Time sure flies when you're doing nothing.....

Well nothing and a lot all at once it seems.... tomorrow is my birthday, I've travelled to Xalapa and Coatepec this past weekend, I'm doggy sitting a friends pug, I tutored 2 boys twice this past week and I've been cooking, cleaning and getting massages. Next week I'm tutoring again, making 300 pesos an hour! woo hoo!! and the week after that, 1 week before I have to go back to work I'm starting work.... yup, exactly. I've been asked to teach a one week summer course to all the Spanish teachers at my school. That should be fun, I'll be teaching teachers..... Apparently they're excited to have me teaching and it is extra money so we'll see what happens.
That's pretty much it. Oh, my husband and i are looking for another house. Our contract with this one is up in November and it's really far too small in every way for our needs. I mean my kitchen is like 2 ft wide by 6 ft long.... it's not a kitchen it's a damn hallway. So we're moving. We looked at a house yesterday on the same street as ours just a block over. Nice big house, normal sized kitchen, bigger back yard with a mango tree. Airconditioners and fans installed. right now ours has neither and let me tell you, that sucks. a lot. So moving.
Now that's it.

summer holidays!

Well It's July 7th. I haven't been on this thing in months and months and that is due to my crazy new life!
About 2 months ago I officially started teaching at Colegio Americano De Veracruz! I was teaching fifth grade for the last two months of the school year. I gotta say this was an interesting group to start my professional teaching career with! They were attitude filled, crazy, disobedient tazmanian devils but I loved each and every one of them! I was the third teacher that these groups had in one year. From what I heard the first teacher was lazy and didn't care what happened in class, the second teacher treated them like children and then there's me. Strict, loud, and mean. I expect fifth grade students to sit and do the work assigned. I mean I also expect loud, screaming and some fighting but nothing could have prepared me for this.... Even the English director wished me luck. So somehow i managed to muddle through. The students did most of the work, did decently on the exams and thanked me at the end of the year. My grades were similar to the previous terms and they also matched the Spanish teachers grades.
Maybe I should explain how the school works... well it's a very expensive private bilingual school. It runs from a maternal program (almost new borns) to grade 6. There are 3 kinder grades and a pre first. Pre first is an option for parents. The course is only in English, so each child receives an extra year of English classes if they choose to take pre first. Starting in first grade half the day is in English and half is in Spanish. The Spanish and English teachers work in partners, so I work with one Spanish teacher. Between the two of us we have two groups, Each group is assigned a letter. For example this year I taught 5A and B. When A is in English, B is in Spanish. The Spanish teacher and myself share a support teacher. The support teachers job is to..... well.... support us... She is in charge of classroom decorations (if I want to do it myself I can, or she can provide as much assitance as needed), takes the students to their extra classes (gym, art, music, religion, etc.), assists me with discipline, and takes over the class if I have a meeting or need to to use the bathroom. It's actually pretty awesome to have her around.
So in English I teach them English(reading, writing, listening, comprehension), science, math, social studies, and some history and geography is woven into the course. Instead of terms we have bimesters. Each bimester is 2 months and covers 2 units. What I love about this program (sistema uno) is that each subject is linked by a theme, so if we are reading about space travel and star navigation in English we learn about the solar system in science and in math we talk about atoms and molecules. It's a pretty cool way to lay out a course. Sistema Uno is also connected to Ipads. Each student has an Ipad (which stays at the school at all times) and the whole program is on it. I can do whatever I want on the ipads with the kids. I can choose which apps to load and use. I have a lot of freedom with this school and program. Basically I'm told "here is the book, you have two months, at the end of the book the students should know this" How I teach is my business, if I want to play games or do projects or make them copy endless notes it's my choice. It's pretty awesome for me. I love that I have the freedom to be me.
I also love the team of people I work with. The English director is amazing. She's always there to talk to for whatever we want, even if all we want is to bitch! She listens to any ideas we have, she's more than willing to let us do what we want and is always open to new ideas. I really think I lucked out with her. The other teachers are great too. We talk, hang out, and consider ourselves friends. We spend time together outside of school, eating, drinking and at the rare time exercising. I really really got lucky with this job.
So now i'm on summer holidays... And all I can do is think of what I wanna do next school year! I will be teaching either fourth or fifth grade and I go the ok from my boss to decorate my class any way I want! So my plan is a forest theme! complete with a reading fort! I keep reading other teachers blogs and looking at ideas on pintrest. I am really excited to start next year with a new group and have them from day one!!
So that is the long explanation as to why I haven't been updating. I shall strive to update more over the summer!

