Randomness

16 days from this moment I will be at the airport on my way home. Because of that, I have been having trouble sleeping. This past week I have had no more than 2 hours of sleep a day. One day I was up for 37 hours. Can I tell you something? It sucks.

Tonight is no different. The house is super quiet, and here I sit wide awake making lists. Lists of what I need to do before I leave, what I need to do when I get to Honduras, what I need to do over the next year. I am making wish lists, and goal lists and so on and so on. As much as I love lists, I need a break before I start making lists in double.

Instead I am going to try to clear out my brain some and share my randomness with you all. This probably wont make any sense to anyone - not even myself - but work with me here.

• I have so much stuff still to pack, and only 3 more buckets to shove it in. I *really* need to look for some space bags and see if I can make me some more room in the buckets. But seriously, where is everything going to go?
• 16 days left. Man the time is passing so weirdly. It is flying by, and yet it is passing so freaking slow. And they can't get here fast enough. I am going through withdrawels of my husband. It seems like everytime I talk to him now, I have tears in my eyes. But up until recently I wasn't really that emotional about it. Maybe its hormones?
• I went to The Wal-Marts today. I was looking for some clothes for me. I really need some. I was so frustrated. Thanks to the awesome recipes on PW's website, the insomnia - and the munchies that go along with it, I am not losing weight. Which sucks in and of itself. However, I am also in between sizes right now, and I am not getting the larger size when I already know that I will lose weight when I get back to Honduras. And why waste the money for a week or two. And I wont get the smaller one because how do I know it will look ok on me anyways. (if its a $3 clearance item, thats different, I will get that). And it is not to great on your self esteem when you go clothes shopping and cant find anything that fits right.
• My arthritis really has been bothering me this past week. There were a couple of days that I could barely move. And could barely pick up/hold Ari. My medication just wasn't working. Its funny though, because when it doesn't work, I can pinpoint out where exactly the arthritis is in my body. Its in my neck, both shoulders, both hands and wrists. It is also in my left knee, and my entire left foot. As well as my ankle and leg where I broke it last year.
• I bought seeds last night at Target. (ugh - I so don't like Target, and do my best not to go there). Lets hope that I can make it past customs without them being confiscated. Some people are lucky that they aren't detected, and some people have them confiscated. If mine are confiscated, I will have my mom send me a ton in the next box she ships to me. I will get the seeds that I want, one way or another.
• Ari still needs her passport. I am getting antsy because I dont have my appointment yet. But that is not my fault. I have to wait until no more than 14 day out from my trip date. I can call Tuesday to make her appointment. Hopefully I will feel more at ease after I make the appointment. (probably not - I will probably feel more at ease when I have her passport in my hands)
• I am reading Square Foot Gardening, by Mel Barthalomew and really like it. I got it from the library, but want a copy for myself. It is one of those books that I would love to have as a reference. Or maybe the All New Square Foot Gardening. I haven't seen that yet at the library, but I wonder how different it really is. My mom is on the lookout for both of those books at yardsales etc. If any of you have an old copy you dont want, I would gladly take it.
• I got a comment from someone the other day asking me if I would be interested in having old (used) magazines sent to me each month. I thought about it and said YES!! I'm not even gone yet, and I am already excited waiting to get my first package. (she is going to send them to my mom, then my mom will send them to me once a month).
• Along the same tokens, if anyone has any old hand me down books - adult or children - I would gladly take them off your hands if you want to mail them to me. (actually my mom - but then she would mail them to me)
• If you look on my sidebars you will notice that the links are gone. I am hoping to get some time and put my 2009 goals on there, then at the end of the year go back and post what I got done vs what I didn't get done. All the links that were there before are now in a post - with the link to the post posted instead.

Feeling Domestic

This past week I have been trying to get everything together. There is less than 3 weeks left until I am back in Honduras. And while it sounds like I still have a bit of time, those last 3 weeks will fly by. They already are flying by, LOL.


