The best and easiest from-scratch staple recipes

Daniel and I will be married 7 years this August, which means I've been cooking daily meals (and most everything else we eat) almost completely from scratch for that long.  And I still don't like to cook.  My goal in cooking always is to get the absolute best results with the least amount of effort. Over the years I've narrowed down my recipes to a few staples that I make over and over again.  Most of these staples  I make at least once a week, and all of them are made completely from scratch with easy-to-get ingredients.  Here is a list of my favorites:

White Sandwich Bread:  I messed about with Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day for a while, and though the bread tasted nice and came together quickly, I could never produce consistent results.  All I want is a nice sandwich bread, nothing fancy.  This recipe makes 2 loaves of bread; I make it once a week and done. The bread is soft but not crumbly, perfect for sandwiches.  I use margarine instead of butter-- the bread stays fresh a bit longer that way.

Flour Tortillas: I like this recipe because it uses milk instead of large amounts of oil or shortening (most flour tortillas in Belize are made with lard, shortening or oil), and the tortillas have a really nice flavor.  I usually double it, this recipe as is only makes 8 very small tortillas.

Chocolate Chip Cookies:  Yes, this is a STAPLE.  This recipe was posted 1 month ago and I have already made it 3 times (double batches :)  These are the perfect chocolate chip cookies.  Every recipe I have tried from her blog (Smitten Kitchen) has come out great, I'm a big fan.

Pickled Cabbage Salad: This has been a great way to get more vegetables in our diet.  I make up a big bowl on Saturday after grabbing the ingredients at the market, and stick it in the fridge.  It just gets better the longer it stays in the fridge... we usually eat it all before then but I have had batches still fresh after 2 weeks.  The girls love to crunch on cabbage pieces. I modified it a bit-- I use half apple cider vinegar and half white vinegar, and I usually only add onions and peppers with the cabbage to make things a bit easier.

Greek Fake Lentil Soup: This soup is simple to make, I always have the ingredients on hand, and it tastes really good and is filling.

Beans: There is a batch in the crock pot right now.


And bonus-- my favorite pizza dough recipe, given to me by a friend:

Add 1 cup warm water to 1 tablespoon yeast, let proof.  Mix in 1 teaspoon salt and 1 teaspoon sugar.  Start with 2 cups flour, add up to 1/2 cup more flour as needed (you can also add more water if needed) and 1 tablespoon garlic powder.  Mix till it makes a ball, no need to knead.   You can use this right away but it tastes better if you let it rise a few hours.  Makes 1 pizza.

Caye Caulker with babies and toddlers

*pictures stolen from my sister's instagram :)

We just got back from a few days in Caye Caulker with my family, and it was so, so good.  This is my second trip to Caye Caulker with babies in tow, and I'm convinced it is the best beach in Belize for babies.  Adults, too, actually.

What makes Caye Caulker special is the area known as the split.  The water here is extremely shallow-- it starts at about 6 inches deep- and the waves are buffered by the reef that surrounds the caye.  Combine this with bathtub warm water, and you have the perfect baby swimming spot.  The girls could have stayed in the water all day.

The lee side of the island doesn't have a nice big cleared area to swim in, but you can find some relatively seaweed free spots if you look around the docks.  This side of the island is blocked from the wind, so there are virtually no waves.  Palm trees grow right to the water's edge, so I was able to sit in a shady part of the water while the girls played.

This time around I think we hit on a pretty good combo of transportation and accommodation.  Last time we took the water taxi from Belize City to the Caye, which is cheaper but takes a few hours.  It was pretty draining. This time we drove to the municipal airport, parked there, and took a literally 10 minute flight to the island.  I was afraid the babies would be scared of the loud engines-- some of the planes are very small and can be loud-- but Lu was so relaxed she fell asleep.  Miss M alternated between looking out of the window and waving to other passengers. Flying from the municipal airport is significantly cheaper than from the international airport-- about half as expensive.   So much better then wrestling a toddler on a speedboat for 45 minutes!  (My fellow Belizean blogger Laurie has Tropic Air discount codes on her flights to Belize page, email her for a 10% off code.  Maya Air also flies the same route, and is a bit cheaper.)

We stayed at Costa Maya, right near the split, and it took us about a minute to walk down to the swimming area each morning.   I wanted a place with a little kitchen and this hotel was great-- clean and quiet, with nice big modern rooms.  I would definitely stay here again.  We've stayed in nice places farther down the island, but it is such a production to haul babies and gear to the water that we hardly ended up swimming-- which rather defeats the purpose of going to the beach. This time I could leave everything in the hotel room, not worry about extra diapers or even towels, and hop back and forth easily.   There are a couple of similarly priced hotels right next to Costa Maya that we also looked at,  Barefoot Caribe (looked nice but right across from a rather noisy restaurant) and Blue Wave guest house (no kitchenette).

