More Comfy in the Kitchen

Yep, PTL!!!  I'm getting more comfortable in the kitchen and figuring out where to buy things needed to make food (which has always been the harder task here). :)
Thank you, thank you, thank you to those who have been interceding on my families behalf with this after my transformed post.

I even created a list of recipes we've been trying and rotating into our weekly routine.
Routine?
Yes - shocking right?
We have begun making routines. :)
For starters - a weekly menu...
Now, life happens and that means sometimes the menu doesn't always get fulfilled, but it certainly helps with shopping and planning. Meat only lasts about a day here, veggies maybe will last a couple, so, planning is imperative.

We even started a routine for the afternoon so that we can help our kiddos get to bed earlier (again, sometimes life happens...but it helps us somewhat stay the course).

Some pics of the food we are now eating. :)  I think all the recipes pictured can be found on our recipe page (at top of blog there is a tab or click here).

Every Friday is still pizza night, but since Papa John's won't deliver here and they are $$, homemade pizza it is. Granted - cheese nor pepperoni are cheap, but I think it is about $7 per pizza.

Someone even introduced us to these little "jalepeno like" items that we really love (we order them online from Taobao). :) 

Mini corn dogs with mac-n-cheese.  Occasionally we can find Kraft Mac-n-cheese on taobao for a decent price, kids love the taste of home. :)

Tacos - with homemade salsa and sour cream.  (Tabasco was brought from the states... Brian is REALLY missing his cholula). Taco night not as easy as it is back home (hours of cleaning veggies, cooking, prepping, etc, but still yummy.  :)

Pulled BBQ pork with homemade BBQ sauce and buns (I haven't seen buns of any type here so far, but these are pretty easy to make and actually taste like a bun - even though it looks like a biscuit).

French Toast with Homemade Cinnamon Syrup.

Chik Fil A nuggets and fries (almost) - Seriously the sauce sent from Aunt Rae and Uncle Wayne made them taste like the real thing. :)  

Pizza Hut Cheese Sticks (almost)

We do occasionally feed our kids veggies and fruits as well, they are great for an appetizer or dessert and snack in their lunches. :)

Of course, we also rotate the normal stuff like pot roast with potatoes, spaghetti, and breakfast foods like pancakes or bacon and eggs (when we can find bacon).

Krispy Kreme doughnuts, no explanation needed. :)

We do eat some frozen baozi (we called them dumplings in the states) occasionally too.  These are adorable little hedgehogs. :)  They are supposed to be breakfast food, but breakfast for dinner is fast and cheaper right?

During lunch Brian and I visit a noodle shop across the street nearly every day.  We sometimes eat in so we can try to talk with them, but when behind on our studies - we get it to go... Spicy, numbing yumminess.  We honestly don't eat out very often with the kids.  During the week we are just so busy trying to get it all done, there isn't enough time and we haven't found it to be terribly cheap either.  

We have found some tasty local treats that our kiddos really enjoy.

These are like popsicles, we call them 'pokey', no idea what they are really called.  There is even a cola flavored one. 

We just found these over the weekend.  I'm going to try to avoid that aisle in the future! Too too good!!  It is like nutella wrapped in a pretzel. Yummm!

We went from having no guests in our home to four meals with friends in one week. :)

He is faithful. :) 

Next task - to learn to cook Chinese food!  

I am actually ready for the challenge.... I think. :)

Although, all this cooking makes me really miss my Kitchen Aid mixer, my ninja, our knives, glass measuring cups and all my wonderful pampered chef products...  

Ahhh...but life goes on... I mean - Ma never had any of those on Little House and they did just fine right?? ;)