Everyone knows that living overseas comes with challenges, whether it’s language barriers, visa issues, crazy traffic or cultural oddities. But one thing most people don’t think about is the difficulty of every day tasks, like cooking and cleaning, in a new country where you can’t always find the products you have at home. To help our missionaries (and to give you a peek into their lives!) we put together some Missionary Life Hacks to make life a little less complicated.
Missionary Life Hacks: Cooking
Cooking overseas can be a challenge, so here are some tips, substitutions, and creative ways to make meal time less daunting.
Handy Tips
- If you live in an especially humid climate, put rice in your salt shaker to absorb the moisture
- Store flour, pasta, and rice in the freezer to prevent bug infestations
- Baking powder in the US is double active, so you might need to double the recipe when using baking powder bought overseas
Add rice to your salt to fight humidity.
Valuable Recipes
- Brown Sugar: Mix 1 cup of granulated sugar with molasses
- Maple Syrup: Boil 1 cup of granulated sugar, 1 cup of brown sugar and 1 cup of water for 1 minute. Mix in 1 tablespoon of maple flavoring (you’ll probably have to bring this from the US)
- Powdered Sugar: Blend granulated sugar in the blender
- Flour Tortillas: Mix 2 cups of flour, 1/2 teaspoon of salt, 1/4 cup of vegetable oil and 2/3 cup of warm water. Let it sit for 30 minutes, then cook up some fresh tortillas!
A homemade tortilla recipe is a must-have overseas!
Helpful Conversions
1 pound of flour = 3 1/2 cups
1 kilo of flour = 7 cups
1 pound of sugar = 2 1/4 cups
1 kilo of sugar = 5 1/2 cups
1 liter of oil = 4 cups
1 stick of butter = 1/4 pound = 110 grams
1 metric teaspoon = 5ml
1 metric tablespoon = 15ml
1 metric cup = 250 ml
1,000 ml = 1 Liter = 1 1/4 pints
Conversion Charts
