Eastern Food Bazaar

When the Rand is low but the hunger is real, we sometimes go to Eastern Food Bazaar. It's not fancy nor is it gourmet, but you certainly get value for your money. I was introduced to this place by my friends Jane and Justine. I wasn't really into it back then but I visited now and then for lunch when I worked in the CBD. When I met my husband he liked the place too so we ended up going there together.

If you're vegetarian then there's quite a wide selection for you but not as much of you're vegan, but it's still quite good. I will share with you the yummies we had the last time we went there.

We tried out two new dishes and had something we always get just incase we were disappointed.  So here they are:

First up was the uttapam masala onion...

I wasn't very impressed with it. It didn't taste bad. It's just not what I wanted. Or maybe I expected it to taste a different way. It's a potato pancake of sorts made with rice flour and topped with onions and a tomato sauce. Hubby and Mzo loved it though. So nothing went to waste.

Next up was the veg manchurian...

Now this was quite pleasant to the palate. It was supposed to be spicy but it wasn't.  That was a bit disappointing. It also had bits of either paneer/ halloumi type cheese so we had to pick that out. It also had these meatball lookalike type things and I'm actually not sure what it's made of. It doesn't taste like your regular soy but it was ok. The sauce and noodles were great. The veggies were nice and crispy. I hate it when they're soggy so I was very happy with that.

Then down to the regulars :

My absolute favourite is the paleshwari naan. I can eat it just as it is. It goes nicely with that cabbage it's served with. So simple yet so delicious. It's like a naan type bread but it's stuffed/filled with coconut shreds and black sesame seeds. It's just an absolute delight. As much as it's yummy on its own it goes well with the veg curry we had.

This is usually a potato and pea curry and it comes with rice and dahl. I really love it. It's one of those dishes that taste the same everytime you eat it. I'm not crazy about the dahl  though, its quite bland, but hey, it comes with the dish so who's gonna say no to free food? Mzo loved it and ate mostly that and rice.

At the end of the day all of us were happy and stuffed and still had some leftovers to spare. And the best part: we got all this food for roughly R130. So when you're hungry but the pockets are kind of empty, try Eastern Food Bazaar.

Birthdays

I used to get super excited about birthdays but things changed very quickly. I still get excited about birthdays, other people's birthdays, not mine. I mean I love food, and birthday parties = great food so of course I love birthdays. But when it comes to mine, I think the novelty wore off long, long ago.

When we were young, our parents used to throw us birthday parties. So many people would come. My sister Sisanda and I share a birthday and so we would always have joint parties growing up. But because she's the younger one,  the spotlight would be on her and I'd be told well, you're older now so... My friends and I would just use it as hangout sessions. 

Those parties would also end up being our parents party instead of ours. In the afternoon after the cake had been cut and presents given and we'd eaten and party packs were distributed, that was it, party over. It was now the adult's party. Most of the time they would send us to one of the bedrooms and we would stay there until we were either called to get some food and drinks or someone would be assigned to bring us food and drinks. We would often sneak out to go see what the adults were doing or pretend we needed the toilet or something, but we would end up in that room again.

In High School my birthday always fell during the exam period and so people thought that the little treats I brought them and put on their desks were for good luck. So there went my birthdays throughout High School. The best was going out for supper at Spur. I always looked forward to that. The free, sparkly dessert always brought a smile to my face . I think my 21st is the last party I remember that was all focused on me and I got gifts and all. And of course the infamous after party back in the day... but after that that's it.

In varsity birthdays were a blur because it was just party party party but nothing really meaningful. It was empty fun. As an adult... well... nothing really.  I can't remember the last time I got a gift from friends or family except my friend Jane and my husband. But mostly we (friends/family) do lunches or dinners and I love those. At least you know if you're out with friends on your birthday you won't have to pay for your share because they got it... so I always indulge. At the same time, I don't like big dinner parties because you don't get to engage with those present. And so what's the point? Keeping it small works for me. You're guaranteed to have good quality time. So basically those have been my birthdays. 

Now that I have a child the pressure was for us to throw a party for him when he was a year old. But as much as I believe that reaching one is a great milestone, I think a birthday party for a one year old is more for the adults and not the kid. I looked back at pictures from my first birthday party and I didn't recognise most the people in those pics.  The kids there were all way older than me and the rest were adults. But I'm sure they all had a great time. So first birthdays... neah... so what we did when our boy was one is we had him dedicated to the Lord and then went out for a late lunch, which he also enjoyed. I remember that day I tried baking using honey instead of fructose and the cake flopped. So there went the birthday cake.

When Mzo turned two we thought now we can do something for him because he can interact with others and he has kids around him that we at this stage can call his friends. But first we wanted to teach him that it is better to give rather than to receive. I know when it was birthday time all I looked forward to, except the food,  was the gifts... that's what it was about. It wasn't a thanks giving for another year of life or a time of reflection... nope, just the gifts. So we don't want him growing up with the same mentality. So we arranged a hospital visit for him to give cupcakes and balloons to other kids at hospital. It was such a blessed time.

That weekend we had a picnic for him and his little buddies and the parents of the kids. Not everyone who was invited came but those that did come made it such a great occasion. Mzo had a fantastic time and so did we. We tried to keep it simple but enjoyable. For such a simple shindig I can't believe how much we spent. Yho! life is expensive! It made me think of those who go all out for birthday parties... Sjoe! Nozie made our cake and cupcakes and we thank her for that. Everyone loved it. 

Either way, birthdays still remain special though I don't go crazy over them.  Lunch or dinner with a few friends and/or family does the trick for me. I don't mind it being just another day. These days it is a day to reflect and to thank God for giving me another year of life. I can only hope that I am and/or will become what He wants me to be.

