We made a coconut chicken curry (left) and pad thai (right). We also made bubble tea to drink - which if you've never tried you MUST next time you have the chance! And for desert we had sweet sticky rice and mango. It was really yummy! Our friends had never had Thai food before and I LOVE it so I planned out the meal and we cooked together. Thai is amazing...a combination of hot, mild, sweet, and acidic all at the same time. It seriously is an explosion of flavors in your mouth. YUM! Anyway, next up is German food in a few weeks. It's been a lot of fun and a great excuse to get together instead of doing the same old thing together.
Family Pic
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Around the World with Friends
In addition to cleaning out my recipe stash, we have been doing another food related thing lately. We've been taking a trip around the world with our friends, Fabio and Vanessa. We pick a different country and have a whole meal based on it. So far we've done French (fondue), Mexican, American, Japanese, and now Thai.
We made a coconut chicken curry (left) and pad thai (right). We also made bubble tea to drink - which if you've never tried you MUST next time you have the chance! And for desert we had sweet sticky rice and mango. It was really yummy! Our friends had never had Thai food before and I LOVE it so I planned out the meal and we cooked together. Thai is amazing...a combination of hot, mild, sweet, and acidic all at the same time. It seriously is an explosion of flavors in your mouth. YUM! Anyway, next up is German food in a few weeks. It's been a lot of fun and a great excuse to get together instead of doing the same old thing together.
We made a coconut chicken curry (left) and pad thai (right). We also made bubble tea to drink - which if you've never tried you MUST next time you have the chance! And for desert we had sweet sticky rice and mango. It was really yummy! Our friends had never had Thai food before and I LOVE it so I planned out the meal and we cooked together. Thai is amazing...a combination of hot, mild, sweet, and acidic all at the same time. It seriously is an explosion of flavors in your mouth. YUM! Anyway, next up is German food in a few weeks. It's been a lot of fun and a great excuse to get together instead of doing the same old thing together.
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
Mission: Recipe Collection
I have SO many recipes and they are a complete mess! (see pile of about 200 recipes on the right). Plus, (on the left) someone just gave me their old recipe collection, which is much more organized than mine, for me to weed through and pick any recipes I want (at least 300 recipes). It's getting hard to cook with so many recipes on hand! It takes longer to find the recipe than cook it, it seems! Plus there are tons of recipes I've kept to try out SOMEDAY...only that day never comes. Hence...Mission Recipe Collection
I went through ALL of the recipes in the box on the left and picked out 40 or so I found interesting. I went through all of my recipes and organized them by type and then pulled out that ones I've never cooked. The plan: cook through the untried recipes over the next months. If I keep shifting a recipe to the bottom of the pile because I don't want to try it...it goes in the garbage. Obviously I'll never cook it!
So far I've made:
Yogurt dipped, oven fried chicken (ok, but not worth repeating so recipe got trashed)
Bbq pulled pork (pretty good...keeping!)
And cheesy one pot chicken, broccoli, rice dish (on the stove)
It's been great to not only get me on the path towards organization, but I have plenty of meals to choose from when I'm making my weekly menu. I'll let you know if I stumble across any must-tries!
I went through ALL of the recipes in the box on the left and picked out 40 or so I found interesting. I went through all of my recipes and organized them by type and then pulled out that ones I've never cooked. The plan: cook through the untried recipes over the next months. If I keep shifting a recipe to the bottom of the pile because I don't want to try it...it goes in the garbage. Obviously I'll never cook it!
So far I've made:
Yogurt dipped, oven fried chicken (ok, but not worth repeating so recipe got trashed)
Bbq pulled pork (pretty good...keeping!)
And cheesy one pot chicken, broccoli, rice dish (on the stove)
It's been great to not only get me on the path towards organization, but I have plenty of meals to choose from when I'm making my weekly menu. I'll let you know if I stumble across any must-tries!
Monday, January 16, 2012
2 Months
Elijah is 2 months old today and here is his official 2 month picture.
This boy is just SO sweet and easy going. And his most incredible development has been sleeping though the night! He still is waking up a bit earlier in the morning than I would like, but we're working on that. At least the clock always says 6 or 7 something instead of 2,3, or 4 something...I'll take it!
Elijah loves his play gym these days and can entertain himself for 20 minutes or so. He is also starting to see farther distances so he loves staring at the painted tree mural on his wall and watching his mobile. He seems to have a bit of discomfort from gas at times, so we started to give him some medicine in the form of oral drops a few times a day. They are strawberry flavored and he LOVES them! He gets all happy and starts opening his mouth wide. He also loves his new woombie swaddle and has started smiling when we put it on. Oh, and I forgot to mention that his first real smiles came on Christmas...what a perfect present for us!
Elijah is struggling a bit with the 45 minute intruder at naptime, but when he cries I just put him in is car seat (we don't have a bouncy seat or swing :( ) and he chills and often goes back to sleep, so that's fine for now. I'll take what I can get!
It's incredible to see how quickly Elijah has grown. He officially has outgrown all of his newborn clothes, which makes me a little sad. I especially was sad to see this little pj outfit get too small since it was the very first thing he wore when he was born.
Last night we put it on one very last time for a picture, but he hated being stuffed into it! Look how far the neck is pulled down from stretching to reach his height.
