Tag Archives: life

Importance of sorts

Thursday evening I prepared THIS meal with Bumblebee.

Okayyyy it’s pretty obvious that she realllly can’t jump in and assist me just yet, BUT I feel that she does truly enjoy hearing and watching us bounce around our kitchen space chattering and singing to her in silly little voices and making funny facial expressions. Most of the time she sits smiling watching us, or chews on her Very Hungry Caterpillar or hands (hehehe).

We try to explain what we’re making and the importance of fresh healthy ingredients.

We want her to grow up knowing how to cook and not be afraid or shy away from wild ingredients like foie gras, pink peppercorns, Korean or Thai peppers, or even smoked sea salt. (wait…are those ingredients considered wild??)

Together we’re striving to impress upon her the importance of good locally grown food, pairing a nice glass of wine with a meal, taking and making time with family and friends as we do Thursday evenings to relax, enjoy and eat together. Most of all to savor this short sweet life we’re all so blessed to live.

This dinner was almost too good for words! Seriously! It was SO simple and has to be one of the best weeknight meals that’s been served at our table. Oh boy, the gravy was so savory! The meat literally melts in your mouth and also makes your entire home smell all homey and delicious!

Slow cooker Balsamic Rosemary Beef Chuck Roast

(Should serve 4 comfortably with other sides of course)

Ingredients:
4 lb Beef Chuck Roast
1/2 Tsp Better than Bouillon Beef Base
4 oz Hot water
1/2 Cup Balsamic vinegar
2 Fresh rosemary sprigs
2 Bay leaves
1/2 Yellow onion, cut in half
Salt and black pepper to taste
2 Large cloves of garlic, minced

Gravy:
All purpose flour to get a thick gravy consistency
2 Tbls Balsamic vinegar
Salt and pepper to taste (you’ll need it if you’re salt and pepper hounds like we are)

Instructions:

Slice the chuck roast meat into nice stew-like cuts.

In slow cooker combine the sliced meat, beef stock, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, rosemary sprigs, bay leaves, onion and minced garlic and stir/ mix by hands to coat everything nicely.

Cover slow cooker and cook on low for 6 to 8 hours, or if in a pinch on high for 4-6 hours. (The goal is to slow cook the meat until it melts in your mouth)

Once meat is cooked, use tongs to remove the meat into a separate bowl. Remove and discard the rosemary sprigs and the bay leaves.

In another separate bowl, add flour and slowly mix in about 2 1/2 Cups of the cooking liquid from the slow cooker until it’s smooth. (Be cautious because hot liquid and flour like to make lumpy gravy).

Next microwave until the flour mixture thickens, it’s about 1 minute. Once it’s a nice thick looking paste, whisk that into the remaining slow cooker liquid to create the gravy.

Taste and adjust any seasonings / add in another 2 Tbls of balsamic vinegar if desired, or needed for more flavor.

Return beef back to the slow cooker and stir to coat everything.

This pairs wonderfully with baked potatoes or rice. Don’t forget a nice tall glass of red too!

We served with baked potatoes, creamed spinach, freshly baked homemade pesto pine nut bread and garden salads. Mmmm!

Backpackbees

French Press Friday: Sneaky

What if someone told me when I was 16 years old that in my life I would raise a blue-eyed baby girl and live abroad with my husband over 5 years away from everything we’ve ever known?

Never have I felt like I should stay rooted to a single place for the rest of my life. I love the world! I have far more than one favorite place to name and be.

I sit here swirling my coffee and ponder if our bumblebee will ever be attached to just one place, lay down roots, or will she identify herself just as her momma does… A “world citizen”? I suppose only time will tell.

My response to all of that….I’d say, LIFE, you surely are a sneaky little fox!

Backpackbees

Weekday Dinner Spontaneity

Welcome to South Korea! We’re halfway through May and it’s practically Summer already. The the temperatures are holding steadily in the lower to mid 70’s. Hey, I’m not complaining about the gorgeous afternoons that I get to share with my bumblebee outside. Nope, I know that all to soon the monsoon season will be upon us. I know! I had to bring it up…complete BLASPHEMY! So you’ve got to squeeze every single sunray out of each day. We decided the other evening for dinner to “grill out” (funny little fact: we don’t own an actual grill, lol) with our neighbor was in order!