5 Year Journal

well I really suck at updating this thing. Right now I am happily celebrating 420 in the comfort of my home. Tomorrow I shall enjoy a nice long soak in my pool. Oh the hard life I lead!!
Well here we go, a bunch more days of my 5 year journal!

March 18th
What advice were you given?
today? Relax! Ever? you can only be yourself

March 19th
Today was .................. high..........

March 20th
What are you glad you did today?
I cleaned my pool!

March 21st
When was your last vacation? where did you go?
ummm Xalapa with galo about 2 months ago

March 22nd
The greatest wisdom comes from those who..... listen more than they speak.

March 23th
Who is your hero?
I´´m gonna say my mom

March 24th
Why?
Because she kicks ass!

March 25th
If you could have read one persons mind today, whose would it have been?
umm.... my husbands to see how his day is going at work

March 26th
What was the easiest thing about today?
everything. i´´m unemployed!

March 27th
Did you thank anyone today?
Nope.

March 28th
Did you work hard today?
nope.

March 29th
What was in your mail box today?
I don´´t have a mailbox.....

March 30th
Today was a complete....... high day

March 31st
what are you seeking?
that which cannot be found!

April 1st
Did you make someone laugh today? Was it intentional?
nope, i didn´´t see anyone today

April 2nd
What makes you sad?
not working, uncared for children, lack of education about basic health, animal cruelty, abuse, addiction, young mothers, people with disabilities, pollution, people throwing garbage wherever they want, waste created by man, politics, religion....

April 3rd
was today typical? why or why not?
yup, i did nothing.

April 4th
Who do you trust the most?
Brandi, Iza and Dan

April 5th
What´´s your next major deadline? What´´s it for?
umm... right now nothing....

April 6th
What did you have for breakfast today?
i don´´t eat breakfast

April 7th
do you have any regrets today?
I don´´t believe in regrets

April 8th
how did you add art to your life today?
I didn´´t

April 9th
...............makes me happy
food

april 10th
What is the last time you danced?
in my house today while cleaning

April 11th
list the people you live with
Me, Galo, cat and dog

April 12th
what fears did you have today?
no fears, really relaxed

april 13th
What did you forget?
i ´dont remember

April 14th
What is your favorite Tv show?
i don´´t own a tv......

april 15th
i have faith that....................
everything will work out ok.

April 16th
who is the last person you kissed?
my husband.... and my cat.....

April 17th
What did you wear today?
NOTHING!!!

April 18th
what is testing you?
the school is testing my patience

April 19th
what is the oldest thing you are wearing today?
my hair elastic....

April 20th
list 5 things you should have done today
1. get dressed
2. sweep
3. organize
4. shower
5. move my butt

5 year journal

Well, it appears that I am not so good at updating my journal everyday so I shall update it weekly. it seems easier to do it that way!

March 12th.
Are you happy?
Yes.

March 13th.
How much "me" time did you take today?
All day! I'm not working and my husband is out of town so I spent the whole day doing what I want!

March 14th.
List 3 things you have faith in.
My abilities, my morals, humanity

March 15th.
Who is the last person you said "I love you" to?
My husband.

March 16th.
Did you seize any opprotunities?
I like to think that I always seize them. I moved to Mexico with almost zero notice, now I am observing classes even though I am not being paid simply to familiarize myself with the job.

March 17th.
Where did you go today?
Well... today so far I have gone from my bedroom to the living room, kitchen, bathroom.... Haven't left the house yet. I may go to parroquia for coffee shortly.

3 weeks delayed on posting this....

On February 23rd I got to go and see Enrique Iglesias for the closing of the Carnaval in Veracruz. It was greatness. I've always enjoyed his music but now I have respect for him as an entertainer. He honestly looks like he loves what he is doing and that energy radiates throught the crowd. I wish I had the money to go see him again in Mexico City. I would gladly pay money to see his show, it's fun, energetic and crazy!

5 year journal

March 11th.
What did you find inspiring today?
http://es.scribd.com/doc/49994116/wallpockets-complete making your own wall pockets. I shall make these!

Recipe: Coconut Banana Bread

I LOVE banana bread  to the point that I buy bananas just to let them go mushy so I can make banana bread... I have actually yelled at my husband for eating bananas... and since moving to Mexico I have become obsessed with coconut so this recipe made me drool.