This time packing to leave is harder than last year. Last year everyone went down with me, so everyone had a ticket, which meant everyone had 2 suitcases - 100 pounds - that they were able to bring. This time instead of 8 people going down, it is just 4 of us (plus the baby, but she doesn't get a luggage allowance). Which means only 8 suitcases. Well my mom is going down too, and I told her I was getting one of her luggage allowances as well. So I have 9 buckets total, and in those 9 buckets I have to pack all of Andre and Jordan's stuff. As well as Ari's stuff, my clothes, Levi's clothes (he had none when we came up here, and now he has a bunch). Then I have to pack clothes for Lana, Johan, Mickey, Isa, Gisela, and Sendi. There is stuff that I bought for the house. Shoes and what not for the kids. School supplies and so much other stuff. I have 6 of the 9 buckets packed, and I dont know how I am going to fit everything else in the last 3 buckets.


Anyway - to give myself a break from the stress of packing, I have been cooking. (I know I mentioned it in the last post). I thought I would share some of the recipes of what I made this week.


I am sorry that there are no pictures. My laptop is having issues (it turned itself off the other day, and now wont turn on) and I still havent gotten a card reader, so I can't upload pictures with my moms desktop.


On Wednesday I made BBQ meat for sandwhiches, mashed potatoes and spinach. YUM. This recipe is one of my favorites. It is easy, its cooked in the crock pot, which means dump it in, and forget about it until time to eat, and it is just so good.


On Thursday we had Baked Soy Lemon Pork Chops, PW dinner rolls, and butter noodles.

On Sunday we are having PW Brisket - but I am more excited about leftovers on Monday. PW Cowboy Nachos. I have been wanting these for awhile.

Lets get started shall we?

Barbecue

• 2.5 pound boneless roast
• 2 medium onions
• 1 (12 oz) can cola (Coke/Pepsi)
• 1/3 cup Worcestershire sauce
• 1.5 TBSP apple cider vinegar
• 1.5 TSP beef bouillon granules
• 3/4 TSP dry mustard
• 3/4 TSP chili powder
• 1/4 - 1/2 TSP ground red pepper (cayenne)
• 3 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 cup ketchup
• 1 TBSP butter or margarine

Place roast in a 4 quart crock pot/slow cooker. Add onion. In a seperate bowl combine soda and next 7 ingredients. Remove 1 cup of sauce and chill covered in the fridge. Pour remaining sauce over roast.* Cover and cook on HIGH for 6 hours, or LOW for 9 hours or until roast is super tender. Remove roast with chopped onion from cooker using a slotted spoon, and shred meat with 2 forks.

Combine reserved sauce, ketchup and butter in a saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until thoroughly heated. Pour sauce over meat and stir.

I also have made this recipe using chicken breasts. I just threw some boneless skinless chicken breasts into some seasoned water and boiled them until they were done. Then I shredded the meat, and added it to the sauce and let it heat through. Then I took the meat out and added it to the reserved sauce/ketchup mixture. I don't know why I didn't just throw the chicken into the crockpot to cook. Maybe I didn't know that was what I was going to make, and had to do a rush version?

I have used the left-over BBQ chicken meat and made BBQ pizzas for the kids too. I just take some pizza dough, smear it with cream cheese, put on some of the BBQ meat, top with cheese and bake. The kids love it.

*I usually make an extra batch of sauce to add to the crockpot, but thats just me.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

Soy Lemon Chops

• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1 TBSP Worcestershire sauce
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 TBSP lemon juice
• 1/2 TSP ground black pepper
• 1 TSP vegetable oil
• 4 pork chops

In a large ziploc bag or shallow dish stir together the soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic, lemon juice, pepper and oil. Add the pork chops, and turn to coat evenly. Cover and refrigerate at least an hour, up to 8 hours. The longer they marinate, the better they taste.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Place the pork chops in a dish and bake in a pre-heated oven for 35-40 minutes*, basting often with the marinade.**

*I use those thin sliced boneless pork chops, so my cooking time is alot less than 35-40 minutes. Your time can vary too depending on the type of pork chop and thickness that you use.

**Even though the recipe says to use the marinade, I made an extra batch of marinade to baste with.

A Day In The Life Of

One of my first posts that I had planned to write about was what a day in my life was like. Then I got here, and promptly forgot. Now that 3 of the kids are in school down there, and then Andre and Jordan will be added to the school mix, PLUS be homeshooled, I have begun to think about my schedule and think about how am I going to get everything done.

My schedule, once I go back, will be adjsuted probably for the entire month of May until I get everything under control, but I think I have a basic schedule down.

