THE Dominican delicacy aka habichuela con dulce

Way back when I promised a post on habichuela con dulce.... and I never delivered (click here ... it was actually almost a year ago to the day when I promised this post. Hahaha!)

Me, a lover of all things food, can not believe it's taken me this long to write about a/ THE Dominican delicacy... known as habichuela con dulce, in English.... sweet beans.  OK, go ahead and say it... that sounds gross... completely and absolutely gross!!

Well, like most delicacies, it is an acquired taste, and I have acquired the taste! Ha! So, what does one do when you find out 90 minutes before your flight departure time that the flight is cancelled???? Plus it is Lent/Easter season in the DR!!!!  You make the favored lenten dish of the country... habichuela con dulce!

So, this is by no means a recipe, but rather a few random pictures of the afternoon adventures of sweet bean making.  Ingredients.. beans.. more red than a pinto bean, but not as big or dark red as a kidney bean, cinnamon, carnation milk, coconut milk, batata - a white sweet potato, raisins, cloves, milk cookies and guess what's missing.... SUGAR! You know it takes a lot of sugar to make beans into a dessert.


This time of year everybody and their mama will be making a version of this dish. Some use only carnation milk, others only coconut milk or both. Some people serve it with whole beans which I think would be weird.... just too beany, and actually when folks leave a few bean pieces floating around it still seems too beany. So, I like that my family purees it completely.  So, think smooth sweet bean soup with the flavor of sweet potato or pumpkin pie.





Step 1... let beans soak for 4-8-12 hours. Then put in a pressure cooker and blanch until soft.




While the beans are cooking, peel the sweet potato and put it on to boil with the cinnamon sticks and cloves. This makes the house smell oh so good... like boiling potpourri or something.  




Be careful that the batata aren't too soft because then they just break all apart into tiny chip sized pieces.  Oh yea, hats off to the host chef, Amalio.

 

 So, remember that part about everybody having their preferred style. Well, we take those beans and blend them down, then pour it through a sieve so you get a nice, smoothe, creamy soup. Ideally a larger sieve is faster, but we couldn't find that one... so this made for slow going but it wasn't too bad. Then the pureed beans get put back on the stove.

Add the batata, a TON of sugar, seriously, probably 2-3 lbs worth, a pinch of salt, the coconut and carnation milk and let simmer for a half hour. Then add the raisins and simmer about 10 more minutes.

Then voila!! You are ready to enjoy this uniquely Dominican treat... aka Habichuela con Dulce. So, who has enjoyed this delicacy before?? Does anything similar exist in other latin america countries??

Baking therapy

Well, remember the five minute friday thing. Scroll to the next post if you have no idea what I'm talking about. It's really cool because now the word for Friday has been stuck in my mind all week... grace. From what I'm told from a friend or two, it's kind come up randomly for them also. I looked the word up in urban dictionary.....  A favor rendered by one who need not do so; indulgence, divine love and protection bestowed freely on people. Hmm... those ideas rolled around in my head a bit.  Mostly, while I took full advantage of my first weekend not on the road in over a month. Scroll down 2 blog posts if you are wondering why or just click here. So, I planned a lazy Saturday for myself. Love it. Didn't leave the house not once the entire day! 


To be honest, I can't really sleep in because my internal alarm clock always seems to wake me up earlier than I want to be awake sometimes. However, I am always game for a lazy Saturday. You know the kind where you stay in your pajamas until at least noon if not 5pm, reading, watching TV, snacking, or better yet.... BAKING!  The light bulb went off in my head, I have an entire kitchen to myself, a lazy Saturday with nothing to do, and we have electricity....ooooo, what should I bake.

I love baking! It's like the ultimate stress relief.... well, for a moderate level of stress. I have learned too well that high levels of stress suppress the neurochemicals in my head that generate a joy from baking.  So, if I stop baking, it's probably a warning sign that all is not well.  Saturday, as I creamed butter, sifted flour and crushed walnuts whipping up 2 good creations to share with my neighbors, my mind drifted back to my Five Minute Friday Post... and grace.