Next time we go I'd love to hit the slow season in September and October.  Prices are a lot cheaper and there are way less tourists.  We will be back!

I'm linking to everything for those who are interested, these are my own opinions-- no one asked me to review or is compensating me :) 

 Nana came to visit a few weeks ago, bringing tutus and fairy wings and lots and lots of chocolate.

We went to visit friends who live deep in the jungle, where a family of howler monkeys came to observe us as the babies splashed in the jungle stream.

Mom was convinced the monkeys would pee on her head, but she escaped unscathed.  Our friends say they are fascinated by children, and come to watch every time the kids swim.

On the farm, it's baby goat time.

In one of the crazier things that has ever happened in our goat experience, we discovered a brand new baby goat deep in an ant nest tunnel.  The mama goat delivered a set of twins on a leaf cutter ant nest, which is a nice clear sandy mound and must have seemed like a good choice.... until one of the babies fell into a hole.

Fortunately we found him quickly, but we had a crazy time getting him out.  The tunnels can go 10-15 feet down, and the little guy was stuck in a bend about a foot from the surface.  The good news was that part of the nest was abandoned by the ants, so they didn't swarm and kill him.  The bad news was other unsavory things like to move into abandoned nests.  This fact didn't occur to me until I had both arms past the elbows squeezed in the tunnel trying to basically deliver a baby goat out a small dirt hole, and Daniel warned me not to put my hands all the way under the goat.  That was the point when I really got motivated.  It was a tight squeeze getting him out, but we managed with only a few scrapes and he is just fine.

His twin sister is 1/3 his size, and the tiniest baby goat we have ever had.

Which makes her the perfect size for the girls to play with.  And by play I mean practice being "gentle" while repeatedly pointing out "EARS!!!"  A baby goat with long ears is very exciting when you have just discovered ears.

Finally, Lu's teeth have started to come in... but only the canines on the top, not the front teeth.

We love her adorable baby vampire look :)

River Walk

Saturday afternoon we took a walk down to the river.  One of the workers on the farm has built a fish trap, which is a complete work of art.  The concept is that when the river level rises- as it does frequently during the rainy season- the fish are forced into the chute of the trap.  The worker has been catching fish with it for months now.  The entire thing is build without a single nail or screw.

One of the nearby resorts got permission to build a large deck near the river beach.  They bring guests for fancy picnics.  The babies love it for running around; it has a more square footage then our entire downstairs and nothing to bang into or trip over.  Perfection.

Every once in a while I start feeling a bit guilty about neglecting this blog, which means it's probably time for another update.

December was a really good month for us.  After over a year and a half of stress, lawyers, and paperwork, our little Miss M's adoption was finalized.

Such joy, and such relief to be done with the process.  At a little over a year and a half old, Miss M rules the house.  She spontaneously dances to any sound-- the cell phone ringing, the guinea hens calling-- and she is good.  One point to nature, because Daniel and I certainly can't nurture dance, we are painfully awkward.  She loves to stay up late and sleep in, her favorite food is pineapple, and she lives in her red rubber boots and a tutu.  For some reason even though she can say 'mommy,' she prefers to call both me and Daniel 'daddy.'  I answer to it :)

We celebrated Lu's one year birthday a few days later...

Everyone goes crazy over her eyelashes.  Lu is an interesting mix of independence and clinginess at this age.  She does not like strangers, but she doesn't really like to be held or cuddled by us either.  She wants to be on the go, exploring and putting everything in her mouth.  Her favorite thing to eat is paper.  She is a bit of a klutz, falling over and banging into things all the time.  I desperately hope she outgrows it, because she is also totally fearless and will fling herself off the couch with glee, leaving us frantically grabbing for an arm or leg.  I predict a future of trick horse riding and emergency room visits. 

And Kobe came to visit over Christmas.  

Random picture, but one of the few I have where his face is not a total blur because this kid never stops moving.  He's 3 1/2 now, and goes to pre-school where he lives with his family, which frankly must be the saving grace for them, because at the end of the day Daniel and I would collapse in an exhausted stupor from trying to keep up with him.  He is a smart little guy, and remembers everything about living with us.  As soon as he walked in the door he started begging to milk the cow.  Daniel took one side of the udders, and gave Kobe the other, and Kobe would sit there patiently and slowly milk, getting a cup or 2 of milk all by himself.  Then he would carefully carry the little bucket in to show me.  Daniel loved to point out to everyone that Kobe is already a better milker then I am. 

