tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-71487355421620271732024-02-07T00:33:19.312-05:00365 Dollar YearNo more $1 budget, now I'm eating in Mexico! Dollar-a-day fail is still there in the archives.j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.comBlogger431125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-86235272933141381082015-05-06T13:36:00.000-04:002015-05-06T13:36:11.751-04:006 May 2015-- Off to a Rousing StartOr not.<br />
<br />
Let's say not.<br />
<br />
I went home Monday, after picking up a can of black beans, some el pato salsa in a can, a sweet potato (way over priced at $0.80/lb), and a pack of half-price tortillas. All for less than $5. I've got a receipt somewhere.<br />
<br />
I had visions of black bean and sweet potato burritos with a bit of salsa and some fried onion and garlic, a bit of cheese for yum, and some sliced fresh cabbage for texture and healthiness.<br />
<br />
Then I pulled out all the stuff for that. And then I went looking for a can opener.<br />
<br />
There was no can opener.<br />
<br />
So I put most of the stuff back and just made a quesadilla with some cheese and butter I had, the tortilla, and a couple cabbage leaves (shredded and tossed in after cooking, crunchy yum).<br />
<br />
Then I went back out. Did some more work, left to go home, picking up a bag of chips and a 2 liter bottle of soda on the way (have a receipt for that too, about another $5).<br />
<br />
Ate chips and granola bars for breakfast and lunch Tuesday, then picked up a can opener with a new bag of chips and another bottle of soda last night. Unfortunately, by the time I got home after 9, I no longer had any interest in cooking, so I ate some chips and a Lara bar and crawled into bed.<br />
<br />
Today I've finished the chips, and am determined to actually cook. I want to eat the yummy stuff, I have things to use with them, I will eat of their flesh. Their yummy veggie flesh.<br />
<br />
Receipts and maybe some food photos will show up later. Promise. :Pj.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-75029012672973421552015-05-04T11:47:00.000-04:002015-05-04T11:47:01.535-04:00ZOMG, I'm BACK!Maybe not forever, but I'm in the US (and have been since the start of the year, actually), in Charleston, and on a budget.<br />
<br />
I make <i>a lot</i> more money than I used to. No, like, WHOA more money than I used to, but I'm still pretty broke. Partly because I don't make gobs of cash, just more than I used to. And partly because while I'm in Charleston I'm living downtown.<br />
<br />
Which I'm tempted to start calling "overpriced hipster land". Srsly, places that were abandoned a year or two ago are split into three tiny three bedroom apartments (with the magical addition of electricity and a coat of paint...) and going for $2400 each. Or more. So people living in them are, every single month, paying about what their landlord spent for the whole freaking building.<br />
<br />
Yay, profit?<br />
<br />
Anyway, I'm in the US, and I have expenses that make my most expensive Mexico or Guatemala expenses look really not expensive at all. And people have been full of epic fail when it comes to feeding themselves on $29 a week...<br />
<br />
So why not be back, right?<br />
<br />
<h3>
Zeee Plan</h3>
Turns out, with my income, even South Carolina would give me food stamps. The calculator says $170-190 a month, which sounds crazy. What on earth would I spend that much money on? Chips and sour cream every day?<br />
<br />
Luckily I'm only planning to be in town for a couple months. Let's say until the end of June. Might be end of May, but I'm probably here for two months.<br />
<br />
The time it would take to get the card and all that is.... more than I can be bothered investing, and I don't really have a lot of other expenses (housing, health insurance (yay!), Dr. co-pay, food, $20 a month to have someone else do my laundry...) so I'll just work with my own budget.<br />
<br />
This month that looks like about what the seriously failed internet and media-types had. Not $29 for the whole month. Been there, done that, it's more fun in other countries. No, about $120 for the month. Maybe a teensy bit more.<br />
<br />
I have $100 in the bank for food, and some stuff in the fridge. $10 of veggies and tofu and butter from the Veggie Bin, and $28.25 in stuff from Costco (used my sister's membership). Oh, and a $0.70 ataulfo mango from the store we do not name. Costco stuff is 2lbs of colby-jack, a monster pack of granola bars (choco chip) and a box of 18 Lara Bars (now greatly reduced in number). Oh, and about nine billion cheap tea packets. Um, and a small left-over bag of tortilla chips from a local taco place.<br />
<br />
I might talk my sister into giving me a pound or two of rice from her Epic Costco Bag of Rice Doom, and I'll take a couple bucks out for it (and even give them to her, aren't I a great sister?).<br />
<br />
I'm going to use the $100 in the bank for all my food and snax and soda for the month, and we'll see if I starve to death. I probably won't. I mean, that's more than $3 a day, right?<br />
<br />
CRAZY HUGE BUDGET!<br />