The trip back from Restauracion every week was not fun. You probably got that idea from the prior post, but here's why it wasn't fun. The most frequently traveled roads from the Haitian border to the closest large city, Santiago, are lined with road blocks. Are we checking seatbelts or drivers license, hahaha, don't make me laugh. We have to make sure illegal Haitians aren't entering the country. Better yet we have to make sure that anyone who we decide even looks Haitian, be it dark complexioned Dominican or nappy hair American, can prove they aren't Haitian. It totally reeks of the Trujillo era when tens of thousands of Haitians and Haitian-Dominicans (people born in the DR to Haitian parents even if it was several generations back) were killed to 'cleanse and purify' the Dominican race. The test to see if you were Dominican or not was the ability to say the Spanish word for parsley, perejil. Haitians can't roll their r so if you can't pronounce that word you must not be one of us and off with your head. Seriously.

Well, I wasn't asked to say perejil, but over and over the guards would either try to strike up a conversation, to see if maybe I was Dominican with 'pelo malo' (bad hair, should be a subject of a post in the future) or if I was the Haitian enemy. The first 3 weeks, it was draining and I had no grace for them whatsoever. There was no love freely flowing, they got my full attitude complete with eye rolling and teeth sucking. Bad Jewel, bad. Not Christ-like. I know. I KNOW!! I know that didn't help, but it was my initial response to the injustice that is happening here. Reminds me of the apartheid system in South Africa where dark skinned individuals had to leave with their passbook to move about the city.  Finally on week 4, I made the decision to accept that these guards are just doing their job. They get paid like $150 a month, most are young 21 year olds proud to be serving their country. The issue isn't with them, but their government. Grace, give them some freely flowing love, perhaps they deserve attitude and questions about why this is happening, but show grace Jewel. Show love to these guards even as they are massaging your backpack looking for who knows what. No, there is no skinny Haitian hidden in my backpack. Promise.

In the comfort of my kitchen, with the delightful smell of carrot cake and lime coconut pound cake wafting in the air, I couldn't get the whole situation off my mind. My conscious decision to give grace liberally totally changed everything. Many times there are situations we encounter that are tough and may not change overnight. However, if we can change our response and move beyond the initial emotional response to the intentional decision to extend grace, to pray fervently and to seek out ways to be a part of the solution it totally will change everything.  

 Finally,  I arrived back to Santiago with a smile for once.  Grace does that... it changes you.

I had a mini celebration that Saturday by getting my nails painted. Here's me admiring my pretty nails.... but it's pretty obvious that I'm not used to having wet nails since I already have them messed up in no time... look close, you see it?

God put a rainbow in my window...

I'm listening to rain patter on the tin roof and window coverings and thinking about just how quickly this storm came out of nowhere. Just a few minutes ago it was sunny and bright. I looked out the window and noticed that I could see a clear line separating where it was pouring to where it was still sunny and bright. Wow! I stepped outside and saw the most gorgeous rainbow! I absolutely love rainbows. Its a fairly new love for me that started about 2 yrs ago, after I had just resigned from my job and made it official that I was making the move to the DR. I walked out those doors feeling light and heavy at the same time and was greeted by this most amazing rainbow! It felt so personal, as if the God of heaven was speaking just to me.

It's been a busy month here on the ground, and a part of me know that these 4 months are going to fly by. One is gone already. I also have had some other thoughts and worries in mind. As I looked out the window and saw how quickly it went from sunny to cloudy and sunny again I was reminded just how quickly seasons in our life can change.

I have been so blessed by this season in my life. Part of me wonders how will I ever go back to 'life as usual'. Just yesterday I was reunited with some beautiful faces from last year.  I don't know who was more excited, them or me!! My life has been forever changed from my time serving here. I'm so grateful  and I know that God has a plan to weave it all together. The rainbow today reassured me of that... my heavenly Father knows exactly what he is doing and he put a rainbow in my window to remind me! Does anyone remember that song from 198x?? I'm dating myself,  I know!  (click God put a rainbow in my window! )

Beans and Rice, Rice and Beans

Hello friends,

I have hit the ground running and things are picking up! I spent the day today in the homes of 5 of the ladies who are being trained to be community health leaders. It turns out that many of them were already doing a similar role either informally or through a government program that has been on and off again the last 2 years. They are super motivated learners and a few of them are planning to host their first community "charlas" (trainings) for the World Handwashing Day in 2 weeks! Wendy, pictured below, has even decided to go back to school to finish her high school diploma. She then hopes to go to nursing school. I love spending time at Wendy's house because she just loves learning new things and is excited about sharing it with others!

