New Year's Resolution - final comments

Hi everyone,

Just wanted to say a few words about this year's resolution (read about it here, laugh about it here, enjoy a sweet treat here and see how cleaning is not my thing here and here).

First of all: It was great to have a one word resolution!!! Throughout the year, even though I did not blog about it after February, the question 'How can I be resourceful in this situation?' was constantly in my mind. I was able to use a lot of stuff in my home that was forgotten and/or unattended (For instance, I did everything for my daughter's first birthday, all the decorations and cupcakes from what I had at hand - ok, I bought a few items on clearance or at yard sales - but I was able to stay on budget and have a wonderful celebration, so that was awesome!!!)

I had planned to do a cleaning series, but after reading a little more about resourcefulness I realized that the most resourceful people in life are the ones who can actually discern what their talents are and focus on them to bring 'beauty from ashes'. And let me tell, cleaning is not my thing. Now don't go thinking that my house is dirty ;), but the fact is that I do not enjoy it and decided I was not gonna torture myself talking about it, just doing it is enough.

So there was the unexpected lesson for me: Being resourceful is not only about using what you have, but about being able to let go of what you don't have. I don't have any interest in cleaning, so I let go of TALKING about it LOL. I don't have creative cooking skills, as you all know, so I gave up on trying to create recipes with leftovers.

I focused on some of my skills: teaching, time and money management, organizing, crafts. That was so much more fun and rewarding than cleaning a dishwasher (read about it here) or eating a disgusting meal (read about it here), although I know I entertained some of you with my failures.

Another lesson I learned was how to be resourceful with my time. Being a working mom and wife, I had to learn how to juggle home, family and work. So time management was a big thing this year, and therefore no blog posts about it until now ;).

Now I look at the New Year ahead of us and wonder: What will be my one word resolution for next year?

What will yours be?

The Brazilican Learner

The Perfect Teacher - Part Six

There is still so much to talk about on this series (catch it from the beginning - read part one here, part two here, part three here, part four here and part five here) so I better get started without delay:

Quick recap for those of you who just got this and don't have time to go back to the other posts: We are talking about life, death, 'afterlife', suffering, heaven, hell and how God, the Perfect Teacher, is teaching us about those things through the lives of Job (Job 21:23-25) and Lazarus and the rich man (Luke 16:19-31). The never-ending length of this series indicates how such a complex topic it is so I strongly recommend reading the Bible verses and other posts to follow the discussion.

Quick recap from last post: I am trying to find an answer to the question why things get reversed in the 'afterlife' for Lazarus and the rich man. Maybe a much more valid question would be why did things start the way they started for Lazarus and the rich man in the first place? And, again, no answer here.(Sorry!)

But let's get back to the answer I think I found for things getting reversed. Remember the book I quoted on the last post, Erasing Hell? Well, the book is talking about hell - can you tell by the title? ;) - and they mention Bible passages with specific stuff that could lead someone to hell. Here is what they say: "Racism, greed, misplaced assurance, false teaching, misuse of wealth, and degrading words to a fellow human being—these are the things that damn people to hell? According to Scripture, the answer is yes." (Chan, Francis; Sprinkle, Preston (2011-07-01). Erasing Hell: What God Said about Eternity, and the Things We've Made Up (p. 124). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition.)

I know that passage is tough and there is so much polemic stuff there, but let's direct our attention to 'misuse of wealth', which is the category where I think the rich man's actions fall into. To talk about 'misuse', one has to see wealth as a tool. So, what is this tool 'wealth' designed for? I guess most people would agree that the ideal use of money would be to bless other people, to ease people's suffering even though it is not the usual way this tool ends up being used for.

