I Knew That Nutritional Yeast Would Come in Handy

Back in July, to make up for "The Worst Birthday Dinner That Never Happened" (long story for another time), The Shark booked us a weekend at The Farm. Vegan food, yoga classes, fresh air. It was love at first sight.

Sight of a slight altercation between a goose and the child. No one was harmed.

One of Toto's favorite spots.

In fact, we loved the food so much we bought the cookbook. Lots of recipes call for cashew cheese, and while I was ready to pay an exorbitant price for it at Healthy Options, they didn't carry it. So, we made it ourselves. Surprisingly easy and delicious. Even The Shark, who grew up on a dairy farm, couldn't stop dipping. Granted, he said it tasted more like hummus than cheese, but the nutritional yeast and apple cider vinergar definitely gave it a cheezy tang. I used this recipe because it didn't call for probiotics (need to google that) or long hours fermenting, but maybe in the future we'll try making a more complicated recipe. For now, I was happy to soak cashews, then plop them in the food processor with apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast, garlic, onion powder, salt, pepper, and some water. (I normally use nutritional yeast as a yogurt mix-in and in smoothies - lots of folic acid and B vitamins!). And voila, a yummy vegan snack that we can use for tomorrow's vegan stuffed peppers.

Raw cashews from the Salcedo Market - P250 ($6)

Happy vegan snacking.

Sunday Cooking

Good yogurt is hard to come by in Manila, but please correct me if I am wrong because I would love to send Toto to college, but can't because she loves yogurt and eats it everyday. We end up buying the 1kg Total Fage greek yogurt from S&R that costs $25. Yes, you read that right. I looked online and found it for about $7. As we try and budget in order to save for a down payment on a house in DC (more on that later), we are looking for ways to save money. And no, weekend Starbucks lattes are not on the table. 

On Friday, a colleague received a yogurt maker she had ordered and when she saw me staring longingly at it, let me borrow it during her 2-week vacation. All you need is a liter of boxed UHT milk (in Manila, but in America I would use fresh) and some yogurt or yogurt starter. After boiling and then cooling the milk, I mixed in some yogurt, then poured it in the 7 jars. The machine is currently plugged in and after 8 hours we should have delicious yogurt - for about $10.

Cheap-er yogurt.

New Year, new recipes. I am getting sick of all the old recipes we used last year, so The Shark suggested this one - warm quinoa salad with tarragon and edamame. Had to make some substitutions because you can never find everything you need for a recipe in Manila, even if you go to 10 different stores. So, in stead of roasted red peppers, I used sweet pickled bell peppers. And there was no edamame to be found (I thought we were in Asia?!), so I used green garbanzos. That I didn't even know existed. In the end it was delicious.

My sister whipped up a quick and easy veggie lasagna in San Diego, so we threw together our own version. Layer one was brocoli, garlic and Japanese spinach (there are so many green leafy vegetables at the market that I had no idea which one to pick. A friendly Japanese woman told me the Japanese spinach was the best. She's probably biased, but I went with it anyway), and layer 2 was yellow zucchini and roasted tomatoes. Instead of pricey ricotta and parmesan, I went with less pricey mozzarella and cottage cheese. Perfect for a Sunday night.

Guess I gave away that the sauce wasn't homemade.

A day's worth of veggies in one meal.

Counting Down

Toto will be 15 months this Christmas, and appears to have a bit more of a clue what's going on than she did at 3 months last year. Everyday she advances the Christmas calendar, gets super excited at every Christmas decoration she sees, and has no problem wolfing down an entire cookie.

Now is probably a good time to mention Filipinos start celebrating Christmas in September, as Christmas is celebrated in all the "ber" months - September, October, November, and December. At work I attended 3 parties, where we played games like pass the lifesaver ("Polo") to each other on sticks in our mouth and dressed each other in recycled paper for a "trashion show." You know, for the birth of Christ. As an American, I refuse to acknowledge Christmas until after Thanksgiving, then it's on.

A homage to our "homes."

DIY Friday: Vanilla

During a recent trip to Tagaytay, we stopped for lunch at adorable Sonya's Garden.  Not only was the setting gorgeous, but there was a crafty type shop.  Much to The Shark's chagrin, I cannot keep myself away from stores of the following genre: country, thrift, general, craft, corner, basically anything with a cute sign.  A friend bought a vanilla bean to make her own vanilla, so I did too.  So easy.  Mix 4 oz. (cheap) vodka with a slit open bean.  Store in a dark, cool place (that doesn't really exist here, but anywho) and wait a couple months.  Plentiful, cheap vanilla.

Boil glass jar

Slit open bean lengthwise

Submerge bean in vodka

Kid Recipes: Tofu Fingers

I may have already mentioned that I really like Ruth Yaron's book, Super Baby Food, because of the clear tips on food preparation and storage and cool toddler recipes.  Tofu fingers were so easy, just dip tofu slices in milk, then toss in a combination of bread crumbs, wheat germ and parmesan cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes.  Yum.

Meet the Cast

It's about time this American family living in the Philippines joined the blogosphere.  While I've been blogging privately for years, I decided to start this public blog to share our experiences living overseas, cooking healthy with what's available, raising a child 8,000 miles away from home, and squeezing in yoga and running between the madness.  Oh, and to document my journey towards *eventually* becoming a yoga teacher and opening a studio and wellness center.  Why blog?  Well, I spend lots of time pouring over other people's blogs for recipes (Can you make it while holding a baby?), travel itineraries (i.e. Resorts with baby-sitters), commiseration (You miss the seasons? Me too!), DIY ideas (You can make vanilla?), and child-rearing issues (Will she ever sleep through the night?!).  Thought it was time to add my two cents, or centavos, or whatever.

Without further ado, meet the leading characters of "Finding My Pace:"

The Shark.  Passionate about biodiversity and climate change.  Loves running and reading.  Can't pass up on anything chocolate.  Fantastic dad.  Spastic driver.  Best thing that ever happened to me.

Just a little closer...

Moi.  Not pregnant anymore, but was and loved it.  A planner down to the minute.  A runner and budding yogi.  Wife, mama, full-time worker.  Crazed and loving it.

No, not a scene from "The Shining," just my preggo belly in our scary African hallway.

Toto.  The game changer.  Adaptable, adorable, and awesome.  Don't know why we waited so long.

Dressed for a Florida retirement party.  And owning it.

Moo Shu. The newest addition to the madness. A chill little pudge ball of love.

Yaya.  The woman behind the scenes.  Toto's third grandma, best friend, teacher, nanny.  The reason we can work and still have a life.  

Yes, for the 400th time, that is a light.

Follow us as we find our pace in this crazy, awesome world.