Photo Blog: Garden Fresh-Homemade Piri Piri Sauce!

One of my mottos about food since we've been here in Mozambique is:  "If you WANT it, you can probably MAKE it!"  Since I love food so much, there are usually lots of things that I WANT, but can't get here.  So I've learned to make up my own recipes (or find a recipe) to make the foods that I WANT!  Here are just a few of the things that I've made from scratch these 7 years we've been here:  English muffins, granola, jam, fudge, apple sauce, caramel corn, flour and corn tortillas, corn chips, mall-type pretzels, yogurt, cream cheese (made with yogurt), cheesecake made with yogurt cheese, mozzarella, ricotta cheese, feta cheese, sourdough crackers (taste like Cheese-Its), quesadillas, veggie sausage, and all types of veggie burgers.  My latest concoction in the kitchen is homemade piri-piri sauce!  When the price of piri-piri sauce in the shops in town went up, I decided it was time to make better use of the piri-piri peppers growing in our garden outside.  I couldn't find a good recipe online for homemade piri-piri sauce that didn't involve lots of oil, so I decided to make up my own recipe...and below are some photos of the results!

I figured I'd use some of the ingredients on the last jar of store bought piri-piri sauce we had...
olive oil, salt, garlic and spices, lime juice, and piri-piri.

I used almost equal amounts of piri-piri and fresh garlic, chopped them up
(causing everyone to flee outside when their eyes started to burn!), and put them in a pot with
fresh lime juice, a bit of olive oil, some salt, and water.  After cooking and tasting, I had to add a few more ingredients
to get rid of some of the heat and add more flavor.  About 1 TBS of ketchup went in
along with some mixed herbs.

When it was thoroughly cooked, I strained the sauce into a jar and
reserved the pulp to re-use later for my next batch.

The finished product!  We've been eating from this jar for about a week now
and it's almost gone...time to make some more!

Blessings!
Tiffany

Photo blog: Garden Fresh-Zucchini Bread

Freshly picked zucchini from my garden!

All freshly grated...

Checking the recipe to make sure I have the other ingredients...

All done and ready to eat! Now that's fresh! :)

Promise of a New Day...

Here are some photos I took recently of my new budding garden...

Zucchini squash seedling

Mesclun lettuce seedlings

 

Snow pea seedling

Swiss chard seedlings

 ...and some plants in one of our other garden plots...

 

Dill plant going to seed

 

Broccoli plant going to seed

 

What do all of these plants have in common? 

 

PROMISE!!

 

The young seedlings hold the promise of a fruitful harvest in the next few months...

 

The flowering broccoli and dill plants are actually in the process of dying;

but the flowers, which will soon produce seeds, hold the promise of a future harvest.

 

What does promise look like in your life?

 

In my garden...
The young budding seedlings may look weak,
but they are just in a stage where more care has to be given
for them to bring an abundant and fruitful harvest!

 

The old, flowering plants may look like they're dying;

but actually they are preparing for another phase of growth-
which will produce even more seeds and a much greater harvest!

Just as my garden holds promise,
so does your life!

Don't lose sight of your promise!

 

 If you feel weak and that you could never grab hold of your promise-

Don't Give Up!

Your harvest could be right around the corner!

 

If your promise seems to be old and dried up-

Don't Give Up! 

Look forward to what that promise still holds-

the potential for a greater harvest!

 

 

 

Blessings!

Tiffany

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



School Break...

We've been on break from school for a few weeks now and will be starting back in a couple of weeks.  Here are some of the things we've been doing on our break...

Amerel and Isaiah pillow fighting!

Isaiah likes to make shortcake for breakfast after picking

fresh strawberries from our strawberry patch!

Amerel, Isaiah and Chayah in spontaneous worship one morning...

Chayah loves to help when I pick lettuce from our garden!

A photogenic moment with my two littlest girls!

Making homemade pretzels!  Yummy!

Berasia playing with Chayah's counting bears!

Isaiah worshipping in spontaneous song!

Do I really have to start school again???

Blessings!

Tiffany

Fulfilled Dreams

So many times I sit around and think about all of the dreams I had once upon a time ago about what my life would look like when I “grow up”.  Some of those dreams included going away to Africa to be a missionary and the exciting adventures I’d have in some African jungle sharing the gospel; while other dreams were about settling down in America with my family in a nice house, with nice furniture, hot showers, and continual electricity.  Lately, I find that whenever I think about the American dreams I once had, I’m reminded or shown the “dreams” that God has actually fulfilled in my life here in Africa.  This morning I went walking around our yard outside (which I try to do daily), just marveling at all God has done for me here in Lichinga.  I once dreamed that I’d be able to build my own “dream” house with a nice yard, big bedrooms, etc. etc.  When I walked around our yard this morning, taking in the strawberry patch, lettuce plants, fruit trees, grapevines, and herbs and flowers that we’ve planted, it brought tears to my eyes, as it does most times when I walk around our yard.  I’m just amazed at how God has fulfilled my dreams in ways that I could never have imagined.  I’ve always dreamed of having a yard with my own fruit trees and vegetable gardens.  Now I have them.    



Most of our strawberry plants were given to us by a Mozambican friend.

I spend way too much time thinking about all of the things I miss about “normal” American life.  When I take a look outside in my own backyard, I can see all of the wonderful things God has blessed me with to make my life here enjoyable and pleasant.  I can see that He has given me the things my heart desires-not only in the things that I’ve mentioned here in this blog, but much, much more.  Yes, there will always be things that I wish could be different.  I wish I could just pick up the phone and call my sister or a friend and chat for 10 minutes or an hour without worrying about a huge, fat international phone bill.  I wish I could just order pizza at the last minute when I don’t feel like cooking on a Friday night.  Sometimes, I even wish I could just walk into a grocery store and buy normal, everyday foods that I’m used to in America like Parmesan cheese to sprinkle on spaghetti or sour cream for tacos, or even just a carton of fresh milk!  These types of things are unheard of in Lichinga!  But whenever I start to dwell on all of the things I miss about the “American life”, I start to see the things that I now love about my life here in Lichinga!  God has truly blessed me beyond measure!



We bought these grape vines on one of our trips to Blantyre, Malawi.  After a dubious start, they are now growing well.  Hopefully, they'll yield fruit in their season.

Tiffany