a broken heart and a broken house

When I got a text today from Espy asking to borrow money, I was a bit surprised since she has never asked before.  I asked what is it for? and my heart sank as I read her reply: “A typhoon has hit the Philippines and my house is broken.”  A coconut tree has fallen thru the middle of the house.  Can you imagine having worked for several years to provide for your family that you cannot even see to have it washed away in an instant?  My heart is broken for her as it is for many of the other American families left without after the recent storms/tornadoes.   When she arrived today to pick up her advanced salary she just sobbed and sobbed.  Her three kids are there with her mother and they have to pick up the pieces.  I cannot even imagine how badly she must want to be with them now… I asked her if she needs to go and she said, no, it is better for me to just send the money (everything is expensive there and for her to go it would take away from money she could give them).   She hasn’t seen them in 2 years… can you imagine??! I cover my kids with kisses after being apart for just 2 hours. 

She and her husband both work here in Abu Dhabi and send the money they earn back – there are not many jobs there that would pay enough for her children to come up out of the poverty she grew up in.   To put things in a little bit of perspective – they still don’t even have an oven.  They cook over open fire because they cannot afford a stove and the electricity to run it…  She loves cooking and baking with me and has mentioned her new dream of someday opening a bakery in the Philippines with all of the recipes we have done together… she is just precious, y’all… and now she is just scraping anything she can together to repair her home.   A Facebook friend suggested that I accept donations for her family thru the blog and as uncomfortable as it makes me feel to do this, I will do it anyway since I want to help her so badly.  A little bit goes A LONG WAY in their country so even just $5 would make a huge difference. No pressure at all, I am not the type of person to keep tally of who has or has not donated so please, please don’t feel obligated.   If you can’t or just rather not, please just send prayers her way… However, if you really want to donate something, click the donate button on the top left side of the blog.  Thanks so much!

UPDATE: Espy and her husband were able to take a loan out so she could begin repair immediately.  Her mother and children are staying in a local church until the house is fixed (which is estimated to be complete within the week).  She is able to get this done so quickly because her former employer in the Philippines has a crew that she put on Espy’s  house as well as donated bags of concrete… which says a lot for Espy and how much her employers love her even after all these years passed they are still willing to go above and beyond to help her out.  God heard our prayers and is embracing sweet Espy in this very difficult situation.  The money donated will go directly to repay the loan.

Emirati Cooking Class

Today I had a great time at a local catering business that hosts cooking classes!  Brenda and I wanted to learn a few Emirati Dishes… we had lots of fun and learned a few things too.  I loved all of them (mostly).. I would change the whole fish recipe to a fish filet and cook it in a foil pouch… but true to local cuisine the whole fish is what they do.. gag.

Okra Fritters (my favorite)

2 Cups fresh Okra, finely chopped

1/4 cup onion finely chopped

1 tsp salt

1/4 tsp black pepper

1/2 cup water

1 egg

1/2 cup flour

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup cornmeal

Oil for Frying

Directions: In a large bowl, mmix all of the ingredients, except for okra.

Add the okra and mix

In a medium sized skillet, heat the oil.  When oil is hot add okra batter by large spoonfuls.  Adjust the flame to medium heat. Cook until golden brown.  Drain on paper towels and serve with Daqoos and/or ranch dressing.

 

 

Vegetable Rice Pilaf – very very flavorful! I would hope so since there are only 57 ingredients!  I had seconds!

4 Tablespoons corn oil

1 large onion finely chopped

1 carrot diced into small pieces

2 fresh green chilies, seeded and chopped

2 cloves of garlic, minced

3 cups hot water

1/4 cup coconut powder

2 Maggi chicken stock cubes

1 teaspoon ground nutmeg

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

3 cloves (whole)

1 teaspoon black mustard seeds

2 cups basmati rice (uncooked)

In a large bowl add coconut powder and slowly ad a bit of the hot water and mix into a smooth paste.  Add the remaining hot water and mix well.  Add the Maggi stock cubes and the spices (except for the cloves and mustard seeds)

Stir together and let sit for about 2 minutes until the stock cubes melt.  Stir again.

In a medium pot, heat the 4 tablespoons of corn oil.  When hot, add the onions and carrots and sauté until the onion is softened.   Add the cloves, mustard seeds, green chilies and garlic.  Stir well and then add the coconut milk mixture.  Bring to a boil. Once it starts boiling, add the basmati rice.  Stir gently a couple of times.  Bring back to a boil.  Cover and reduce flame to very low.  Cook for 17 minutes.  When done, gently fluff the rice with a fork and serve hot.

 

Chicken Makhtoum (I will make this for dinner fo sho.)