<br />
Party?<br />
<br />
Back tomorrow with some shopping and some food. :Pj.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-81608616108454508412013-01-24T03:14:00.002-05:002013-01-24T03:14:41.243-05:00100,000 Page ViewsI think it reset somewhere during the last year and a half, but still.<br />
<br />
I officially have over 100,000 page views here. Which isn't bad at all for a food blog with no new food blogging.<br />
<br />
I'll try to get back into some kind of posting schedule. I might even try to do a step-by-step of how (I think) to make pupusas. Which are cheap, if you use the right ingredients, and healthy if you add the right stuff on top.<br />
<br />
In the mean time, seriously, that's a lot of views. Woohoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-32294999509109034842012-11-08T16:27:00.000-05:002012-11-08T16:27:40.472-05:00Still Not DeadThere have been earthquakes and food poisonings and (someone suggested) some Parvo, but I'm still not dead. I'm just not eating or cooking much.<br />
<br />
Looks like Vegan MoFo was a total fail. And I'm stuck with pretty boring food at the moment, trying to get back to a healthy stomach--since it was food poisoning, or maybe parasites. Or perhaps parvo.... So no food here for a while.<br />
<br />
I hope all of you are having fun all over the world, eating good cheap food, and staying warm and safe (in cold areas) and cool and safe (in warm ones).j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-3988727047565285042012-10-16T16:02:00.002-04:002012-10-16T16:02:29.272-04:00My Kitchen Of DoooooooomSo, the last "real" kitchen I had was... pretty scary. It was dirty, and infested with mice and smelly gamer boys, and all sorts of fun stuff like that. It was also that orange-y-yellow of 60's/70's decorating.<br />
<br />
This new kitchen, paid for with $65 each from my roommate and I, is somehow both better and worse. Better because there are (to my knowledge) no mice. And because it can be moved into our spare room. Worse because it is both forever dirty, and because it rains inside when it rains.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoewBSAlWNpn08q3Wv7wqmvbXbet9Pmmv4hjWkEOu5o337sTieo8SbcZIApQWUf6Zbh350DMF_FYf32vWuexLMH2b50I0AkJycvOg1pt_ftJrfXusgXdcgLHVXkN2qeOrDfcGcmy84h1w/s1600/cookwfire01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjoewBSAlWNpn08q3Wv7wqmvbXbet9Pmmv4hjWkEOu5o337sTieo8SbcZIApQWUf6Zbh350DMF_FYf32vWuexLMH2b50I0AkJycvOg1pt_ftJrfXusgXdcgLHVXkN2qeOrDfcGcmy84h1w/s400/cookwfire01.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wood stove cooking was a fail.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWR9iycYZKmPG4Tba6VhPePw8W_M6gj7AJV-3y77Kx2kkAiUatIJ8XBPMG5TnqO7zpea_egR3dpIZ2GkTJNQ1jKB1ABdJt8cnSUQWJK2Gyo3XR5wpB75OfhuzsVNhm8MfoVALvNCfiLzA/s1600/cookwfire02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWR9iycYZKmPG4Tba6VhPePw8W_M6gj7AJV-3y77Kx2kkAiUatIJ8XBPMG5TnqO7zpea_egR3dpIZ2GkTJNQ1jKB1ABdJt8cnSUQWJK2Gyo3XR5wpB75OfhuzsVNhm8MfoVALvNCfiLzA/s400/cookwfire02.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It looks like it should be easy, right? Just make a fire and cook stuff on top of it. Unfortunately, I seem to fail at that first bit.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGoP_kaAi0PQhGcTODwAGSivG9lAFSrf8PJzpFKMecHUo1Gg6pPC4Gi_v4vp2iEKqW-WtoZ7JNFiUGLtBrG7G7MEE0xEJ2e6zBnzYXF6p2rL90gJfWMmHmMTxKOe0At6A_KaB7XDNw4vo/s1600/cookwfire03.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhGoP_kaAi0PQhGcTODwAGSivG9lAFSrf8PJzpFKMecHUo1Gg6pPC4Gi_v4vp2iEKqW-WtoZ7JNFiUGLtBrG7G7MEE0xEJ2e6zBnzYXF6p2rL90gJfWMmHmMTxKOe0At6A_KaB7XDNw4vo/s400/cookwfire03.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">After two hours of trying, a bunch of swearing, and the sacrifice of a candle (to get/ keep things going) I got something hot enough to almost cook onions, while warming water. Then it went out. See my magic fire in the rotting side of the stove. Local ladies really only use these if they can't afford gas, or for tortillas.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT0Ox7ZgDCX0nU897RBA4gLzPovdCovXFD8_aLmLRiQSs_b1yz5KeFcZKl1w-L0Vt8tDUfL6jhDwxwgni4UZbeKMDA6z2aiUxrkTCOYXdXiomhairKQVNdOYixiy1K4P9kHM99zfeKVqE/s1600/kitchen01.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT0Ox7ZgDCX0nU897RBA4gLzPovdCovXFD8_aLmLRiQSs_b1yz5KeFcZKl1w-L0Vt8tDUfL6jhDwxwgni4UZbeKMDA6z2aiUxrkTCOYXdXiomhairKQVNdOYixiy1K4P9kHM99zfeKVqE/s400/kitchen01.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yep, that's my kitchen. The floor isn't dirt, it's really old concrete, moss, and some dirt.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvc-y32jJspIZqbVe5P2TT8d2gpMexLlUrpkMCsfZfaMkZSWW9m6BtnMtTpZ2BPAnHgNzN4vF5zqcn67RAt4tOCNMYio16jILiWdk2i3acQujREiKqs06bwa5fZLN0vQw438veR-NajbI/s1600/kitchen02.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhvc-y32jJspIZqbVe5P2TT8d2gpMexLlUrpkMCsfZfaMkZSWW9m6BtnMtTpZ2BPAnHgNzN4vF5zqcn67RAt4tOCNMYio16jILiWdk2i3acQujREiKqs06bwa5fZLN0vQw438veR-NajbI/s400/kitchen02.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More kitchen. That's the sink on the right. It's just a big concrete basin with a drain hole (and pipe, to the yard...) in the bottom.