A manual process

Jenn said this today and it made perfect sense. Things are more manual now. Laundry is more manual. Cooking is more manual. Life is more manual.

Tuesday February 12, 2013...Taco Tuesday! (Casey's that ones for you!)

Jenn makes some of the best taco's I've ever had. Even having lived in Texas it was difficult if not impossible to find one much better. So, we decided on having our very own Taco Tuesday. We have had some amazing Peruvian dishes while here but every once in a while you need a taste of your old home. So we set out to do just that. Enter: one very difficult task. A very manual process.

Equivelant to $6.40!

You wouldn't expect a simple dish like Dad Carrolls (Jenn's dad) tacos to be so difficult to make but they were more then she bargained for. Jenn's dad is a professional chef and an excellent one at that. But, all great chefs have their secret. The secret of these taco's? Alright, sorry Jenn and Dave...I'm leting the cat out of the bag...I'm not sure if I can say it...Pace Picante Salsa. Whew, there I said it. Jarred salsa. A fine delicacy in life. So proceeds the search for Pace salsa. Suprisingly enough it wasn't that difficult to find at the grocery store, unfortunately, it cost $16.80 Soles....That is $6.40 US...That is ridiculous. I am not paying that! There must be another way. With our heads hanging low in feeling slightly defeated we left the store. What do we do? Give up? Never make taco's here? No way. Find another recipe for tacos? Not a chance. There must be a way. Between Jenn's wonderful recipe and my love for making food from scratch we sumise a plan. Google. Of course! So I went on a search to find a homemade recipe of the salsa. Jackpot! I found this:
Perfect Pace Picante Sauce Recipe - Restaurant.Food.com - 225582.  Now remember from my last blog I mentioned canned products are expensive...a can of Hunts diced tomato's is $3.41 US....I may as well buy the jar junk. So my modification to this recipe is all fresh tomato's. Success! Jenn was elated! It turned out just perfect! If I can say so myself, we just made the secret ingrediant better!

After: Cooked down & just like Pace!

Before: Prepped veggies for the salsa & ready for cooking 

So, we continue. Taco meat meets fresh "Pace Salsa." Perfect. Corn tortilla baked in the oven. Homemade pico sauce (thanks Ruth) and incredible guacamole made from home grown avocados. Everything is coming together beautifully. Until I realize at the last minute we don't have refried bean. AH! We can't have taco's without refried beans. If only I had thought about this the night before I could have made Abe and Carmen's wonderful recipe of homemade refried beans! But I didn't and lunch is needing to be ready in 30 minutes. On to plan B. "John run to the store and find a can of refried beans if you can. I don't care what it cost...we need it" I say.  So John dashes to the store to save the day. 10 minutes later her returns with a bag. Taco hero, I think to myself. He hands me the bag and my hopes and dreams of perfect tacos are slashed in a moment. "That's all they had" John says. So starts my own personal version of "Chopped Challenge." 15 minutes to make refried beans with my secret ingredient: Pork and Beans. A little of this, a little of that, fry it up, blend it up...I can't believe it did it. I made refried beans from pork and beans. (Side note: April S. you were definatily our inspiration for that one!)

Dinner is amazing. I don't know if it tastes incredible because of all we had to go through to get it or because it was just plain good. Either way. We had so much fun! Learned a little more about innovation...a little more about preparedness (pre-think refried beans next time). Had the cooking adventure together (Jenn and I). Wish you could have been here to enjoy our little piece of Texas in Peru!

Baked corn shells

"Refried Beans"

Dinner is ready!

Friday February 22, 2013....Chili
Jenn's Chili. I am extremely particular with her recipe. Slight deviations from the recipe have to be authorized by me in advance. Best. Chili. Ever. Enter in Pace salsa again. Ok, no problem. I have a recipe for that. When it comes to chili, the toppings are just as important as the chili. Enter: sour cream. Again, expensive. Okay no problem. We will use our innovation again. Google. http://www.culturesforhealth.com/sour-cream. Here are the pictures from our adventures. Thanks to our refried beans lesson we learned to prepare, prepare, prepare. The night before we thought ahead and started the sour cream.

Step 1: Make the
buttermilk

Step 2: Mix the cream
& buttermilk

Step 3: Allow the mixture
to rest

Now we let it sit overnight. 12 hours later we come back to it...did it work???? Well, sort of. The temp it rested in wasn't warm enough so we ended up with more of a creme fraiche then sour cream. That's ok. It worked for what we wanted and tasted yummy with the chili.

"Sour Cream"...Sort of.

Front left: Pace Salsa
Back left: "canned" tomatos
Back right: "canned" beans

Now on to chili. Jenn loves to make it back in the states because it is such and easy and delicious meal to make. Open the cans, dump it in and soon you have an amazing meal. Now, the process as become a bit lengthier...a bit more manual. This is when community is shows to be incredible yet again. I love a manual process. Specifically in the kitchen. If I can find a way to make things more difficult I'll probably do that. Since I love a manual process and its not Jenn's favorite we decide to work together. I spend the morning making "canned tomatoes" out of fresh tomatoes, a triple batch of homemade Pace Salsa and cooking the dry beans to make "canned beans". After I'm done Jenn takes over and creates her remarkable meal using my prepped goods. The result, a few tears of joy and a taste of our old home. Complete satisfaction and joy in fact that we just accomplished something yummy together. Probably one of Jenn's best chili's ever, actually.


I'm proud of Jenn. The Lord is teaching her and stretching her alot. He is teaching me & stretching me alot. Its a manual process and sometimes it doesn't feel great, but it's necessary. He has called us out of our comfort zone and into something new. Not for us but for others and for His glory. Its about more then taco's or chili but it starts there. A manual process of life is difficult to learn and adjust to. With an open and willing heart and with the knowledge and joy of being able to conquer this adjustment in life through the Lord's guidance and one another's support we, together, seek His face to learn the lessons He puts in front of us.

Lessons in tacos & chili.

Next attempt? Homemade yogurt.

Final AMAZING product.

What is He teaching you?