Monthly Archives: January 2016

I wonder Wednesday…

ok I know this is pretty random but this seriously happened to me the other day and I am utterly baffled (or as my father said, ‘I think I may have seen it all’.)

My fatter and I are finishing up a project that required a chalkboard. Rather than buy a prefab one I decide to paint one. So off to Walmart we go to pick up some chalkboard spray paint. About two days later I finally get the time to spray the board. I pop open the can and…the bloody nozzle is gone! Who takes a nozzle??!!?? I seriously was just speechless. My dad, the fixer, said no worries; we’ll just use one from a spray can we already have. That’s when I remembered I bought a can of turquoise spray paint a few months for a project (I still haven’t started). So I grab that one and as soon as I get back to the garage I jokingly say to my father, ‘this would suck if the nozzle was missing on this one, too!’ 

Sure enough, the bloody nozzle on the second one was gone! WTF?!??!!

So I wonder…did we miss something at Walmart? Were we supposed to ask to get a nozzle? Is this a common thing? Or better yet, are spray can nozzles in high demand on the island that I’m not aware of?

Needless to say I’ll be checking any spray cans from now on at my friendly Walmart!!

Have a great day, friends! 

 

sweet girl in pigtails and her mini fjallraven kanken backpack


Ps- chick update coming soon!! 

Introducing…

hey gang. Sorry for my disappearance the last week or so. It’s been crazy up here in the Vizuete and Kaffenberger household with a teething baby (16 are all in. Do I see molars??!!??); changing rooms; shots- as in the needle kind but the other kind are pretty good; and the biggest change….we are chicken owners!!

On Sunday we made the early morning drive out to Hato Rey, which is slightly south on the outskirts of San Juan, to hook up with the Gallinas Urbanas guy to buy our baby chicks. I have a friend who bought her 25 chicks from them and she recommended that we get there early as there is always a line. And was there! He shows normally around 9am. We got there at 8 and there were probably 6 people already there. Yep. 

Unfortunately he was running late but thanks to my father, the little one was entertained by running around the square, waving at people, and hugging trees. Weird. Anyway, the market he sells his chickens is the Cooperativa Organica Madre Tierra. There’s maybe about 20-25 tents selling everything from plants to bread to fresh pasta to vegetarian empanadillas and much more. It’s an all organic sorta market. I even scored a much needed mini massage!

  
We had an idea of what we wanted and after waiting almost 45-60 mins for the 6 in front of us to get finished (some people were buying 20-30 chicks!) our game plan flew out the window! He had pulled out his ‘special’ box and he had some polish chicks. My all-time favorite chicken was the polish frizzle but of course there’d be no way of getting one here. So when I heard polish and big bouffant hair I. Was. Sold! They were sold in pairs so we ended up getting the 2 polish and one each of the buff Orpington, ameraucana, and barred Plymouth Rock. They are really too cute for words. Aside from my polish having very big round heads. 

So that’s what we’ve been doing all week: becoming mama and dada (and big papa) to our new little familia. And I’m so surprised how gentle and careful Gabriela is with them. 

  
May I introduce you to….(staring from the top right hand corner and going clockwise)

– Chickpea (polish) – Isa (aka Isabela; Ameraucana) – Lulu (polish) – Oreo (barred Plymouth Rock) and – Buffy (buff Orpington)

They are already showing personalities and I can’t wait to watch them grow and having Gabi interact with them!

   
   
And be sure to follow me on Instagram where I share lots more pics of our island life!

Have a great day!

I wonder thurswednesday…

maybe I should just rename it that! 

Anyway, today (or rather the last few weeks) I’ve been wondering why I have not been cooking with turmeric. I know, outta left field, right? Besides the gorgeous warm orange-yellowy color that it brings to a dish, it’s actually been a widely used spice in Chinese medicine to help cure/treat inflammation and it’s also a great antioxidant as well as helps combat belly issues. 

Turmeric contains curcumin, which is the powerhouse of the spice. Unfortunately to get the best results you’d have to consume an extract that contains the curcumin. While turmeric has it, it isn’t really that much but every little bit helps, right? 

So I’ve been putting turmeric in everything. Seriously. Marinades. Quinoa. Couscous. Gabi’s homemade chicken nuggets and meatballs. It has such a subtle flavor yet still enhances the flavor all the while giving your dish a beautiful golden hue. 

So give it a try! See where you can add it to your recipes. 

I wonder what other spices I’ve been missing out on…what do you all love to use that is a bit different?!

 

nothing to do with tumeric but loving her little wispy ponytail.

 
Ps- a very sad day reading that Alan Rickman has passed away. Loved him in so many movies such as _Dogma_, _Sense and Sensibilty_ (I’m a HUGE Austen Fan), and so so many more. Cancer sucks. RIP. 