Our first training together 3 weeks ago we started on the topic of nutrition. It sort of went like this... anyone know the 5 food groups??  rice, habichuela (beans), blank faces. More blank faces. They were seriously stuck. I guess when you eat the same thing e.v.e.r.y  d.a.y it's easy to get stuck. I  was so proud of them at our training last week that every single one could name the five food groups, identify a couple of items in that food group and for the most part tell you why the group is important! It only took 3 weeks to get to that point, but that's ok. LOL.  I've had to let go some of my expectations and meet them where they are.

We also started talking about the rule of 5  - 2 fruit, 3 veg a day. Again, blank faces. They quickly explained that there just are not those kind of options for the campo (rural) folks. The city really is just a 40 minute gua-gua (raggedy bus) ride away and a measly 60 pesos round trip. ($1.50 but that is out of reach for most folks.)  Going to the city is a big deal and NOT something that is going to be done weekly for grocery shopping. I almost panicked... this is not supposed to happen!! My beautiful lesson plans are crumbling. Breathe, revamp, keep dialoguing. This is good. So, we started talking about how to make our plates more colorful. We compared the drab brown and white plate with beans and rice and started exploring ways to add color. Add a guineo (banana) someone suggested. Or an avocado someone else suggested. Great -- now we have a fruit, what about vegetables?? That's where it really gets hard. It's all starchy vegetables - potatoes, carrots, yucca, plantains, and almost nothing green. We talked about eggplant - fairly easy to find here in the campo, beets - high sugar, but great for anemia, a chronic problem. We talked about fiber in cabbage versus iceberg lettuce. We really need some community gardens!! Anyone interested?

We will wrap up our nutrition module tomorrow (or next week) with diabetes.... but I'm procrastinating because I really am a bit stuck on how to approach the nutrition aspect of diabetes in a diet that is SO carb heavy... so I decided to procrastinate and catch my friends up on what I've been doing, ie blog post. There will be another post in a day or two because I was really procrastinating and wrote 2 updates. Now, it's gonna be a LONG night prepping for class tomorrow.

More pics....

Last week they were nutrition experts!

The milk experts compared the nutrition in regular milk, 2%, to chocolate milk. Skim and 1% is a grocery store item only. After comparing the nutrition label (yay!) they wisely recommended the regular milk because it had less sugar and sodium. Way to go ladies! 

Here we have the bean experts. It was a novel idea to compare two of the same items for anything beyond price. They learned that one brand of canned beans had about 200 mg more sodium than the other brand for the same portion size. They were surprised! Let's hope they will share the importance of reading labels with their friends and community!

The garlic experts compared the processed bottled jar garlic to the fresh garlic. They realized they can save money and eat less salt going with the less processed form. We had a good discussion about what is processed food and how they have seen more of it in their food supply!









Well, and since we are on the subject of food I will leave you with a picture of the outdoor kitchen typical for where most people cook their food. This one is a bit 'fancy' because it has a new type of stove that is more environmentally friendly than the typical ones that require a ton more wood and leave the women standing over a smoke filled pit for hours a day. Bye for now!

and the journey continues...

Today marks exactly 2 months since my last post. The time has flown by as I was surrounded by such a great community of family and friends during my trip home.  The first two weeks of July were pure relaxation as I spent time with family and got reacquainted with 3 of my favorite little people in the world.... my 3 nieces.  We spent a week together, having fun in the water, zoo trips and a day at the amusement park. The only movie that I saw during my trip home was Monsters University. Guess who picked the movie??!! It wasn't me :).

We also did a day fishing trip.  I haven't been fishing in over 30 years, but I can definitely report that my fishing skills have not improved in the least. I left our fishing trip having caught a whopping ONE fish. However, I did help bait many lines for these little ones using squid and shrimp. It was way too gross, but these cute faces can get me to do almost anything! 