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuMvUDP05ToTy1qmlChWbqsJ4Oq93mvNpq2BgznsapnVnDDx646T3bA0prBSgRw7jmfzAAv5lpLU1r41oJdGKO6RkyD3fXFKZ2fx2mNT8TQ607PlRorWm5eN_t1C7rVdkgC1rELbiTMR0/s1600/kitchen03.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuMvUDP05ToTy1qmlChWbqsJ4Oq93mvNpq2BgznsapnVnDDx646T3bA0prBSgRw7jmfzAAv5lpLU1r41oJdGKO6RkyD3fXFKZ2fx2mNT8TQ607PlRorWm5eN_t1C7rVdkgC1rELbiTMR0/s400/kitchen03.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Even moar kitchen, complete with roommate's psychotic kitten.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqByeYJa9J8arTwJsPBZgIcBsTbKcYhC1FazzbJYU8pome-q6H24oV0EkUYqwsA3hlpzUEqDBIkA0oqAhl7qfVnhVePHyQs_MonokS1q5V-3WiFEq8mInKAiRMikRTnJbPJZtdKoX3BFY/s1600/kitchen04.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgqByeYJa9J8arTwJsPBZgIcBsTbKcYhC1FazzbJYU8pome-q6H24oV0EkUYqwsA3hlpzUEqDBIkA0oqAhl7qfVnhVePHyQs_MonokS1q5V-3WiFEq8mInKAiRMikRTnJbPJZtdKoX3BFY/s400/kitchen04.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">And here is the stove, and the gas tank. Those things are cheaper right now.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Turns out the local gas companies are fighting, so prices dropped from a low of 130 to 65Q. Yep, big tank of propane for less than $10. You know you want to live someplace with kitchens and propane prices like this. Ignore the bit where my kitchen would be better on a sailboat, or where they regularly short people on tank weights.<br />
<br />
You love it, right? Anyone wanna trade?j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-15176331696061598622012-10-11T19:45:00.001-04:002012-10-11T19:45:11.309-04:00No Cooking--Out Of GasA day or three ago I was all excited. I'd been to the market, spent about $5 and dragged home all sorts of tasty foods.<br />
<br />
Tasty foods that need to be cooked over heat. Like dry beans and potatoes and onions and curry powder and rice.<br />
<br />
I had soaked some chickpeas ($1.70-ish/lb) over night and was dreaming of Channa Masala. Dreaming, I tell you. I could taste it. In my brain was a wonderful world of curry-flavored, tender chickpeas in tomato-y onion-y sauce.<br />
<br />
Got home, swapped out the soaking water for fresh (from the bottle, not the tap--heavy metals and all that), and popped it on the stove-thingy. Turned the gas on and whoosh, it lit and burned sooo bright.<br />
<br />
By the time I'd put away the shopping stuff, taken the trash out of the kitchen, and turned on my computer, the flames were dimming. A minute later, they were out.<br />
<br />
No gas.<br />
<br />
Now, pretty much everything that gets cooked here is heated in one of two ways (some people have and use microwaves, but it isn't common). Either they are cooked over gas flame (with or without a large, flat metal surface) or over wood fire.<br />
<br />
No electric, no coal, no whatever. Just gas of some sort--propane, maybe?<br />
<br />
It comes in these 20lb or something cylinders. They are heavy. And ugly. And tough to judge when it comes to fullness. So you never know quite when you're going to run out. I ran out at about 6pm on a Tuesday. After paying tabs (which always happens for me on Tuesdays, for some strange reason...), I had just enough for a cheap week of eating in and maybe a soda or beer somewhere once a day.<br />
<br />
A new bottle of gas costs about, oh... $20? Less or more depending on the company. And they deliver, so that's not so bad. But they don't deliver at 6pm. Or to people who don't have cash.<br />
<br />
So I gave upon that for the day and had leftover beans and fresh tomato and onion with some hot sauce. Then some bread and butter and tomato and onion. And then I really gave up and went to sleep.<br />
<br />
Yesterday, though, I was determined to salvage the beans. There's a wood stove in the yard (and a wood oven, but I haven't even really looked at that yet). There's wood in the yard, and dried leaves, and stuff.<br />
<br />
Tried making a fire. After two hours I had something that would warm water or soften (barely) some chopped onions. Both of which I did. Then I gave up again, put the onions and a tomato on some more random, cheap bread from the tienda, and gave up again.<br />
<br />
Today I've decided. No more trying to cook until I get gas. It just isn't working for me.<br />
<br />
Photos of the kitchen, wood stove, and random other stuff... when I get to it. Tomorrow, maybe?j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-27019625586188902812012-10-03T18:28:00.001-04:002012-10-03T18:28:38.081-04:00Feeling PukeySo sorry, not cooking today. Also seeing sparkly lights and been fighting off a headache all day. These are not good signs. I may be going home to bed early.<br />
<br />
Also, it's cold.j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-26188981783838417112012-10-02T14:47:00.001-04:002012-10-02T14:47:55.030-04:00Vegan?Not yesterday, sadly. I was pushing to get some articles done for this morning.<br />
<br />
Besides, I haven't got a refrigerator, and I have to finish up some cheese and butter before it goes off. So today will probably be just as fail-full. But I'll get some fine photos so you can see what kind of kitchen I'm working with.<br />
