Just in Case...

Just in case you don't know what you're making for today's BIG GAME, I made this soup for Ryan and myself last night and it was delicious. If we're back in time (we've got a little day trip planned to Sangolqui), we'll definitely be eating it while watching the game. I served it last night with some left over homemade pita topped with butter, garlic and parmesan cheese toasted in the toaster oven for about 5 minutes! It was really great! Perfect for a cold day and football!

The recipe is adapted from CookingLight's Fresh Food Fast. This cookbook cracks me up because most of the recipes don't use fresh food. The use a ton of frozen food and a ton of jarred things! But oh well, I made everything fresh and it took about an hour all together (longer depending on what kind of barley you buy).

Here it is:
1 lb of seasoned ground beef* or sausage
1 chopped red pepper
1 chopped green pepper
1 chopped onion
2 cups water
5 stewed tomatoes**
1-2 cups of cooked barley
1 cup chopped spinach

*They don't really sell sausage here in Ecuador. So I just take the ground beef, add a bunch of spices to it and some oil and then cook it up. Essentially the same thing as sausage.
**Homemade stewed tomatoes are super easy. Boil a small pot of water. While water is boiling cut an X in the bottom of each tomato. When water is boiling place the tomatoes in the pot for about 10 seconds. Remove, run under cold water and then remove the skins and quarter. Dump out the water, return the tomatoes to the pot and simmer for 20 minutes with 2 teaspoons of salt and any other seasonings you might like.

Alright directions -
Cook the beef.
In a food processor combine peppers, onion and water. Puree until smoothish.
Combine beef, pureed mixture, tomatoes and barley in a pot.
Bring to a boil.
Season to taste.
Add the spinach. (If you're making cheesy toast, put it in the oven now!)
Serve when spinach is wilted. (and toast is crispy!)

Super easy, pretty quick and REALLY REALLY hearty, deliciousness.

LET'S GO BEARS! And Happy Birthday to Cousin Lou!

MULUB,
Taylor

Grocery Costs - Rethought

So instead of posting all of that nonsense about how much everything costs at the grocery (talk about seriously time consuming) I've decided to just post, as a reference for us in the future, what we've been making and how much each meal has cost. I'm still keeping track of all the numbers and such but I'll just give you the abridged version.

Working Backwards -
19-1-11 : BBQ Chicken and Chips -  $1.13
18-1-11 : Tuna Salad - $3.12
16-1-11 : Chuki's Birthday Grill Out - $4.69
14-1-11 : Pasta with Tomatoes, Beans and Roasted Veggies - $4.51
13-1-11 : Stir Fry - $1.52
10-1-11 : Middle Eastern Pizzas - $3.06
8-1-11 : Tarragon Braised Chicken and Rice - $4.10

There you have it - 7 meals for $22.13!

Chuki Updates

Just a few things we're working on with the Chuki bear... Thought you all might want to know.

1st and foremost, we've started NILIF (Nothing In Life Is Free). You can google it if you're really curious but basically the premise is that dogs recieve nothing unless they do something for it. So before we pet Chuki, he has to sit. Long gone are the days of toys all over the house, now we keep them all in the closet and we control when and for how long we plays with them. The reason we started it is because he needs to understand that we're the boss, the pack leaders if you will. Anyways, we've already seen improvements! Wa Hoo!

2nd, we're crate training and he hates it. Absolutely hates it. But we're being persistent. Any advice would be helpful!

3rd, we're really working on the jumping. It's no fun for us and its especially no fun for guests. We're seeing big improvements with us, but we need some willing volunteers who don't mind being jumped on to have him practice with guests... any takers?

Lastly, we've joined Boxerworld. It's a forum type place where boxer owners post questions and such. We've already had some great answers to some of the questions that have been plaguing us.

Thats about all with Chuki. Actually, it's quite a lot! We're trying to get him ready for the big move!

MULUB,
Taylor

PS. Also Chuki is learning the 'off' command and the 'touch' command. The fruits of our labor - he no longer sleeps in the bed with us!!! WAAA HOOO!! And we're hoping that the 'touch' command will make it easier to train him to ring a bell on the door when he has to go out at my parents' house!

Home

I realized that I haven't blogged yet about being home. Let me just say that it was a whirlwind! We were super busy seeing people, shopping and unpacking/repacking!