Next, I spent 4 weeks in Chicagoland reconnecting with friends and earning a few dollar bills while working as a NP again. It was wonderful to reconnect with my Lawndale family and to provide direct patient care. Again that theme of community resurfaced as I saw how God provided for me during those 4 weeks. I paid $0 dollars for housing thanks to the generosity of a few kind folks. I was treated to numerous good meals and those of you who know me, know I enjoy dining on an eclectic mix of foods. So, during those 4 weeks I stuffed myself on American, Mexican, Afghan, Korean, Italian, Japanese and Thai cuisines along with some Chicago favorites like deep dish pizza and Portillos.  I even cooked up a Dominican meal or two to share with friends and family.  On the weekends I made a couple of quick trips to visit friends in nearby states, but there is just never enough time. 

Those 2 months went by like a whirlwind of the best kind. Now, I'm back in the DR, but this time I'm in the rural area outside of Santiago. Yes, I'm becoming a campesina (country girl).  Rural (campo) way of life is way different that city life, but I guess that's no big surprise.  (I'm sure there will be a future post on that topic.) For now, let me update you on how I am spending my days. I am serving with a local non-profit organization, Project Hearts, to continue the launch of a community health project.  Project Hearts is supported by several US organizations,  primarily Grace Cares and Christian Medical Mission (CMM). CMM is sponsoring my time here in the DR by providing housing and a stipend which allows me to fully focus on the work in the community. CMM has really been an answer to prayer. When I first began praying about the idea to extend my time here in the DR, the idea of raising support was one of the barriers that I anticipated. There just was not enough time and I was running low on energy to make it all happen. This awesome group, were indeed a godsend. Thank you CMM. 

The community health program started in June identifying leaders in the community to train as lay health promoters.  These women meet weekly for training and then are asked to complete so many home visits a week sharing this pertinent health information with their community.  The lay community health model has been used in many countries to drastically improve the health of the people.  My predecessor, Meghan, did an amazing job with leadership training with the women and discussing water safety and purification. My assignment is to carry the torch forward by building in accountability and structure into the program, along with creating new modules on topics such as women's health, basic first aid, and nutrition.  We are actively recruiting for a director for the program who can commit to spend at least  a year focusing on developing the community health leader program. 

If you have made it this far in this long post... THANK YOU! I would like to share with you a few ways that you can support the work here in prayer. 

• Pray for me that I will be Christ's ambassador and able to share his love with those I encounter. 

• Pray for unity amongst the organizations that are collaborating on this project - Grace Cares, Project Hearts and CMM.

• Pray for further growth in language acquisition so I may communicate effectively with the people. Rural accents are a LOT harder to understand, so please pray that my ears and brain will be able to decipher the rural, Caribbean Spanish. 

• Pray for the search for a Director for the community health program. 

• Pray for strong work relationships with Ruben and Anel, the executive director and project manager for Project Hearts. Also pray for relationships and a social community in this area that I will not feel isolated and alone. 

• Pray for Mark and Ruth, two of the leaders from CMM who will be attending the Community Health Evangelism (CHE) training. Pray that we may be able to incorporate that model into our work here in Baitoa. 

• Pray for safe travel. The rural roads are very bad in some areas and a lot of the travel is by  motorcycle. 

Ok, I leave you with one last picture. The view from my house every morning. Aren't you jealous??!

Me voy pero llevo conmigo.... Lessons in love

First, let me apologize for being out of touch the last 30 days. I’ve thought of you, the readers of my blog, often. I just could not summon the energy/mojo/wit to write. So, here comes my last blog post for a little while. Why? Well, I’m in the airport returning to the US today. It’s been a super emotional 30 days, and an even more emotional week. 

If you would have asked me on Monday or Tuesday if I was ready to go, you would have heard a YES, most definitely. This week had a rough start. Monday night I woke up to a movie style explosion, white lights, am I alive or dead, kind of craziness. It was scary. I think I was more afraid than I’ve ever been before. At that moment, I just wanted to see my family, my mom, dad, siblings, nieces. Yes, I was scared. Thankfully we found out it was ‘just’ a power line transformer that blew and caught on fire. Thankfully it only burned for 90 minutes before the power company got their act together to shut off the current so the firemen could put out the fire. Thankfully the post that was burning and aiming for our backyard, actually slipped backwards and propped itself up on another pole instead of setting our yard on fire. That’s alot to be thankful for. 