2 medium sized tomatoes, chopped

1 tablespoon corn oil (we used vegetable)

1/2 cup onion diced

1 cup plain yogurt

1 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon tomato paste

1 tablespoon arabic spice mix

2 tablespoons corn oil

chicken thighs and legs (bone in) (lightly salt and pepper)

1 cup frozen peas

In a medium frying pan, saute the chopped tomatoes in 1 tablespoon of corn oil until soft/mushy.

In a blender add the satueed tomatoes, onions, yogurt, salt, arabian spice mix, and tomato paste and blend until smooth.  In a large pot brown the chicken in the 2 tablespoons of oil (I will use my handy dandy pressure cooker for the next part… but in class we used a regular stock pot).  When it is browned, but not yet cooked through add the yogurt mixture and cook on medium heat for 10 minutes, then reduce heat to low.  Add the frozen garden peas, gently stir and then cover and let cook for about 20 minutes or until the chicken is no longer pink.

 

Roasted Fish with Hashweh Stuffing.. yikes.. the picture says a thousand words. no need for my commentary.

I will give you the delicious stuffing recipe..

1 large onion chopped

3 cloves of garlic minced

1 green bell pepper finely chopped

1 bunch of cilantro

1/4 cup  extra virgin olive oil.

1 heaped teaspoon turmeric

1 teaspoon of ginger

1 teaspoon cumin

mix all ingredients and (my version will be: place into pouch with fish FILET (not whole fish)  and bake in the oven or on the grill)

Daqoos

6 tomatoes finely chopped

3 large garlic cloves finely chopped

1/4 cup olive oil

1 1/2 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon chili powder

3 tablespoons tomato paste

3 cups water

Heat olive oil in medium sized pot, add tomatoes.  Cook tomatoes until all the liquid has cooked away and you are left with tomatoes and oil.  Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until you get a nice thick sauce.  This was great with the fritters and I thought it would be an excellent pasta sauce… it was intended for the fish.

Our table of food

 

Black Bean Soup Recipe

I love the blog: Our Best Bites – It is amazing! everything I have tried has been awesome.. so I didn’t hesitate to try this one.  I also ran out and bought an immersion blender because I have always wanted one and have no other blending device here.  This was absolutely DELICIOUS!

Black Bean Soup

Recipe by Our Best Bites

1 T olive oil

4 large cloves garlic, roughly chopped

3/4 C diced carrots (about 2 med carrots)

3/4 C diced celery (about 2 ribs)

1 C diced onion (about 1 sm-med onion)

2 cans black beans, rinsed and drained

1 3.5oz can green chilies

2 cans low-sodium beef broth

1 t kosher salt

1/8 tsp black pepper

1/2 t chili powder

1/4 t cumin

1/2 t dry oregano leaves

1 bay leaf

Optional Toppings: sour cream, tortilla chips, grated cheese, chopped cilantro, etc.

Place a large stock pot on the stove-top and set to medium-high heat.  When pan is warm, add olive oil.  Add carrots, celery, onion, and garlic and saute 4-5 minutes.

Add in the black beans, chilies, and beef broth. Stir to combine and then add the salt, pepper, chili powder, cumin, oregano, and bay leaf.

Simmer uncovered for about 20-25 minutes or until carrots are tender.

Remove from heat. Remove bay leaf from soup. 

Place soup in a blender. (You could use an immersion blender in place of this step) Place lid on blender, but remove the stopper in the lid to let heat escape. Place a paper towel over the hole to avoid splatters. 

Puree soup until completely smooth.  Optionally you could pulse until a semi-chunky soup is achieved. Squeeze in the juice from one lime and pulse to combine.

Ladle into bowls and top with desired toppings. Serve with extra lime wedges.  Makes about 8 C soup.

Nutritional Information (1 C soup, w/o toppings):

125 calories, 2g fat, 8g fiber

2 Weight Watchers points

South Beach Diet Phase 2

This week

Audrey finished up AWANA – she was in Cubbies and loved every minute of it.  She had a closing ceremony that we went to last Sunday.  It was so precious!

didn’t realize how tall she was compared to others her age ^^

Audrey is still taking swimming lessons twice a week, but lately she has been SO exhausted afterwards.  Her teacher has her swimming the entire 45 minutes and has started introducing the butterfly stroke and back stroke.  She’s my little fishy girl.  She is doing great in swimming lessons and at school.  she brought her BOB books to show and tell and read to the class.  Her teacher loved how intrigued the other kids were at this – she said they watched with dropped jaws.  The principle is coming in the class tomorrow to hear Audrey and her friend Hamad read the BOB books to the class so he can determine whether to purchase sets for the KG1 classes.  I have been giving the teacher stuff weekly to use since she complains that the stuff they have is from like the 80’s and is so outdated.  Since  I have been talking about what most preschoolers are doing back in the States, she wants to raise the bar with the KG1 expectations.