Hey, isn’t this is what life is all about!? Spontaneity!! Or at least it calls for homemade spirilized French fries, homemade burgers, homemade bread and butter pickles, and homemade pickled eggs and red beets. Hands down worth the effort in the end! Oh! Don’t forget the cutest little petite roses to set in the center of it all too.

Holy cow I just love our little life! (prepare yourself for food envy and a photo dump)

Backpackbees

Click, Ship & treat yourself!

French press Friday: Childhood daydreams

Random thoughts over french press today…

Do you remember the weekends during your childhood?

Whether you spent those childhood days growing up with your grandparents, or your parents, do you remember the smells and the sights? Maybe those days involved special breakfasts made by your grandpa that consisted of toad in a hole, or tea parties in the backyard under a big old tree, maybe it was winter weekends filled with mugs of hot chocolate with mini marshmallows and dipping your buttery toast in it while your snow-covered clothing drip dry over the radiators, or it was your dad singing a silly song every time he cooked spaghetti for dinner.

Those days are now the keepsakes our adult brain keeps locked up in special places.

We seem to dig them out when we need to enjoy the nostalgia when we’re feeling down, or just want to smile.

I realize now as an adult truly just how important these little keepsakes are to me. I realize now evermore when I look into my daughters eyes.

As a parent now, I’m striving to keep my/our weekends, or Sunday’s completely free for our family, making sure to not get so wrapped up in the everyday hustle, just so that our bumblebee builds up those keepsakes of childhood for her adult memory too.

So tell me, what are your weekend rituals? Are you building, or have you yourself strived, to build those special keepsakes with your family?

Backpackbees

2015: Cheers to the New Year!

Whew! 2014 was definitely a roller coaster of a year! There were really incredibly sweet moments and memories made and then of course some doughy times too.

Along the way I’ve learned that life is like baking a loaf of homemade bread. Each single ingredient put in is vital and important because that’s what helps bake and form the loaf in the end. Sometimes in life the ingredients just don’t seem to come together correctly and you get disappointed, or discouraged. You start to think maybe I should dump this damn thing and start over, or question if was a waste of time from the beginning. But you know what? The great news is if you don’t toss in the towel and you let all the ingredients mix and knead, give a little time to bake, it ends in a great crusty loaf! I mean, come on, ending up with a freshly baked loaf of bread in my book is something to be thankful for, am I right, or am I right? Wink-Wink.

So if 2014 was a roller coaster of a year for you as well, know that 2015 might be your best mix of ingredients to come! For 2015 let’s all wake up together in the new year thanking God for giving us yet another day, a day to enjoy another slice of our fresh loaf!

With that being said, who is popping by for some freshly baked whole-wheat honey cinnamon raisin bread? If you can’t make it we highly recommend using some of that Christmas dough on a swanky bread machine like we did (Psstt… IT’S ON SALE TOO!) I don’t think that we will ever purchase another loaf in the store unless in a pinch. Thank you Williams-Sanoma.

Here’s to the greatest mix of ingredients to come!

Happiest of New Years to you and you and of course you!

Honey Whole-Wheat Cinnamon Raisin Bread
Source: Breville Food Thinkers
Makes one 1.5-pound loaf
Ingredients:
1 cup warm water
3 tablespoons honey
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter cut into 1/2-inch pieces, room temperature
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 cups bread flour
1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 3/4 tablespoon milk powder
1 3/4 dry active yeast

Add to the fruit and nut dispenser: 1/3 cup raisins

Instructions:
Ensure the collapsible paddle is attached in the bread pan and is in the upright position.

Add the ingredients to the bread pan in the order listed above, then secure the bread pan into the bread machine.

Place the raisins in the fruit and nut dispenser. Select the Whole Wheat setting, the desired crust color, and the 1.5-pound loaf size, then press start.

When the entire cycle is complete, use an oven mitt to remove the bread pan from the machine via the handle, and allow this to cool before removing the bread from the pan. The bread will slice best once completely cooled.