Below is what my schedule was (before I broke my foot and couldn't do anything) and the stuff that is in blue will be what I have to add on.

3:20AM - the alarm goes off for Lale to get up to go up the mountain. I get up, turn off the alarm and wake up Lale. I lay back down complaining to myself that 3:20AM is just to freaking early to be waking up.

3:30AM - I again wake up Lale. I let him know that I am not waking him up again because I am going back to sleep, and if he doesn't wake up, or if he is late getting back with the milk, well its his own fault. He *usually* gets up.

4:00AM - Lale heads out the door to get the horse, and get him saddled. I get up go into the kitchen and make a cup of coffee for him to either drink before he goes up, or on the way. I also will make something for breakfast for everyone so that when the time comes it is already made and just needs to be re-heated. Unless its a cereal day.

4:30AM - Lale leaves to go up the mountain to milk the cows. I lay back down, but dont go back to sleep. I just lay there and enjoy the quiet for a bit.

5:00AM - I get up and start to gather the dirty clothes, soap and other clothes washing items that I need and head out the door. I also wake up Jordan and send her to my bed in case the baby wakes up.

5:15AM - 7:00AM - I spend this time (hopefully no one wakes up) washing the clothes out back - by hand. It would make it so much easier if we had a pila, and not just a cement/rock table that is to short for me. But I don't complain to much because believe it or not, I enjoy washing the clothes by hand. It gives me time to myself to think, and as silly as this sounds, I enjoy seeing them clean, and knowing that I did it.

6:15AM - time to wake up the kids to start the day. They make their beds, and clean up for breakfast. Jordan can make breakfast for Isa and Johan if I am not done with the clothes in time.

7:00AM - Kids sit down to eat breakfast, and I come in. Andre will go hang up the wet clothes. I take a quick shower and change my clothes.

7:15AM - I get Lale's breakfast made so that it is ready when he comes home. Once he gets home, I will get the milk ready to either be boiled if we are keeping it, or I get it strained and put in the right container if we are selling it to the milk man, while he gets the horse taken care of and put away. If he is working up the mountain and send the milk back with a moso (helper) then I have his breakfast and lunch already packed to send back with the moso.

7:20AM - Isa and Johan have to get ready for school.

7:30AM - I take Isa and Johan off to school, while the other kids finish up breakfast, wash the dishes and Andre and Jordan begin their schoolwork. Mickey and Lana also have 'school' to do for an hour. Then they can play.

8:30AM - I should be back by now and I check over schoolwork and to make sure they know what they are doing for the morning. I finish cleaning up the kitchen and begin to clean the house.

• sweep the entire house
• mop the entire house
• make my bed
• clean the kitchen counters
• do the weekly/daily deep cleaning
• work on lunch for the kids

11:00AM - have the older kids put away their schooling for now, eat and get ready for school. Get lunch ready for Lale.

11:30AM - drop off Mickey, Jordan and Andre at school. Pick up Isa and Johan and go home.

12:30PM - feed Johan and Isa lunch.

1:00PM - put little ones down for a nap. Johan and Isa can begin their homework while I finish the daily cleaning. (While the list doesn't look that long, it sort of it. The daily/weekly deep cleaning tasks take a while to do). Clean up after lunch, wash dishes.

3:00PM - begin dinner prep if there is any.

4:00PM - begin dinner

5:00PM - go pick up Andre, Jordan, and Mickey.

5:30PM - eat dinner

6:00PM - help the older three with their homework if needed, get the kitchen cleaned up from dinner, dishes washed etc. etc. Little kids to take a bath and get ready for bed.

7:00PM - older kids finish homework, and take a bath, little kids have play time for awhile

8:00PM - little kids clean up and in bed by 8:15PM

9:00PM - older kids in bed. Probably make a snack for Lale, as he usually is hungry again this time of night.

9:15PM - I take another shower (I have to go to bed clean, or I can't sleep), do last minute straightening of the house.

10:00PM - usually I am heading to bed about now. But it depends on the baby and what time she is up to eat.

After I finish cleaning up from dinner, I will sit down for a bit and watch a movie, or read a magazine (for the 500th time - because I only have so many books/magazines there) and will get up to do things as they come into my head.

