Quinoa Soup – Sopa de Quinua

Posted on | September 2, 2010 | No Comments

The Incas really knew what they were doing when it came to nutrition.  Quinoa (or quinua) was a major part of their diet, second only to the potato.  They held it sacred, and called it the ‘mother of all grains’.

The truth is that quinoa isn’t actually a grain.  Grains come from grass plants like wheat and barley. Quinoa comes from a plant that’s more closely related to beets and spinach. Wherever it comes from, quinoa is a super source of protein, making it a great food for vegetarians. It’s also gluten free, which makes it a great substitute for those who can’t eat wheat or barley products.

And – it makes a delicious soup.

Ingredients:

• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 quarts (liters) of chicken broth or stock
• 1 zucchini cut in bite sized cubes
• 2 medium sized potatoes in cube
• 2 onions, diced
• 2 carrots, diced
• 1/2 cup of diced celery
• 1/2 cup of quinoa
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 tsp oregano
• 1 minced garlic clove
• salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

1. In a large stew pot, stir fry the vegetables (except the zucchini) in the oil.  Add the bay leaf, oregano and garlic.  Cook until the onions are softened, but don’t let them start browning.
2. Add the rest of the ingredients, bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat to simmer and cook until the quinoa is soft.  Add salt and pepper to taste.

I know saying ‘cook until the quinoa is soft’ is kind of a poor way to say it.  Truth is, the quinoa will take 15-30 minutes to cook, but I like to cook it at least a half hour on a low simmer so that all the flavors meld well.

Of course, this dish can easily be made vegetarian by simply using a vegetarian broth instead of chicken.  (Personally, I don’t use celery – can’t stand the stuff)

Other quinoa tips:

• Wash the quinoa well, and soak it for at least 4 hours, then dump the water and give it another rinse.  This makes the quinoa much more easily digestible.
• If you want to add more quinoa to your diet, you can cook it just like rice on the stove or in your rice cooker.

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• How to Cook Quinoa (brighthub.com)

Buying Chickens in Peru

Posted on | August 31, 2010 | 2 Comments

Usually, I do my poultry shopping at the market.  When purchasing at the market, I get to pick out a nice fresh chicken and the butcher cleans it and cuts it up there while I watch.  He’ll cut it up however I want – quarters, eighths, even 10 pieces if I ask.  Then, I just take it home and wash it,  package it in plastic bags and stick it in the freezer.

One thing different in Peru, as I’ve mentioned, is that when you buy your chickens they include the feet and head with your purchase.  I usually tell the butcher to keep the head, but I use the feet in soup.  The cartilage in them gives chicken soup a really nice texture.

However, sometimes I can’t make it to the market and I buy my chicken at the grocery store instead.  It’s more expensive per pound/kilo, and the chickens are usually smaller.  There are usually two choices – a whole, cleaned chicken which is similar to a chicken in a US market, or what they call a ‘market chicken’.  Market chickens are plucked and have the head and feet cut off, but the innards are not cleaned out.  I’ve gotten pretty good at reaching in there and grabbing all the guts and cleaning them out.   (to be clear, they’re partially cleaned – no intestines or what have you, just the gizzards, heart, etc).

So this week, I bought a market chicken at Plaza Vea, brought it home and tossed it in the freezer.  I noticed that the head was on the outside of the chicken; it’s usually in the cavity. Well, now that the chicken has thawed, I see that … ew!  It’s still attached!

So now, I get to ‘de-head’ a chicken. Decapitate, whatever. I’m not looking forward to this.

Ah, Peru – the adventure never ends!!

PS – we used an axe!

To Forgive and Forget

Posted on | August 25, 2010 | 2 Comments

August, it seems, is a month for forgiving.  Various organizations have deemed that the first Sunday in August be called ‘International Forgiveness Day,’ while the 27th of this month is ‘Global Forgiveness Day.’

That’s a whole lot of forgiving to do in one month, but if you’re like me, you probably have a lot of forgiving your can do.  And maybe a whole lot of asking for forgiveness.