I think by now you have figured that the rich man did not use 'wealth' as he could. The Bible tells us that he used it for his own luxury instead of using it for easing Lazarus' suffering. And also according to the Bible, I think that is why things got reversed. ("But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony." Luke 16:25)

I guess it is now fair to say we finally have an explanation of why the nameless rich man went to hell. The fact that he was nameless still intrigues me, and it recently occurred to me that perhaps Jesus did not name him because he wanted to show us that anybody could be that man. The irony of being "rich" and going to hell is also very real: What were possessions good for in that instance? That reminds me of another Bible verse in which Jesus asks: "What good will it be for someone to gain the whole world, yet forfeit their soul? Or what can anyone give in exchange for their soul?" Matthew 16:26.

Even though we have an answer for the rich man's situation, one question remains: What about Lazarus? Why did things get reversed for him? Does being poor and suffering in this world mean you will automatically be in heaven in the next one??


And that is where I will stop today. ;)

What do you think about that?

The Brazilican Learner

The Perfect Teacher - Part Five

Here I am to continue our longer-than-I-planned series (read part one here, part two here, part three here and part four here) ... and this will probably not be the last post either, because I am reading an amazing book - Erasing Hell, by Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle. - and it just happens that I found one of the answers to my doubts on the last post (talk about God's timing!!)!

On part four, I was trying to figure out why the rich man's and Lazarus' lives got reversed. Why, one may think, can't the rich man AND Lazarus have a good life in the 'afterlife'? Why did it have to be reversed? You may even be asking why did Lazarus have to suffer in this life in the first place? Well, I will tell you right away that I do not have the answer to the last question - which, by the way, is a very valid one. Let me try to explain my views on that.

I do not know why Lazarus had to suffer... maybe to show his character, maybe to show the rich man's character, or maybe (more like probably) none of those reasons. The thing is, I don't need to know. Better put, I can't. Why? For one, because I wasn't there. What do I mean by there? There, when Lazarus was designed by God... there, when Lazarus was born... there, when the rich man became or was born rich. There, when they interacted... there, when they died... there, in the 'afterlife'. Basically what I am trying to say is I don't have the whole picture. If nothing else, that would suffice to not be able to judge that situation.

Another reason is because my mind is not capable of doing so. The human brain capability is inferior to God's thoughts. I like it how Chan and Sprinkle put it in perspective: "Let’s not think that spending a bit of time meditating on the mysteries of the universe places us on a level that allows us to call God into question. Our God is not a person who is slightly more intelligent: His thoughts are infinitely higher than ours." (Chan, Francis; Sprinkle, Preston (2011-07-01). Erasing Hell: What God Said about Eternity, and the Things We've Made Up (pp. 133-134). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition.)

Isn't it amazing how we overrate ourselves? We look at someone's suffering, think about it for a while and figure 'that is just wrong'. On the flip side, we look at a 'bad' person's successes and think the same. God, however, who by the way knows everything, created everything, lives forever AND loves us has the big picture (was there) and has the appropriate mind to make the call who will endure what. The illustration that comes to my mind is of a blindfolded person trying to peel an orange with a spoon. That, if you haven't figured, would be us. Blindfolded (not being there), using a spoon (our limited mind).

It is also amazing how easily we underrate God. Let me quote Chan and Sprinkle one more time to expose my point: "Would you have thought to rescue sinful people from their sins by sending your Son to take on human flesh? Would you have thought to enter creation through the womb of a young Jewish woman and be born in a feeding trough? Would you have thought to allow your created beings to torture your Son, lacerate His flesh with whips, and then drive nails through His hands and feet? Parents, imagine it." (Chan, Francis; Sprinkle, Preston (2011-07-01). Erasing Hell: What God Said about Eternity, and the Things We've Made Up (p. 136). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition.) My answer to all those questions would be NO, I wouldn't have thought of that, and NO, I would have NOT done it.

But God... The Perfect Teacher... did think it and did do it.