The next night brought it’s own adventure as I woke up 2:59am with a GINORMOUS cockroach crawling on my forehead. I.am.not.exxagerating. Yo brinque, gire, grite, llore, baile y mas por el asusto. Yes, I jumped, shouted, screamed, danced, cried and more with fright. You know a bug is big if you can see it moving in the dark. Then it flew. It FLEW ya’ll!!! Then I jumped, shouted, screamed, danced and cried some more. The next 45 minutes were war between me, the cockroach, and the bathroom cleaner spray bottle. By 4:30 I was ready to fall asleep, but who can sleep when every time your eyes close you either see bright explosion lights or feel creepy crawly legs. 

So, yes, by Wednesday I was so ready to go home. I’m done Lord. I can’t do, go, say anymore. I’m done. DONE!! So, If I’m so done, why am I fighting tears now. Why are these poor people stuck on this flight beside me giving me the side eye for crying non-stop. What changed between explosion craziness and cockroach wars. Ok, here goes.

Those things are minor compared to the love, friendship, grace and mercy I have experienced, shared and received this year. These light and present afflictions are nothing compared to the glory that will be revealed.  If God has received any Glory this year, if one little life has been touched this year, it’s so worth it. I can’t believe I say that now because IF I could have summoned an airplane to Calle 2, Casa #23 on Wednesday, I would have been gone!  The mission would have been aborted, but I’m glad I held on.  God’s love is amazing. He doesn’t let go of us and he is calling us to love as he loves. To hold on when it’s not easy. To trust that his Glory will be revealed the more that we learn to love as He does. I learned alot about love this year from 18 five year olds and 4 flawed but beautiful Dominicans. I miss them. I love them. Aren’t we all flawed yet beautiful in God’s eyes. I’m done writing now..... I gotta stop crying eventually....  

Restless

It’s late. I’m restless. Honestly, I’ve been restless for the last 24 hours or so. It took me a while to pinpoint the issue. I fell asleep last night praying and crying out to God as this uneasiness in my soul is uncomfortable. Then it hit me... tomorrow will mark the beginning of my last 30 days here with Futuro Lleno de Esperanza. 

I’m thankful for this 9months. I can’t believe how swiftly it has flown by. It’s been amazing, rewarding, strengthening and purifying. It’s also been hard. Lonely at times. Challenging.   That’s what happens when you step out on faith. The road is not always smooth, but you always finish the journey having grown in ways that you didn’t sign up for. Seriously. 

I leave tomorrow for a couple of days in Santo Domingo.  I’m excited to see the capital city and the southern part of the country.  I’m excited to meet some folks who I most likely will be spending alot of time with in August. Yep, it seems that the Lord has me on this island for a little while longer.  And that’s a good thing. I’m excited to be able to continue to serve here.  I don’t know about you, but for me, anytime when I think about launching out into a new direction, a new assignment, DOUBT, creeps in. big time. 

Like the disciples in Matthew 8, I'm so prone to forget that I'm not on the ship by myself.  I'm not journeying alone.   I have a heavenly father, who is Super-Capable, can not fail, who is with me. I have no need to be afraid or worried.  I was looking for devotionals on this topic and ran across Renee Swope’s 7 day doubt diet/devotional. It’s free on itunes/ilibrary, nook, kindle, etc. Maybe doubt is keeping you from making that tough leap, from starting a new job, getting involved in a new area of ministry, etc, etc. As Renee says, maybe it’s fear or worry that you have blamed all these years, when at the core, it’s self-doubt.  ........ I double dare you to join me in this 7 days of digging into the Word of God to see what He says about having a confident heart in Him.  

Prayer Excerpt from day 1 of  Renee Swope’s devotional 7-Day Doubt Diet

{Lord, I want to become a woman with a confident heart in Christ.  Show me how to recognize when I’m tempted to throw away my confidence, and help me throw away my insecurity instead. ... ... When doubt or insecurity tells me I can’t do something, I will remember that all things are possible to her (him) who believes. In Jesus name, Amen. } 

Meet Robert

Meet Robert.