Backpackbees

Forgiving Fourways

You guys, my Amaryllis belladonna bloomed again over night! Check it out! I’m like a giddy child on Christmas when I wake up rub my sleepy eyes these past mornings and roll out to the living room and see this happy little guy in all it’s glory! I stopped by Cafe Jerry’s to see how hers was doing too…not to shabby, not to shabby. Little thing in life we cherish.

This morning I woke up and knew I wanted to do something special for Kelsey, let’s just say life hasn’t given her forgiving fourways lately. For those of you not in Korea, I know you’re wondering what this silly gal is rambling on about, so I’ll share. In S. Korea while driving if you cut someone off, make a left turn from the right lane of traffic, or do any other really outlandish driving, it’s absolutely okay! Why? Because all you need to do is hit the forgiving fourways (hazards), all is instantly made right again and all parties drive on. Oh Korea.

Anywho, when life gives you lemons make Rachael Ray’s lemon ricotta pancakes! Throw in a side of turkey bacon, fresh berries and a refreshing bubbly raspberry lemonade. Mmmmhmmm! Got your attention? Thought so. This recipe was used recently by a friend for a birthday breakfast celebration with rave reviews. Those reviews were spot on! Happy belated birthday Kara!

Oh, it doesn’t hurt when the coffee barista, Mr. B, comes right to your home and makes you a perfect caramel machattio to sip on while your whipping up your lemony goodness.

Lemon Ricotta Pancakes

Taken directly from Rachael Ray’s Recipe Here

Ingredients:

6 eggs, separated
2/3 cup self-rising flour
4 tablespoons lemon zest
3 cups ricotta
5 tablespoons sugar
4 tablespoons butter

Directions:

In a large bowl, whisk egg yolks, flour, 3 tbsp. zest, 2 cups ricotta and 3 tbsp. sugar. In another large bowl, beat egg whites until stiff; fold into batter. On griddle, cook pancakes in butter over medium until golden, 3 minutes per side. In medium bowl, whisk remaining ricotta and sugar. Top pancakes with ricotta mixture and remaining zest.

Backpackbees

Monday Types

Are you a Monday type of person? Let me elaborate…you know the annoying type that has to start off your work week by asking all of your co-workers, “What did you get into this weekend?” I’ll admit, I was a Monday type of gal until recently when I started to realize how much pressure it seems to put on some people to come up with an awesomely awesome answer on the spot.

It’s like you can almost see the gears turning as they search for something to keep the other party interested. Like they want to blurt out, “We went rock climbing, kayaking, enjoyed a helicopter ride over Seoul tower, and then we enjoyed dinner at a super exclusive restaurant prepared personally by chef Edward Kwon.” Ha-Ha! Then they look at you like and what did you do this weekend?

For me…I just cannot play into this game. We do exciting things here and there. Otherwise, I’m perfectly content and actually look forward to my mundane weekends that consist of not traveling outside a five-mile radius to our home, relaxing with a hot cuppa tea and book, watching past sex and the city episodes with the hubs (don’t tell him I told ya)coffee dates, cooking together in our kitchen, even tackling the laundry monster.

Yep, for all you Monday types…there ya have it.

Backpackbees

Making Friends as an Adult.

I found myself deep in thought, while sipping my coffee, waiting on a dear friend at our local weekend coffee spot. The thoughts deep like the swirls of whipped topping and caramel mixing with my coffee were about making friends as an adult. Let’s go one more step more and add to the complications of that… making friends. as an adult. while living abroad. I feel that in high school or even college for that matter while they are preparing you for the “real world”, they should be instructing on real world issues such as when you take that gigantic leap outside of your safety blanket (your hometown or surrounding area) what you may find yourself feeling.

I know, I know… the world’s tinniest violin is playing for me right this second. I’ll take this second to have a small (but respectful) pity party for myself, then we’ll get to moving on with this post.