Before I go on, let me point out a key word here: allow. God ALLOWED that and all the bad stuff to happen. That does not mean it pleased Him. God is not pleased by all the evil stuff we see going on in our world. But He allows it to happen. And again, I don't know why. I know I may be loosing some of you here, but here is what it comes to: "The truth is, God is perfect and right in all that He does. I am a fool for thinking otherwise. He does not need nor want me to “cover” for Him. There’s nothing to be covered. Everything about Him and all He does is perfect. Yet sometimes from our human perspective, it’s tough to see exactly how God is perfect and just and good." (Chan, Francis; Sprinkle, Preston (2011-07-01). Erasing Hell: What God Said about Eternity, and the Things We've Made Up (p. 133). David C. Cook. Kindle Edition.)

And that, my friends, is that. He knows it. I don't.

The funny thing is that my question 'Why did things got reversed for the rich man and Lazarus in the afterlife?' is still unanswered. At least on this post ;).

Hopefully on the next one I will be able to say what I found out about it...

'Till then...

May God bless you and guide you!

The Brazilican Learner

The Perfect Teacher - Part Four

Hi there,

Well, I will start by saying I hope this is the last post in the series... I won't make any promises though, the more I think about it, more comes to mind so... let's get going!

Luke 16:23 gives us an overview of the rich man in hell: "In hell, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side."  How fascinating this verse is ... to think of how life after death looks like. Somehow heaven can be seen from hell... and Abraham is there... with Lazarus... their lives on Earth were so far apart from each other and yet there they are, together in heaven... On Earth, the rich man saw Lazarus' suffering very closely but on the other 'side' Lazarus might be seeing it from a distance... (I am telling you, it gets harder and harder to finish this discussion...)

"So he called to him, 'Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.', verse 24 says. Now, two distinct things jump out of the page to me: first, what terrible suffering must the rich man be going through... a drop of water would satisfy him! And yet, somehow, the fire is not consuming him because he can communicate his pain. Now for those of you who did not watch the Secret Church simulcast this year, I strongly recommend it. David Platt explains the whole hell/heaven situation so well (Watch, read or listen the simulcast here).

On the other hand, my mind is like, 'Wait a minute, send Lazarus...?' It seems like his view of Lazarus is finally revealed... a servant, a means to his advantage. While on Earth, the rich man never intentionally ended Lazarus' suffering, because Lazarus was "longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table" (verse 21 - italics is mine). And now, on the 'afterlife', somehow he expected Lazarus to do for him what he hadn't done for Lazarus in his lifetime! If you read the second part of Abraham's response in verse 26, it even feels like Lazarus wanted to help him ("And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us." - italics is mine.).

I don't know about you, but there is so much going on in my mind right now! First of all, WOW! Leave heaven to go to hell for someone who did not care about you in the first place? That, indeed, is an indication of love right there. And, if Lazarus really did want to go there to ease the rich man's suffering, wouldn't he get hurt too? And would the rich man care if that was the case? For me, it all indicates that the rich man could not see anyone's suffering but his own. He was suffering, he needed water, Lazarus was supposed to serve him, no matter what.

But let's back up a minute, let's go back to the first part of Abraham's response: "Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here, and you are in agony.". Is it just me or does this part of Abraham's answer sound like he is talking to a child? I feel the warmth and patience of a father talking to his son in that tone. He is explaining the new situation to him, how their lives got reversed. At this point, I am still looking for answers. I still can't figure out why things got reversed. What about you?

Again, I am going to bid you goodbye and let you digest those ideas - I love how Americans use the analogy of food in everything  hehehehe ;) .

The Brazilican Learner

The Perfect Teacher - Part Three

Hello everyone,

After a long time, here I am to (try to) finish The Perfect Teacher series (read part one here and part two here)... Well, remember the movie credits I talked about? It took them a long time to be revealed also (much more time than it took me to write this last post)... because Job is one of the first written books of the Bible and it was Jesus who was able to answer that question, thousands of years later (Disclaimer: That number is an estimate, I am not sure of the exact number of years between Job and Jesus - maybe someone can give us that information?).

