for and serving her late husband, her three children, her ten grandchildren, and one great-grandson. She loved the Lord, and I am rejoicing that she is now free of all her earthly pain and suffering. 

I cannot think of eloquent words to do Jan's memory justice. I loved her. Maybe I can compose something better later. But for now I just keep thinking of these verses.

"Do not let your adornment be merely outward--arranging the hair, wearing gold, or putting on one apparel--rather let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the incorruptible beauty of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is very precious in the sight of God"

1 Peter 3:6

"Her children rise up and call her blessed;"

Proverbs 31:28

So Today We Celebrated Leah's Birthday

Leah turned 14 today. And how can that be? Sam will be 12 in a couple of weeks, and just like that, all of my children are almost grown!  We began our celebration last night with supper at Ichiban.

Today, we enjoyed a fun day with our family of four. I cooked Leah's breakfast request (sausage muffins). I used my one of my oldest cookbooks, the silver Bell's Best. Then she opened her gifts and enjoyed a laid-back morning while I prepared food for her party later in the day. I used my old, tattered and torn yellow Bell's Best for the recipe for the layered chocolate dessert Leah requested. Do any of you readers from Mississippi have either of these cookbooks? It was such a funny coincidence that I saw on Facebook this morning that one of my local friends posted a picture of her well-worn yellow Bell's Best. My copy was given to me as a wedding present from Vicki and Stephanie Huff. They signed the inside!

 my two Bell's Best cookbooks

I have the yellow one taped together.

The top recipe is the one I use---my notes show how I double the recipe for us.

 The birthday girl

 All smiles today!

This is her birthday table.

We ate at Thai Garden for lunch, and then we saw The Greatest Showman at the deserted theater. We were the only four people in the theater! True, there was snow and ice today, and most people just stayed at home, but we had a birthday to celebrate!

Tonight Leah has four friends over for supper and games. They are loud--shrieking and laughing, and having the best time. I am loving hearing their joy.

The day Leah was born fourteen years ago was a cold day too. But Leah has been a ray of sunshine ever since she joined our family.  She was an easy, happy baby, and she has always been a delight!

Happy Birthday, sweet Leah!

Cooking Around the World

Leah and I were face timing Julie, and she told us about a fun thing she and Big Sam are doing this year. Once a week they are cooking a meal from a country in Europe. I think she said there are 51 countries in Europe, so it should take them about a year to complete this adventure.

What a great idea! The wheels in my brain began to turn. We could do that! We could cook a meal from each country in our world. I think there are 193-195 countries currently. (I'll have to research that.) As part of our homeschool, Leah and Sam are studying Africa. I think that's where we will start. I am not sure how long this will take us, but hopefully if I am consistent, we can complete all the countries of the world before Leah goes to college! I am excited about how much fun this can be. When I plan my grocery list and menu for next week, I will choose our first country. I'm sure I will be able to find all the recipes and ideas I need online, but I may also purchase the book Life From Scratch by Sasha Martin which recounts one family's journey of cooking around the world.  She also has a blog, Global Table Adventure, which is full of ideas and recipes.

I am envisioning good food, interesting facts, and maybe even some related music or short books as we begin our culinary adventure. I'll try to take pictures and share each week's meal.

Does My Life Reflect My Values?

As I was reading chapter two of More Hours in My Day by Emilie Barnes, I made many notes regarding a statement she made concerning values. Barnes suggested that we examine our values, change them as needed, and make sure our foundation is built on the Word of God.  During this season where I am setting and trying to keep new goals for the new year,  I felt I needed to consider my goals. Were they reflecting my values? What exactly are my values?

I think to answer the question to yourself, "What are my values?" you need to look at where you spend your time and resources. Jesus said in Matthew 6:21, "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." We may say and think our values are certain things, but our day-to-day lives, our time and resources spent will actually reflect what our true values are.

The source for our values should come from God's Word. How will I know what God values if I do not read and study His Word? If I value serving God with my life, how do I do that? If Jesus is truly the Lord of my life, and I value eternal life, does my life show that? If I value being a godly wife and a loving, serving mother, where do I find my examples?

For me, the answer to all those questions are found in my daily time reading and studying my Bible and spending time in prayer. Then I must examine my daily life--the time and resources I spend each day, and see if my life aligns with what I say I value.

