Master Chef - Kathy Friend

OK, maybe not. But I will say that the past few days have been huge hits (meal wise) with my family.

I guess this is what happens when you have nothing to do all day but sit and wonder what you are going to have for dinner - and then decide that if you have anything stew-ish one more time, you may scream.

Last night, I made:

• Oven baked chicken in a little oil (for flavor, and to give it a sorta fried taste)
• Baked Potato with diced fresh tomato, grated cheese, butter, and a little salsa on top
• Garlic marinated mushrooms

Anya wasn't sure, but had one bite, looked at me with raised eyebrows and said "yum yum Mommy!"

Tonight I got adventurous. Since we learned Anya likes Salsa, I thought tonight's meal is going to be pseudo Mexican fiesta. We spent most of the ay being lazy, and then went for a walk through a few grocery stores looking for nachos. I have only found them one time in a grocery here...no luck this time.

But we went ahead with it anyway. We had:

• Ground beef
• rice
• black beans - in the beans, I added some taco seasoning (no, that isn't from here either), salsa (from Tami), and salt
• I then found some uber expensive cheddar cheese and grated a little of that and mixed in some on the Bntr3b cheese (that is how I remember it and find it at the store)
• At the table, we mixed it all together with some fresh tomato and more salsa

YUMO! Almost as good as at home, even without the nachos! And something amazing happened. It was a miracle. I think Anya actually ate until she was full - I don't think we've EVER seen her STOP eating! Yep -it was a big day!

____________________________________________
ON PASSPORT NEWS

From what we know about Russian business culture, no news is NO NEWS. It is still hard for me to get why there is:

1. No way to rush ship a passport in this country
   
2. No way to get any idea how long it will be until the passport comes in
3. No way to check on it, other than to stand in a line, 100 people long every day to see if yours came in

I am getting really worried about this. I have a big project the end of April - I need to be home, well rested and over jet lag by the 8th. Since I haven't been working for 3 months, we can not afford for anything to happen to this project (income). I hate to even consider that I might have to leave before Anya's passport comes (insert sick feeling in my stomach here).

...on my knees, again.