Let me just say this - Thank You to everyone who made time for us! We love you all dearly. Leaving our friends and family is the hardest thing about living abroad. Thanks for showing us so much love while we were home! We can't wait to be able to spend time with you and celebrate with you this summer!

MULUB,
Taylor

1 Year

We have been living in Quito for 1 year, today! I can't believe it. At times it feels like we just got here, we haven't seen anything and we're complete strangers to the city. But then at times it feels like 'it's only been a year?!?!'. The one thing I can say with certainty is that Quito feels like home, especially our apartment. Which just goes to prove that home really is where the heart is! Here's this year in a nutshell

• Ryan left the USA for the first time. 
• We moved in together. 
• We changed our professions completely, from retail and fundraising to teaching English. 
• We lived in a hostel for 2 weeks and it cost the same amount as 1 months rent. 
• We moved into a furnished apartment, got kicked out, searched for a new apartment, moved into an unfurnished apartment. 
• Got a dog!
• Bought furniture and appliances the Ecua way... haggle, haggle, haggle and get a guy with a truck. 
• We've learned Spanish (and are continuing to learn). 
• We've made some great friends that have showed us their love by leaving us =(
• We've hosted a lot of people and realized we really enjoy hosting. 
• We've come back to the States for a visit. Ryan attended his first Bogdan Christmas in its entirety and went on his first Bogdan Cruise. 
• We've started running. I ran my first two races and am completely hooked.
• We've bought our tickets home to IL, signifying the end to this fabulous 16 months. 

Most of all, we've learned a ton about ourselves, about each other, about living abroad, about being puppy parents, about Ecuador. It's been a really great year and we've got big plans for the next four months so that we don't miss one thing. But all in all, we're excited about coming home too. It will be a new adventure and the best part is that we'll be close to the people that we love, our friends and families. And then... on to Korea! 

MULUB, 

Taylor

Happy Birthday Chuki Bear!

Chuki is 1 years old today! We've got lots of fun things planned for him and, of course, lots of fun meals! We've already had pancakes and eggs for breakfast and now we're heading to the dog park. His birthday cake is in the oven and we're going to grill out this afternoon, so that he can play in the yard at our apartment building.

MULUB,

Coming home from the breeder!

Curled up on a pillow

Enjoying the parc

Waiting patiently for someone to play with him

Celebrating his first Christmas

Finally home from Sebas's

Chicago, oh how I love you!

I spent 2 full days in Chicago visiting friends and they were amazing! Here's a run down...

Day 1 - 
Dear friend Brad (Good luck on the move Brad!) drove me from Rockford to Elgin, so I could hop the train.
Met Hannah at Union, had coffee in a red cup at Starbucks and did some shopping on State St.
Surpirse visit from Jess at Forever 21 and went back to Hannah and Sarah's new apartment.

Made lunch and spent time watching Top Chef (God, I miss Bravo) and catching up on a years worth of news, drama and love!
Went to Doug's for drinks and a very lovely cheese tray.

Went to Quartino's with some of the most amazing girls women and man I've ever met and am so happy to call my friends.

Spent the evening talking, laughing, drinking wine and eating delicious food!

Day 2 - 
Ryan came into the city and we went back down to State St to do some more shopping.

Went to Lincoln Square for lunch at Garcias (mmm Tecate!).

Walked around Andersonville and popped into all of our/my favorite stores!
Bought Chuki a lot of presents.
Went out to dinner with Brian and Hannah for yummy BYOB Thai at Kitchenette!

Came back to Hannah's apartment and stayed up chatting in Hannah's room until I fell asleep sitting up.

Day 3 -
Friday morning Ryan and I got up early and said good bye to Hannah.

Then we had breakfast at M Henry (no breakfast pudding though, only on the weekends). Drove to Arlington Heights for a quick trip to Trader Joe's, PetSmart and the American Cancer Society office to say hello to my lovelies. Then back to Rockford to leave for Florida.

The best part of Chicago: seeing my amazing fun, caring and incredibly talented and successful friends. Those two days with them really sealed the deal about coming back in May. I can't wait to have more time to actually spend time together, instead of just catching up! Love you all, whether we talk every day, once a week or only when we see each other. Thanks for being fabulous!

MULUB,
Taylor