Mystery Food Item Is...

Homemade shredded coconut!!!!

We were given about 5 quasi-mature coconuts... Unfortunately I didn't take any pictures of them but they are light brown, but not the dark brown of a fully mature coconut nor the vibrant green of a young coconut.

Young coconuts have mostly water on the inside.  The coconut flesh is usually thin and almost gel like.

These mature coconuts have converted most of the inside water into the flesh.  The flesh is thick and becomes really hard to remove and is pretty fibrous to eat.

These "quasi" mature coconuts are somewhere in the middle... They still have a lot of water on the inside but the flesh has gotten more fibrous and has thickened up quite a bit.  These are the coconuts we used.

So to prepare these coconuts we...

1. hammered a nail into one side of the coconut to create a hole (the side of the coconut that is opposite the three eyes)
2. hammered a nail into 2-3 of the eyes on the opposite side and drained the water from that side
3. baked the coconut at 350 F which helps the coconut to crack and also makes it easier to separate the flesh from the inside shell
4. pitched/threw the coconut on the concrete... it should break right open (unless you haven't been pumping any iron lately it may take a few throws lol!)
5. scored the flesh on the inside into small sections and scooped out the sections
6. because when you scoop out the flesh, you automatically scoop out some of the brown shell, we then peeled off all the brown shell with a vegetable/potato peeler
7. grated the flesh in a food processor
8. we dehydrated the coconut in my mom's fancy schmancy dehydrator at 105 degrees for about 12 hours and got this...

I think it looks like mozzarella cheese.  I like this fresh shredded coconut because there is no added sugar nor propylene glycol (which is used in commercial shredded coconut as a preservative).  Propylene glycol is used in antifreeze.  I'm pretty sure I don't want to be ingesting anything used in antifreeze!

You can use this shredded coconut in baking recipes (you may have to add sugar/honey/agave if its a sweet recipe since no sugar is added to this) or you can make your own coconut butter.  I love spreading coconut butter on a baked sweet potato and its also good on toast.  It has a natural sweetness to it that you don't even have to add honey or other sweetener.

Meet Sullivan

Within the first month following John and I's departure to Sierra Leone, both John sister and my cousin (who is like my sister) both had baby boys.  You have already seen John's sister's little boy Joshua and here is Mr. Sullivan who we lovingly call Sully for short.  He is just now 5 months old and looks so much like his daddy with glimpses of his beautiful mommy that shine through as well.

Here is Mommy and Daddy... (Megan and Arturo)

And here is their beautiful boy Sullivan...

That is my aunt Robin (my mom's sister and Megan's mom) holding Sully.  She keeps trying to guess what our baby's name is by throwing out popular bible names to see if I have a reaction to one of the names.  It makes me laugh every time!

And here is my darling Ada taking a look a Sully for the first time.  She knows the sign language for "baby" and says it at the same time.  It is SO CUTE!

Now she really wants to go for a swim, but I'm afraid our pool is probably a bit too cold still...

I love how both Ada and Sully are just perfect mixes of their parents.  I can't wait to see how God knits together our little boy who I'll call Jehoshaphat (that one's for you aunt Robin lol!)  I love spending time with my family and am soaking up every second that I can while I am stateside.

Preview for tomorrow:

Any guesses to what this is??? I'll give you a hint... I made it myself and its a learning how to make it is a skill I can bring back with to make in Sierra Leone!

Cause My Life Just Isn't as Cool...

since I got back to the states, I am going to send you over to see my friend Emily's blog.  She has pictures of John and the well-drilling.

They started the well-drilling about 3 weeks ago and hand dug their first well, cased it, and put a pump on it in 3 days (correct me if I'm wrong John or Emily) which is quite amazing.  It was in a rural community outside of a Sierra Leonean library.

Without Further Ado...  "Wata" by Sierra Leone or Bust!

My Nephew Joshua

This past week I traveled to Parker, AZ to see John's family and meet his sister Melissa's son Joshua for the first time ever!  He is such a doll and looks so much like Paul (John's dad).

Here are some of my favorite pictures from the few days...

Its a Boy!

So apparently the OB/GYN in Sierra Leone was wrong when she would "guess" it was a girl.  John and I truly would have been happy with either because every child is such a gift of God, but I think we both liked the idea of having a boy to start off the family... be a leader and protector of other children (especially those girls Dad is thinking!)  It was funny because my aunt was sure I was having a boy even before my ultrasound in Salone because of the way I was carrying straight out!  I brought both her and my mom (they're sisters) to my appointment for moral support as John was gone :(

Here is the typical boy picture where you are looking up at the caboose... two legs sticking out... and the man part inbetween.