(which is pure strategy on my part-- if I don't know how to milk then I can't be out there at 6am milking, right??)

scenes from the summer

Kobe came to visit for a week this summer, so we decided to have a birthday party for him.  We set up a sprinkler-- a huge novelty for the kids, no one does sprinklers here.  It was pretty awesome.

it's been a while, how about a snake story?

So it’s been a while.  I confess, I was lured away by the easy of use and almost instantaneous validation of Instagram.  My account is private, but if I know you send a follow request to @pioneerbookworm if you like.  I’ll try and put some Instagram pictures up here every once and a while for those who don’t do Instagram.

babies

I have a story that needs to be documented for posterity.  It involves a snake, as stories frequently do (at least around here).  Two things to start: 1.  No, I have no idea where all these snakes are coming from.  We’ve had more snakes in our house in the last 4 months then we’ve had in the last 5 years.  But I do live in the middle of a field in the Tropics, so odds are not in my favor.

2.  I hate snakes.  I hate them worse then you do.  I can’t even handle pictures of snakes. If a snake shows up on a tv show I have to change the channel.  The first time we ever had a snake in the house I got so hysterical that Daniel had to fill the bath with cold water and sit me in it to calm me down. 

visitors: Kobe, my mom, and my sister!

Here is the scene: It’s a lazy Sunday afternoon.  Daniel is taking a nap on the play mat on the floor, Lu is buzzing around in the baby walker, and Ms M is playing on the floor.  I’m sitting on the couch, getting my computer ready to skype with my parents.  The cat is playing with something under the stove, and I assume it’s a grasshopper cause she likes to play with them.  Then everything happens all at once.  A 3 foot long snake shoots out from under the stove, heading straight for Daniel and M.  I screamed, Daniel shot up from a dead sleep, grabbed M, and basically threw her at me.  I stashed her on the couch and took two steps to grab Lu, only to fail to catch Daniel as he keeled over in a faint at my feet.  So now I have 2 very confused babies, a husband out cold on the floor, and a snake under my couch.  I take 30 seconds in which to privately panic in my head. Ok, OK, you can handle this.  YOU CAN HANDLE THIS.  Triage.   Babies, then husband, then snake.

Daniel came around by this point, but didn’t remember fainting.  Since I distinctly saw his head bounce when it hit the floor, I was a bit concerned.  I quickly stashed the babies safely away in their crib, and explained to Daniel that he fainted and hit his head on the floor. His response:  Oh, that’s why my head hurts.  We got him moved a bit away from the couch/ snake, and I made him lie down with his feet propped up while I started calling around  the family for help.  Meanwhile, Daniel began to realize what was going on, and told me not to call for help because then people would think he fainted because of the snake.  This is unacceptable in a family in which your 4 ½ ft tall sister in law takes on a boa constrictor with a  fence post. This could become one of those family legends, like the time his brother accidentally killed a calf by dropping a gate on it.  I could see the horror dawning on his face:  years of “but what about the one time Daniel fainted when he saw a little snake??”  I expressed my empathy with his concerns by standing over him so he couldn’t get up while calling every member of his family, meanwhile not letting the couch/snake out of my sight.  Fortunately a worker was quickly sent over with a machete.  The babies and I went upstairs for that part, but I did let Daniel sit up in a chair to supervise and  somewhat salvage his dignity.

The snake was promptly dispatched.  It was "just" a garden snake (3 feet long! really big!!), fortunately nothing poisonous.  And here Daniel would want me to emphasize that he did not faint because of the snake.  He fainted because all the blood rushed from his head when he went from sleep to panic and stood up too quickly due to his wife’s scream.   I’m sure that’s exactly how it will be remembered by all his brothers. 

a half-day in my life

I love having these "day in the life"posts to look back on, especially since my life seems to change so much from year to year.  The last time I did one of these, I just had one little boy...

 This time a half-day of documentation was about all I could handle :)

7am:  Lu's up so I'm up.  Do the diaper change/ bottle/ diaper change routine.  Put some water on to boil for baths (we don't have hot water!), and boil this morning's milk (Daniel milks our cow at 6am or so) for Miss M to drink.  Sweep the floor, wash some leftover dishes and bottles, feed the cat.  Daniel heads out.  Make Miss M's bottle.

8am: Miss M slept in today but now she's up. While she drinks her bottle, I take a quick bath.  Get M dressed, then put some more milk on to boil cause today I'm making some yogurt.  Mop the floor (M eats any dead bugs she can find so floors have to be suuuper clean) and do some dishes. Start to sort some beans for dinner, making stewed beans.  Lu falls asleep.

