Changing it Up

Do you ever feel like you cook the same meals over and over? I feel that way alot but never want to gamble on a new recipe that might flop. I took some time before we left for Africa and did some recipe searching on allrecipes.com. This is my favorite website for recipes because the comments help me to cook it right the first time and know if there are any adjustments that should be made to improve it. We are also limited here by what produce is currently in season and available, and this has forced me to branch out a bit. I decided to link you all up to some of the new things we have tried since we have been here. I only put up the recipes that we liked and that we will eat again. I would suggest reading some of the popular comments on each recipe. I changed up each of these recipes a tad (or sometimes a lot!) and really rely on those comments to make any needed changes. I hope you can snag a new recipe or two for your collection. :)

Shepherd's Pie
Morning Glory Muffins
Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
Banana Crumb Muffins
Peppy's Pita Bread (I also use these to make some really yummy Pita chips)
Virginia's Tuna Salad (I really changed this one: added 1 Tbs. parmesan, 1 tsp. dill weed (instead of the relish), 1/2 tsp. lemon juice, 1/2 Tbs. dried parsley, 2 boiled eggs and less tuna, no celery)
Meghan's granola (I made lots of changes on this one based on what we have here but this was the base recipe)
Cabbage Sloppy Joes (I needed to find a good use for some extra cabbage that we had and found this tasty recipe. One of the wives here gave me a "40 min. hamburger buns" recipe that is easy and GREAT.)
Italian Bread Bowls
Balsamic Dressing
Fried Rice (I left out the shrimp, ham, celery, and peas because we don't have them but it was still quite tasty)
Black Beans and Rice (thanks to everyone who recently sent more black beans! We all love those and can't get them here in Niger.)
Lentil Tacos (we LOVED these and Marc couldn't believe that they were vegetarian)
Mexican Rice
Chocolate Chip Cookies
Eggplant Supper Soup (I used 1/2 lb. of ground beef which seemed plenty and 6 fresh tomatoes with 2 tsp. of Italian seasoning)
Tuna Noodle Casserole (I used macaroni noodles and made our own condensed mushroom soup)
Pumpkin Bread (I'm making this one in the next day or two but it looks tasty so I included it! I'm planning on doing half oil and half applesauce and using 1/2 brown sugar mixed with the white)

Can I just say how amazing it is to have Eli (our picky eater) gobble up nearly everything I make now??? Eli would never have eaten anything on this list above before (except for the chocolate chip cookies), but he loved each of these dishes and usually asks for seconds. There are fewer snack food options here so he is usually more eager to eat at meal time and he learned very quickly that if he didn't eat what was served he would be hungry. :)

It just doesn't get much better than enjoying some homemade salsa....

and Coca Cola! This is one drink you can find most anywhere in the world. :)

Happy cooking!

Mail Has Arrived!

We received our first package from my mom on February 11th (which was shipped on January 19th) and were in eager anticipation of some other packages that we knew were in transit. Someone brought our mail to us on Monday and there were five packages! Thanks to all our family who helped to restock our food supply. You all did great! Eli and Hailey loved seeing what was in each box and finding the little treats that were for them. The fruit snacks, gummy bears, teddy grahams, and cheerios were a big hit with the two little ones. Thank you for loving us so well. Here are the highlights in pictures.

Opening our first package that arrived back in February...

Round two of packages arrived on March 5th...

Marc's mom sent some caramel corn for his birthday when she mailed this package on January 19th. We were shocked to find that it still tasted fresh when it arrived seven weeks later!

(We opened the boxes right before bed which is why their toothbrushes made it in most of the pictures.)

 Memaw sent me some pecans from the trees in her yard which I loved, but the kids were more interested in the gummy bears. :)

Grandma and Grandpa Carrigan sent us some goodies from Peoria!

This was such a great day. It is a real treat to receive some mail... and even better when it is mostly edible! Ha! I have a couple half-done posts that I hope to finish out in the next day or two to update you a little better on our recent happenings. Have a great Wednesday!