<br />
And after this month I never want to hear "but I can't cook anything like that, I haven't got a nice kitchen like you do" ever, ever again.<br />
<br />
Also, did I mention my house has a wood-fired oven? Beehive type. Which is going to be... interesting.... to experiment with. So prepare for lots of half-cooked, half-burned baked goods. If I can figure out who to buy wood from. 'Cause I'm sure as hell not chopping my own.<br />
<br />
As for what I ate yesterday?<br />
<br />
A yummy sammich of fresh cream cheese, lettuce, tomato, and basil with a side of melon.<br />
An order of quesadillas with amazing guac.<br />
And two diet sodas (in cans) plus one regular Coke, full sugar, in a tasty glass bottle.<br />
<br />
Hopefully today will be better. I've got beans and bread at home.j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-4215052661960183082012-09-29T15:20:00.001-04:002012-09-29T15:20:09.268-04:00Vegan MoFo 2012I don't know how many people are still reading here. Or if anyone is still reading here. I've been a total blog-slacker.<br />
<br />
October is the "Vegan Month of Food", which means yummy vegan food all over the internets. I think this year I'll try to play. Most food will show up the day after (internet at mi casa is... sketchy at best).<br />
<br />
There won't be much fancy stuff--it simply isn't available here. Mostly beans and rice and corn and veggies, with maybe a bit of fun imported food thrown in to make life exciting. But that just means it'll be cheap for me, and cheap (ish) for those of you playing at home to try and make.<br />
<br />
Because I'm still all about the cheap food, even if I *do* eat out just about once a day....<br />
<br />
Anyone else playing?j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-59307274796827017222011-11-29T14:40:00.000-05:002011-11-29T14:40:19.584-05:00Happy (late) Thanksgiving!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/vv58/lazyjayn/guatemala%202011/tgivingdinner.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://i669.photobucket.com/albums/vv58/lazyjayn/guatemala%202011/tgivingdinner.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>This year Thanksgiving was kind of a non-event. I wrote a story, hit a bakery, and had a bottle of wine.<br />
<br />
Of course, back home, Thanksgiving is a great chance to stock up on all kinds of food for cheap. Healthy food, even. In South Carolina sweet potatoes go on sale for tiny amounts--like 15 cent per pound. And baking goods are all on sale--everything from flour and butter to baking powder, spices, and "pie filling".<br />
<br />
Which means it's a great time to be on a budget.<br />
<br />
Sounds crazy, right? Not really. If you eat meat, you can pick up a turkey, otherwise, you can load up on all the other "holiday" food items, and eat like a healthy-eating rich person for a couple weeks. With sweet potatoes alone you can make:<br />
<br />
<ul><li>baked sweet potatoes</li>
<li>sweet potato fries</li>
<li>mashed sweet potatoes</li>
<li>sweet potato pie</li>
<li>sweet potato gnocchi</li>
<li>sweet potato ravioli</li>
<li>sweet potato pancakes</li>
<li>sweet potato pirogi</li>
<li>roasted sweet potatoes</li>
</ul><div>Easy and cheap, right? They might each take a couple other ingredients, but most of them are simple and cheap to put together. Some are even fast. The others pretty much all freeze well.</div><div><br />
</div><div>That leaves out all the other Autumn veggies, like squash, carrots, Brussels sprouts, beets (yum), fresh garlic, and on and on. And all on sale--either last week, or for the next couple weeks.</div><div><br />
</div><div>And all I got was a cheap bottle of very young wine. Oh well, it was fun and that's what matters, right? Or something.</div>j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-51562443526448850332011-11-23T12:16:00.000-05:002011-11-23T12:16:23.340-05:00Good News Bad NewsGood News--<br />
<br />
It doesn't seem like the huge bloaty stomach/ gassy ook problem is cause by gluten<br />
<br />
Bad News--<br />
<br />
It does in fact seem to be caused by onions and garlic instead.<br />
<br />
I tested it, you see. I made pancakes--which are full of gluten but totally lacking in onions and garlic. Then I waited. And waited. And waited.<br />
<br />
At no point did I look like one of those people having keyhole abdominal surgery. No expando-guts.<br />
<br />
Then, later in the day, I made pasta with onions, tomatoes, and cheese. Right after that, my abdomen started expanding. And again last night, after making rice, beans, onions, garlic, and tomato mixture stuff.<br />
<br />
The thing is, the onions and garlic don't *always* cause the huge tummy. If they're totally cooked all the way through, I have no problems with them at all. So there's something in raw garlic and onions that is making something in my guts unhappy.<br />
<br />
Which really sucks, because I love onions and garlic. They go in almost everything I cook. In huge quantities. I don't want to cut back, and I don't want to cut them out, either. Sometimes a girl just wants a slice of raw onion on her sammich, ya know?<br />