Oh well, we're happy that you're growing as it means you are healthy and each new day is bringing new fun changes.
This boy is just SO sweet and easy going. And his most incredible development has been sleeping though the night! He still is waking up a bit earlier in the morning than I would like, but we're working on that. At least the clock always says 6 or 7 something instead of 2,3, or 4 something...I'll take it! Elijah loves his play gym these days and can entertain himself for 20 minutes or so. He is also starting to see farther distances so he loves staring at the painted tree mural on his wall and watching his mobile. He seems to have a bit of discomfort from gas at times, so we started to give him some medicine in the form of oral drops a few times a day. They are strawberry flavored and he LOVES them! He gets all happy and starts opening his mouth wide. He also loves his new woombie swaddle and has started smiling when we put it on. Oh, and I forgot to mention that his first real smiles came on Christmas...what a perfect present for us!
Elijah is struggling a bit with the 45 minute intruder at naptime, but when he cries I just put him in is car seat (we don't have a bouncy seat or swing :( ) and he chills and often goes back to sleep, so that's fine for now. I'll take what I can get!Elijah really is a joy and it seems everywhere we go people really enjoy him and find him easy to hold and not fussy. (Although around 8pm at home he can be pretty crazy!) We brought him to Christmas and New Years at Jeyson's parents' home and then our mission's 4 day long retreat. He was a big hit and was very flexible and didn't mind being out at all (though we were so ready to come home!).
It's incredible to see how quickly Elijah has grown. He officially has outgrown all of his newborn clothes, which makes me a little sad. I especially was sad to see this little pj outfit get too small since it was the very first thing he wore when he was born.
Last night we put it on one very last time for a picture, but he hated being stuffed into it! Look how far the neck is pulled down from stretching to reach his height.
Oh well, we're happy that you're growing as it means you are healthy and each new day is bringing new fun changes.
Friday, January 13, 2012
Picutres for G-ma
I got a request from G-ma for a picture of Elijah to put in a frame. It was about time for an updated photo shoot anyway, so off to the couch we went and 135 pictures later (no joke...it is hard getting a decent picture of a newborn!!) here are our best ones.
This guy is just growing up so fast! It feels like each day I get him from the crib, there is a new, updated version of him waiting for me!
Finally getting some real smiles these days
They're addictive!
But you can't count on them no matter how many silly noises and faces you make. When the concentrated look comes out...
There's not too much you can do about it.
And then, without changing anything, the smiles are back!
These are some of my favorites. This boy is such a peaceful little sweetie and these photos show it
And the GIANT blue eyes...who can resist!
Just wait until one day they're begging me for another cookie and to take him to the circus! How will I say no?!?
Wow! That was hard work! Too exhausted to even keep his pacifier in! Where's my swaddle? I'm the one who needs the nap most!
This guy is just growing up so fast! It feels like each day I get him from the crib, there is a new, updated version of him waiting for me!
Finally getting some real smiles these days
They're addictive!
But you can't count on them no matter how many silly noises and faces you make. When the concentrated look comes out... 
There's not too much you can do about it. 
And then, without changing anything, the smiles are back!
These are some of my favorites. This boy is such a peaceful little sweetie and these photos show it 
And the GIANT blue eyes...who can resist! 
Just wait until one day they're begging me for another cookie and to take him to the circus! How will I say no?!?
Wow! That was hard work! Too exhausted to even keep his pacifier in! Where's my swaddle? I'm the one who needs the nap most!
Wednesday, January 4, 2012
Braun Wagon
The wagon is one of those things that seems iconic to American culture. It is completely normal to see kids hauling their toys in most suburban sidewalks or parents taking their kids to the park aboard one. Interestingly, this is a very American thing and Wagons are unheard of in Brazil! For Christmas then, Jeyson decided to build one and give it to his parents where it would be useful for farm chores and for the grandkids to play with when they are there. 
Elijah relaxing in the wagon waiting as preparations for cousin Lucas' 1 year old party were underway. Later at the party, all the kids took turn piling into the wagon and going on "hay rides."
Here is Lucas, Elijah's cousin on his first ride! He was a bit nervous at first but was soon loving it!
The only affordable wheels were these tall and skinny wheelbarrow wheels and tires. Even so, just the price of the wheels added up to more than the price of a whole wagon in the US! It was still cheaper than if it had been regular american style wagon wheels, which cost 55 US $ Each!
Lucas attempts to pull Elijah with Grandpa's help.
Elijah relaxing in the wagon waiting as preparations for cousin Lucas' 1 year old party were underway. Later at the party, all the kids took turn piling into the wagon and going on "hay rides."
Here is Lucas, Elijah's cousin on his first ride! He was a bit nervous at first but was soon loving it!Welding the frame together. Steering linkage used some aeronautical parts and all aeronautical hardware. Jeyson used Arc welding and oxyacetilene welding on the frame. Also, the wagon is designed so all the wooden sides come off making it a flatbed.
The only affordable wheels were these tall and skinny wheelbarrow wheels and tires. Even so, just the price of the wheels added up to more than the price of a whole wagon in the US! It was still cheaper than if it had been regular american style wagon wheels, which cost 55 US $ Each!
Lucas attempts to pull Elijah with Grandpa's help.
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