On Sunday evenings I plan out the menu for the week, write out what needs to be done each day for the meals. For instance, lets say that friday we are having lemon soy pork chops, and on Sunday I want to make the Pioneer Womans Brisket - which takes 2 days to marinate (and you can make her Cowboy Nachos with it YUM!!). And on Saturday morning I want to make the Pioneer Womans Cinnamon Rolls. So on my paper, I have it listed that in the AM I will throw the pork chops in a container to marinate. I will also throw the brisket in a (different) container to marinate. Then in the PM I will make up a batch of the cinnamon rolls, and put them in the fridge, so that Saturday morning all that has to be done is they come up and can be thrown in the oven to cook. But I have my plan for the week.

I also would like to take a day - not sure if it is going to be Saturday or Sunday (am leaning more towards Sunday) and I will be baking rolls and bread for the week. Thats the plan anyways, but we will see how that works out, LOL. (I would make bread on a daily basis BUT I sold my bread machine before I moved down there last year - and making bread by hand daily, well that just seems to daunting to me.)

*The Pioneer Woman has a page listing her recipes if you are interested. I would highly suggest that you check it out! Just to see the pictures of the awesome food is worth it. While you are there, check out all of her other parts of her website too. (I have her to thank for me not losing anymore weight since having Ari. I have been making her recipes making sure that they are something that I can make in Honduras.)

Her cooking page is here.

Her recipe list is here.

I *heart* Pioneer Woman

Thats My King! I wonder if you know him...

Hope you all have a happy Easter.

Rock On

When Andre came back to the US to go to school, my mom was able to get him guitar lessons. Now he began the lessons around the beginning of October, and he only has lessons for a half an hour, one day a week. (They are lessons given by the school he goes to)

On the 24th of this month he has a talent show at his school, and today he was practicing what he was going to play for the talent show, and I thought I would share it with you. Hope you enjoy it.

(and please ignore the hair. I hate how long it is, and cant wait until it is time to go to Honduras. The weekend before we go I am going to cut it short!! YAY!!!)

Like a weed

That is how she is growing. Like a weed. A fat weed at that.

Think it has anything to do with the 6-7 ounces she eats every 3 hours or so? She is such a piggy, and it is beginning to show in her belly.

She looks like a sack of flour with barbie legs stuck in the bottom



They are getting fatter though




I think most of her weight has been gained in her 2nd chin



Look at that second chin



Halfway smiling








Look at how fat she is getting













One of my favorite thing to look at on her.Her lips.

Was it/Is it worth it?

Since I have been back, I have been asked in different forms, was it worth it for me to have gone to Honduras. The obvious answer is yes it was - and since I am going back, it still is worth it. It irritates me somewhat though, when I tell people yes it was worth it, that they don't believe me. Oh you are just saying that so that you dont have to admit defeat. And that isn't it at all. There was a big adjustment period that we all had to go through, but in the grand scheme of things, it wasn't that bad. It could have been alot worse.

I still get the whole what are you doing to your children line of questioning, and then I get an attitude when I give them an honest answer. I am giving my children a chance at a family. Me being here in the US, along with the kids, and my husband in Honduras - what kind of family life is that? I know that there are people who are living this way right now, and it is so hard, and it certainly isn't a long term solution. I am also giving my children a chance to see how other people live. I am a big believer that traveling, and experiencing other countries is a HUGE educational experience. While they are being homeschooled (I love SONLIGHT), they are also going to a (private) Honduran school. Why both you ask. I think that even though the Honduran school is below US educational standards, it is a way to re-inforce spanish in a way that I cannot. My children can learn to speak it with the correct grammar, as well as write it and read it. Next year Andre will begin his career classes in his school. He is at an age that come next school year he can choose a career and they will begin to teach him that. He is looking into Auto Mechanics right now, but he has a whole year to decide. Again, learning a trade while in Honduras could help him when he comes back to the US for college. He will have some education in a trade where he can work while going to college. (unfortunately he wants to learn Marine Biology - and that just isnt a career that they teach in the Honduran high school system, LOL).

Everytime someone asks me if it was worth it, I sit back and I think about the 8 months that I was there. Even with all the issues that we had to deal with - and there were alot - alot more than I have posted on here - and each and everytime the answer is yes.

