First Week of School (8.21.12 - 8.24.12)

Ashkon's first real classes began on Tuesday, August 21 where he actually began to learn medical information- He was so excited! I decided to go to the "Egg Man" on campus to see what everyone had been talking about! The chatter was definitely all worth it- I got 30 eggs for 17 EC which is about $6.30 USD (21 cents per egg- about the cheapest thing we have found here in Grenada so far!) Now that I have some more alone time I wanted to try out some new recipes! I have never made my sister's (Jess) tortilla soup, but I have eaten it and it is delicious! Since we brought over a crockpot, I have been looking for new crock pot recipes to try and this was my first! Ashkon said it was a success :) And that's all that matters, right?? :) The recipe will be below the tortilla soup pictures...

I also tried making my mom's salsa for the first time, too! It wasn't as good as when she makes it, but it was still pretty good! We love salsa! YUM! This recipe will be below, as well!

This was an impressed/delicious dinner face if you couldn't tell :)

 Salsa!

Chicken Tortilla Soup

Ingredients:

4 chicken breast halves

2 15 oz. cans black beans, undrained (Sometimes I use kidney beans too- just preference)

2 15 oz. cans Mexican stewed tomatoes

1 cup salsa

4 oz. can chopped green chilies (I don't always add these)

14.5 oz. can tomato sauce

Tortilla chips

2 cups grated cheese (optional)

1. Combine all ingredients except chips and cheese in large slow cooker

2. Cover. Cook on low 8 hours

3. Just before serving remove chicken breasts and slice into bite-sized pieces. Stir into soup

4. To serve, put a handful of chips in each individual soup bowl. Ladle soup over chips. (We usually just eat the chips with the soup instead of putting them in it if you don't like soggy chips) Top with cheese.

Salsa
2-3 tomatoes chopped in small pieces
1 large red onion chopped
1-2 bunches cilantro chopped fine (1cup or more)
1 can 15 oz tomato sauce (Hunts is best but any brand of Tomato sauce is good)
1 small can El Pato tomatillo sauce (use any small can of tomatilo sauce or hot salsa)
Stir all and let flavors blend chill and serve.

To use big appliances like a crockpot, we have to plug an adaptor into the wall, the transformer into the adaptor and the crockpot into the adaptor. It took a while to get used to, but I think we have the hang out it now! Not only did we bring a crockpot in our luggage across the US and down the Caribbean, we also brought pots and pans, a blender, a 25-pc knife and kitchen appliance set, and Ashkon's favorite- a Toaster! And my mom gave us a little treat that has been so helpful- a universal pot and pan top! We got amazing deals on these items but it definitely was sad to leave all of our amazingly nice wedding gifts at my parents house. Unfortunately, we forgot silverware lol but we got this little box of plasticware and it has been great...enough haha! We've only lost one in the 3 weeks since we have been using them!  

On Wednesday, I tried out a Pilates class with my friend Jo- it was great! It's pretty close to campus so we can take one of the SGU buses and then walk a couple blocks to get to the gym. The teacher was super nice and there was only one other lady in the class! We did lots of stretching, ab work, and resistance band work! Later that night, we had our first Bible study get together. We all met on campus at one of the girl's apartments and shared a snack or dessert and just hung out to get to know one another! The group is made up of SOs and students so it was neat to get different perspectives on the school, islnd,  how life is in Grenada, and hearing about what we would be studying in the Bible study. We are doing Hebrews which I am really excited about! So I will keep you updated on what we learn :) Oh yea, and then I got stuck in a torrential rainstorm walking/running home. Thank you Grenada...our place was just up the hill from where we were for our get together but I seriously could not run because there was so much rain coming down! The water was above my ankles on the street. I ran in to our place and I think Ashkon just laughed and then got me a towel. I seriously felt like I had just jumped in a pool with my clothes on...I guess I should take a rain jacket with me wherever I go now...haha what an experience!

Thursday was our 2-month anniversary! We can't believe that it has gone so fast and so much has happened in these 2 months! We have been having a lot of fun together- just being with one another, moving to another country, figuring things out together! It definitely hasn't been easy but we have done it together which is the best! I made a new crock pot veggie lasagna recipe that I found online to celebrate! I had to make some adjustments with the availability of food items here but it really turned out great! The recipe is at the bottom of the post.

Even though the meal is easy to prepare and cook with a crock pot, the clean up is not always!

I love lasagna!

The Happy Couple

Can't believe it's been 2 months from this day!!

Once Friday hit, Ashkon was ready for a break! So, we went on a mini date to try out the ice cream on campus :) I got chocolate and Ash got vanilla- it was great! They both had little pieces of chocolate and vanilla shavings in it! The only thing that would have made it better is if there was more of it! :D And because it is so hot and humid here we had to finish before we even got home ha But it's fun having a little something that is not too expensive and that we can do together for a little date once in a while! (There's no picture because we have to eat it so fast there isn't a moment to spare to take a pic lol)

Slow Cooker Veggie Lasagna

Ingredients:


-8-ounce package shredded mozzarella cheese, divided


-15 ounces part-skim ricotta cheese
(or small curd cottage cheese)

-2 large eggs


-¼ cup Parmesan cheese, grated


-1 teaspoon salt, divided


-1 cup carrots, shredded


-3 cups zucchini, shredded and firmly packed


-26-ounce jar roasted garlic marinara sauce


-8-10 regular lasagna noodles (not no-boil)

Directions
Remove ½ cup mozzarella cheese. Set aside.

In a bowl, combine remaining mozzarella, ricotta, eggs, Parmesan and ½ teaspoon salt.

Cook carrots in microwave for 2 minutes. Stir into cheese mixture and set aside.

In a separate bowl, stir remaining ½ teaspoon salt into zucchini.

Spray Crock Pot with cooking spray.

Spread 1/3 sauce on bottom. Gently break 2 noodles to fill and cover bottom (this part will be hard for you neat freaks — just remember it turns out in the end)

Spread 1 cup cheese mixture over the noodles. Top with 1 cup shredded zucchini. Top with 2/3 cup marinara sauce.

Repeat with a second layer (2 noodles, 1 cup cheese mixture, 1 cup shredded zucchini and 2/3 cup marinara sauce).

Add a third layer of noodles and top with remaining cheese mixture and zucchini only.

Top with noodles and remaining marinara sauce, then sprinkle with the reserved ½ cup mozzarella.

Cook on High for 3 hours. Let stand 15-20 minutes before serving.