Robert Luis is one of the l8 five year olds that I have had the privilege of teaching over this last year.  Robert has worn glasses for most of his five year old life. However, they are usually hand me down glasses, that often don't fit well. Mom, has a hard time getting Robert back for follow-up visits so I really don't know how old the prescription is on these glasses. What I do know is that Robert still can't see with the glasses on.






So, Robert passes most of his days getting himself into trouble. Because, what is a kid to do when you can't see the board, nor the paper that is right in front of you, or the book that is 3 fingers away from your nose.  If you are Robert, you climb under the table, you run out into the hallway, you try fighting with the other boys. If you are Robert, that usually doesn't go so well, because he can't really see the other boys to hit them, so he throws a lot of air punches. The other boys, can always see Robert and their punches hurt.









Guess what?? Robert got new glasses 3 days ago. His mom took out a pretty significant loan to take Robert to a local eye doctor and a special pediatric optics place to get glasses that actually fit, are child friendly (Green - Robert's favorite color and plastic), and are the correct prescription!! Woo-Hoo! I must tell you as his teacher I was hoping for a Robert that would sit still and get some work done instead of wandering all over the place. Did. Not. Happen. I'm still hoping, but I imagine it's a process. But at recess, I was looking out at the playground and guess what. Robert can play now! Robert can socialize with other kids. Is that Robert in the line for the slide??

Notice that there is no gap in the line. Robert can keep up now!

That never would have happened before. Robert would barely make it to step #1 or  2 before the other kids would pass him up as he tried to find his way back down.  C'mon now, this is the slide. The most popular thing on the playground so you can't be holding up the line. It really was a safety hazard as the kid could not see the step! If you could see Robert now. Robert went up the slide over and over again. Then down the slide backwards. Then up the slide side instead of the steps.  He had so much fun. Check him out!

Well, I must admit that I had some ulterior motives in introducing you to Robert. He is one really cute kid... and pretty smart too.  Those glasses and the consult cost a nice chunk of money and the loan is fairly significant for this family of five.  I'm not sure of mom's plan for paying it off, but as you mother's out there know, that a true mom will find a way to move mountains for her baby! Mom took a big leap of faith with this loan.  Melanie and I were chatting and trying to figure out how to best help this family.  Melanie got to talking to some friends via social media and before we knew it some $$$ started rolling in. I was working on this blogpost all weekend but blogger was being really crazy and erased my post. Then last night I got a surprise donation on my Pay it Square fundraising page!  What an unexpected and surprise blessing!!  Thank you LORD!!! We now have enough to pay for the consult, the glasses and are well on the way to being able to purchase a spare pair!!

I'm praising God for these wonderful blessings!

Let's move it... walking

It's Saturday morning... and I just returned from my morning walk. I woke up excited to go for a walk today. Usually I'm dragging myself out of bed on Saturdays to maybe do a brief exercise circuit.  I'm off the regular weekday walking schedule because my walking buddy and next door neighbor, Chiquita,  has family visiting from the US. After a week of being lazy I decided that I was more than ready to move it, move it. We have walked the same route enough that I felt safe to venture out by myself.

Shortly into the walk I realized that I was sort of making a mental note of all of the 'not normal', but normal for here stuff that I was seeing. Wow, I probably looked really cheesy walking with a stupid grin as I took it all in. It was pretty funny. So, here goes the list. No pictures though, because who goes walking with a camera :).

1.  Are those carcasses? Yes, they are... oh no, I just saw that one get beheaded. Oh, and there is the next goat waiting his turn. Note to self... no goat meat please.

2.  Sidewalk food stands... so this is where it's happening on Saturday mornings. All of the stands that are always parked and empty are busy on Saturday frying salami, serving up yucca and onions or spaghetti to hungry folks. Strangers sit down at a table together and enjoy a quick meal on the go.  Chicago may have some competition for the food truck scene.

