This week we travelled to Pakistan and visited with our friends and neighbors to learn more about the culture the food and the ways they raise their family. We were able to enjoy sweets and also to try a recipe that is shared below called Black Bean Dal-its a great vegetarian dish that is hearty as well. We all enjoyed it and found that it wasnt too spicy for us. It also makes a quite generous dish and can be made in advance and heated through when serving.
Next week we are travelling to Greece and are looking forward to tasting food through that country-we actually have friends who are from there and will be chatting with them and trying to get an authentic greek recipe to enjoy and share here. Here's to happy food travels!!!

Mexico

I wanted to try and find some snack foods since this week the kids are on Spring break and meals if any are fast and easy-this dip we made was quick and easy and can be adapted if going needed easily by using preprepped or canned ingredients. I tried it with canned chili rather than cooking up beef and adding sauce etc it worked out good but both the original recipe and the adapted version were a huge hit for our family. Its so easy I can even do it camping heating it through on the bbq. Looking forward to going through Mexico the rest of the weekend and having a tour through as we look online and see what Mexico is all about. Its been a fun journey as the kids have learned to experience new countries and new foods over these last few weeks.
Next week we will be touring Spain and then into the European countries.

We are taking a detour to Austrailia this week-making Aussie Chicken-I got a good deal on chicken breasts so the 3 meals I have made so far on our trip round the world have been chicken. Next week will be beef and we will be going to India Pakistan trying out a couple of different dishes. Aussie chicken is full of flavor and a hit with the kids as its not too spicy. Also going away from Asia and travelling to another part of the world for a bit of a change in routine. The kids learned this week about the animals and plants that are indigenous to that area and wish they could travel there. Jordan wanted to see a real koala bear and Caitlin wanted to see a baby kangaroo. We are looking this weekend at websites that will have these animals and also do a bit more research on the plants in the area. In the meantime the Aussie chicken will be our entry to Austrailia. Tomorrow we make a dessert from there and it will be a real treat! Here is the recipe for Aussie Chicken.

a bit of a twist

Everyone seemed to have liked the Mongolian Chicken I made this week-the heat from the red pepper flakes was a bit high-we added some rice right to the chicken rather than serving it on the side and it seemed to help a bit. Though it is definately one of the hotter dishes I have made.
I cooled it down yesterday when a neighbor asked me about making a dessert for her family-we made peppermint pattie brownies-her girls are older and helped me so it went together really easy - here is the recipe if anyone wants to try them.

Week of March 15-19th

Going to try another Asian meal this week-since last week's Firecracker Chicken was a hit with the family I figured why change course on where we are on the globe. So this week I am making Mongolian Chicken the recipe is shared at the end of this note. Its going to be tasty I am sure - the kids learned about the different countries that make up Asia from Pakistan to Phillipines and are taking time this weekend to learn more about the culture in each country-we have friends here where we live from Pakistan so Caitlin is learning how they raise children as one of our neighbors just had a baby last week so she gets to see parenting from that level. She loves to go over and snuggle!! And there are no language barriers with babies! Jordan is learning to play soccer with another neighbors son-they call it football in their country we call it soccer-so both boys are learning through each other! We are going to attempt to make Butter chicken next week-I have made it before I must confess but used a jar of premade sauce this time we are going to try the authentic way as we make our way over to India. The kids are going to try to talk to someone from India that works with their dad and see if they can get a recipe or two from him and his wife. That way we get an authentic experience. Trying to expose the kids to different cultures through more than just their palates-opening their minds and hearts to people from around the world who are people just like us!
Here is the recipe for Mongolian Chicken.

Our journey begins in Asia

Our journey has begun and I must say its been tasty so far-even my meat and potatoes man who thinks salt and pepper are spicy loved the first dish we tried. The kids werent so keen on the spicy sauce but they enjoyed it and didnt cringe when I offered leftovers the next day. I made Firecracker Chicken and it was pretty simple to make. The recipe can be found on Simple Daily Recipes and is led by my good friend Jill McKeever a food blogger and cook extradonaire!!
We are going to explore Asia this month making a new dish every week so that we will have 4 new recipes to add to my ever expanding family favorites cookbook.
Its going to be a great journey as we explore the people cultures and customs as well as the recipes they make for their own families.