Anyway, let's quickly bring Job's ideas to the discussion: "One man dies in full vigor, completely secure and at ease, his body is well-nourished, his bones rich with marrow. Another man dies in bitterness of soul, never having enjoyed anything good. Side by side they lie in the dust, and worms cover them both." (Job21:23-25). See, it is like he is saying: no matter what kind of life you lived, in the end it will all be the same, worms will eat you!!!! (Yuck, I know.)

BUT JESUS...

... The Perfect Teacher

... wants to show us otherwise. Let's take a look at Luke 16:19-31. Right off the b___ (American friends, is the expression right off the batch, right off the bat, right off the bet... or something else? Please fill the blank for me hehe), Jesus gives us the same situation: " There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores and longing to eat what fell from the rich man's table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores." (Luke 46: 19-21).

There they are, the rich man with lots of marrow in his bones and the beggar, never having enjoyed anything good - so if anyone was wondering, having your sores licked by dogs is not enjoyable ;). Jesus adds a few more details - the rich man not only was healthy but lived a luxurious life. And the beggar (don't you guys think it is interesting that he was named by Jesus?) had a name and a horrific life.

Verse 22 tells us that they both died. Lazarus went to heaven, carried by angels (pretty luxurious, I would say) and the rich man to hell. The Bible doesn't say how he got there, but I can only imagine it was not a pretty scene. Anyways, there they are. Jesus could have ended it here, the main question is 'kinda' answered: No, people don't have the same ending.  But why? Only because they had a good life, they deserve an eternity of suffering? If that was the case, I would definitely take suffering first, then heaven!

That is why I said the answer is 'kinda' answered. We need more answers, if you know what I mean. Here are my thoughts as I read this: Sooooo, wait a minute, the rich man did not necessarily choose to be rich, maybe he was born like that, maybe he was royalty, maybe ... who knows what? I find it very interesting that Jesus did not name him. Maybe it means that it does not matter who he was - that is, why he was rich, how he may have achieved that status. All that mattered was that everyday he had a good life. And that at some point a beggar came to make his gate look ugly.

Oh, there is so much stuff I could say right here... how sometimes a 'nuisance' could have been our turning point if we let God work, how ungrateful we are for life's trials (I am pretty much guilty on both instances), etc... but let's keep our focus on those two...

Or not, hehehe... I need to stop because the post is getting big... and I still have a lot to explore in this passage... sooooooooooooooo, this was not the last post on the series... but hang in there, there is more to come...

Like the Americans say, here is some "food for thought", if you are interested: Read the rest of the story in Luke. What do you think is the real difference between the rich man and Lazarus? (Hint: it has nothing to do with money.)

The Brazilican Learner

The Perfect Teacher - Part Two

Well, where did we stop? Oh, yes, we were talking about Job and the tragedy that came on his life (read about it here).

So there he is no money, no family, no support, no health... he hit rock bottom, like the Americans say. In the midst of all that tragedy, Job's "friends" accused him of being guilty for being in that situation. Like we can choose what will happen to us, ha ha.

Anyway, Job's response to all that is: "Why do the wicked live on, growing old and increasing in power? {That is, they are old and healthy} They see their children established around them, their offspring before their eyes {Remember Job lost all his children at the same time}. Their homes are safe and free from fear; the rod of God is not upon them. Their bulls never fail to breed {In today's terms, their investments always make a profit}. (...) They spend their years in prosperity and go down to the grave in peace." (Job 21: 7-10a;13). P.S. The note between {} in italics are mine.

Basically what Job is doing here is comparing his life to the wicked man's life, and by wicked he means the one who does not care for God or follow His commands. So there it is: Job is a God-follower and his life sucks and the non-follower's life is soooooooo much better than his. He adds: "One man dies in full vigor, completely secure and at ease, his body is well-nourished, his bones rich with marrow. Another man dies in bitterness of soul, never having enjoyed anything good. Side by side they lie in the dust, and worms cover them both." (Job21:23-25)

What I believe he is saying is that some wicked people will live their whole lives, until the end, in prosperity and without being punished for their sins, while others, where God-followers or not, will have a whole life of suffering and end like that. And then they will both die and that will be the end of it. Or will it?