I’ve forgiven a lot of people in my life. I’ve forgiven my parents for any mistakes they made while raising me – I know they only did the very best they knew how.  Things that perhaps seemed cruel at one time can be seen in a different light when you’re a parent yourself.

I forgive my husband on a daily basis, and I beg him to forgive me too.  He’s not perfect and neither am I – but we try to be perfect for each other.

I forgive my children about every five minutes! I need to remember that the mistakes they make are the same ones I made when I was their age, and if they screw up, it’s a reflection on my teaching, not on their learning.  I hope they can forgive me for my mistakes someday, the same way I’ve forgiven my parents for theirs.

I forgive past boy friends – some of them hurt me deeply, and I’m sure there were a couple I hurt too.  But regrets are only mistakes you didn’t learn from, so I’m trying not to have any regrets.  Instead, I look at those relationships and know that I learned from them, and that they made me a better person. The person that’s able to love my husband and be loved by him now.

I don’t want to be a person that holds a grudge.  Forgiveness is freedom, not for the person you forgive, but for the person doing the forgiving.  When you forgive, you release a prisoner – and you’ll find that the prisoner was you.

(If you like the print, you can click on it to buy it at AllPosters.com)

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• Learning to Forgive (lifescript.com)
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Coupons for Cooking!

Posted on | August 23, 2010 | No Comments

I know most of y’all come here looking for food and recipes, so when I came across these coupons, I figured I should share.

• Here’s a whole bunch of Campbell’s soup coupons – plus Pop Secret, Prego Spaghetti sauce and V8 juice products.
• The Betty Crocker website has a TON of great coupons available, on everything from Cocoa Puffs to Bisquick to Totino’s Party Rolls to … Huggies?  Yes! Even Huggies.
• Or you might be in the mood for some Toll House Cookies – in which case you can get discounts on Nestle Chocolate Chips and other products here.
• Enjoy your favorite Kellogg’s products for less with these coupons!

Now if I could only get them to accept these coupons in Peru!

Actually – if I could only get someone to start selling all these products in Peru!

Living in Close Quarters

Posted on | August 21, 2010 | No Comments

I’m a girl from the ‘burbs.  While Cape Canaveral and Cocoa aren’t technically suburbs, growing up there was in many ways a very typical suburban type of upbringing.

Until I joined the Army, I never really spent much time in a big city – Orlando was one of the biggest I’d ever seen, and news flash – Orlando ain’t that big.

That changed when I joined the Army.  After I got out of basic training, I was sent off to San Antonio, TX, which is a pretty good sized city.  After that, Washington DC – and from there, all the way off to Seoul, Korea, one of the most densely populated cities in the world.

But, despite living in these giant cities, I actually lived on the Army base.  I spent some time in Korea, living with friends off base, but generally most of my day to day life was a bit removed from actual ‘big city life’.

And now here I find myself in Lima, Peru.  While it doesn’t have a lot of skyscrapers and other things you’d associated with the big city, it does have a LOT of one thing – and that’s people.  People live jammed all up on top of each other here.  Tiny houses – we’re talking 200 to 300 square feet – house whole families, often several generations. And the houses are built one right next to the other, with little or no space in between – often sharing walls.  It brings new meaning to being close to your neighbors.

Now, of course, you’ve got places like where we live, with bigger houses and a small yard – but we still live close enough to our neighbors that we can hear everything they do.  You learn to actively not listen at first, and then after a while, not listening just becomes a habit.  One of the hardest things for me is hearing someone sneeze from upstairs – I have a nearly irrepressible urge to yell out “God Bless You”

I was talking with my upstairs neighbor yesterday and she wanted to apologize for any recent noise while her son was visiting.  He’s a musician, and there’d been quite a bit of music and partying with him and his friends.

Now, of course we heard the music, and we actually enjoyed it.  We joked about not needing to go out for dinner, we could just set up candles in the kitchen and have a romantic meal with chamber music to serenade us.

Of course, that all takes a different turn when the dude in his bathroom in the new apartments next door starts singing along.