2013 proved to be one of the more challenging years for me in my adult life. However during those challenges, I met an acquaintance of a friend that turned into a dear friend, a sister for life. Unfortunately, I know all to well that she is only abroad temporarily and will be moving on in the next few months. I’ll always remember a wise family member saying that quality over quantity will matter when you are an adult. At the time I remember thinking, yeah sure… then gloating about all of the “friends” that I had on my Myspace page (Don’t try to deny it..you know you had a Myspace page too). Now my 20 something self is understanding just how true that family member’s statement was. As a child, my grandparents told me that I could be-friend anyone, anywhere. The public pool, yep had a random swim buddy, the playground, yep had a tag or jungle gym pal, high-school, yep some bad gal pals and good gal pals, college, yep crazy but fun housemates. Truly I have been blessed to have met some amazing friends along the way and share equally amazing memories with each of them too.

However, over the past few years, let’s say the past three, I haven’t had the best of luck making friends since we moved abroad. I blame it on my mostly on my work schedule, and maybe partially on the fact that I have turned a bit anti-social. And introvert-ish. I’ll digress. Some of the first “friends” I made when we moved abroad turned out to be a group of ladies that belonged to a church group. Sound choice, right? Wrong…some of these women made me feel so insecure with myself. Constantly judging my knowledge of religion, my life, masking me with this toxic vibe, etc. Isn’t that comical? Ladies of the church! But at the time I couldn’t see it… Then I snapped out of it and distanced myself. I made the decision that I really longed for quality over quantity. I think that is where the fuel was added to the fire.

Don’t misunderstand my words, Mr. B and I have some great couple friends, most of them with kids too. (Apparently we are freaks for not having one by now). Ooops. Kidding! They are outstanding and we love their kids too!

So how does one make quality friends? Sometimes I wonder if I am sending out the wrong vibe? Hmm.. Really, what is the right vibe to attract quality?

Although…side note…I did take a gigantic leap and branch out last month. Yes, I made random conversation with a woman while she bundled up her baby, about politics outside of the grocery store. We ended up exchanging Facebook names and are “friends”(our generations most acceptable way to socialize, right?) Since that first encounter, almost every time I run into the grocery store to grab something we bump into one another. We talk eggplant, holidays, serious grocery chatter. This most recent encounter we actually took a step forward and decided to make a plan to meet up for coffee soon. Hopefully I do not let her down by not being able to uphold my end of conversation about breastfeeding, the homeschool, private, or public school decision. You know, whatever all of you cool moms talk about over coffee. We will see.

So…. there it is just in time for my coffee dates arrival too. I’d love to hear your thoughts.

Backpackbees

Just One

Can you ever just have one cookie? Does one cookie ever suffice? Nope. Not in my book. You at least need two. It’s got to be a pair, equal, one for each hand. Right? Right!

It’s Tuesday night, I’ve had a lot on my mind these past few days. Korea has a major storm set to blow in over the next few days from China.

What to do?

What to do?

Bake cookies!

I needed something mindless, stress free, and relaxing. Peanut-butter oatmeal cookies were just what was in order. We’re a huge fan of oatmeal cookies and peanut-butter part was just a bonus.

I know when my grandfather reads this blog post he will crave oatmeal cookies and pester my grandmother to bake him some. Oatmeal cookies are his favorite cookies. I guess the apple doesn’t fall to far from the tree. There is nothing quite like a fresh batch of baked cookies and a tall glass of milk to wash it all down.

I remember baking cookies various times throughout my life. The best memories of course were licking the cookie dough from the spoon afterwards. Hopefully there weren’t any raw eggs in those batches…uh oh spaghettio.

Honestly, I wish I would have paid more attention to baking and cooking from my grandparents when I was young. They are such awesome resources and have so much culinary experience. As I’ve grown up I’ve realized that I really enjoy learning to cook and bake new things. I always look forward to cooking and learning something new when im home visiting them. i always leave excited, eager to try what I learned at home with Mr. B. Sometimes I even ponder culinary school to learn real techniques and more kitchen confidence when venturing way outside of the normal weeknight spaghetti or chicken dish. What about you? Have you ever given culinary school a thought? Perhaps someday?

Back to cookie baking. I’ve included the recipe below adapted from various peanut-butter oatmeal recipes just for you.

Enjoy!

Peanut-butter Oatmeal Cookies

Ingredients:

1/3 cup natural, chunky, unsalted peanut-butter
1/3 cup almond milk, soy milk, or regular milk
2/3 cup sugar
1 Tbsp butter
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup oats
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking soda

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 Degrees or 190 Celsius.