<br />
But for happy thoughts, I don't have to cut out pasta or bread or seitan. Or beer. Or whisky made with not-corn. Yum.<br />
<br />
For a while there I was worried I'd have to turn into one of those girls that drinks only vodka and pastel-colored drinks. Pleh. Instead I'm going to have to turn into one of those people who thoroughly cooks their garlic, onions, and shallots.<br />
<br />
Oh well, any excuse to eat more roasted garlic works for me.j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-71156103507561703562011-11-20T20:36:00.000-05:002011-11-20T20:36:03.197-05:00In A Food RutIt's pretty easy, when you're cooking for yourself and on a budget, to get stuck in a rut. And am I ever stuck. Other than my ever-more-frequent trips to the supermarket for chips and chocolate, I've been eating the same two or three things for a couple months now.<br />
<br />
Last year I got stuck on fried rice. It's fast(-ish), healthy(-ish), and easy once you get used to cooking it. Now I seem to have taken a giant step down even from that.<br />
<br />
It's all cinnamon pancakes (though not for the last couple weeks), pasta with tomatoes, onion, and American cheese, or rice with beans, tomatoes, onion and American cheese. That's it. The only real variety comes from the every once-in-a-while splurge of food out, or the two days last week when I managed to scarf down half a dozen bagels. With, of course, American cheese melted on top.<br />
<br />
Hopefully, moving on will change my diet again. Getting out of Guatemala should do that as well. If I were a fruit-eating kinda girl this would be a great place.<br />
<br />
Because of the elevation and lower temps, strawberries are in season pretty much all year here. And there are these red things that look kinda like lychees, but I don't think are. And papaya, and starfruit (2 for 1Q, or about 8 US cents *each*). And pineapple.<br />
<br />
You know, back home I could never figure out why anyone would want to eat a pineapple. I mean, they're cardboardy and crunchy in a bad way, and stringy, and rarely sweet back home. Or they come from a can and are oddly floppy.<br />
<br />
But the ones I've had here have been sweet, and so ripe they dripped juice when cut into, or even when pressed on too hard. Actually pretty tasty. I still won't be buying many of them.<br />
<br />
The thing is, I know I can make that rice-or-pasta and veggies and cheese thing. I can do it in my sleep, I'm so used to it. And you can get the stuff to make it pretty much anywhere, they aren't harmed by the odd blackout, and all but the cheese can be locked safely in my locker.<br />
<br />
Other stuff... I might not be able to find it, so I don't even try anymore.<br />
<br />
So, have you been in a food rut, and how did you get out of it. Or... Are you still stuck there?j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-3017432449453329972011-11-07T17:46:00.000-05:002011-11-07T17:46:58.280-05:00Angry Intestines And Gluten?So, my intestines have been unhappy lately. Not projectile-vomit/explosive diarrhea unhappy.<br />
<br />
No, they've been "swell the abdomen up like a balloon" unhappy. So I started paying attention to what I eat before it happens.<br />
<br />
It isn't onions (tho they do cause the odd problem). It isn't garlic, which is good--I think I'd die if I couldn't eat garlic anymore. It isn't processed cheese, or even cream cheese (one causes sticky teeth, the other a different set of problems...)<br />
<br />
Nope, the thing that always seems to show up in the meal right before the hugely distended abdomen is wheat.<br />
<br />
Which really sucks. I love wheat. Maybe I need to cut back for a while. Maybe I need to cut it out forever. I dunno. Right now it's mostly the sticky-out tummy that I'm noticing. Well, and the gas... But that doesn't mean there isn't more going on inside, too.<br />
<br />
But... Without wheat (and other tasty gluten containing foods like seitan) what do I eat? My favorite cookies are made with wheat. And brownies and cake and bread. Totally bread.<br />
<br />
Sure, maybe it's not gluten causing the problem (never get bloaty when I eat seitan, so...), but something about the wheat itself. Or maybe it's the combination with something else I'm cooking. I dunno.<br />
<br />
I've been hoping it's something else for a while now. I don't want to give up the wonders of tasty baked goods. Sure, there are alternatives, but they almost all taste like crap. Oh, and they cost too much, too.<br />
<br />
So what does it mean? It means I should be doing some kind of elimination diet. I should be cutting out everything with gluten in it, and seeing if the magic expando-stomach goes away. Then I should add foods back in until it comes back. More or less.<br />
<br />
What will I really do? Probably keep nomming the bread, cake, cookies, and all that other fun stuff until something happens to make me. With my only noticeable problems being abdominal bloating and gas, it's just not worth it to cut back on things I love. 'Specially when it could just be an ongoing stomach bug. You know, like a parasite.<br />
<br />