For us, finite beings with a finite perspective of life and death, that is the end. That is until how far we can see. God, however, sees it differently. It is like those movies that have a "hidden" scene at the end of the credits. Let's say that us humans leave the movie theater as soon as the credits start ("The end" at the screen means our bodily death in this illustration).God, however, already knows what that "hidden" scene will be.And He is so kind to show it to us. In the case of Job, however, he dies without seeing it.

YES, I know that in the end his life turns around and he has double children and double riches (Job 42:12-17), but that is not what I am talking about. That is not what Job 21:23-25 talks about either. I am sure you or someone in your circle of friends knows someone who was mean until the end of their lives and all went well to them. And also someone who was the sweetest person you have ever met and their lives were miserable. Verses 23-25 are talking about those people.

Ok, I am going to stop here today and leave you wondering (hopefully) what and where the "hidden" scene is. Let me just tell you upfront it is not in the book of Job. It is not even in the Old Testament. But it is in the Bible. And I will talk about it on the next post of this series.

The Brazilican Learner

The Perfect Teacher - Part One

After surviving the first few months of teaching and being a mom, I am back to blogging!!! :) Sorry it has been so long and I will update you guys on my New Year's Resolution on another opportunity but today I want to write about The Perfect Teacher.

Remember the three part series I wrote called "What is a lesson after all?" (Read part one here, part two here and part three here) ? Well, this series"The Perfect Teacher" is a follow-up to that series.

Last time we talked about it we discussed the attributes of a teacher and decided no one will ever be the "perfect teacher". Well, no human being. But there is a Perfect Teacher, and he is GOD. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. Let's take a look into the Bible and see just a glimpse of His infinite knowledge and perspective versus our finite human mind.

We are going to start by taking a look at the book of Job in the Bible. Who was Job? In a nutshell, Job was a good man who followed God and had a bunch of kids and money (which translated into cattle and sheep back then). This is what God thought of him: 'There is no one on earth like him [Job]; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil'. (Job 1:8b)

But his status quo on earth was about to change and some of you may already know. He was about to lose everything. You see, Satan thought that Job was 'blameless and upright' because he had all those blessings from God. This is what Satan told God in response: "You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land. But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will curse you to your face." (Job 1:10b and 11) Basically he was saying that what Job really worshipped were the blessings, not the Blesser.

So God gave permission to Satan to take everything from Job, including his cattle and sheep, his children and his own health. All that Job was left with was a wife - who advised him to 'curse God and die' (Job 2:9b) and friends - who kept telling him that what happened to him was his own fault - of course he must have sinned and that is why all this disaster came upon him. To sum it up, he was left with nothing good, no family, no possessions, no health, no support. Nothing.

Now let's pause for a moment... Job is suffering physically, financially and emotionally, when all he did his whole life was to seek God... that seems unfair, right?

BUT GOD...

... The Perfect Teacher...

had and has a lot in store to teach Job and us in this whole situation....

I am going to stop this post here, before I continue I would like to hear from you...

What do you think those lessons are?
Why do you think God allowed all this to happen to Job?
Have you ever been in a similar situation?

The Brazilican Learner

How clean is the dishwasher? - Resourcefulness Resolution

Well, the baby didn't cry, as you can see (read more about it here), so I started cleaning... the dishwasher. (I had to start with something easy, you know). I decided I am focusing on areas that are usually neglected like the inside of appliances, under the furniture, door handles, etc...

I read in a magazine that in order to clean it from bacteria and etc, you should run an empty load with just one cup of vinegar and select the hot water cycle, so I did it. When it was done, I checked to see how clean it was. I have to tell you it was pretty decent, but I still found this:

Gross, huh? So I grabbed a paper towel, sprayed some cleaning product in it and wiped it down...