Recipe inspiration from My Kitchen Addiction (HEAVILY modified based on what I had on hand)
(Makes 1 mediumish loaf and 6 muffins, or 1 large loaf)

Ingredients:

1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce
scant 1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs (or 4 egg whites if watching cholesterol)
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups flour (can use 1 cup of whole wheat flour if you want)
1/2 cup okara (remember that from the soymilk recipe??), or add 1/2 cup more flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 medium overripe bananas, mashed (about 1 cup)
1 cup coconut milk
1 cup sweetened flaked coconut (or shredded coconut)
Pam to spray the pans with

Tools needed:

2 mixing bowls
 Fork
Electric mixer (optional)
Measuring cups/spoons
Loaf pan/muffin tray

Get all your stuff together. I left out one mixing bowl in the pictures... oops!

If you are using Okara blend it until it's smooth and the consistancy of flour.

Mix all your dry ingredients. Flour, Okara, Salt, Baking powder, Baking soda and coconut.

In a seperate bowl mix the oil, sugar and applesauce.

Add in the eggs and mix well.

Add in your 3 bannas and coconut milk and either smash well with a fork or...

cheat and use a mixer like me.

the finished liquid mixture will look something like this.

Add in your dry ingredients and mix to combine. It will be a nice runny mixture.

Spray the pans you'll be using with Pam and then pour the mixture in. Either fill the loaf pan 3/4 full, fill about 12 muffin cups 3/4 of the way or do what I did and do one loaf pan filled 1/2 way and 1 tray of muffins.

Almost done!!! They will be done when a toothpick comes out clean.

If you made 1/2 muffins and 1/2 loaf the muffins will be done sooner so pay attention. Mine took 35 minutes.

Cooling on the rack smelling oh so yummy!!

I don't know about you but I can't wait for muffins to cool so I dug in. Put some real butter (non of that low cal, fake stuff for me!) on it and dig in!

The loaf was done after about 1 hour

Amazingly delicious. They turned out insanely moist and rich. Next time I may leave out the sugar altogether because they are fairly sweet.

So to recap:

1. mix dry ingredients in one bowl

2. mix wet ingredients in another bowl, making sure to smash the banana well

3. mix it all together

4. Pour into pre-sprayed pans

5. Bake until a toothpick comes out clean.

6. EAT!



 

5 year journal

So I saw this idea for a 5 year journal on pintrest a while back and thought it would be a pretty neat thing to try. It gives you a question each day and you simply answer the question, then repeat the following year, on the same page so you can see the changes and turns your life has made. I know I'm starting a tad late but here we go for March 2012.

March 1st.
The funniest thing you've heard today.
I actually said "The ocean is wet" today while my hubby and I were at the beach..

March 2nd.
If you could have a new talent what would you have and why?
I would want to learn languages with ease... cuz I live in Mexico and suck at Spanish.

March 3rd.
Who other than your spouse is your best friend?
I honestly don't know... I have lots of amazing close friends but at this point I can't chose one best friend.

March 4th.
What do you wish you had left unsaid?
That sounds an awful lot like what do you regret saying and I chose to not have regrets in life. Everything happens for a reason, even things that I say which are stupid have a reason.

March 5th.
What is the first thing you ate or drank today?
Well I had a cup of black tea with 1 frozen strawberry in it and 1/2 a cup of low fat cottage cheese.

March 6th.
Are you saving or spending?
Oh how I wish I were saving but unfortunatly until I start working we are spending.

March 7th.
On a scale of 1-10 how clean is your house?
Right now I'd say about a 7. There is laundry that needs to be done and I should dust but other than that it's pretty neat actually!

March 8th.
What is the last song you listened to?
Maryla Rodowicz- Ale to juz bylow

March 9th.
What relaxes you?
Reading, music, cooking, my pets

March 10th.
What is the most valuable thing you own?
In terms of use my laptop, in terms of money spent... my kitchen


And that is the first 10 days. Now the goal is to update this everyday. And then to do it for 5 years....

Recipes: Beans from dry to cooked in 75 minutes!

I love beans. Green, black, kidney, soy. I love 'em. Always have. When I lived at home with my parents we had an awesome veggie garden every year and I remember being 10 or so getting hungry in the middle of the night, grabbing a flashlight and going to pick green beans from the stalk and cooking them up as a snack. Once my mom woke up and caught me outside in my nighty picking them and she just started to laugh. She asked me what kind of kid I was sneaking out to pick and cook beans at 3am when we had chips and cookies in the cupboards. I just shrugged and said I wanted beans, while chomping on a carrot I had just picked and rinsed off with the hose outside.
Now I don't have a garden and it makes me sad. I plan on starting a little rooftop garden as soon as I can afford it but for now I'm stuck with buying my veggies in a store. :(
Today I really wanted black beans. I have a variety of dried beans in my  cabinets so I grabbed a container and cooked them up as a quick snack. Now you may be saying to yourself "dried beans, quick snack? that's not possible!" I assure you it is!