Now, if I end up seeing a doctor at some point and getting blood work that shows that I'm short on all the nutrients I know I'm eating, I'll change something. Until then, I'll just avoid tight shirts after stuffing my face with a pound of pasta. Which is probably a good idea anyway, huh?j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-27725835363384162072011-10-17T20:22:00.000-04:002011-10-17T20:22:54.392-04:00Think I Figured Out The PupusasPupusas, in case you don't know (I know I didn't) are the local, corn-based hand-pie. They're almost all savory, and really most of them are just stuffed with meat. They're also cheap--cause they use left over "meat"--and fast, 'cause most people keep some spare dough mixed up if they've got a fridge.<br />
<br />
Or, you know, even if they don't.<br />
<br />
Basically, you pick up some ground corn--the type for making tortillas. The ground maize here is a little finer than they use in Mexico, but it's close enough. Follow the directions for making tortillas, up through the mixing. They'll usually say to use lard, but I don't see why plain crisco wouldn't work just as well (I'm still eating without asking--I'd like to eat more than once a day and it's the only way to manage it).<br />
<br />
Take a ball of mix, probably about what they say to use for a tortilla, a quarter cup or so, and flatten it out until you've got a disk about 5 inches across. Then do another just like it. scatter a couple tablespoons of filling over one disk, keeping it less than half an inch thick (closer to 1/4 is better) and staying about a quarter to half inch away from the edge. Place the second disk on top of the first and squoosh the edges together to seal them shut.<br />
<br />
Then, you toss them on a hot griddle or frying pan that's been barely sprayed with oil. Cook over medium to high heat (lower if things start to burn) until the bottom starts to lightly brown and cook. Then flip and cook until both sides are cooked and the insides are warm. If you use cheese, don't be surprised if they leak a bit.<br />
<br />
At the shops or street vendors it takes them about 10 minutes to cook them, starting from dough. Figure with a big enough pan or griddle, and someone to make the disks, you could get production going on about 100 an hour...<br />
<br />
Of course, two is more than enough to fill even me. For a while.j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-40600131978362107772011-10-03T21:11:00.000-04:002011-10-03T21:11:26.558-04:00Food You Can Buy For 20Q20Q could buy a budget-minded person a week's worth of food. Or it could buy a snack. Or a drink in a bar.<br />
<br />
For a week you could buy (grocery store prices):<br />
<br />
<ul><li>2lbs of white rice at 3.25Q ea (6.50Q)</li>
<li>1lb of black beans for 4.95Q</li>
<li>170ml bottle oil for 3.40Q</li>
<li>3 tomatoes for about 2.50Q</li>
<li>1 large onion for about 2Q</li>
<li>(0.65Q left over for w/e)</li>
</ul><div>Or you could buy 1/2 a pound of cheese (all the same price).</div><div>Or you could buy a bag of ruffles Queso chips (actually 24Q).</div><div>Or you could buy a bag of Doritos and an American chocolate bar.</div><div>Or a Cuba Libre (about 6oz worth of booze, soda, and ice) in a bar.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Or, if you're feeling homesick, you can pick up a toasted bagel with about an oz of butter or flavored cream cheese for 20Q including tip.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Have I mentioned lately how much I love this whole "access to a kitchen" thing?</div>j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-65068382959479522342011-09-26T16:42:00.000-04:002011-09-26T16:42:57.271-04:00Weight Gain FailAfter stuffing myself for a week straight, I figured I would have gained something.<br />
<br />
And if I were willing to ignore the bit where last time I was in flip flops (total weight maybe 8oz) and this time in "real" shoes at over a pound each, I totally gained.<br />
<br />
Except... 125.7 really isn't a gain over 124.3 when I take off the extra 1.5lbs.<br />
<br />
I think I need to add more avocados to my diet. It might just be time to hit the market. I've got q8 for stuff, I can totally stuff my face.<br />
<br />
Cheese is sliding slowly off the list of things I want to eat. I'm getting sick of it. I might have to start buying nuts. they're pretty calorie dense and they taste good, too. I foresee a sudden doubling of my food budget. And only part of that will end up going to soda.<br />
<br />
Pleh.j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-65208641686143711262011-09-22T21:12:00.000-04:002011-09-22T21:12:20.746-04:00And Today I choked down...2 choco-almond muffins (~250 cal)<br />
2 regular muffins(~150 cal)<br />
250g pasta (dry weight, about 9oz) with<br />
Oil, tomato, onion, garlic, salt, and 4 slices/about 2oz of cheese (~1400 cal total)<br />
3 cans diet pepsi.<br />
Medium bag of chips (~480)<br />
<br />
I am now so stuffed I don't think I could eat another thing. For those wondering, the pasta fills two good sized bowls.<br />
<br />
For an approximate daily total of 2280 calories. Which is about 700 less than I was trying for, but I think if I stuff one more thing in my mouth I'll explode.<br />