Sabbath

This blog is super late. I was struggling with network today. But as they say: better late than never, right? Today's blog was supposed to be under #FFF but we're already into the Sabbath day so I figured instead of sharing something about physical food, I'd share some spiritual food instead. So here it goes:


"Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy..." Those are the opening words of the fourth commandment. The first word is "Remember". I always wondered why God would say remember. I mean it's there in black and white... but I guess He knew we would forget. For centuries the Sabbath has been forgotten. Some say it is a day for the Jews and not all of humanity.  But before there was anyone called a Jew,  the Sabbath had already been instituted by God. It is a memorial of creation week and it helps us to know who we are and whose we are. With all the drama in the world about identity, this weekly memorial helps us to remember where we come from. The Sabbath is for all mankind and in it we can rest.


Imagine taking this God-given opportunity to just switch off for an entire day and be in a completely different space. To spend a whole 24 hours in the presence of God and in nature. Imagine recharging/rebooting/re-energizing... Just taking a day to reflect and then start over. A clean and fresh start every single week... have you noticed how times have changed? How work is no longer at the office but it follows us home and follows us into the weekend. Have you noticed how school curriculums have changed and how kids have to attend classes or write tests on the Sabbath now? We are all sooooooo busy and yet the day we were given to rest we choose to fill with even more work. We are tired. Exhausted. But we don't see the blessing that has been given to us by God. Why won't we take it?


It reminds me of the children of Israel when they were in Egypt and Pharaoh increased their labour that they even worked on the Sabbath until they forgot  about the Sabbath. That's kind of what's happened to us. We are so busy with everything else that the Sabbath stopped being a part of our lives and now we don't even know what it is, and if we do know, we associate it with others and not with ourselves.


I heard a pastor say that the reason the divorce rates are so high is because we don't keep the Sabbath.  I didn't get his point at all. But when I thought about it I realised that the Sabbath is supposed to be a joyous day. No troubles, no fights, no anger... Just peace. And if a couple had an issue, it should therefore be resolved by the time the Sabbath day comes so that they can enter together into God's rest. And if we take the example of starting over, then the Sabbath can be their point of starting over and leave behind whatever was trying to break them apart. They can be bound together by God in their love. See, at creation the marriage institution and the Sabbath were established, and it is these two things that Satan seeks to destroy. But if we remembered, things would be so different.


So as you go about your business, remember... Remember the Sabbath day to keep it holy.  God made it for the good and benefit of mankind. May we truly remember and take this special day that God has given us. Happy Sabbath everyone. May you all  be blessed.

Reflections

The past couple of weeks, well... more like three or so weeks, have been rough. Nevermind running out of data at some point, that's another story,  but even if I had it, I wouldn't have had the time to write. Like I said, it was rough. So many thoughts and emotions flooded my brain, it was a bit overwhelming.

One of the things that happened (which got to me the most), was that my son had to go to the doctor. After that visit he was in so much pain and I could do absolutely nothing about it. I mean here is my little man crying until he has no tears left and I'm helpless. All I wanted to do was take his pain and lay it on myself, but we all know that's impossible. So there I was having to comfort a tall 2 year old boy and hold him like he was a 4 month old baby. Well... that's when he would let me even go near him. He didn't want me. He wanted his dad. I'm sure if you're a mother you will know how that feels. Yeah, like a knife in your heart. I think I've come to accept that my boy is definitely a daddy's boy.  Everything was reversed during this time. Like literally everything. I had to wake up at night to go hush him and put him back to sleep, eating and drinking took time and ALL the potty training done just went down the drain. I had to start from scratch. But thank God we have reached a sense of normalcy again!

So after the sleepless nights, when things got back to normal, my body was already used to not sleeping so when I needed to sleep, I couldn't.  So while everyone else is fast asleep  I'm up trying to find something productive to do. So I started knitting again. Well... attempting to. More often than not I had some major fails but as they say; you can't blame a girl for trying, right? One of the products was a scarf turned neck warmer because Mzo decided to take my needle out the wool and so everything unravelled.  I managed to get it back in, picked up the lost stitches but then everything was backwards and I didn't know how to fix it. I'm an amateur in knitting so I was totally clueless in what I had to do so I just cast off and decided to turn it into something else. The second product worked out ok.  My latest fail is actually from last night.  I had cast on too many stitches and, well, I ended up with a rectangularish square of sorts. Not gonna get anywhere with that... but... I will keep trying.

With all of that going on there's still the usual cooking and ironing and cleaning and keeping Mzo occupied (which was more work because he wanted more attention than usual) and and and... So it all took its toll on my body and this past weekend I just crashed. I came down with this massive cold and on Friday I only managed to cook then I headed to bed for the afternoon. Sabbath I didn't go to church because I was super drowsy and slept all day. Sunday was pretty much the same. Monday hubby had to go to work so I had to pick up on a lot so I still haven't recovered. All I wanted to do, all I still want to do is sleep. But alas, my bouncy boy is back in full swing and to him it's business as usual.  But the sweetest thing is that he is so observant. He can tell when I'm not feeling well and he will say "mama, phi?" Meaning mom where? This is him asking where it hurts. And then he says "yiza",  come. Then he takes my big head and lays it on his little chest and rubs my back. And then he says "up", as in get up. And in those few seconds my world becomes brighter.  I'm so blessed to have him around.

Trying to get my ducks in a row...

So, I'm sorry for the silence (to those who read my blog) but it hasn't been smooth sailing. Ideally I would like to write twice a week. One food blog and one anything else blog, so hopefully that will happen.  Here's to the road to recovery. Wishing to write more because so much more happened but I have porridge boiling on the stove and little guy just woke up so I have to go. We will catch up on #FabFoodFriday. Take care.