The holidays have been one of the hardest days after moving away from my family, almost 5 years ago. As much as I love my kids, my husband and his family the celebration just aren’t familiar. It’s taken time to adjust to my new way of living but even so I miss what was once home.
I recently watched Western Union’s video #WUHomeCooked: Western Union Bringing Home A Little Closer. Customers shared their culture, food, and other things they missed from home. Just hearing people speak about their home made my eyes well up with tears. Watch here and get the tissue ready.
The stories touched my heart. Western Union’s customers all had a common topic, Food! When you watch the video and ask why about food, remember this: “Western Union’s aim is to connect people globally. As we all know, food is a connective tissue to a person’s family and culture and a popular topic on WU’s social channels” I love how their customers have lead them to be more personable and relatable.
As I watched I related more and more. Everyone including myself wanted a little piece of home something to feel connected in our new world. Though I am lucky to have my family in the same country with just miles between us, some of the people featured in the video lived countries away from their own familiarities. The realization that our families aren’t a drive or walk away is tough. When Western Union surprised 3 of those individuals in their video I felt the love and joy they did in that moment!
This is why I rush home when the opportunity presents it’s self. I’ve been fortunate to make many trips back home in the 5 years i’ve lived away. I always make it a point to stay connected with my own family. Still the food is one I can try to recreate favorite dishes but they will only come close to the authentic homestyle cooking I miss.
Both my husband and I miss tacos de adobada. The tortillas, seasoned meat and even garnish on these tacos are delicious.
At first we’d take trips back to California and bring taco meat already cooked in our carry on bag. This made it easy to recreate but honestly this only made the love for our beloved tacos greater.
And while we still bring some meat home when we travel, we decided it was probably time to try to recreate these tacos from scratch. We knew it would be a challenge but one we’d both longed to have to get a taste of home! After all, the marinate for this delicious red pork is almost a secret. Nonetheless, the hubs and I tried several recipes before recreating a close attempt to these street tacos we love so much. 
Our final tacos were outstanding and let me tell you they’ve been one of our home cooked favorites to date! Get the recipe for Tacos de Adobada/ Spicy Pork Tacos
In the end, Western Union’s #WUHomeCooked video reminds me how i’m not alone in missing my family, the food, and the culture I left behind.
I thank Western Union for always keeping families connected and being their as an option when families need them the most, especially for those serving our country. Being a former military family, I can’t share enough how important Western Union is to many of us.
I was selected for this opportunity as a member of Clever Girls and the content and opinions expressed here are all my own.
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