I love to hear the little ones speak spanish now. I love how to them (and to me - because if you are going to move to Honduras you HAVE to be able to look at things this way) that everything is an Adventure. A month with no running water, no problem. It is raining hard enough that we can all take a shower out back. Lather up, and let the rain do the rinsing. Or the creek is right up the street - perfect place to take a bath. We need to wash the dishes? Load them up in a bucket, and haul it up to the creek to wash. Kids adapt to just about everything, and mine are no exception. And I am proof that adults too can adapt.

Growing up anytime my mom asked for help in her garden, I always told my mother that my hands were not made to touch dirt. Flowers are pretty and nice and all, but I am not a garden person. However I now have a notebook filled with plans for garden when I get back. Granted its for a vegitable garden to help cut down on our food costs, and to help up the amount and varieties of veggies we eat, but it is still a garden. I am nervous to begin this garden because I have no clue what I am doing, but again - everything is an adventure. I hope to get my kids involved with it so that they can learn how to garden and can teach there friends and others.

This move has changed me in so many ways. It has made me think about so many different things. But more importantly, I found my home. A place where I feel at ease, where I feel content. And it actually has nothing to do with my husband being there. There was a time when we were first adjusting to everything, we had some major issues, and there were days that I asked myself did I move thousands of miles just to end up thinking of divorce. And I did some major thinking about if my husband and I were to seperate, and the one thing that was clear was I was at home. Even if we did seperate, or something like that, I would not leave Honduras. I would not leave my home.

I still feel that way - not about leaving my husband, we worked through our issues, LOL - but about Honduras being my home. I know my mother is here, and my brothers (ok my sisters too - but they don't count since they dont talk to me) and my extended family are here. I also know that this is where I was born and raised. Laurel is my hometown, but it isn't my home. I don't feel comfortable here anymore. I don't feel at ease anymore. I feel like a visitor, and that is what I am. I just want to go home.

I asked the little ones still in Honduras (Mickey, Isa, Johan, and Lana) if they wanted to come to America, or stay in Honduras and this is what they said -

• Mickey said that she wanted to stay in Honduras but she wanted to have someone she knows stay in America so that they can send stuff she wants in the mail. Especially macaroni and cheese, and chocolate cupcakes and play food and dress up clothes.
• Isa said she wants to stay in Honduras but she wants (these) special cupcakes from America.
• Johan said he wants to ride in the airplane again but still stay in Honduras. (guess he just wants to fly from La Ceiba to San Pedro to Tegucigalpa then back again??)
• Lana - she didn't answer my question, she just kept telling me that she wasn't done talking to me yet, LOL.

I then asked the older two about going back to Honduras, and suprise suprise,

• Jordan said she is ready to go back. I thought for sure she was going to say she wasn't ready yet. She hates to say good-bye to her friends (dont we all?) but she misses her life in Honduras she said. Which really and honestly suprised me. I thought for sure she would have said no she wasnt ready. But I do know she misses her brothers and sisters in Honduras. I also know she wishes that she hadn't left early to spend that extra time up here with her father. (She wasn't supposed to come to the US to visit her dad until November, but he was in Guatemala in August and asked if he could take her for those extra 3 months since she wasn't in school down there yet, and I said yes. So instead of being with him from Nov. - Jan, she was with him from August to January. Before this she has never been away from me for that long, and that far. It was VERY rough on her, and very hard. It also wont happen again.)
• Andre is ready to go back, but he wants to wait another month so that he can finish out the school year. The school has accelerated his classes so that he can complete his school year before we leave, but he will be missing out on a couple of fun field trips and a dance. And he has to say good-bye to Madison, his 'giiiiiirl-friend'. (oh how I love to give him a hard time about having a girlfriend) Sadly though, I cannot wait until the end of the school year. We bought the tickets in January for May 5th - and at the time that I bought the tickets he was not going to be going back with me, but staying with my mom for another school year. But things change, and he is going back with us. He keeps talking about all the fishing he is going to do, and his machete's and bike and how he will get to see Pedro again and so much other stuff. So he is excited too.

My mom is even going back with me for 10 days. When she comes back, she can maybe post a guest blog about her experiences and what she thought about our life. (she will be back on her birthday. Poor mom, saying good-bye to all the grandkids and spending the day flying, and then landing at 2AM on your birthday. Having to spend your birthday recovering from vacation)

Twitter...

