Sunday Dinner #1

Hello all! I've decided that I'm going to try something new. For awhile now, I've been wanting to blog about food and the different things I cook and make. Instead of starting a new blog for this, I figured why not try making a weekly post on Sundays with whatever I made that night for dinner. Sundays are great for me since I've got all day to relax and then brainstorm a creative meal. I usually try my new recipes on Sundays too with all of the time I have (plus if I mess up I can always whip up something else pretty easily). So here it goes...

SUNDAY DINNER #1: Butternut Squash Soup with Salad and Italian Cheese Bread

Ken and I have been consciously trying to eat a bit healthier over the past few weeks so I've been on the search for meals full of flavor that don't have heavy cream or other fatty things. I found this butternut squash soup recipe on www.eatingwell.com (through pinterest.com...I'm obsessed!) and it's full of vegetables and fresh ingredients. If those of you follow calories too there's only 60 calories per serving. I tweaked the recipe for me since I didn't have all of the ingredients on hand but this is basically it...

1. Sautee onions and carrots in oil until tender.
2. Add tomatoes, squash (after its been pre-cooked in the oven for about 45 minutes at 350), 1 tsp. cumin, 1/4 cayenne pepper, pepper, and 6 cups chicken broth.
3. Simmer for about 20 minutes or until everything is cooked all the way through.
4. Blend the soup in the blender and add a spoon of plain yogurt if you'd like!

For the salad, I decided to do a salad bar style layout so Ken and I could make our own salads. I put on a plate cut up tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers, avocados, and some black beans and corn (whatever you have in your fridge and what you like on your salads of course!). I had some walnuts on the side and of course our favorite dressings (ranch for Ken!). 

As for the Italian Cheese Bread...I haven't found an easier homemade bread recipe yet. It didn't need a lot of time to rise either so this made it quick and easy.

1. Mix in a bowl 2 1/2 cups flour, 1 tsp. salt, 1 tsp. sugar, and 1 tbsp. quick-rise yeast. Add 1 cup warm water and 1 tbsp. of oil. Mix until you get a dough like substance.
2. Knead the dough until it becomes elastic and then set aside for 20 minutes in an oiled bowl covered with a towel to let rise.
3. After about 20 minutes (I waited 30 minutes and no harm done), punch the dough down and spread out on a greased pizza pan or cookie dough sheet in a 12 in. circle.
4. Spread 1/4 cup Italian salad dressing over it and then sprinkle with oregano, thyme, garlic powder, pepper, parmesan cheese and 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella cheese.
5. Cook at 450 degrees for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

It went great with the soup and salad and had lots of flavor. Out of the three different things made this was of course the least healthy but it is completely homemade which to me is important since I know exactly what's going into my body.

I hope you enjoy it if you end up trying anything and if you have any questions let me know!

Since Valentine's Day is around the corner, I thought I'd share with you the valentine's that I made for my students this year. HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY! The hearts for my kids say "You make our class Sparkle!"

Rio Pico Bonito

Last weekend, Ken had to work all day on Saturday at the Santa Teresa Festival that his school holds each year as a fundraiser. Instead of me being a bum all day, a bunch of our friends and I decided to head out to a new river and relax for the day. Our usual hang out spots of Rio Maria and Rio Congrejal have been getting used more which means there is a lot more trash and vandalism. It obviously doesn't make it as relaxing when there is garbage and graffiti all around you.

Last year, Jesse and Brian went backpacking and camping on Pico Bonito Mountain and Rio Bonito follows the trail for some of the way. Since Jesse remembered where it was, he was our guide and led us on an hour hike through the Honduran countryside to the river. At one point, the trail disappeared and we were going through the jungle...I was waiting for a bob cat to come out at me. I think we were way to loud for that to happen but either way it was a bit scary.

The girls taking the lead.

Pico Bonito Mountain

The trail

Beautiful.

We finally made it to the river!

Peaceful

The girls

Jenna, Jessie, and me

Once we arrived at the river, we were sweaty and extremely hot so we immediately jumped in to the icy, cold water. It took a few minutes for my body to adjust. Then it felt amazing. The water was crystal clear and there was absolutely no one around us. It was awesome! We swam for a bit before unpacking our backpacks and having lunch (tortillas with beans, cheese, and salsa and some trail mix). After about two hours of hanging out we made the trek back to the car. Although its a bit far from town to get to on your own it was a great experience and one that I hope happens again before we leave. I guess my excuse to go again is that Ken still has to see it!

