my little helper. she helps herself to sucking on whatever she can stuff in her mouth. this time -- ruffles.
it's pretty common for families to employ a helper (nanny/cleaner/cook) in singapore. sometimes i have helper moments, where i think i want a helper rriiiiiight aboooouut....NOW! these moments often come in the face of poop, bugs, hunger, sleep deprivation, sweatiness, and white floors that never stay clean.
the grocery store we live by is very...asian. or, local should i say. hard to navigate, hard to communicate, and even harder to find whatever i'm looking for. also, i don't know what half the goods are in there...too many things have suspiciously lumpy packaging in languages i don't understand. if you saw it on the shelf once, it may not be there the next time you want it (tortillas!). today i was wishing i had a helper with the baby strapped to me, a very heavy basket of groceries, a bag falling off my shoulder, and a bewildered expression as i tried to find honey mustard for some obscure recipe because we don't have an oven (did i tell you that? we didn't even notice when we moved in that this place doesn't have an oven. no baking for a year. time to get creative on the stove top!). anyway, this super nice lady asks if i need any help, then we get talking, then we find out we live in the same building, and then she says, "hey -- i totally have an extra pack of tortillas. let me save you the trip and you can just have them."
the world is good. i will survive singapore with no helper.
p.s. if you have a favorite/good/edible skillet recipe, i'm begging you to share it. i can only think of so many meals that require a stove or microwave.
Oh snap!!! NO oven?! The only meal we ever cook stove top are potato, ham, egg, cheese things. Maybe you can sub out the ham for crickets or something :) And instead of cheese, you can just sprinkle money on top....So, that's a helpful recipe.
ReplyDeleteLOVED catching up on Australia pictures and little Sage. You guys look amazing and sound even better. Your stories are so fun to read and make me want to laugh and cry (just thinking of you grocery shopping makes me cringe) and fly to Singapore to join in on the fun!!!
bless you! i have so many of those kind of moments EVERYDAY in singapore.
ReplyDeletei've started to try to look at all the convinences/stuff we CAN get instead of what we CAN'T...
i wish i knew more stovetop recipes. looks like hawker may be your answer on several occasions...
also, i want to come see your new apartment!
That is SO funny! Allrecipes will be your new best friend.
ReplyDeletehttp://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/rice_pudding/ for an amazing rice pudding recipe on the stove top! And I found some no-bake cookie recipes here: http://busycooks.about.com/od/dessertrecipes/tp/nobakecookybars.htm. I love reading about your adventures! Also a family moved into our ward, and I recognized the dad because he went on two BYU study abroads and I remembered him. And felt like a big weirdo for remembering him from my time working at ISP. Ah the lasting impact that job seems to have on my life!
ReplyDeleteDude...no baking?! That sucks! What about a crockpot? I know some killer recipes using crockpots... I'll just bring you one when I come visit ;) If you don't already have one... I wish I could be your helper. I miss you. But I love your blog. You guys are making some good stories. LOVE you!
ReplyDeleteummm can we all pool our money together and send you a little toaster oven? i can't imagine a year of no baked goods. it sounds like my hell. it will now be my personal mission to find you some AMAZING recipes to make the time fly!
ReplyDeleteugh, no oven, i remember that well. we finally splurged on our second year in china and got a toaster oven...pretty luxurious. oh and those nannies,i felt like everyone in our little branch had an ayi (nanny) and all of their kids were brilliant with perfect chinese. anyways, i have a LOAD of recipes that are for stovetop and use weird ingredients like brown sugar made from beets. also: i definitely learned how to make my own tortillas because they were never available. also homemade ranch dressing, and cookies in a skillet. just pretend you've gone back in time. i'll e-mail you with my recipe cache soon!
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