I just signed up for twitter for when I am back in Honduras. I may not always be able to get online (as we all know, LOL) but I always have my cell phone, so I can update twitter when I am not able to update my cell.

Some Random Thoughts

Operation Shoebox

"The way out of poverty is education." by Jose Mariano Castillo. When I read the linked article, this quote really struck me, because it is so true. (read the article - its a great story) I have been thinking - for a long time - about a way to help out people in Honduras, and among a few other ideas, education is one of them. I have alot of ideas in my head that are just sort of bouncing around, and I need to sit down and get them on paper. But one of the things that I want to do is to make it easier for the kids in my area of Honduras to go to school. As you all know, I live in a mountain town of Honduras. Which also means a poor town of Honduras. While the schooling is free, being able to go to school is not. Each child needs to buy a daily uniform, as well as a uniform for PE day. There are different shoes that are needed for the day to day schooling, as well as for PE day. Then there are the supplies. To start out with, I would like to somehow help out the kids to go to school by being able to give them a backpack with the needed school supplies. Eventually I would like to try to find sponsers to help out the highest acheiving children in each grade to maybe pay for a private school for the kids - the ones who show that they want it by their grades. (Private school per month is between $40 for elementary school, and $80 for the higher grades), plus the cost of uniforms and supplies. But that is in the future. For now though, I ask you all that read this - think about your house, and your car and your desk at work. How many pens and pencils do you have floating around? How about those free pens you get from the bank or from wherever else. How many pens do you really need. Why dont you get a shoe box and just start to throw the pens in the shoe box. Then when it gets full ship it to my mom and she will ship it to me to be given to the kids in the school. If you have the urge, and funds and want and see a box of crayons on sale, or pencils, or rulers, or any other school supply and want to pick it up and stick in the box, that would be great too. At a later date I will post a wishlist of items on one of my side bars, as well as an address to send them to if you feel the need. It would be wonderful if every child at the school would have what they need to begin the new school year next year. Keep an eye out for an upcoming blog with more information, as well as the notification of the wishlist on the sidebar.

There are a total of 80 children that go to school at the local school. I would love for them all to be able to continue to go to school next year as well.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I can't wait to get home. Not just because I miss my family, but more so that I can take charge of my kids again. No one can raise your children like yourself. During the week, my inlaws take care of the little ones while Lale is at work. Unfortunately that isn't a good thing. They love my children, but they let my children get away with so much. And there is no discipline - until Lale comes to pick them up. Well kids need discipline right then and there when something happens.

See, my sister in laws kids live with my in-laws. Because my sister in law in here in the US, and their father isn't in the picture (hasn't been except for when they were first born) everyone felt sorry for them. So they had no discipline growing up. Now at 15 and 17 they are horrible. They have no respect for my in-laws, who have been the ones raising them for the last 12 years. The words that come out of their mouths when they talk to eachother and others is horrible, and my kids are picking that up. And because no one will spank them, or do anything except say wait until your papi gets here, my kids are becoming horrible.

Today, while I was talking to Mickey, Isa was in the background, mad because she was told to sit down, so she told Jessica (the 15 yr old daughter of my sister in law) callate cara de burro - which means shut up donkey face. While I was laughing on the inside - because really when you hear someone call someone else a donkey face, its a bit funny - I was mad because Isa knows better. And this isn't the first time she has called people names. She told my father in law that he was a burro que come basura - a donkey that eats trash. She likes to tell the neighborhood kids that they are stupid, and just a bunch of stuff that she knows better. I got all over her case today and had her crying for acting like that. But that isn't going to do anything to stop it. Nothing is going to happen until I am there again full time, and lay down the law.

I am having the same issue with Johan too. But at least on his part, he doesn't know what he is saying. He repeats what my sister in laws daughters say to my mother in law. And in one way its worse - way worse than being called a donkey - but in another way its just a bit better because he is just repeating what he hears, and he has no clue that what he is saying is really bad. (I am not even going to put it on here, what he says)

They are going to hate life when I get back, because I so don't put up with that crap. And I refuse to allow my children to become like their cousins. I refuse to let my children just run amock and do what they want and come and go as they please, and just turn into hellions. Out of all of the cousins, (in Honduras) none of them are really disciplined. And that pisses me off. Kids who are left to do what they want, usually dont get better as they get older, they get worse. But whatever. To each his own I guess.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

