Such a Domestic Diva...

I have always been a fan of cooking and baking and since our move to Russia (just over 6 MONTHS ago!!!) I have definitely taken full advantage of my extra time to try new recipes and creations.  If I may add, Ryan is a pretty lucky lad to be married to such a domestic diva.  :)

I have discovered that cooking in Russia is somewhat comparable to a "sport".  You must be prepared both physically and mentally, while remaining focused to practice, practice, practice.  It takes a good amount of physical skill to maneuver through the store, including, but not limited to, controlling the cart (and getting an amazing oblique workout), to avoiding other patrons' carts and employees in forklifts.  Mentally, you have to always be in the game.  Case in point, everyone speaks Russian!  Granted, I am slowly, but steadily learning more and more Russian, but it is still mentally exhausting to communicate while running errands.  It is also difficult to understand some package labeling or instructions.  Third, practice makes "perfect".  It is no longer expected that I will be able to walk into one place and be able to find all ingredients I need to prepare dinner.  It takes practice (and patience) to learn what places offer which products and how many stores I will need to visit before my shopping list is completed, or completed to the best of my ability.

In all seriousness, cooking takes so much more time and effort in Russia than in the States, but luckily I have plenty of time and I actually have come to enjoy the "sport". :)  I have also discovered a lovely website that provides incredible substitutions for cooking items.  Many items are not available here, so I have learned to substitute.

For your viewing pleasure, I have snapped a couple photos of some recent dinners.

Sweet and tangy pulled chicken on lettuce wraps.  In honor of our recent trip to Greece, a Greek Salad.  Since we saved calories using lettuce wraps instead of bread for the pulled chicken, for dessert, Cinnamon Roll cookies!  The cookies were fantastic, but took almost 4 hours to make!

Southwest Goulash.  I found fresh cilantro which was super tasty!  Ryan claimed it was chili, but I responded with chili has beans and no noodles.  We "discussed" this issue for a great deal of time and finally agreed to disagree.  The final remark of our discussion came from me, "Honey, I cooked it so I can call it whatever I want. It's goulash!"