 

9am: Miss M is getting cranky, so take a I break and read her a story.  We go upstairs to sort some laundry, but after 10 minutes M decides she's had it.

turn the water on to do some laundry (I have to fill our machine with a hose, because we don't have enough water pressure for the machine to fill automatically).  Put Miss M in her chair and attempt to console her with food while I continue sorting beans.  Make some foster phone calls, get secretaries and voice mails.

 

10 am:  Mom calls, and we chat while I'm finally getting Miss M to eat.  Lu is awake, and gets a bottle. Culture the yogurt and put it in jars on a heating element to set.  Then I hear the awful sound of water hitting the floor-- I forgot to turn the hose off for the washing machine and it overflowed all over the bathroom floor.  I do this on a semi-regular basis.

 

11am:  Finally finished sorting the beans, and put them on the stove to cook.  Matters are not improving with Miss M (who has a cold, poor thing) so I decide we will have a youtube video dance party.  Lu looks on with glee.  Miss M gets a bottle, and put down for a nap.  I mop the bathroom floor.

12pm: Lu falls asleep.  I eat some lunch.  One hour of quiet, and then we start again....

springfield

Daniel, the babies, and I went on a little road trip a few weeks ago in search of goats.  We have a goat who is a very good milker, but is also a terrible bully.  Now we can add "murderer" to her description, because she pushed our best milker off a cliff (they like to eat around the edge of a limestone quarry we have on the farm).  So off we went in search of another goat.

There are many Mennonite communities in Belize.  They vary in how conservative they are, but they all focus on agriculture (here is a little bit about another community we've visited).  We headed to a community that we have bought goats from before hoping for good luck-- this is a very conservative community, so we couldn't call ahead.  I always forget how beautiful this part of Belize is.  If it weren't so far from Daniel's job, I would work really hard to convince him we should move there. 

The way of life in this community is so appealing to me.  There is no electricity, no cars. It is just peaceful.  The stoves are wood-fired, and everything else is horse-powered, including the saw mill.  The houses are simple and spotlessly clean, with rows and rows of canned fruit and veggies and meat lining the kitchens. Porches are wide, with hammocks and swinging benches, and everyone we have met is so friendly and inviting.  Even though we interrupted their day with no warning, friends we haven't seen in over a year all gathered to chat on the porch, and invited us to stay and eat lunch. 

And yes, we did find a goat, who was very indignant at being stuffed in the trunk of my car and hauled home.  She's happy now, though... and we are keeping a close eye on our assassin goat.

Hopkins

There is an interesting paradox in Belize (and I’m sure many other places).  Tourists want authenticity in their travels, and so they search out new, “undiscovered” places.  But it turns out that real life mostly isn’t all that tourist-friendly, with people living their ordinary home/ work/ eat/ sleep lives on bumpy dirt roads with  no AC and nothing much to do after dark.  So slowly these little towns change, with fancier restaurants and airconditioned hotels and  lots of tours on offer.   People get jobs, and travelers are comfy, so it mostly works out well.

Hopkins is definitely a  town in transition from sleepy fishing village to tourist beach destination. I was last in Hopkins almost 10 years ago, and the bus ride from the main road into the village was one of the most horrible bumpy hour I have ever spent traveling.  Now construction is underway on a smooth, wide road and access is much easier.  

All throughout town I noticed changes--  nice new grocery stores, tons of new places to eat, tours and shops to entice tourists.  It seems Hopkins is well on it's way to becoming the new Placencia or Caye Caulker.

For now, though, it it still pretty quiet.  Tourists haven't completely taken over.  Early mornings the main road is mostly empty, with a few cars mixed with lots of bikes.

Hopkins is a Garifuna village, and I was quite charmed when I noticed school uniform for little girls is a traditional Garifuna dress.   (Here is the official Garifuna council web site for more info on this culture, and a nicely concise Wikepedia page).

The village of Hopkins is quite small- only 3 streets wide and about a 25 minute walk long.  In the picture above, I'm standing on the roof of our hotel which was on the beach.  The yellow house in the picture marks the inland border of the town.

Right now there is one primary school in the town, and no high school.  A few years ago we would get students from Hopkins all the way at Mount Carmel (about a 3 hour car ride), but now students can go to some newer high schools less then an hour away.

It was interesting to walk around, and notice all the changes.  There is a lot of contrasts, with nice new concrete hotels next to old one room wooden houses on stilts.  Hopkins won't be the same place even a few years from now.  I think the village has a good chance of keeping it's unique culture and spirit though.  New jobs from more tourism are keeping young people in the village, when before most left to go to school and get jobs.  

It's a peaceful place, and a nice place for families to travel.

Even if sand is an insult to one's person.....