I keep thinking what is wrong with me - why am I so stressed about moving to Honduras - AGAIN. Then I realized, it was my way of thinking. I am not moving to Honduras again. I am not moving back to Honduras either. I never moved from Honduras, I just left for a 4 month vacation. (If you can call having a baby vacation, LOL). The only thing I have to do is get Ari's birth certificate, and get some summer clothes for Levi. Everything else can be done in Honduras. If I get a chance, then I want to go shopping and pick up a bunch of stuff that I want for the house, but other than a squeegie and a mop bucket, I don't NEED anything that is on my list.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

My in laws had their appointment today at the US embassy in Honduras, and they were approved for a visa!! They will be here in the US to visit my sister in law, my brother in law and other family sometime later this month. I am so happy for them. They finally get a break.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

And finally, a more recent picture of Ari. This was taken earlier this week.

Honduras 3 - 1 Mexico

On the road to the World Cup, once again Honduras beat Mexico.

http://www.goal.com/en-us/news/114/mexico/2009/04/02/1187472/honduras-deal-mexico-costly-defeat

I am sure that there is tons of celebrating going on in the streets of Honduras right about now. Wish I was there too ;)

Only 33 more days to go, and I will be there.

Kitchen Sink Cooking

Welcome to the first (and probably only) episode of Kitchen Sink Cooking. (I am calling it kitchen sink cooking, because that is how I cook. I make a recipe, then begin adding all sorts of things to the recipe that originally wasn't there - I can add everything including the kitchen sink) I would like for this to become a weekly recipe thing, but I know me, and I also know that there are only 34 more days left until I go back to who knows when internet, but maybe I can get at least another two or three episodes of KSC.

I am not the best cook. I make certain things really well, but they are special meals, not everyday meals. For instance, I make an awesome lasagna and cheesecake. But it isnt something that I can make on an everyday basis. Not even on a weekly basis - it costs to much money. Another thing I do well is I cook for alot of people really well. When I have to cook for one or two people it never works out right. So I guess its good that I have so many kids - I can cook for an army all the time.

While in Honduras I lost alot of weight. 50ish pounds. And it wasnt due to any parasite either. At first it was because it was so hot that I just didn't want to eat. And add to that I had a bunch of work that I had to do, and get used to doing, that when it came time for everyone to eat, well I got everyone elses food ready and handed out, and by the time everyone had there plate, people were bringing their empty plates in the kitchen to be washed. So I would clean up the dishes and the kitchen and tell myself that I would eat when I was done. Then by the time I was done, I no longer was hungry, or I was just to tired to eat. Then I got pregnant. I found out I was pregnant right after my surgery, and poor Jordan was doing alot of the cooking (reheating) and because I was in the bed, I was out of sight, out of mind. I didn't want to make it any harder on her, so I wouldn't bother her about not eating. When I was really hungry, I would send her to the pulperia to get a cup o noodles soup, and that is what I would eat for the day. But that was ok to me because at the beginning of my pregnancy I just didn't want anything really. I didn't get sick, I just passed my days semi nausous. Then later in the pregnancy I would have cravings for certain foods, and they wouldn't be available. (Cheddar cheese was one of them). And if I couldn't eat what I was craving, then I wouldn't eat. Because if I tried to eat what I wasn't craving, I would just throw it up. There were times when all I had was some hard cheese over some fresh fried tortillas. The last month or so that I was in Honduras all I had was potatoes and ketchup. I would fry a potato just so that I could eat Don Julio's Ketchup. I went through a gallon of ketchup in two weeks. It wasn't until I got back in the US did I realize that it was what I was eating (or lack there of) that caused so much of my hair to fall out. Ari was taking all the nutrients she needed, and in doing so, she was causing my hair to fall out. (now I look super sexy - its growing back in, and so all around my head it is sort of fluffy looking under my thin thin hair, LMAO)

Now that I know what is available, and at a good price for us in Honduras, I am taking advantage of being in the US and looking up recipes that will work well in Honduras. I thought I would post them here for you. I would like to say that it will be a weekly post, but I know better. I have a bunch of recipes to share though, so we will see.


Today's recipe is Honduran Coconut Bread.

I got the original recipe from Olancho Bound Gringa's blog, and I like how easy it seemed to be, and it had ingredients that are readily available in Honduras so I decided to make it the other day.