I truly value being a wife, mother, and homemaker. I take these roles seriously, and I have spent the last 26 years trying to better myself in these areas. Passages such as Titus 2:2-5, 1 Corinthians 13, and the book of James are full of instruction on how to put these values into practice. In Titus 2 it says to love your husband, love your children. If I need more information on how to love them (or anyone for that matter), I can read and put into practice 1 Corinthians 13. If I need encouragement because of trials I am going through, or advice on controlling my tongue, and I read and apply James 1.

I truly believe that the Scriptures hold the answer to any problem we may have. It is up to us to make God's Word a treasure to us. As we read it and do what it says, our lives will reflect what God values.

Spiritual and Fitness Goals for 2018

I have finally set my 2018 spiritual and fitness goals for 2018. They are subject to tweaking, but here they are for now.

Spiritual

• Read the Daily Bible.  This is a NIV Bible divided into daily readings--you will read the entire Bible in one year. It is also arranged chronologically with thoughts and commentaries scattered throughout. I began on January 1, and so far, so good. Jimmy began reading his again, and this is either is 2nd or 3rd time through.
• Read verses pertaining to worry, anxiety, and fear. I am using a concordance feature on my Bible app to locate verses on these subjects. I am copying them in a new journal that Sam gave me for Christmas.
• Continue to list five things each day I am grateful for in a journal. (I began doing this 21 years ago.)
• Do a better job at memorizing the Bible verses I assign to the children each week. Their memory is so much better than mine. I am making a copy of each week's verse for myself so I can drill the verses more than just at the kitchen table.

Fitness

I have been unsure of what exactly my fitness goals should be at this point beyond exercising on a regular basis. I have somewhat floundered the last three years. Ever since I finished the Rocket City Marathon in December 2014, I have not had a significant running or fitness-related goal. I have half-heartedly trained and run a few half marathons, but I have done nothing consistently. Jimmy challenged me to running at least 2 miles every day. I considered that, but it the end I modified that goal. Here is what I have come up with:

• Run at least 2 miles 5 days a week. Last week was my first week, and I ran 6 days for a total of 19 miles. In years past that would have been not a big deal, but for me right now, it was quite an accomplishment. 
• Beginning this week run at least 20 miles per week. I will excuse myself from the 5 days a week and the 20 mile minimum when we are out of town for an extended period of time.
• Start going to CrossFit again and attend class twice a week unless I am out of town. CrossFit is another fitness area I have been inconsistent in over the last year. I quit completely for a few months after a shoulder injury, but went back because I missed my friends (and coach) in the class so much! I stopped going for the month of December because, well. December! I am debating on taking off this month since I am trying to train for a half-marathon January 27. I will decide in the next few days, but I am definitely going back twice a week in after my race. My sweet coach, MC, is so willing to modify the workouts for me and my shoulder! I love being with the other ladies, so I am going to give it another try!

I have not chosen a word for 2018. I have too many words! LOL! I just finished listening to the Big Boo Cast's latest podcast, and I love Melanie's word for 2018--NO!

P.S. I set up my Instagram, but so far I have no idea what I am doing!

Homemaking Goals for 2018

I started a new spiral bound notebook for 2018. This is in addition to my daily Erin Condren planner. I like to keep a spiral notebook for all kinds of lists that are too lengthy for my planner. I headed several pages with broad categories where I wanted to list things I wanted to accomplish this year in each area.  One of these is cleaning out. We have lived in our current home for 13 years. While we have been married one 26 years, this is the longest we have ever lived in one home. We have no plans to ever move from this house.

So. After living in one space for 13 years, we have acquired all kinds of clutter. You wouldn't see it if you walked into my house, but it is there, hidden! I assigned myself an area or room to each month of this year.  Here is my list.

• January--storage room
• February--kitchen
• March--garage/back porch 
• April--Sam's room
• May--den/living area
• June--my bedroom and bathroom
• July--schoolroom 
• August--the "secret room" (a room off of Olivia's closet that houses the kids' outgrown toys and lots of other stuff that needs to be purged!)
• September--guest room and bathroom
• October--laundry room and hall closet
• November--foyer and dining room
• December--Leah's room and the upstairs built in desks/bookshelves

I also have a detailed checklist of drawers, closets, shelves, etc. in each of the above rooms. While I want all the cleaning out done right now, I realize that it did not get junky overnight, and it will take me the entire year to get through it. I hope I do not lose my stamina!

Winding Down the Holiday Season

We have experienced the best two weeks ever! All of my children and their spouses have been here, and it has been so wonderful!

