Pahá Sápa

15 yrs ago, reading a book about the Nadoweisiweg (the *Sioux*), I fell in love with the natives life style. Of course I didn't told the world about it, and some of the ones who knew, "twisted" their nose, making me angry and confused. How can people still have such a small mind about it? I kept this for myself. I kept that wish that one day, I would love to go to the Black Hills (how come, a "newborn" christian going into a native spiritual land? Well, this is between me and God) This last week, my husband told me, as he needed to rest, was thinking on going to the Mount Rushmore - Ana here went google and tcharam - Black Hills. What a delicious surprise!!! He didn't know about this secret wish. I'm thrilled. Thank you my God, who knows my secrets even before I expose them to You.

 

Will be posting everything about our trip. 

xoxo

 

 

Ana

April.

The month of April was totally busy. We had an exchange student - an amazing experience to change your life. Nothing better then donate yourself (bad or good) to make someone else happy. My girls will for sure miss my big girl.
Life is good. Even if it's not your best day, someone else might be in need of your help.
Had a nightmare with a naughty boy named Jacob. All because we had company last night and we watched a movie where Jacob,  captured the girls attention, and we had a talk about him. Oh the joys to be the host mom of a teenager ;D

Well, as the weight loss part, will update the information tomorrow, and the goals as well.

Have a great May!
Ana

How to Cook and deep fry Cassava (Yuca)

When I came to Canada, one of the things I missed a lot, was the cassava root - or Yuka. Boy, I would give anything to have one little piece of cassava lol...
Growing up, mom used to bake for us, but I never showed any interest on learning how to prepare, cut, peel, until I moved to Paraguay in 2003.
There, cassava is part of their diet, and basically you will find a cassava bush in every yard. So, in the Bible College, on my turn to help in the kitchen, we had to wash the root (ya, surprise, Ana, they were soak in mud), peel, cook and then decide what we would do (you can have it deep fried, cooked with butter, cooked with eggs and cheese, etc)... But once I washed, I asked the leader - Ok, now we have to peel and I started peeling in the way I thought it would be right - Cristina laugh at me (a sweet laugh) and showed me the right way to do it. Sometimes the peel would still be hard and we would need to use a bit more power, but it's so simple, and trust me, taste is wonderful.
My husband often tells me it reminds him of a potato, but it's not the same, lol (men, lol)...
Well, to make story short, I found the Cassava at the Real Canadian Superstore and of course, exploded in happiness. Since then, every time I go there, if they are in pretty conditions, I buy it. ;)

So, here is how it works.

 Big root, hard when u touch (not soft spots) 

 

 They are big and heavy!

 Cut it in half (or if it's too big, in big chunks like this)

 Notice the skin?

 With a sharp knife, put it like this, 

 different angle

 slowly slide the knife

 and the skin should come out as easy as it can be

sometimes, the skin will be too hard, then you peel the way you think it's easier. 

 Once the skin is all out, you cut in half, vertically, and 

I used my pressure pot, BUT if you don't have one, you bring water to broil, and once is 

broiling you add the cassava (otherwise it will be soggy) - let it cook untill is soft to the touch of a 

fork (or knife) and the color is yellow. (I'm not sure about how long, I usually don't use a timer when I'm cooking)

 here they are already cooked, yellow ;) 

drain the water, using a colander, and let it dry a bit (about 5 min)

There is different ways to eat cassava. In Brazil, the most common is deep frying the cassava - however, my mom used to put butter and salt after she cooked, it's very yummy (a bit of salt)

Here, we are gonna deep fry. I don't own a deep fryer, so, I use my steal pot to deep fry. I fill it up a little less then half pot and let it warm. I don't use a thermometer, I usually cut a small piece and put it in the oil, once is hot, it will start frying, but I know it's good when the oil starts making a lot of noises and bubbles, and that small piece "dance" around, lol.. Then I put my cassava pieces and deep fry until they are golden yellow (5-8 minutes)

 frying. 

Once they are ready, take them out and lay them in a bowl with paper towel, 

and sprinkle salt. It tastes wonderful, and it's good with a deep sauce, or, with rice and beans, or even on coffee break! 

My family loves cassava, and when I lived in Paraguay, I learned that it's very nutritious, it's one of their important meal (cheap) and there is a lot of different ways, and I will try to bring them (the best is cassava with cheese and eggs.. hmmm...)

WARNING

if there is lots of black spots (1 or 2 still ok) don't eat. It means it won't be 

as good and might get sour when you cook. 

Have a great day :) 

Eye Patch

Hello ya'll ;)

Well, what a busy week! My parents are coming for a visit in .. a week, and I'm trying to leave everything ready for them. Very special!
Anyway, my daughter has Amblyopia (Lazy Eye) and she needs to eye patch 2 hours daily. The problem is, as any other kid, she hates the sticky patch - and it's a nightmare to convince her to keep them on. In our last visit, the doctor told me she saw something online - about moms sewing a "sleeve" to put it over the glasses - wow, I thought, that would be nice! 
Came home and of course, went to Pinterest - and found a tutorial HERE! What a great tutorial! One thing, I'm still learning how to sew, and can't sew curves - so, decided to do hand stitches. Checked the kids fabrics I had, and I had baby fabric (specially for babies, non allergic, etc.)

 And decided to make one of each. The fabric wasn't trim when I took the pictures, (only the brown/green ones) - she loved the monsters one!! 

 Here, with the patch. the first one done (with the fabric left overs, I'm thinking on making a hair bow, or flower, to match the eye patch) ah, right, the Riders shirt is a gift from Dad, and she loved! lol, such a daddy's girl!!!

I know the picture looks blurry, since last time the phone fell on the floor, this is happening.. 

Oh well, I loved the results!!! Now to get her used to the new patch :) 

I'm sewing more of those, for sure, but right now, I think 4 is enough! ;) 

Have a great weekend!!! :)