When I first made it, I took the original recipe and doubled it. I also made some adjustments to it. I didn't have shortening, so I used olive oil. And I used splenda instead of sugar. Also in the directions - it says baking soda in the ingredient list, and baking powder in the instructions - and I used baking soda.

So I mixed up the batter, and put it in the pans. The batter made 3 loaves of bread. I made one loaf plain coconut, one loaf with dried cranberries, and one load with more splenda and cinnamon added to it. Then I decided to taste them. The plain coconut one wasn't to great. It tasted of baking soda. (and when I was putting the 8 tsp in, I had to open a new box of baking soda, and I may have added 1 tsp to much to the batter). The cinnamon and extra splenda was better, but still had the baking soda flavor to it. (I mixed up one batter, then split it into 3 different mixes). Then we tried the dried cranberry loaf. YUM. It was eaten up almost right away. The cranberries took away the baking soda flavor.

A side view of the three loaves that I made

The plain coconut bread

The cinnamon loaf that I made. It isn't burnt, its just the cinnamon.

A view of the cranberry loaf.

Because I wasn't sure if the baking soda flavor had to do with me possibly adding 1 tsp to much, or if I should have used baking powder instead. So I went online and looked up what the difference was between the soda and powder, and decided that I was going to use baking powder in my next attempt. I also thought that since this would be for my family, muffins would be much better for my kids than a loaf that you would have to slice. If they were in muffin form, the kids could just grab one and go.

With all of that information, I went shopping, picking up some other items to make different versions of the coconut bread.



The ingredients used in todays muffins.


Here is the recipe, with the amounts, that I used (I tripled it because of my family size)

• 6 cups of flour
• 2 cups of sugar (and I used sugar the second time around)
• 8 tsp baking powder
• 4 tsp baking soda
• 1 tbsp salt
• 4 1/2 cups of milk (although I accidently misread the original amount, so that when I multiplied it by 3, I made it 6 cups of milk. oops)
• 2 tbsp melted shortening
• 1 tbsp vanilla
• 3 eggs, beaten
• 3 cups coconut
• *dried pineapple
• **crushed pineapple
• ** marachino cherries
• ***dried cranberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees

1. Sift together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
2. Add shortening, milk and vanilla. (note to self, either warm the milk a little bit, or do not mix the shortening into the milk. Think about it. Melted shortening, being mixed into cold milk equals no longer melted shortening. Yeah, thats what I did.)
3. Add in the beaten egg and coconut.
4. Bake at 350 for 1 hour in a greased loaf pan****.

* Pina Colada Muffins - I added dried pineapple to part of the coconut bread batter to make what I call the PC muffins. They were yummy. I had 12 ounces of dried pineapple that I cut up and added to the batter. However, I also had a 16 month old snacking on the pineapple while I was cutting it up. So I would say maybe 8 ounces of the dried pineapple actually made it into the batter.

Levi helping me seperate the dried pineapple. Some for the bowl, some for his mouth.

The dried pineapple - what was left after Levi.

The Hawaiin muffins on the left, the Pina Colada ones on the right.

Hawaiin ones on the bottom, Pina Colada on the top.

Pina Colado on the left, Hawaiin on the right.

** Hawaiin Muffins - I only call them Hawaiin muffins because when I thought of coconut, the cherries and pineapple together it makes me think of Hawaii. This one is my favorite out of all of the different muffin variations I made today. These muffins were extra moist due to the liquid from the crushed pineapples. (I did drain them, but obviously I wasn't able to take all of the liquid out, which was fine)

Here is the crushed pineapple and cherries all cut up and mixed together.

And the reason why, if you are going to cut the cherries you should wear gloves. (can you see how pink my fingertips are?)

***Dried Cranberries - I just mixed in a bunch of dried cranberries with some plain batter, just like I did with the bread.

And here are the cranberry coconut muffins. In the background are the Pina Colada muffins as well as the plain coconut muffins.

**** When I made it originally, I found that 1 hour at 350 was to long. BUT my moms oven has issues, so I don't know if it really was to long, or if it was the oven. When I made the jumbo muffins today it took them approx 25 - 30 minutes to cook. So when you make this bread, make sure you keep an eye on it, and on the clock to see if you have to adjust the time, or if it was just my moms crazy oven.