What's on the menu??

 Cooking here is way different than at home. First of all there is no Wal-Mart or grocery store right down the road with all your needs. If you want vegetables Monday Market is the day to get them. However, there are strange vegetables we've never heard of or maybe even just didn't like before now. lol. But above all, in our time here so far we've learned 2 very interesting facts about ourselves in the kitchen.

#1 We both realized that we have a common fear. A Fear of PRESSURE Cookers. Then again, we never really used one. We just remember our mom saying that if you open a pressure cooker before it's ready to be opened it would explode. And just the thought of death by pressure cooker was enough to keep us away from them all this time. However, as we were both realizing and admitting this fear we both have had to use the pressure cooker for numerous meals and now we are proud to say that, "We are no longer afraid." Yay!

# 2 Allison is a Master Chef! Most of you that are close to her would not expect to read that former sentence. We don't know what it is about Brooke's Point, but Allison has been able to shell out amazing dishes one after another. It's not as easy you think either. We have to look on the internet for recipes, but these recipes can't include any form of dairy, any form of meat…..or pretty much animal products of any kind. It wasn't our plan to become vegan's on this trip, but its not a bad thing either. We've found ways to substitute things in order to make our favorites. It's an art form really.

For example: On one occasion, we were craving Haystacks. But in the Philippines we don't have refried beans, taco meat, chips, cheese, or lettuce. Some would admit defeat. Not the Hanaway Sisters!! 

For the beans, we pressure cooked ( :D ) some kidney beans and when they were cooked we ran them through the blender. For the taco meat, we shredded tofu and fried it in taco seasoning. We used rice instead of chips, Cabbage instead of lettuce, and for the cheese we blended cashews, peppers, and other various ingredients to make a nacho cheese substance. We spoiled ourselves by opening up jars of black and green olives (YUM!) It was a taste of home, with a Filipino twist!

-Another food adventure was making Vegetable Curry (taking advantage of the abundance of coconut milk here :D)

This proves that the apples were
good...lol jk.

-We also made homemade applesauce( by using apples, water, cinnamon, and little bit of sugar.)

Not exactly Krafts but still
amazing!

-Mac N' Cheese (using the cheese concoction from the haystacks and mixing it with noodles and tofu)

-And an AMAZING, fresh, mango crisp (which, sadly, was eaten too quickly to take a picture of it)

Of course we cook a lot vegetable stir-frys with rice, rice casseroles, pretty much anything that includes rice lol. But when we want those special meals it's always fun to experiment. I'm sure we'll have many more opportunities for it :) Till next time…

~Me and Her