Last 5's

Stolen from my BFF, with a few alterations:

last 5 books I read:

1)Stolen Innocence-Elissa Wall

2) High Noon-Nora Roberts

3) The Opposite of Love- Julie Buxbaum

4) Rogue- Danielle Steel(not proud...)

5) Slam- Nick Hornby

Last 5 meals:

1) homemade pizza

2) kimchi, rice, and tofu patties

3) delicious deli sandwich

4) korean beef, rice, and kimchi

5) cereal

*Last 5 people I talked to on the phone/skype:

1) Erlo

2) a girl I interviewed at school today

3) my family

4) Alicia

5) Bethany

*some of those had some repeats!

Last 5 things I watched on TV(rather, the internet):

1)Law and Order

2)Private Practice

3) 17 Again

4) Medium

5) Grey's Anatomy

Last 5 things I've bought:

1) water

2) some groceries, including eggs, cheese, bread, and vegetables

3) a coffee this afternoon

4) that delicious sandwich last night

5) a cold beverage to go with that sandwich

that was probably more interesting for me than for you!

Teaching with Grace

No, that is not a name of one of my students or a co-teacher, but in fact the old practice of having a little grace every once and awhile. Lately, I have been learning this more than ever. I recently returned from a hurried trip home and to Mexico for my best friends wedding. While it was an incredible, amazing time, I didn't really get the much needed rest vacations sometimes offer us. Instead, I came back--while missing my students--a little irritated that I had to be back at work.

The other day, I had a conversation with my students to try to figure out their "real", or western, age. I figured out that more than half of my Kindergarten students are only 4, and 80 percent of one of my elementary students are only 6. All this time, I was under the impression that they were 5 and 7. Not that its that big of a difference in the long run, but here is a video of a wee little 4 year old doing some reading. Be amazed.

Anyway, knowing how old they are and how hard they work every day, I am trying to have a little more patience and grace when they break the rules or just annoy me. I really do love the heck out of my kids, but there are those days that they just get under your skin. I just need to keep telling myself that they're just kids.

Your Help Needed

OK, this is a desperate situation folks. After weeks of spending a lot of money eating out and eating the same 3 things at home, I NEED to start cooking more and becoming more creative with my cooking. I just can't seem to get going though. The first couple weeks I found myself just buying the essentials at the grocery store and I find my meals are odd combination and often repetitive. I like to cook, and I think this is a great time to experiment. So here is what I have to work with so far(note: I know I will need to do some shopping in the near future!):

Currently in my kitchen fridge:
*Kimchi(obviously)
*Yogurt
*Milk
*Kiwis
*Sliced Ham
*Chicken tender pieces(I have a lot of this frozen-from Costco)
*Tofu

Currently in my cabinet:
*Canned Kidney Beans(again I have a lot of these from Costco)
*Rice
*Cereal
*1 can of tomato sauce
*1 can of corn
*Peanut Butter
*Cereal

Spices/Condiments I currently have:
*Soy Sauce
*Garlic-Sesame sauce/marinade(pretty good with chicken, but I'm sick of it)
*Korean chili paste
*Garlic
*salt & pepper
*Sesame seeds
*Sesame Oil
*Olive Oil

What I have to work with in my kitchen:
*a stove top
*no microwave
*no oven
*a small frying pan and a small sauce pan(I think I might invest in bigger ones)
*a washing machine(hmmm...)

What I have to work with in Korea:
*Limited cheese availability
*Limited spice and herb availability(haven't really investigated this fully, but the spice section at the store is minuscule, all I know is that I haven't found cilantro yet)
*abundance of vegetables, mostly sold in bulk
*abundance of seafood and meat


So, help me out. Give me your ideas as to what I can cook. It would preferably be as healthy and protein rich as possible, and be able to be stored for leftovers. So far I have made a lot of grilled sesame-garlic chicken and rice, cabbage soup, grilled ham and cheese, tofu and sauteed veggies. I'm planning on trying to make Chili this week with some of the kidney beans. So, have at it! Help out a single lady trying to survive in a different country!