The red color in it is because I used red wine vinegar (that was the only kind I had at hand). And this is the after look:

So now I have a clean dishwasher and know for sure my dishes will be clean when I have them washed there!

The Brazilican learner

Keeping a clean house - Resourcefulness Resolution

Hi guys!

Following up on my New Year's Resolution (read about it here in case you missed it), I decided that in February I will focus on keeping my resources clean (February is perfect because it has less days hehehe). I figured that in order to make the most of the stuff I already have it I'd better keep it in good shape.

I also decided to write about cleaning your home in a blog series until the end of the year (40 weeks to be more precise, I will explain it better later) so that I have you guys to keep me in line since cleaning is something I don't like to do (I hate it but I am trying to be nice here).

So, let the cleaning begin! (hopefully the baby will start crying and I can use that as an excuse to start tomorrow ;))

The Brazilican Learner

Brazilian Savory Cake - New Year's Resolution

Hi there!

 This year for my principle resolution (read more about it here) I decided I want to be more resourceful, that is, to make the most of the resources already available to me. So, in January I decided to start in my kitchen. (If you want to be amused, read about my first failure here). When I opened my refrigerator last weekend, there were lots of things about to go bad... Tomatoes, carrots, onions... And so I looked on my recipe book and found a wonderful, nutritious and yummy recipe of what I am calling Brazilian savory cake. I haven't had this in years and oh, it was so good to eat it again. A special thanks to the Tofaneto family for the recipe :).

I did buy four ingredients that were missing, but that was it. I had all the rest at home - and trust me, the end result was waaaaaay better than my "invention" of Spam and cottage cheese.

But you may be wondering... What is this cake made of? Well, it is made of layers of crustless sandwich bread and three different fillings - creamy chicken, spinach and corn, and carrots. (I can post the recipe on another post if you guys are interested, just let me know)
All that covered in mashed potatoes icing (bear with me American friends it is worth it) and potato sticks. I will show you in pictures what I did. Here it is:

First I cooked the chicken for the first filling with chicken broth.

While that was doing its yumminess magic, I blended corn, olive oil and flour and cooked it until the flour taste was gone.

Then I added frozen spinach to it. And the second filling was done.

Then I shredded the cooked chicken and put it back in the broth (I tweaked the recipe a little) and added tomatoes... And let it cook some more.

Meanwhile, I added the carrots to cream cheese and table cream (creme de leite) and some nutmeg, and the third filling was done.

Then I added some table cream to the chicken, and the first filling was done.

Now the hard work is over. All you gotta do is cut the crust off the bread...  (I will use those to make breadcrumbs or croutons later, for now I froze the crusts)

Make a layer of the bread and pour some milk and salt to it for moisture...

Spread the first filling, make another layer of bread, spread the second filling, another layer of bread, the third one, another layer of bread and then top it with the mashed potatoes icing...(which is basically mashed potatoes and mayo)

And of course the potato sticks ( you could use the toasted crusts instead - just toast them with oregano, olive oil and salt and you have delicious croutons)...

And this is the result:

It is yummy, it has veggies in it and looks colorful and best of all, I used my resources! Yay! Oh, and when I was prepping ingredients I had leftovers of chopped green onions, onions and parsley, so guess what I did? I froze them as is...

Their textures will change a little, but they are still great for stews and other recipes in which they are cooked! So now I have to think of what I can do to use them and the crusts... hehehe maybe another experiment will come soon... ;)


What about you, how are you doing on your resolution?

About my New year's resolution...

There is a post on resourcefulness on moneysavingmom.com that I really like and has everything to do with resourcefulness. Click here to check it out if you are interested.
The Brazilican Learner

The sweet experiment - Resourcefulness resolution

As promised, here is the experiment that won't gross you out.

For my American friends this is probably not something new, but it was to me as a foreigner. Still trying to follow my resolution I came across the ingredients to this cute "acorn" in my cabinets: Nutter butter mini bites, chocolate frosting, Hershey kisses with almonds and chocolate chips... and that is it, only four ingredients!