<br />
This is much easier with coconut milk based ice cream at 2000 calories a pint. I want my chips and dip.<br />
<br />
Ok, to be totally honest, I want to be able to fuel my body like you fuel a car. Just fill it up and go. The whole cooking, eating, digesting, cleaning up, rolling around stuffed thing is no fun at all. Plus, the stuff I'm eating is boring. Pleh.j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-11126855066180416572011-09-22T13:19:00.000-04:002011-09-22T13:19:42.680-04:00The All-Singing All-Dancing Food Extravaganza Day... WednesdayThis "eat until you can't stuff anything else in your face" thing is getting old fast. Because of the huge amounts I'm scarfing down (remember, most of my food is high bulk for high calories) I have a distended abdomen. Not as bad as those "feed the spawnlings" pictures. No, more "after a hard night chugging beer/scarfing pizza", which also looks (to me, anyway) like a pregnant lady gut.<br />
<br />
Not on my personal list of preferred looks, but whatever. The whole force-feeding thing is going to last maybe two more days before I just go back to eating when I'm hungry. Eating when you aren't hungry, and to the point where you feel so stuffed you physically ache isn't good for you, ya know.<br />
<br />
Yesterday I cooked up 2/3C of dry rice, added 1 onion (fried in oil, lots of oil), some garlic, a couple tomatoes, and something like 2 slices of cheese. Oh, and a cup +/- of black beans. Wanted to add Avocado, but it was frozen solid. Don't ask.<br />
<br />
Then I made up a vat of fried potatoes with more onion, oil, garlic and a packet of curry powder. And the previously frozen half an avocado for extra yum/ calories.<br />
<br />
Then, at about midnight, I made a sammich with the other half of the bread. Melted the last couple tablespoons of butter into it (tastes kinda like Texas Toast, you know, all sweet and odd and stuff), spread it with mustard, covered it in the other avocado, sliced a lot, about 1/3 of an onion, the last piece of sliced cheese, salt, pepper, and juice from part of a lime. "snacked" my way through it for dinner.<br />
<br />
Oh, and three cans of Diet Pepsi, about half a liter of water, and that's it.<br />
<br />
Good news is, I'm pretty sure I've already gained some weight.<br />
<br />
Bad news is, I'm pretty sure it's all in my intestines, and once I stop doing the forced locust impersonation it'll all go away again. Oh well.j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-71813787125357122242011-09-21T05:07:00.000-04:002011-09-21T05:07:34.092-04:00Re-feeding Experiment ContinuesI figure I told you what I ate in San Pedro La Laguna, I might as well tell you the rest of my super-stuff-my-face Antigua Food Extravaganza.<br />
<br />
Hit the grocery store (hungry) and got veggies (kinda), garlic, 6 cans of soda, a bag of pasta and a couple random other things (I think...) for 60Q--1/3rd of that was soda. And 12Q for a pair of imported Avocados. I'm going to the *real* market next time... Sooo much cheaper.<br />
<br />
Then over to the bakery where I picked up about a yard of bread (strangely sweet but still good) and two choco muffins (total Q9.50)<br />
<br />
Then soaked tomatoes and potatoes, and scarfed down a huge sammich.<br />
<br />
I used half the bread, quarter of the stick of butter, some oil, and onion, a small tomato, half an avocado, mustard (the icky yellow stuff, wasn't paying 40Q for Dijon), a couple cloves of garlic, and three slices of cheese.<br />
<br />
Oh, plus juice from half a lime, salt, pepper. I think that was it.<br />
<br />
Then I nommed it. Followed by one of the choco muffins. And then the other, and a nap.<br />
<br />
Then got dragged out, where I had a rum and coke and bowl of popcorn.<br />
<br />
And for dinner, oodles (250g bag) of pasta w. onions, tomatoes, garlic, cheese, oil, etc. And another can of soda. Now I'm stuffed and it's bedtime. All this eating is tough work.j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-2706004823002933602011-09-20T05:16:00.000-04:002011-09-20T05:16:07.593-04:00A Re-Feeding EffortFinally managed to get a coin and a coin-operated scale in the same place at the same time on Sunday.<br />
<br />
The results are.. not pretty. Since February I've gone from about 136, give or take to a bit under 120. If I were 5'4 that wouldn't be so bad. If I'd lost fat instead of muscle, still not so bad.<br />
<br />
Instead, the only fat I seem to have lost is the fat where my boobs should be, which is how the world works, I guess. And so I'm about the same, mostly-boy shape I was in high school. And most of college. Which means I need to do two things.<br />
<br />
<br />
<ol><li>Regain a butt-ton of weight</li>
<li>Do some forking exercise so it isn't all fat.</li>
</ol><div>I started Sunday with the eating thing.</div><div><br />
</div><div>See, there's a reason I make potato chips a major part of my diet when I'm at home. They're easy, they're kinda cheap, they're a great chip-dip delivery system, and they're super calorie dense.</div><div><br />