He’s been having a blast lately..   Charles and I agree that overall his behavior has improved tremendously lately. {Compared to the rest of his life}.

I’ve been diving into learning how to prepare other dishes from Middle Eastern countries.  This one is called Shish Taouk and you put your selection of these ingredients inside a pita (similar to filling a soft taco)… chicken is marinated in plain yogurt and Shish Taouk spices and the two side containers are garlic paste (it is amazing) and hummus.  This is Charles’ and my favorite Lebanese dish.  {other stuff in the platter is bell peppers, cucumbers, tomatoes, red onion, pickled peppers and pickles}

We made a quick overnight trip to Dubai with my friend Brenda, her husband Tamer, their twin boys and helper: Gina.  Since they have traveled to Dubai many more times than us, they suggested a Hotel/Apartment there and it was amazing!  4 bedrooms, 4 1/2 bathrooms and a huge kitchen, living room and dining room… all for the equivalent of just under $400 US dollars/night – and then we split it.   {We totally could have added even another family comfortably since it was so huge}.  We will definitely plan on returning there again and again.   We had big plans to do Atlantis waterpark and by the time we arrived we simplified down to just the aquarium and no water park – we thought we would do a different (more kid friendly) water park the next morning… we were both super flexible and switched gears again after we saw how kid friendly the hotel pool was and decided that would do just fine, the kids would never know what they missed and we could avoid the INTENSE heat and the headache of the waterpark with 4 kids under 5 years old. smart, very smart.   So we started out at Atlantis, Dubai: The Lost Chambers Aquarium

my sweet sweet sweet little girl… WHEN oh when did she get this old?!  She is doing so well here and has made some precious friends in the neighborhood. She has hit the stage where she will sit and color and draw for hours and hours. She is such a good girl!

Me and Brenda ^  she is just great! I’m so thankful for her friendship!  We get together a few times a week – I love the fact I can call her up and say, “I’m bored, we’re coming over” and it is fine… It doesn’t hurt either that she always has some yummy Egyptian dish in the fridge! 

The aquarium was really great – the kids loved it!  Will hadn’t napped yet at this point, so we headed to the hotel where he napped and we gawked over the views, threw in a Jack Johnson CD and just hung out and relaxed.. Charles, Tamer, Brenda and I went out to eat with Tamer’s friends that live here… no pictures :(  We enjoyed a great dinner at an Argentina Restaurant – I had the most fabulous steak… first one since we’ve been here and it was incredible. they put all these different salts and sauces on our plates for us to dip the meat into.. I even had volcano salt – which was black.  however, they had entire goats on the menu which made me want to gag since they were spinning around on a giant rotisserie inside the glassed in kitchen.. yuck.  even still, the place was amazing, great low key live music and atmosphere.. We had a ball and can’t believe how good the kids were the entire time– they all played wonderfully together.. it was truly awesome.

This was the living room view of the water

I would be willing to wash dishes here ^

.

Audrey and Will sliding in the hotel pool this morning

Will is about to take over this blog post.. he is just so delicious!

look how white the bottoms of his feet are compared to his legs.. LOL

Still cute when he is grumpy ^  Props to Will for being such a trooper!  We didn’t put him down for a nap either day, we just went until he fell asleep – a risky move with this one, but we took our chances and he surprised us and hung in there really well.

We had to sneak him in to Ski Dubai as a three year old – no one asked questions and he LOVED the snow and all the fun bobsled and inner tube rides they had  - I decided not to take the camera in so that I could just play mom and not photographer for once. ha.  This was Espy’s very first time to see snow and I loved that we could provide that experience for her.  She was so appreciative and told me that she saw snow on the TV before, but didn’t believe it was real until now.  This was also only her 2nd hotel stay. ever. the last one was in 2006 and it was in a regular standard hotel room.  We tried to explain to her that we don’t normally stay in fancy places like this... She and the other helper, Gina were so funny, you could tell they felt special and as they said, “we are so very social in this nice hotel room.”  I think that means “high class??” LOL… priceless.  We were so happy to have her there to help out with the kids! 

just after we left the Mall of the Emirates..  

This is proof we had LOTS of fun!  They slept the entire way and when we got home, Audrey and Will transferred to their beds and napped another hour or so and I even snuck in a nap too!

Video of Audrey Reading

Audrey Reading a Scholastic Bob Book

My  mom sent these books in our latest care package for Audrey.  I had never heard of them before, but I tell ya, I adore them! They are sooooo simple and basic, but a great confidence builder for beginner readers.  Love it~!

you can buy on amazon: Here

read more about them: Here

All about the mama’s

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY Y’ALL! I’ve got to tell ya that Charles and I have some pretty awesome mama’s  We appreciate all your love and support especially with our international adventure.  We thank you for loving us in a way we never understood until we had children of our own!!.   I saw this on a friend’s blog and copied the questions and did a little interview with Audrey about her grandmothers and myself. so precious!