Here is the recipe for my Brazilian friends: Spread the frosting on the mini cookie (and I wonder how peanut butter or nutella would work) and, on one side press on the Hershey kiss and on the other the chocolate chip! Simple, easy, cute and yummy... way better than the soupy Spam :)

The Brazilican Learner

Eating from the pantry in January - Resourcefulness resolution

Good January, y'all!

Here I am to show you some of my experiments that came from my New Year's Resolution. In case you missed it, read about it here.

So, I thought about my New Year's Principle Resolution and I decided to start in the kitchen in January... by eating from what I already have at hand in the cabinets, freezer, fridge and pantry. So yesterday I searched there and this is what I found:

Cottage Cheese to expire, half a box of Couscous, half a can of Spam (my dad bought it when he was here and ate only half of it), 3 packets of noodle soup mix, one whole wheat tortilla and half a bag of tortilla chips... (the porcupine is there just because he is cute). So, what to do with them?

The noodle soup reminded me of ramen noodles (Miojo for my Brazilian friends) and the cottage cheese of laughing cow cheese wedges (Polenguinho) and I like to eat those together (I know, my husband always tells me about my weird combination with food) so why not cook the soup mix and couscous together?

 And then we can cottage cheese... It can't be that bad, right? (It turned out awful, but we'll talk about it later)

And then I thought of carbonara pasta, which is basically an Alfredo Sauce with bacon and then you know Spam and bacon are of the same color when cooked so....

I fried it in olive oil, cut it and added it to the mix (at this point my husband was saying Nooooooo with the "what in the world are you doing?" expression on his face) :

And that is it... ready to eat, but...the taste was DISGUSTING!!!! You know when you can still taste the starchy water from the noodles and then the grease from the Spam together... yuck!
Soooooo, to cleanse my palate (yeah, right!), I did the one thing you can do to dignify a tortillla...spread Nutella on it and... well, you know :)

In conclusion, my experiment was a disaster then. Later on I made it edible by adding Queso sauce and some Cheddar cheese to it. At this point you may be wondering if I have burned all my tastebuds, but it did actually improve the taste, plus I got to use something else I did not want to go to waste (although my husband would disagree that Queso or cheese would be wasted LOL).

The bright side of it is that I am following my principle resolution! No waste! It feels great!

Now, for those of you who got traumatized by this experiment, I promise that the next post will be about something sweet that won't gross you out (unless you don't like peanut butter or chocolate).

The Brazilican Learner

New Year's Resolution: Resourcefulness

Every year is the same for some of us, we make a bunch of empty promises of how our life will be different just to realize by February that nothing has changed. Or, if you are like me, you don't even bother to make resolutions. That can be because you are actively changing your life and not waiting for a certain date to start, or because you don't think you can change your life. If the latter is true, life is the same and the same mistakes are made over and over again.

In order to actually do something different, this year, instead of trying to do a list of resolutions, I decided to have a "principle resolution", based on Crystal Paine's idea. The idea is simple, choose a word that will guide how you act throughout the year. I want to experiment with that, and so my word for this year is RESOURCEFULNESS. I want to develop the ability to use and/or make the most of what I already have at hand.

I have been following some blogs and been amazed at what people can do with certain "useless" things and keep thinking "how do they come up with that?". And then it dawned on me... first you have the need for something and then, instead of going shopping, you look around your house and see what you can do with what you already have.... sounds simple, huh? But...not to some of us.... sooooo I will try to do that this year, I will try to see how I can use what I already have at hand. And I will be carrying you guys along the way, posting about how I am doing, or asking for your opinion on what to do with the "useless" stuff I have around the house. After all, this blog is about lessons, right?

I would love to hear from you, too! What are your New Year's Resolutions? Would you like to join me in a "principle resolution" challenge? If so, what word will you choose?

The Brazilican Learner