Mango Salsa!

One way we minister to our Church family here in Korea (and also get to know the congregation and new families more!) is to have people over for dinner (or breakfast or dessert....).  We love hosting and view hospitality as one way of serving in our community and loving those around us. It is a selfish way to serve, really, since we love and enjoy it - we are most surely blessed more than we are a blessing.  It is something our whole family loves and can participate in.  Caleb no longer asks "What's for dinner?" But rather "Who is coming for dinner!?" 

Last night we had a sweet couple over that we have been wanting to have over for some time now. I decided to make something new: Grilled Tilapia with mango salsa!  We really liked it and mango salsa is a new favorite.  Although time consuming (and we were only able to make because someone recently gifted us some mangoes which are normally way too expensive to buy here), it was worth it and I thought I would share our joy. 

Mango Salsa!

 

2 Large mangoes, diced

1 Red Bell Pepper, finely diced

5 Tablespoons (or more depending on taste) red onion, finely diced

2-4 Tablespoons cilantro (there is only one tiny store in Songtan that sells cilantro occasionally!)

1-2 jalapenos finely diced (more if you like it spicier)

2 Tablespoons lime juice (which we can't get right now so I omitted)

1 Tablespoon lemon juice (I increased to make up for no lime)

I added 1 clove crushed garlic because we love garlic

Salt and Pepper to taste (not much)

 

 

Dice and chop everything finely and mix together! Letting it sit for an hour in the fridge really blended the taste nicely.  We probably can't make this often but it was really delicious and if you live in a country where you can get all the ingredients easily, I hope you can enjoy on our behalf and pray for us while you eat it! :-)

Happy 4th!

Happy 4th of July, Love the Housers. We celebrated in our Red, White and Blue at our Church's annual 4th of July picnic, thousands of miles from the U.S. Evelyn's 1st, Caleb's 4th, and our 3rd as a family in Korea.

a happy place

Bean Sprout Aisle

Now that we have been in Korea for almost three years (which is unbelievable to me, by the way), Korea has become much more "normal" to us. It is the way we live every day and our eyes don't see things as new or different as they once did.  I've realized I do a lot less blogging about "Korea" in general because I forget that it isn't so "normal" to many of my readers!  But every now and then Steve and I have what we call a "We-are-living-in-KOREA-moment."  We see something, we smell something, we notice something or something causes us to realize that we aren't in our native culture; we are living abroad.  We smile at each other or to ourselves and say "We live in KOREA!"

I had one of those  moments the other day.  I went with a friend to the Osan Emart (a different store than we typically go to).  Emart is similar to a Super Walmart or Target, it has a grocery and it also has a large variety of other items. We frequently shop at Emart but it is usually the Emart close to us, not the one in Osan (a neighboring city). 

As I was grocery shopping, I looked up and this is what I saw:

That's right, aisle 7 is the "Bean Sprout" Aisle.  An aisle completely dedicated to Bean Sprouts. Now that is not something you would find grocery shopping in the U.S.! 

Sunday Sunshine

 

 

 

 

3 and 3!

 

Can someone please find the "pause" button?

 

 

3 months (L) and 3 years (R)



Another year....

My dad always warned me that time goes by fast and I think I'm starting to finally really experience how the years just fly by.  Another year older, don't feel much the wiser, another baby bigger, and feeling tremendously blessed by my family and friends. Thank you to everyone who made my day super-extra-special. I enjoyed all the notes, cards, calls, gifts and a wonderful day with our little family of four. 

 

For those of you asking, Steve woke up early (!!!) made my coffee, did the dishes, made breakfast...the kids and I enjoyed a sunshine and blue skies morning on the roof,

 

Steve came home a little early and sent me for some reading/alone time to a favorite coffee shop, our family went out for dinner (sidenote: never in a million years would I have thought I would be asking for Korean for my birthday dinner meal! But life is full of  wonderful, unexpected surprises, isn't it?).

And spent time with a dear friend that evening while Steve was at youth group.  A blessed and full day it was!