A fuzzy friend

While I was skyping with my brother earlier this week I looked out into my landlords backyard and saw a fuzzy friend staring at me. Luckily this time is wasn't another possum but a small kitten inside one of the flower pots (the one my brother broke while trying to climb our coconut tree...how ironic). Hope it puts a smile in your day :)

Long over due...HAPPY NEW YEARS!

What a month January has been! It sure has flown by. We can't believe that it is already February 1 tomorrow so we decided that we better get a post in before the first month of 2012 ends.

We kicked off the new year with Ken's brother Kal visiting us. We headed out to Utila to bring in the new year and of course we enjoyed some snorkeling and sun a well. It was a great relaxing trip (except for the extremely rocky boat ride). Take a look at some moments from our NYE...

Once school started and we got back into a routine, I of course came down with Dengue Fever. How convenient. Luckily, Ken was able to play doctor/nurse and take care of me for the week while I was out of commission. In case you didn't know, you get dengue fever from mosquitoes and the symptoms are as follows: fever, migraines (constantly), neck pain, back pain, and pain everywhere else on your body. One of the joys of it too is only being able to take tylenol. Awesome. It does nothing. You basically have to just wait it out which lasts anywhere from 5-15 days. Luckily mine lasted only around 8 and I was back up and moving.

To celebrate my new found health, Ken and I decided that we needed to live a bit more "uncomfortably" in our surroundings. We feel like we have gotten into the same old routine of going to work, coming home and watching t.v./reading, eating dinner, watching t.v./reading, going to bed. It's really not all that exciting compared to our excursions last year. Since we only have 6 months left in Honduras, we want to continue finding adventures and putting ourselves in uncomfortable (yet safe!) situations. Our first uncomfortable moment was when we ordered Dominos pizza for the first time.

Now many of you might be thinking, Dominos...really...that's American for one and how hard could it be. It's a lot harder than you think! The guy who takes your order only speaks Spanish and he speaks incredibly fast. Also, there are no addresses in Honduras so it would be quite complicated to try and explain where we live. This is why we have been discouraged in the past from doing it. We figured we could just make our own pizza. Anyways, we decided to call (well Ken told me I had to) and it ended up like this (translated into English)

Me: Ummmmm I want to order a pizza.

Pizza guy: Where do you live?

Me: Well its near the corner of this restaurant and near this corner as well.

Pizza guy: Ummmmm

Me: You know the restaurant?

Pizza guy: Sure

Me: Ok...I want a supreme pizza

Pizza guy: Well what type of supreme?

Me: Ummmmm I don't understand?

Pizza guy: Special Supreme or Really Special Supreme (not translated exactly)

Me: Special?

Pizza guy: It'll be there in 30 minutes.

30 minutes later the delivery guy calls our house and is lost. I have to then explain over and over (in the only way I possibly know how) where our house is. In the end, we got it and it was delicious. The End.

I'll end this post with some pictures from the beach this past weekend when we went with Jesse, Jessie, and their baby boy Tristan.

Mazapan Christmas Show 2011

Last night, my school had their annual Christmas show. It was such a relief to be finished with it since my kids and I have been practicing since October! We put so much work into and it turned out great...even if it was a little long! :) They also performed Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer on their recorders (oh the days of recorders....I'm sure my parents remember it so well). The show finished with a school wide finale with us all singing a song in Spanish (yes including me). Here is the video of my kids main performance I promised. I'll get to the other ones soon. Thanks to Ken for being the cinematographer yesterday!

Christmas in Honduras

We are getting into the spirit of things this season by putting up our Christmas decorations and jamming out to Christmas tunes like Alvin and the Chipmunks. Thought I'd share with you our "Christmas Corner" that we have set up and what my door at school looks like. Enjoy and we can't wait to see everyone in 2 WEEKS!!

Ta-da!

Ken's really excited about the decorations...can't you tell!

My door at school for the door decorating contest!

Coach Haltenhof

For the past 2 months, Ken has been coaching high school girls basketball 3 days a week. Since the season is coming to a close before winter vacation starts, the surrounding schools decided to do a basketball tournament. I was lucky enough to be able to go to one last week and act as photographer while Ken was coaching his team. It was very neat to see him doing this because the girls were very receptive to him and you could tell he was enjoying it...even when he had to continuously tell his girls to keep their "hands up" while they were on defense.

Warming up before the game

The ref's want to start!

Let's huddle...go jaguars!

GO TEAM GO! 

"Get back here!"

STBS Girls Basketball Team 2010

Although they haven't been on a winning streak, it has still been a great experience for him and I know he's made a difference with his team as well.