Ingredients:

some sort of dried beans in any amount you want (I used black this time)
Salt (optional)
any other seasoning you may want (optional)
water

tools:

Loaf pan
tinfoil
oven

Here's everything you need to make awesome cooked beans in 75 minutes!

dump the beans into the loaf pan, add your salt and seasonings ( if using) and cover it all with water. I use a 3:1 ratio. 3 cups water to 1 cup beans and it seems to work well for me.

Cover the pan with tinfoil tightly! The point is to keep the steam in the pan so make sure you wrap the loaf pan nice and tight. Put it in the oven at about 350 degrees or so (standard baking temp) for 60-75 minutes. Check after 1 hour but be careful not to tear the foil because if it's not done then you need to wrap it up again. After the 1 hour mark, if the water is gone but the beans are still too tough, feel free to add more water, re wrap and leave it in the oven for a bit more time.

Now when I make these beans I usually make a lot and keep them in the fridge for other meals during the week. Tonight for example I am making myself chicken fajitas. I steam a chicken breast, chop up some lettuce, tomato, and avocado, throw everything into a tortilla, top it with beans, add some salsa and sour cream and dig in. it's an awesome easy dinner.
Or you can top your salad with cold beans
add to a rice dish to make dirty rice
add meat too your cooking beans to make a frank and beans dish but healthier
Use the beans as a side instead of pasta or potato
eat them plain as a snack like i do....

Recipe: Slow cooker lazy cabbage rolls

I'm Polish so I love me some cabbage rolls. I also love my slow cooker. I am very lazy. So when I found the words "Lazy slow cooker cabbage rolls" I screamed a little bit....

Ingredients:

1/4-1/2 a head of cabbage
1lb of ground meat (any kind)
2-3 cups of tomato sauce
dried herbs, salt, pepper (optional)
1.5 cups brown rice
1-2 cups water

Tools needed:

Crockpot
Cutting board
Sharp knife
Frying pan

All the stuff gathered together waiting to become yumminess!

Brown the ground meat. I used chicken this time but you can use beef, pork or turkey if you so desire. Moms regular cabbage rolls contain a mixture of ground beef and pork.

Chop, shred, cube, or leave the cabbage in leaves, it's really up to you. I chose to corsely chop the cabbage this time. Put a layer of cabbage on the bottom of the slow cooker. However much you want... I put lots because I really love cabbage.

Pour between 1/2 and 1 cup of uncooked brown rice ontop of the cabbage.

Spread half of the ground meat over the rice and cabbage and then repeat the layers ending with some cabbage on top.

If you are using plain tomato sauce add whatever herbs and seasonings you would like. I added pepper, basil, thyme, oregano and parsely this time. If you are using a seasoned spaghetti sauce then just pour it right over everything. Add about 2 cups of water over the tomato sauce. Do not stir!

Put the lid on the slow cooker, turn it on high and leave it there for 2.5-3.5 hours.

Once all the water is absorbed and everything is nicely cooked DIG IN!

If the tomato sauce is too acidic for you you can always add a spoon or sour cream or some whipping cream into the slow cooker.

This is awesome and so much easier than regular cabbage rolls!!!

Recipe: Coffee Mug Crumble Cake

Crumble cake in a mug.... done in a microwave.... in less than 5 minutes....YES! So good!

I must say I love pintrest.com. The recipes on there are A MA ZING! no joke, I'm in love with that site. My waist does not like the site so much....

Anywho crumble cake in a mug.....

Ingredients:

1/4-1/2 an egg
2 tbsp butter, divided
1/8 tsp baking powder
1/4 cup flour
Cinnamon
2tbsp sugar
2 tbsp sour cream
a couple drops of vanilla

Here is all you need to make cake!

Throw a tablespoon of butter into the bottom of the cup. Soften it a little bit in the microwave.

Add 2 tablespoons of sugar and cream together.

If you want a more cakey cake add half an egg, if you want it more crumbly don't add any egg. Play around see what works for you. Personally I prefer no egg.

Add 2 tablespoons of sour cream. Stir to combine.

