Namdaemun Market

We ventured out today to see another market. We only took Dillan and Meghan and we had a fun time. We mostly just walked around and looked at things. I got some new stainless steel chopsticks... my big purchase:-) Dillan got some Gangham Style socks and Meghan got a new hat:-)

We ate some lunch..we had Dumpling Soup and A Pancake with Seafood...I didn't think to take pictures, but it was delicious! I also finally got to try cucumber kimchi...mmmm...my new favorite!!!

 Here are a few pictures of the things we saw today.

Meghan's new hat

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Gate by the market

A smile on a building

Beer and Whisks....Land of not quite right.

Some Classroom Progress Today

View from the door- before

And After

 

 

View from my desk before

And after

 

View from the front corner before

And After

And view from the other corner before

And after

 

I still have a lot to do, but it is starting to look like a classroom.

 

 Thanks so much to Brendan and Brooke for helping move furniture. To Katie for helping clean and organize. And to Meghan and Dillan for playing on the playground (out of the way :) )

 

Recipe Hits This Week

I made a couple of new recipes that were real hits with everyone so I thought I would share.

The first one we had for lunch one day. It was a Caprese Quinoa Salad. We already LOVE caprese so adding quinoa just made it more filling. This will definitely go into the rotation.

Caprese Quinoa Salad- http://damndelicious.net/
3-4 servings
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked quinoa
8 ounces mozzarella,diced
1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, chiffonade
1 avocado, halved, seeded, peeled and diced
2 Tbsp. pine nuts
1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
2 Tbsp. olive oil
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, combine quinoa, mozzarella, tomatoes, basil, avocado, and pine nuts. Stir in balsamic vinegar and olive oil; season with salt and pepper to taste.
2. Serve immediately.

The second one I made for dinner--Shane wasn't here so I don't have his opinion, but the kids and I all liked it. It is super simple too so...weeknight dinner for sure. The kids did say it was spicy, but not so bad that they wouldn't eat it--they are getting better with spice since being in Korea where A LOT of the food is spicy. I did only use 1 TBSP of red pepper flakes...just FYI

Spicy Thai Noodles-- www.asmallsnippet.blogspot.com

1 box linguine or angel hair pasta (I used 100% whole wheat thin spaghetti)
1-2 TBSP crushed red pepper (I used red pepper flakes--only 1 TBSP)
1/4 cup vegetable oil--I suggest omitting this, it was just a bit too oily
1/2 cup sesame oil
6 TBSP honey
6 TBSP soy sauce
green onions, cilantro, peanuts and toasted sesame seeds

Directions:
Boil noodles. Drain.
Chop green onions, cilantro and peanuts.
Heat both oils and crushed red pepper over medium hear in a small pan.
Strain out pepper and reserve oil.
To oil, whisk in honey and soy sauce.
Toss mixture with noodles.
Refrigerate overnight or until cold. (I did not do this--we ate it hot and it was good. I had some for lunch the next day and it was good cold too--so either way is a winner)
Before serving, top each individual serving with onions, cilantro, peanuts and toasted sesame seeds (I actually just mixed them all in)
Serve cold.

Note on soy sauce: If you can find non-GMO get it. Another substitute that I just discovered in coconut aminos. Not sure where you can buy it stateside, but I know it comes from Amazon :)

So, there are a couple of simple healthy non-processed meals for you to try.
Let me know what you think.