Ch ch ch changes…

(my little homage to the passing of David Bowie. What a legend.)

So changes…Gabriela turned 18 months old Sunday and that lil chica is changing day by day. It’s amazing. She’s growing and advancing and turning into a little <gasp> girl. I love it and I hate it. 

  
Our last beach outing consisted of well over an hours worth of Gabi running around on the sand, tossing sand over back, and jumping the waves (with big papa). Gone are the days of tranquility when she would just hang in her little tent and everyone else would get some sunshine. But ya know what: this is pretty awesome, too! Just seeing her explore and check out the world is pretty darn cool. And entertaining! And, I’m coming to grips with the whole ‘having sand in places you don’t want sand to be!’. It amazes me how sand can get up in places on that little chica! Thank goodness we started bringing a water jug so we can clean her up and there’s even a hose-like thingy at our spot if she gets extra sandy. I’m hoping she’ll eventually figure out face-planting in the sand isn’t a real good idea. 

   
 
Along with much more active beach days, we’ve FINALLY moved Gabi into her bedroom yesterday! Being 18 months old we figured it’s time. We’ve always kept her pack n play, and then crib, in our room. It made sense since I was still breastfeeding her and for some reason her weird habit of being wide ass awake at 5am. I’d bring her to bed (I know, I know) and she’d sleep until 7/7.30. Glorious. So there was trepidation moving her so. Far. Away. (About 10 steps to the other room.) but alas we did it and last night sucked! She was up every two hours and by 4am I was exhausted and we both were done. Needless to say she slept until almost 9 all snuggled up on my shoulder. I know, I know. 

But as of right now, sweet girl is taking an awesome nap on her own, in her crib, in her bedroom. Yes! 

Our chicken coop/tractor is finished and I’m thinking we’re heading to San Juan on Sunday to fetch our chicks. If I remember correctly we’ll be doing two buff orpington’s, 2 ameraucana, and 1 Plymouth rocks. Unfortunately we were hoping for an australop but our guy doesn’t have any. Gives us room to grow. Eventually. 

   
   
Also hoping to get back on the meal planning kick. I’ve been winging it lately and I’ve noticed that I’ve been using a lot of dairy, cream, buttttteerrrrrrrr, and not really accounting for portion sizes. Needless to say I’ve been feeling a bit on the chunky side. So I need to start planning better. Dinner tonight will be a pork loin. Of course I have no clue yet what to do but I’m sure I’ll think of something. 

Thanks for sticking with me. There will be much more food blogging to come as well as chicken updates and the goings-on with sweet Gabriela. 

Ps- be sure to follow me on Instagram for more pics from the island. 

   
 

I wonder Wednesday!

The holidays have come and gone – unless you live in Puerto Rico celebrating Three Kings day today, which is HUGE! – and we’re all trying to settle back into a routine. Or at least I am. 

The last few weeks had us all out of sync with a crazy work schedule for the husband, a teething baby (she has 16 teeth, my friends…16!), and the building of the chicken coop! Needless to say my weekly grocery shopping trips were sporadic, which left us with no veggies for last night’s dinner. And just as an aside: the veggie selection here in PR is scarce and expensive. I haven’t had cauliflower since moving here because it’s almost 7$ a head and it’s the size of a grapefruit. No thank you. And I just can’t do the frozen stuff. The normals sides here on the island are rice and beans, tostones, amarillos, and potatoe and yucca. I’m not complaining; just ever so often I want a zucchini. 

So I wonder why veggies don’t reign supreme here on the island – or even in the upper 50’s? You see countless books/articles/discussions on ‘how to get your kid to eat veggies’ and it really boggles the mind. With our limited supply Gabi hasn’t had the benefit of trying out different things (I do miss Brussels sprouts!) so her palate to veggies is limited. Sucks. But I’m trying. Which is why I started our garden. And last night we had a pleasant surprise…

With our crazy schedule I didn’t make it to the store yesterday to get veggies for dinner and I so didn’t want anymore rice. My solution? I walked to our backyard and picked fresh green beans, zucchini and squash, and Rosemary. After years of trying to grow squash/zucchini I FINALLY had a ‘crop ‘. And can I just say: the difference between store bought and fresh is huge! And Gabi even seemed to like it as well. 

  
So I also wonder what I’ll be planting in my (hopefully expanding) garden next. Brussels sprouts could be on our horizon! Oh- and an update on the ‘seeded on their own’ tomatoes: they are growing like wildflowers, have flowered but no fruit yet. Crossing my fingers that they’ll be ok! 

What veggies do you like to grow? How did you get your lil toddlers/kids to enjoy their veggies?

  

 A little day trip to Utuado. This was at the Restaurante Las Tortugas.   

 

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