Add in a few drops of vanilla, some cinnamon and whatever other spices you want (I added nutmeg and cloves). 1/8 tsp of baking powder and 1/4 cup of flour to the cup and mix well.

To make the crumble topping mix 1 tablespoon of butter, 2 tablespoons of flour, 1 tablepoon of sugar and some cinnamon in a seperate container and smash up with your fingers until crumbly.

Crumble the topping on top of the cake mix in the cup.

Put it in the microwave for 1-2 minutes. Start with 1 minute and then add 10 seconds at a time until it's done

Carefully remove the mug from the microwave, it will be very hot. Let it sit for a moment to cool down and then dig in!!

You can do all sorts of variations to this recipe....

Add orange flavoring
 coffee flavor
 some liquor
 chocolate chips
Peanut butter

Really the options are endless!

Enjoy!

Recipe: Homemade Soymilk and Okara

I love soymilk but here in Mexico it's insanely expensive so I've started making my own. It's yummy and free of preservatives and chemicals.

Ingredients:

1 Cup dried non GMO, organic soy beans
Water

Tools needed:

Pot
Strainer
clean but old dish towel or pillow case
Large bowl
container to store you soymilk

Put the soybeans into a large bowl and cover them with lots of water. Leave them to soak 8-10 hours or overnight.

Once the beans have soaked and roughly doubled in size strain them and place them into a blender with about 1 cup of water (You may need to do this in several batches if you have a small blender like me). Blend the bean/water mixture until a paste forms. It should look like a bean dip.

Pour your bean goop into a pot and add 2-3 cups of water depending on whether you like a thicker, creamier soy milk or a thinner one. If you're not sure how thick you want your soymilk add 2 cups of water now and later on when I say you can add more water. On a medium setting cook the beans/water mixture just until it starts boiling. Make sure to keep stirring the mixture as it will burn to the bottom of the pot very quickly.

At some point while the bean/water mixture is cooking or before if you're super organized you need to set up your straining station. Place a thin towel or pillowcase over a strainer and place the strainer into a bowl.

Once the mixture comes to a boil turn off the stove and pour it into your strainer/pillowcase setup. Close the pillowcase (or whatever you're using) and sqeeze all the liquid out. You can use a potato masher, spatula, your hands or whatever else you want (make sure to wear a silicone glove if using your hand!) Squeeze, twist, press, do whatever it takes to get all the liquid out. Once you have squeezed out as much as you can open the pillowcase and add about 1/2 a cup more water, stir and squeeze one last time.


After all the squeezing you should be left with a solid/flaky lump (left) and a nice milky liquid (right). Save the lump, called Okara, I'll show you what to do with it later. Pour the soymilk back into the pot.

At this point if you find your soymilk to thick for your liking you can add more water, Add water 1/2 cup at a time until you get your disired consistancy. On a medium high heat bring the soymilk to a boil (be careful, it acts like milk and will boil over if you're not paying attention!). Reduce heat and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until the beany aroma and taste are almost gone. (Hint: Try the soymilk before boiling so you have a reference point)

Once you have achieved the less beany taste you want you can add sugar, syrup or any other flavorings that you choose. I personally love adding vanilla flavoured syrup to my soymilk. Pour it into a container and store in the fridge for a couple of days. Remember since it has no preservatives you need to use it up fast! 

Congratulations! you've just made soymilk!!

Now what to do with the dry, flaky okara that I told you to put aside.....


Tools needed:
Baking sheet
tinfoil (optional)
Something to prop the oven door open a bit

Remember this?

Spread it out evenly on the lined baking pan. Crumble and flake the okara as best as you can.

Put it into the oven at the lowest setting to dry. I prop my oven door open an inch or two because my oven doesn't go low enough. Dry the okara. After about 15-20 minutes give it a stir using a spatula or fork or whatever. It will have stuck to the tinfoil a bit, don't panic, that's normal, scrape it up and stir it up. Continue drying it until it is totally dry.

Remove it from the ove and let it cool, then dump it into an airtight container or ziplock bag and store in your freezer.

Now, you may be asking me "what do I do with this dried okara?" Well it's rather simple and neat really.
Next time you bake anything (bread, muffins, cookies, loafs) replace 1/3 of the flour with okara! Place the okara into a blender and blend it so that it is the consistancy of flour and simply treat it like flour. It doesn't change the taste of your food at all (similar to tofu) but adds a whole bunch of protein!!

Seriously try it, it's awesome!