3.  Street salesmen who carry all sorts of wares on their head. He was calling out that he had beans for sale, but what's on his head are flowers. I thought I misunderstood (which is completely likely) until the old lady came to her gate asking for beans. I couldn't stick around for his explanation. I gotta keep moving.

Well, there was other stuff too on my list, I promise, BUT I came home and showered and dressed, etc, etc, and I can't remember the rest of my list anymore. I promise you it was really amusing. Is this a sign of old age??

Anyway, about 1/2 way into the walk I was reminded of something that I have not done in quite some time, prayer walking.  Are you familiar with prayer walking? It's a great way to be mindful to pray without ceasing. As I passed businesses, I prayed for economic growth for the DR. I also prayed about the distribution of wealth that has created such disparities between the upper and lower class. When I passed a group of concho drivers (public shared cars) I prayed for safety on the highways. Accidents are the number one cause of death here. I passed a church and prayed that God would continue to raise up Biblically grounded leaders and bring a spiritual revival to the people. I prayed for everything and anything that I passed. I prayed intently and fervently and before I knew it I was almost home.  I may have a new Saturday morning routine!

1Timothy 2:1-3 (The Message)   The first thing I want you to do is pray. Pray every way you know how, for everyone you know. Pray especially for rulers and their governments to rule well so we can be quietly about our business of living simply, in humble contemplation. This is the way our Savior God wants us to live.

Pastelon

Last Saturday I woke up thinking about the ground beef that had been in the freezer for 10 days. Sort of random thought to be on my mind at 7am. Stuff just does not keep super well in the freezer here so we needed to use it up soon. Hamburgers in my family are sort of hit or miss.... with me and Melanie loving them and the others kind of not so much. What to do with this ground beef??...... Lightbulb goes off... Pastelon!

A pastelon is a Dominican version of lasagna. This is actually my 2nd time making pastelon. My first time was pretty yummy, but I got sick the next day. Honestly, I don't think the two were related, but my body associated the two so it took me 6 months to try it again. In March I bought a small piece of pastelon at the supermarket deli and it was yummy. I decided that I was over the taste aversion and ready to move on in my journey of Dominican cooking. Hurray!

First disclaimer... Typical Dominican Pastelon is with mashed plaintains. However, I found this recipe that won me over with fried Plaintains. Yep, more grease, but so delicious. I think this is more the PuertoRican version, but Shhhh.... don't tell my Dominican family.  So here is the link to the recipe that I used.  Gather your ingredients:

1lb of ground beef
3-4 eggs
1-2 tbsp tomato paste
several cloves of garlic
one onion
cilantro or recaito as it is called here aka cilantro ancho
1/4 cup of raisins
6-8 olives chopped ( I don't like olives, but they added so much flavor)
4 ripe plaintains (see below, these could have been more ripe but it's what we had on hand)

Chop all the vegetables. Add the chopped green pepper, onion, garlic and cilantro to the ground beef. Add 2 tbsp of vinegar.  Mix well. Heat 1-2 tbsp of oil on medium high heat and brown beef.  When close to brown add olives, raisins and the Goya seasoning if following the recipe link or any type of general seasoning. This is what we had on hand. This stuff is not good for you.... but when in Rome...

Next you are going to peel the plantains. Google this if needed. I can't offer any tips really, because I'm so bad at peeling plantains. Fortunately ripe plantains or easier to peel than green ones.

 Slice the plantain down the middle. Carefully peel away the peeling. Slice the plantains into strips.

 Heat oil and fry until beautiful golden yellow. My first batch were a little too golden aka burnt, but they still tasted so yummy. I actually used one extra plantain because I knew that I was sure to be snacking on these way before the Pastelon was ready



Butter pan generously. Layer the plantains first into the pan, followed by the ground beef, then cheese. Repeat again, being sure to end with plantains and cheese.  Crack 3 eggs. Mix with 2 tbsp of milk. Stir well and pour on top.

I used 2 mini pans because I couldn't find the 8x8 or 9x9 pan.  Bake in  oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Enjoy with a nice side salad!

I used 2 mini pans buy any 8x8 or 9x9 pan should work! 

Bake in  oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes. Enjoy with a nice side salad!

March Update .... Pictures!