It’s all just a part of living in the city, like the dust and the pollution and the traffic and the crowds.  You either get used to it, or it breaks you down.  I’m glad I got used to it.

Palta a la Reina (The Queen’s Avocado)

Posted on | August 18, 2010 | 5 Comments

Peru has the most delicious avocados I’ve ever tasted.  I’ve always been a fan of the fruit, but the avocados here are so creamy, so delicious.  Just about any salad you get is bound to have some sliced up avocado on top.

But one of my favorite ways of eating avocado is when it’s the centerpiece of the salad itself, like in Palta a la Reina.  It’s a simple to make appetizer dish, but it looks very elegant and adds a touch of class to any meal.  For me, it’s filling enough to serve as a light lunch.

Ingredients:

• 2 potatoes, peeled and cut in cubes (in Peru, use papas blancas)
• 2 ripe but firm avocados
• 1/2 carrot, in cubes
• 1/2 cup of green beans, cut in 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/2 cup peas
• Meat from 1 chicken breast, cooked and shredded
• 1 hard boiled egg
• 2 black olives
• 4 crisp lettuce leaves
• a bit of lemon juice (optional)

Directions:

1. Cook the vegetables in boiling water for about four minutes – just until the potatoes are done.  Remove from the water, and let them cool.
2. When the veggies have cooled down, mix them with the mayo, the shredded chicken and a bit of salt and pepper.
3. Cut the avocados in half, lengthwise.  Remove the pit and skin.  It’s a good idea at this point to put lemon juice on the avocado to keep it from turning brown, BUT if you’re serving it right away, it’s not necessary.
4. Fill the avocados with the veggie mixture.

Serve it on a lettuce leaf, and decorate with a wedge of hard-boiled egg and a couple slices of black olive.  If you like, put a tiny dollop of mayo on top, and sprinkle with a pinch of paprika or parsley.

Yes, if you hate black olives you can leave it off – but then it’s not authentic!

Free Stuff!

Posted on | August 16, 2010 | No Comments

Everybody likes to get free stuff, so I thought I’d share some things I found on around the internet with you.

• Are your kid’s getting the summertime blues?  If it’s the end of summer and you’re running out of things for them to do, try this free .pdf download from National Geographic – The Little Book of Big Fun

• Don’t know what you’re going to fix for supper? Why not cook like a star with the Pampered Chef Celebrity cookbook?  Added bonus, you download a free copy and Pampered Chef makes a donation to feed the needy.

• Free samples of acne medication from Oxy -

• Do you do a lot of walking?  Send away for this free pedometer from Nature’s Bounty!

• Also from Nature’s Bounty, try their Adult Gummy Vitamins.  You know you love gummies.

Chicharron

Posted on | August 15, 2010 | 3 Comments

It occurred to me this morning as we ate our traditional Sunday morning chicharron that despite talking about it often, I’ve never actually given a recipe for it.

Chicharron uses pork bellies, which is a very underused part of the pig in most Western societies although it’s frequently seen in Asian cuisines (especially Korean and Chinese).  It’s the part of the pig where the bacon and spare ribs come from, so you know it’s good.

You’ll want to buy about 2 kg (4 lbs) of pork belly.  Look for pieces that have a good fat layer, but that also have enough meat to make it worth eating!

Ingredients:

• 2 kg pork belly (panceta de cerdo in Spanish)
• 1 liter (or quart) of water
• 2 tablespoons of salt
• 4 garlic cloves

1. Cut the pork into large pieces – two to three inches. leaving on the fat and bones.
2. Place the pork in a large deep pan with the salt and garlic.
3. Add the water.
4. Bring the water to a boil, then lower to a simmer. Continue cooking until the water is boiled away.
5. Let the pork fry in the fat that is left behind until it’s golden brown and the outer fat layer is crispy.

Slice the larger pieces into 1/2″ slices.  Serve with warm rolls, fried slices of sweet potato and zarsa (salsa criollo).

Peruvian Home Cures

Posted on | August 12, 2010 | 7 Comments

Peruvians (and I’m greatly generalizing here) tend to have a distrust for doctors and hospitals.  I’ll leave it to someone else to decide whether that mistrust is earned or not, personally, I’ve had nothing but pleasant experiences with medical professionals here.

