Food Prep

Oh my, do I ever have posts a brewin'. A few days without internet and it feels like Christmas to get it back. :)

I will stick to some newsy posts, just so you know a bit more about our life here.

Regarding those questions about food preparation, we are eating well here. Before moving here I did think we may be hungry a lot but no worries, we are eating well! It just takes some planning and lots of time. In Addis Ababa, I stocked up on oil, pasta, flour, lentils, dried beans, spices, nutella, jam, powdered milk, kind of your basics.

I make yogurt from powdered milk. It has a tangy flavor but works well with passion fruit or in recipes. I am going to try to make cottage cheese from powdered milk today. Skeptical? Yeah, me too. The powdered milk is high in fat and The Littles get it in chocolate milk form twice a day.

I can count on finding these things in Injibara: carrots, eggs, cabbage, swiss chard, onions, potatoes, bananas, oranges and bread. There is more available sometimes, just not as good of quality.

There are also powders to make traditional dishes here.

This is Addisay. She just started helping me two mornings a week and is also doing our laundry. She gave me my first lesson on making shiro (A spicy crushed lentil dish served with Injera). On Thursday, she is going to show me how to make miser alecha (yellow smashed peas) with potatoes. She also makes injera and so I have bought some from her. The Littles love their habesha lunches.

We don't eat much meat here but are getting our protein through other means. We did buy some meat from a grocery store in Addis who caters to the expatriate community. 

Here is a typical meat vendor in Addis. Enough to make nearly anyone a vegetarian. :)

Or you can buy live sheep, goats or chickens, haven't ventured into this yet.

When we bring food home from the market, I first wash it and then it has to be rinsed for 30 minutes in bleach water and then 30 minutes in a rinse water. If I am going to cook the veggies, any parasite or other dirt will cook off in the heat.

This picture was after the Bahir Dar market so we had a wide variety, peppers, cucumbers, nice tomatoes...

Otherwise, it is very similar to home except everything is from scratch so it just takes more time but it is fun and much healthier, although it is hard to find a healthy oil source. Some of you amazing domestic women do this without being forced.  :)

Here is the beginning to my spaghetti sauce. After washing then rinsing the tomatoes, I scalded and skinned them.

Guess who loves to make tortillas?

I involve The Littles when I can, they love helping measure and are amazing troopers about eating and trying new foods and flexing in their eating, a blessing I do not take for granted. 

High altitude baking is still a new field for me and it effects everything, even pancakes! I have had many flops but I think I am catching on. A problem is when we lose power and I have just stuck something in the oven. 

I am learning new systems in the kitchen, definitely getting faster and really enjoying it.

I think we have actually gained weight here. I could eat my body weight in homemade tortillas alone (think Don Pablos). :)