It's April already... wow time flies!  This post will be less writing and more pictures. Here goes, March in review. Lots of love to you all!

Two teachers from school who went with us. Adrys and Monica

The beginning of March our foundation was invited to be on a local News Program.... Lo Buena is Noticia. The Good is News. Basically the host was sick of hearing so much bad news and started a news program to share the good things that are being done in the city. Awesome idea, huh.

Shhh... don't tell. While we were waiting I decided to practice for my future cooking show!

Take #777, I gave up on trying to get a good group shot.

 Our kids enjoyed 2 field trips this month... one to the Monument. Well, ok the official name is the The Monumento a los Héroes a la Restauración, but that is way too long so folks just call it The Monument. There is actually a lot of neat history about the Monument as it was originally built in 1944 by the dictator Trujillo. After his death rather than tear down the monument, as he really was a dictator whose rule is still felt in certain aspects of Dominican culture (read more here), the decision was made to rename the monument. 








Inside is a history museum that provided a good lesson for our little ones.  You will also note the Carnaval costumes in the background as our visit was right after Carnaval ended.  While there we also took advantage of kite flying season y subimos chichewas aka cometas aka kites!

Now, here are pictures of our other field trip... a walking trip to the local fire station and the water plant.   Francisco tried on the fireman's gear .... maybe it's a tad too big! The fireman did a little demo with the pole that the kids really enjoyed!

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Pre-Primario (kindergarten) lining up for the walk to the fire station and water plant. They were so eager to go that they made a straight line in no time at all. Major accomplishment for us!  This picture is minus 3-4 who missed out on the fun :(.  It's hard but they have to learn consequences right??. I still remember the first day when I thought I would never learn all 20 names. Wow, now I can tell who is still talking even with my eyes closed, I can tell you who is crying when I'm a couple of classrooms away and most times I can tell when they are being truthful and when they are not.  Don't let their cuteness fool you....  but I heart these little ones!




We take for granted clean drinking water. Drinking water comes in the large blue bottles for about 35 pesos each. This place, Proyecto Bernabe, was started by a mission group from Indiana. They provide clean, filtered water for 15 pesos each! We are glad to support their work to provide clean water to the Cienfuegos community. (read more here)






I really like doing this overview. It's amazing all the things that happen in a month that you forget about. I was scrolling through and ran across this picture of me and the pregnancy class. Unfortunately do to a schedule conflict I missed most of their classes... BUT I did make it to the last one and we played Newborn Jeopardy (thank you J. Oh and the Centering curriculum at LCHC). The ladies had a good time and I did too! Maternal child health has always been a love of mine.... I think I forgot how much!

There were lots of joyful fun in March, but there were some hard times too. Our community, Villa Rosa II, suffered a large house fire. The kids ran to greet us that morning, out of breath they began to tell the story. Fire.... big fire... bomberos came (firemen).... died.... hospital....crying.... sad.... The words tumbled out of their mouths.

After hearing the version from several little ones it began to make sense. An infant died in the fire and another child was in critical condition. The funeral was to be held the next day and of course the family was devastated. In a community like Villa Rosa most of the kids gathered with their families outside the house as it smoldered. You see, folks, don't have much to give, but what they do have is time. So, they gather and spend time with the family, lingering around, talking, sharing, reminiscing, crying. In some societies we try and shelter kids from this hurt, but I've learned over the last months that pain is a sad reality of their lives. They often will tell me of someone being shot, or 'tigeres' (gangsters/bad guys/i don't know the translation) who beat someone up, shot or cut someone, motorcycle accidents, death, sadness and pain is something they accept as normal. So, I try to let them process it, talk about it, hear them out as they try to make sense of life. And I pray for them, that God would heal their community, their land, their hearts. That God would shine his light over their lives and protect them from the dangers that are so prevalent and surround them with loving arms to embrace and reassure them along their journey.

Lastly, I will wrap up with a few pictures from Holy Week aka Semana Santa. I enjoyed a sunrise service outside the city with a lovely group of folks from Santiago. We sang hymns and shared in communion to celebrate that Christ has risen! Cristo ha resucitado!  Amen!

Gazing at the beautiful sunrise!