All things yummy....

 

 

As things start to settle more and more (as in us getting settled not the political situation), every day and it's schedule is becoming more 'normal'. Roughly my mornings are filled with coloring, entertaining, and teaching. A huge part of my time is also spent in the kitchen, and on my computer looking for creativity. Thank You Pinterest!!!

 

I guess you could say in the morning I'm teaching others and in the afternoons I'm trying to teach myself. The kitchen has been my grounds for experimentation, and trial and error. At home I'm no stranger to the kitchen. Mother instituted the H.I.T. program in our home at a young age. For those of you that are wondering, H.I.T stood for Homemaker In Training. Don't I have such a witty mom :)! Anyway the 'program' meant those mother thought old enough (mainly me!), were responsible for planning and preparing supper one night a week. This of course did not exclude you from helping in the kitchen the rest of the week. But the difference was you had the 'privilege' of coming up with the menu for that evening. And learning the age old lesson of trial and error.
As a young girl I was the child that thrived on a scheduled life! I remember when August came around I was sooo excited the first day of school! Not necessarily because of the school part. But more so because we had a brand new schedule that would tell me what to do all day every day for the next number of months. So when the HIT program started, I had a little note book that I planned out meals and the different things I wanted to make or try. My mother has always been a little different! And I'm so glad she is!!!! I never understood how she could on a whim decide what to make for supper at 4:00! That may work for her BUT, when I have a house of my own I shall always have a menu planned a week out. Or so I thought. Hm! How's that working out for you now Sarah?! 
Thanks to my flexible mother, and all the unexpected twists in life that have happened in the past 2 years...today I'm able to take life as it comes a little more. And no I have no idea what I making tomorrow! Even though my 12 year old self would shake her head at my 'go with the flow' attitude today, I'm so thankful for the way that mom would spring supper on me late afternoon without warning.

 Despite graduating from the HIT program, it's a bit of a learning curve when everything your used to making, either you can't find half the ingredients or there are too many highly priced items. So it's basically starting over at square one. I can count on my one hand the times that I've actually followed a recipe 100% since we've arrived. I've done a lot of improvising, and a lot of random dumping (with fingers crossed behind my back). They say the best chefs don't use recipes...right?

 

So what do we eat? Produce is very inexpensive, so a lot of fresh fruits and vegetables. Rice, lentils and other grains have become staples. Meat is stretched, and Dairy is also used sparingly. I did make rice at home...but not very often. So I've had to go digging for different ways to use and incorporate it into a meal. And lentils...completely foreign ingredient that never stepped foot in the Hess kitchen! What do you do with them? And you could stretch chicken in a casserole dish...but what about when all the casserole dishes your familiar with call for Cream of (fill in the blank) Soup, and it doesn't exist. And cheese! Every recipe calls for cheese in some shape or form. It's amazing how as soon as you realize you don't have something, every recipe you look at calls for that one ingredient!

 

  

 

Challah Bread used on Shabbat

This was one of those naïve purchases. I guess you could call it a golden loaf of bread. I paid close to 12 shekels for it at a super market the first week. The other day I got a loaf at the market for almost half that. You live and you learn :)!

This is Israeli Salad

We eat a lot of cucumbers and tomatoes. And I threw in black olives cause we had some....and you can't go wrong with olives. I love olives! When Dads making pizza I can easily eat half the can before any gets on the pizza. And at EBI, one of my roommates loved them as much as I did. So it was not uncommon for us to eat a can of black olives in the evenings. But after living here...I don't know if I'll ever be able to eat olives out of a can again! These are incredible! They are full of strong flavor, and firm. I really want to bring some home with me. So maybe if you are really nice till then I'll let you try some :)!

Dried fruits at the market

One of the olive stands. Oh and you buy everything by the kilo (1 kilo. = little over 2 lbs.).

So 24 shekels per kilo would be approx. 6 US Dollars, which would be a little less then 3 Dollars a pound.

Going to the market your not only converting Shekels to Dollars in your head your also then taking that price and converting the kilo. price to the price per pound. It is definitely getting easier though. And there is less and less head work, as you begin to learn what the going rate for different things are.

  This is Lentil Soup! I've made it a couple times already! It's best when its accompanied by fresh Pita Bread and Humus!

 Meet Israeli Couscous! This is a dish that has become a favorite! It's couscous, peas, and chicken chunks, in a creamy sauce with a slight lemon-ey taste. Couscous is kind of like rice, except it's not thin and long. Although I have never eaten a fish egg....the consistency reminds me of what I would imagine a fish egg to be like! Or if that totally grosses you out, you could describe it as a grain version of tapioca.

One other fun little fact. For Pancakes we don't use Pancake syrup....we use Date Syrup :)! And Figs just started their season, so we are enjoying them as well!

Enjoy your brand new week!

Oh one other thing! Dad said this weekend there were a lot people asking about my knee. Thanks for your concern it means a lot! It's been three weeks since the pain started so I guess I was starting to just get used to putting up with the annoyance. Last night without thinking I bounded down the steps, got to the bottom and realized what I had just done. Wait! I just ran down the steps! There was no pain, and it felt good to not have to 'crawl' down the three stories. On the way home I was showing Jack how to skip, and was able to run up the stairs when we got to the apartment. It's a small thing but it felt so good. And the whole time my walking was pain free! PTL! So hopefully I'm out of the woods, and it won't flare up again like it did last Friday.
Thanks again for you concern and encouragement! It really does make a big difference!