Here is the baby looking straight at the 'camera'.  You can see the two eyes and the mouth open.

And here is just a body profile and you can see all 4 chambers of the heart!



So there is our exciting news for those of you who don't already know (I think we've told everybody in person already lol!) 

Next up... I got to meet my nephew Joshua for the first time!  (John's sister's son!)  They will only be 8 months apart.

Things I Missed About 1st World Countries

1.  Flushing the toilet every time I pee (I still feel guilty after having lived 4 months by the motto 'if its yellow let it mellow, if its brown flush it down')

2.  HOT showers ANY time of the day or season (unless I use up all the hot water which I have mistakenly done in living in luxury)

3.  Rinsing/washing all my fruits and veggies under the sink with city water

4.  Electricity 24/7.  Sometimes I still find myself worrying about being able to charge my phone and battery if I forget to plug it in overnight.

5.  The internet is truly "faster than I want" which is the misleading slogan for the very slow internet company Sierratel that we have in Sierra Leone.

6.  Pei Wei, Carolinas Mexican Food, Chino Banditos

7.  Ice and refridgeration

8.  Set prices for groceries and most other purchases... no haggling required

9.  Friends and Family (you know who you are!)

10.  Low Humidity (this may be tmi but I pee soooo much more here partly because my pregnant belly is growing but I think even more so because I'm not sweating out all the liquid I consume every day)

While I am enjoying these seeming luxuries... they almost make me feel guilty that I can have all these things.  However I will count them as blessings and remember to pray for the Courtneys, Emily, and my beloved John who are working so hard without most of these things!

Slacker Blogger and Things I've Learned So Far in Sierra Leone

So, for those of you who don't already know I'M BACK!!!! in Arizona.... living with my parents... lol!  I didn't say anything about coming home 2.5 weeks ago because I was surprising one of my aunts (who obviously reads MY very important blog)  :)  lol!  But so I am back... it was a long journey and I have had a wonderful time reconnecting with family and friends.  My closest cousin Megan is coming to visit me her entire family on Saturday.  Sorry for not posting anything new these last couple of weeks but I promise to be better.  Most of the time I was in Africa I wrote this blog for everyone stateside, but now I need to write this blog to keep up with the most important gift God has ever given me and who I sadly left in Sierra Leone until May.  John, I love you and miss you!

Here is a little summary of things I learned in Sierra Leone the first 4.5 months of living there...

1.  Buy a cat ('pus') they will eat roaches, crickets, praying mantis, moths, spiders, and geckos that come lurching in your house.  For the record... I like geckos but Bess has eaten more than one!

2. If you can't buy a pus, leave your lights on at night if you go downstairs to visit the neighbors.  If you turn your lights off, its code to all the roaches to come out and play and when you return home at night and turn your lights on... you will find these creatures of the devil lurking around waiting to attack you!

3.  Buy extended life batteries for your computers.  They are life savers during power shortages.

4. If you have weevils in your pasta/oats/other grain products, they float in water so you can skim those puppies off the top and you won't have wasted it!

5.  If you want to lose weight, don't join Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers, move to Africa! Either through food poisoning, malaria, or a combination of both, almost every expat loses weight (except for me... I'm gaining for some reason... mainly in my belly!)

6.  Little kids do not get tired of screaming "opoto" "pu-mui" or "white man/uman" at all white people even after we say "hi" or "kushe-o" back.  (One kid did say "chinese?" at me once also when I wouldn't respond back because I was in the middle of a conversation with another person)

7.  We operate by the rule "if its yellow let it mellow, if its brown flush it down!"

8.  If you have a male do the laundry (aka "bruking"), be sure to look thoroughly through your stuff and remove all undergarments.  It seems like I forget at least one unmentionable every week and I cringe at another male having to wash my lacy blue granny panties!

9.  Either iron all your clothes after they dry on the line, or wait 48 hours.  Nobody wants the mango fly.

10.  If you are buying souvenirs, bargain to at least 50% off the starting price.  Be willing to walk away! Fruit, veggies, and household goods sold on the streets should be 25-33% off.  If your husband is bartering for you (because you hate bartering yourself) don't take the sellers side... your husband will give you a hard time for it later!

Next up...  things I love about 1st world countries...