Market Day

Every Wednesday in Galmi is market day. Traders come from all over to sell their goods. Marc and I take turns going to market whenever we need something since it is not really a great place to take the kids. It is about a 15 minute walk from our house along a busy street and is jam-packed with people and goods. Not ideal for two curious and crazy children! I think we have both been twice now and it is quite an experience. We usually travel with some of the long term missionaries or local hospital staff to help negotiate our deals and to inform us about cultural etiquette. It has been a fun thing for us to do and a nice way for us to support the local economy. There are several little shops (probably not what you are picturing when I say "shop" but the best word I could think of at the moment) along the way that sell a few basic items such as tomato paste, powdered milk, canned mixed vegetables, bleach, matches, powdered drink mixes, and spaghetti and macaroni noodles.

This is an example of a shop you would see on the way into town. This one sells lots of different grains. We bought some rice from here a few weeks ago, but it had a bit of a funny taste (I was later told by someone it was a "weevil" taste). There is also a little shop on the compound run by one of the female missionaries. She brings some non-perishable items from Niamey to sell to short term staff while they stay in Galmi. We now buy rice there and it tastes more normal to us. :)

I bought some garlic from here during one market trip.

Dried mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, dried peppers.. any takers?

 Galmi is known for its onions. This entire truck is packed with them. Lots and lots of onions!

 Bon appetit!

Marc and Dean saw this man on one of their recent trips to market. He is a traditional healer of sorts and sells a potion that he claims inhibits scorpion toxin. He keeps lots of scorpions on hand to show people that he is "immune" to their sting.

 There is no shortage of dried locusts around here. I haven't found the perfect recipe for these yet.

Let's zoom in for a better look. That's not black pepper folks, just hundreds of flies. :)

You can read the Kubacz's blog post from today to see where we buy our meat from. It is relatively fly free when it arrives. :)

Marc's Birthday

Last Thursday we celebrated Marc's birthday. I imagine that ten years ago Marc would not have guessed that he would be spending his 31st birthday in Africa. He probably also did not imagine that he would be married (for almost 7 years!) or that he would be the proud daddy of two great kids. :) I am so thankful for Marc. He is my best friend, a great husband, and a superb dad. I am always glad to have a day once a year to remember this and to celebrate him!

Marc had taken the afternoon off from clinic and we decided it would be fun to take the kids to the pool for the first time. There is an above ground cement pool here that is about 4 ft deep and maybe 20 ft. wide. We woke the kids up early from their nap with the exciting news that we were heading to the pool! Eli had not even seen the pool yet and was thinking back to the last time we went to a pool at the Great Wolf Lodge and said, "But mommy the pool is too far away!" He couldn't believe that we were going to walk to it from our house. The water was a little chilly (but certainly refreshing), and we had a great afternoon.

Marc and I are both really starting to miss eating out. We would usually eat out every weekend back at home and are beginning to have cravings for certain things. Good pizza has been high on the list of things we miss. We bought three, 2 pound blocks of mozzarella (along with two much larger blocks of cheddar) when we arrived in the capital and I have been rationing our cheese supply ever since to stretch the full five months here. Marc had been asking for the past two weeks when we could next eat pizza. He was so excited when I told him we were having pizza for his birthday. It is amazing how much appreciation you have for something as simple as pizza when the supply is limited. :)

After dinner we had a few friends over for some brownies and ice cream. There are some missionary kids that sell ice cream here and we bought some for the festivities. It was nice to have that cold and creamy treat for the first time since we have been here. We have a recipe for some mango ice cream (that uses canned evaporated milk) that is supposed to be delicious and we plan on trying that out once we get into the peak of mango season. :)

While we were celebrating Marc's life here in Africa, we have some dear friends, the Browns, who are celebrating the life of their dad, Mark, in a different way back in Illinois. Please pray for our friends this week as their dad is getting closer to finishing his life race and going home to be with Jesus. Mark is a special man to many and we are thankful for the ways he has influenced our walk with Christ. We will miss him dearly! You can follow his caring bridge site HERE.