And now they are leaving.

Julie and Big Sam left yesterday at 6:30 AM. We all cried and hugged and prayed, and then they were gone. They arrived in Serbia this morning, and had a 5 hour car ride to their home in Craiova, Romania. They should be there soon.

Olivia and Brian leave tomorrow. More sadness!  But we have crammed so much fun into these two weeks. Fortunately, Clay has a few more days here at home, but then January 8 will come, and we will be a family of four again. I suppose we will start back to school that day, but I am not really ready.

Julie and I are having our own little book club. I gave her and Olivia each a copy of More Hours in My Day by Emilie Barnes. That is one of the first books I read as a new homemaker, and it gave me so many ideas that I still use today. When I went to Amazon yesterday to buy myself a copy (I cannot find my copy anywhere! And I looked through it just a month ago!), it was unavailable. I bought three copies in early December, but now Amazon has no more. Strange.  So I bought it for my Kindle. Julie and I are going to FaceTime each Friday morning at 8:00 (my time--4:00PM her time) to discuss a chapter. I am so excited!

I worked a little bit yesterday and today on my January clean-out project, my storage room. I am overwhelmed! I am not even sure I can get it all done in one month! So far I have cleaned out and organized all my scrapbooking supplies (and who knows if I will ever scrapbook again, but if I do, I am ready!), and generally made a huge mess in the room pulling out boxes and making piles everywhere. Plus it's super dusty in there. Yuk.

It's just January 3. Let's keep on working on our new goals and resolutions!

Something New for 2018: Instagram

Big Sam's brother, Abe, and his wife Grace spent a couple of days with us over the New Year's weekend. While we were visiting Grace encouraged me to join Instagram (get an Instagram account? whatever the right way to say it is). So. I am going to sign up for Instagram and try to figure it out. I have no knowledge of how it works, how I will connect with other people, how it will will relate to my blog, etc.
But, I am excited to figure it out! Julie is getting an Instagram too, so we will have fun learning about instagram together.

I have begun some of my January goals. I am not sure what my exact exercise goals are, but so far I have run both yesterday and today. 4 miles total. That is a start!

I made a list of 12 areas of my home that I wanted to clean out, organize and deep clean. I assigned each area to one month of the year. January's space is my storage room. I may not finish it this month, but I have big aspirations! I plan to begin today. I wish I had a couple of days that I could block out and do it all at once, but I don't. So I plan to work in small chunks of time with hopefully a few blocks of 3-4 hours. It looks so bad in there that I don't even want to take before pictures! (But I might).

How are your January goals and plans coming along?

Menu Planning on Monday

Somehow I got on a email list for Stephanie at the Ultimate Meal Planning Bundle. Earlier this week she began a series of emails with free daily tips for bootcamp menu planning. Her most recent idea inspired me to look inside my pantry and freezer and take inventory of what I have. I plan to create my weekly supper menu and grocery list based on what I found.

Here is what I have to work with:
Freezer

• small pan of lasagna
• 1 container of chicken broth
• about half of a spiral sliced ham
• ham bone with ham attached (for soup)
• small bag of spaghetti
• 2 bags of onions and peppers blend
• 3 cups cooked shredded chicken
• 1 container of beef broth
• 5 bags of mixed vegetables
• 1 bag of corn
• 1/4 of a pork tenderloin
• 1 bag of green beans
• 2 bags of lima beans
• grilled chicken strips
• 1 bag of hash browns
• 6 containers of mystery soup (I can't tell what kind of soup it is)
• 1 container of a brown mystery soup or something? lentils maybe?
• 1 container of red mystery sauce--pasta sauce?

Pantry

• 1 large jar of pasta sauce
• 5 cans of tuna
• rotin
• pinto beans
• kidney beans
• chickpeas
• cream of chicken soup
• rotel
• baked beans
• chicken broth
• vegetable broth

I think we will take a chance and defrost the mystery soups for one or two meals. I plan to make some chicken fajitas with the shredded chicken and onion/pepper blend. We can eat the lasagna one night for supper, and the spaghetti one day for lunch. With the remaining frozen vegetables, pork tenderloin, and one of the broths, I can make a vegetable soup. (I'll buy some canned tomatoes to add to the soup.) One more meal idea is to serve the ham with the baked beans and make some potato salad to go along with that.

What's in your pantry and freezer that you can menu plan with?