I have a theory that this distrust comes from the provinces, where medical care is often far away and hard to come by, not to mention too expensive for most people.  (For a sad look at a part of what happens, read this thread at Expat Peru)  So, what happens?  No money, so they wait until someone is really sick before they call the doctor.  When they finally realize they need medical attention, it may take hours to a day or two before the doctor arrives.  And now it might be too late, so the patient takes a turn for the worse despite the medical attention and dies.  And then the death is blamed on the doctor – “See?  Every time we bring a doctor in, the person dies! No more doctors!”

So, a lot of people still use home remedies for most minor illnesses – stomach upset, sore throats, congestion and the like.  Here are a few of my favorites.

Sore Throat/Cough

1. A tea made with eucalyptus and mint leaves, sweetened with honey.  Honey is a natural cough suppressant and expectorant.  Breathing the steam is good for congestion, too.
2. A tablespoon of rum mixed with juice of one Peruvian lime and a tablespoon of honey.  This calmed my husband’s cough when nothing else was working.

Upset stomach

1. Apple and ginger tea – use 2 or 3 golden delicious apples, sliced thin (peel and all).  Use fresh ginger, peeled and shaved into very thin slices – about a teaspoon.  Put it in a saucepan and cover with a quart (or a liter) of water.  Simmer until the apples are all cooked and mushy, then run it through a sieve to get the juice out.  You can lightly press it through with the back of  spoon.  Drink it warm.
2. Cinnamon and clove tea – you can buy cinnamon and clove tea bags, but we usually add a some cinnamon sticks (or bark) and a clove or two to make it stronger.  For stronger medicine, cook some quince fruit (called membrillo in Peru) in the water as you boil it.

These are great to use with kids (and husbands) that you know don’t really have anything wrong with them but maybe a little indigestion from over-eating.  (A damp hot towel on the belly helps too!)

I’d be remiss in not mentioning uña de gato, or cat’s claw herb.  It’s been shown to have some anti-inflammatory action and is used as an infusion or tea for a wide variety of illnesses, from upset stomach to arthritis.

Do you have any home remedies that you love to use?

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Where I Break My Own Rule

Posted on | August 9, 2010 | 3 Comments

So, remember Saturday?  And my problems with the banks? (If not, you can read about it here)

Well, after my cautionary tale about how it’s best to follow the rules, I went and broke the rules – and my own rule! – today.

Saturday, Pedro at the Interbank in the Plaza Vea told me to return Monday with a copy of my lost passport, and they’d be able to take care of everything.

Yes, the whole issue here really revolves around the fact that my passport is lost, and I only have a photocopy. This is Clearly My Own Fault^TM. However, if Interbank had followed their own apparent rules about forms of identification, I wouldn’t be in this mess, so I’m expecting them to get me out of it, because frankly, the cost of a replacement passport is just way more cash than I’ve got laying around.

How do you like that run on sentence?  Not bad, huh?

Anyway.  We get there, and Pedro is not there.  It seems he lied or something (imagine my surprise) and didn’t work today.  Furthermore, after 20 minutes of pleasant cajoling turning to angry foot stomping, it became obvious that they weren’t going to do jack about my problem if I didn’t have an actual passport with me.

This was not the solution I was looking for.

They suggested we use the customer service hotline.  I suggested they take their customer service line and.. well, no I didn’t really say that. But I did suggest to the Hubs that we return to the Aurora Interbank – the place that started the whole screw up in the first place.

I walked in, told them my card doesn’t work – 10 minutes later, I have a new card that DOES work and they adjusted my account to accept my carnet. And they did it all using a photocopy of my passport.

So – after telling everyone Saturday how you should always do things the right way… well, sometimes it pays to try to get around the rules a little bit, I guess.

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About

I got tired of life happening while I made other plans, so I quit my job and came to Peru. I live here with my Peruvian husband, two sons, three dogs and various other family members, depending on the weather.

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