Mix in a mixing bowl the sugar, milk, peanut-butter, butter, and vanilla extract until everything smooth.

In separate bowl, mix both flours well, oatmeal, baking soda and salt.
Pour both separated mixes together. The wet and the dry, and mix until the ingredients are just mixed enough together.

Next drop cookie dough onto cookie sheet, gently flatten cookie tops with a fork to bake evenly.

Bake for 12 minutes, or until cookies are set.

Now…while the cookies bake, we tackle the dishes….

Backpackbees

Nibbler

Are you a nibbler? Okay, let me further explain. I am talking nibbler in the sense of, when you are cooking in the kitchen you are nibbling along the way. It might be that perfectly ripe tomato, that just out of the oven bread loaf, or even a teeny swoop of that freshly whipped cream you made. So, with that said, do you consider yourself a nibbler?

Truth, I’m a nibbler. Yes, I admit I am guilty of nibbling along the way of my meal preparation. I always wondered if it was a hereditary thing. You know if your mother, or your grandmother, or your great-grandmother did it, you too picked up on the habit and were doomed to become a nibbler. Thinking back it makes sense to me now. There were times when I was a child where I remember my mother or grandmother cooking and preparing a nice meal only to eat a teeny if any bit. Why? Because she had to be a nibbler! HA HA! I’m not totally sure that is the case, but its my conclusion and I am sticking to it.

The weeks have been lengthy and I have found myself running against the clock. There just doesn’t seem to be enough time in the day to catch up from when I was away in Cambodia. I have been struggling to find that even balance with housework, me time, being a good spouse and loving wife, to being a good employee and team member, to being a great best-friend and equally great sister and daughter as well. Whoever said being a million miles away from family made it easier had to be joking. It’s not easy! Oh and throw in a little drama from our neighbors to the North on top of it all. Oy vay. Suggestions on being able to find balance again are greatly welcomed. I’d love to hear your thoughts, comments, and wisdom.

Do I have you scratching your head wondering what the correlation and connection between being a nibbler, playing catch up, and being superwoman is? The connection is that I am finally able to sit down and post a blog post and communicate to the masses that we are A-Okay over here. Really! Well, in this moment that is. I mean, would I be using my downtime to focus so much emphasis on focus on cooking healthy meals for the hubs and I? Not to mention baking my grandmothers strawberry pie complete with her homemade pie crust too! We are talking PIE here…serious stuff (recipe to come soon).

Oooohhh…Speaking of healthier dinner options, I’ve got a treat for you! How does sweet potato black bean burgers sound? (recipe below)

Sweet Potato Black Bean Veggie Burgers

Recipe slightly adapted from Healthy. Happy. Life. 100% Vegan lunchboxbrunch.com
makes 9-10 medium patties

Ingredients:

2 Cans black beans, drained
3 Medium/large sweet potato, already baked, peeled, and mashed
2 Tbsp Tahini
2 Tsp honey
2 Tsp lemon pepper seasoning
1 Tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 Cup wheat flour
A few dashes of black pepper
*I don’t typically season with salt, but you can certainly add if you need to.
2-3 Cups of Panko crumbs
1-2 Tbsp Safflower oil for frying pan

(Optional)Burger toppings: avocado, Dijon mustard, onion

Directions:

1. Take your already baked sweet potatoes. Peel off the skin, set aside in large mixing bowl.
2. Add drained black beans to sweet potatoes. Mash the beans and potato together. You may need to use your hands and mixer to get the beans and potato to the right consistency.
3. Toss and mash in the lemon pepper seasoning, cayenne pepper, black pepper, flour, Tahini, and honey. Your mixture will be quite soft and tacky. No worries, you will be able to form the burger patty.
4. Heat up the 1-2 Tbsp safflower oil in a pan over high heat.
5. Form the burger patties from mixture and coat in Panko crumbs. Cook until burger is browned on both sides.
6. Transfer cooked patties to paper towel. Cool for a few minutes.

*As noted on the original recipe, the patties may crumble a bit while you are eating. However they are still absolutely delicious and that factor will make up for it in itself. Enjoy!

Backpackbees