This is about my mom – she goes by: MaMere or Mere for short.

My Mere’s name is: don’t know

My Mere likes to: read books

My Mere’s favorite flower is: daisy

My Mere taught me: to read

My Mere’s favorite hobby is: ride boats

My Mere helps me to: stay safe

I love My Mere because: she is my friend

My favorite thing to do with my Mere is to: watch movies in her bed

My favorite memory is: catching fish at the camp

 

This one is about Charles’ mom: Nana

My Nana’s name is: Pat

My Nana likes to: play with children

My Nana’s favorite flower is: roses

My Nana taught me: good manners

My Nana’s favorite hobby is: ride golf carts

My Nana helps me to: play

I love My Nana because: she is my friend

My favorite thing to do with my Nana is to:  golf with her

My favorite memory is: feeding the fish and turtles

 

My Mom’s name is: Christa McManemin

My Mom likes to: play with me

My Mom’s favorite flower is: Daffodils

My Mom taught me: to read

My Mom’s favorite hobby is: to bring me to the park

My Mom helps me to: cook

I love My Mom because: she loves me

My favorite thing to do with my Mom is to: read with her

My favorite memory is: going on the airplane to come here

I enjoyed doing this with Audrey, it was so cute to hear her answers and how she perceives things.

by the way…  my husband really did it big this year and got me that purse I posted about (here) .. remember the “thanks for moving to the freaking desert purse?”  I’m still in SHOCK that he bought this – I feel a bit silly carrying such an expensive purse, but I’m sure I will get used to it REAL quick. {wink}.   AND equally as awesome as the purse I received a note expressing his thanks and appreciation for all I’ve sacrificed for his behalf.. amazing.  I’m on cloud nine.

**Disclaimer.. for those of you that read this and don’t know me, I want you to know that every purse prior to this one has been a Target purse or the equivalent – and I have owned only about 3 or 4 in the last 7 years – certainly not justifying this, but wanted to let you know that this is a HUGE leap for me. HUGE!

Pro’s and Con’s…

Audrey got accepted to the school we had been waiting to hear from! This is great news, but presents a small problem – of do we leave her in the school she is currently enrolled in? or do we go ahead and move her to the other school for Kindergarten?  I hate to move her around, but I’m trying to weigh the pro’s and con’s for beyond just next year.. since it is a possibility that we may be here for 5 years, she could be in school here as far as the 4th grade…. I am trying to figure out what to do

   American International School (school she is already enrolled in)

Pro’s	Con’s
-wear uniforms	hardly any American's
diverse group of kids gives a more cultured educational experience	Much farther away – hour and a half hours drive time (round trip/day)
already familiar	high focus on English as a second language in early years – which she doesn’t need
wear uniforms, wear uniforms, wear uniforms	worry about the transition from this school back to USA schools
early release *1:10
it is good enough for what she needs at this age

 

             American Community School

Pro’s	Con’s
close to villa	kids wear regular clothes *daily fight about what she will wear
stronger focus on education	another school change – this would be her 4th school in less than 2 years
atmosphere of the school feels more like schools back in USA	no uniforms, no uniforms, no uniforms
more American students – easier cultural transition back to USA schools
later release – I could utilize Will’s naptime to do other things	later release – less time with her at home
better school for the long-term
supported by US Embassy

*I asked her current teacher about the education at both and she said that for the early early years, it doesn’t matter, they are the same, but as she gets higher into other grades, ACS is a bit tougher with education.  She mentioned that it is great for her to be around so many kids from many cultures, but ACS is also diverse. 

After seeing it out on the screen, it seems like if I could just have uniforms at ACS, then it would be a perfect school for her and our family.  I have to do what is best for her in the bigger picture, long term.. and as much as I HATE to move her, switch her and up root her once again, I have to.  I do not want to regret years of her schooling (and possible harder transition back to USA) over a minor switch before Kindergarten.  I’ve been torn up about it and seeking God’s will all day… my only reason to keep her at AISA is so selfish of me.. I don’t want to battle with her about her clothes – but I can easily solve this by just throwing away the stuff I dislike so much. {sigh}.

…for what it’s worth, she wanted to go to ACS after having to do an assessment there for enrollment.  When we were in the waiting period to see if she got in for the fall,  she got accepted into AISA for the current school year, she didn’t want to go at first because she wanted to go to ACS instead… since it wasn’t a possibility we put her at AISA for the remainder of the current school year.  I’m still very happy we got her into a school, it has made our transition to life here so much better.  She will be fine.