</div><div>If they weren't also super expensive, they'd be part of my diet here, too. Instead, I need to find a different selection of calorie dense foods.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Which brings me to my problem. Nuts are calorie dense. So are avocados. And Cheese, butter, oil. For omnis, meat is packed with calories.</div><div><br />
</div><div>They're also all foods that cost more per pound. Potatoes are 20-80 cents per pound. Flour (even here where it's a "luxury") runs less than a dollar a pound. Same with onions, carrots, squash, pasta, rice, and (dry) beans.</div><div><br />
</div><div>To add calorie-dense foods to my diet means increasing my budget. But it also means my stomach can physically hold more calories. So I stocked up with some stuff that's sure to make me sick (mozzarella, american cheese, real butter) and started a heavy-duty re-feeding effort Sunday.</div><div><br />
</div><div>And can I just say... I'd forgotten how gross butter smells when it cooks. I hope it's gone off, but I don't think it did. It smells like... well, like gross. I think when I finish this stick (that cost more than a dollar, yes, really.) I'll switch to the fake stuff they use here. It can't possibly smell as bad. Right?</div><div><br />
</div><div>Anyway, I started Sunday with a bagel and cream cheese. You might have seen that. It was yummy. They put actual chunks of garlic in the garlic bagel. I should have picked up half a dozen. I still might.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Then I followed that with a trip to the bakery where I grabbed a choco muffin, a choco-almond muffin, and three torpedo rolls. Oh, and the first diet pepsi of the day.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Then I re-heated about a cup of black beans, fried up some onions in oil, and had yummy beans (with two slices of left over american cheese) scooped up with one of the rolls. Then off to the store for some more food.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Half a bag of Doritos and two rolls worth of open-faced grilled cheese/ veggie sammiches followed. With both fried and raw onion, mozz. cheese, american cheese, salt, pepper, fresh lime juice, butter, sliced tomato and mustard. I nommed them all with another soda.</div><div><br />
</div><div>And that was Sunday. Woke up Monday still full. Melted about 6 slices of cheese over the other half of the bag of Doritos. Tasty breakfast with a can of soda. Then another soda a couple hours later when I nommed my way through a 250g bag of pasta, 5 slices of cheese (both types), a tablespoon +/- of butter, some oil, salt, tomato... then a final soda to fill out the evening.</div><div><br />
</div><div>I'm a bit peckish right now, but it's forking late. Additional food will just have to wait.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Unfortunately, I doubt it's going to make much difference. There's only so much that I can fit into my stomach, and only so much time in a day I'm willing to spend cooking/eating/cleaning up/loafing about like a fat tick(dog, etc).</div><div><br />
</div><div>But for now, I'm making an attempt. I just don't know how long I can choke down that much cheese/grease. Srsly, it's kinda really gross. Guess I'll have to watch out for ripe avocados and fresh nuts. </div><div><br />
</div><div>And make more trips to that bakery, too. at 12 cents each +/- the rolls are a pretty good buy.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Just... Don't ask how much I spent on food Sunday. Cheese and butter drove the price up to a crazy point and I'm trying not to think about it.</div>j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-43187131941465449812011-09-16T20:51:00.000-04:002011-09-16T20:51:35.753-04:00Food Exhaustion In GuatemalaWhen I think of food, I think of many things. Not usually eating the same thing every single day.<br />
<br />
When I think of Mexico, the US, or even the rather odd grocery stores of NZ, I see, in my little -j. head, an insane variety of foods.<br />
<br />
When I step into the supermarket or open-air market here in Guatemala, though, I don't see any such thing.<br />
<br />
If I'm lucky, I see a bunch of packaged food (made with beef fat, yum). Then I cruise past some staples (flour, corn, cornmeal, corn tortillas, corn tortilla mix, oil). And the deli counter. And on (in the supermarket, anyway--in the open-air market I have to cruise past a variety of strange animals in various stages of life/death first) to the veggies.<br />
<br />
Right now, in Guatemala, the veggies, the ones that aren't refrigerated, anyway, are tomatoes, potatoes (imported and "nacional"), avocados from Mexico, white onions, garlic imported from China, the odd squash, a couple large but sad looking cabbages, and papaya or banana for fruit.<br />
<br />
Oh, and an odd purple/green leafy herb thing. Epazote, maybe? Dunno. Plus a couple sad looking jalapenos.<br />
<br />
In the cooler there are some summer squish, unripe tomatoes, greenbeans, corn (cheaper by the basket-load in the *real* market), and a couple other things.<br />
<br />
And that's it for veggies. There's some bread, a bunch of (really bad) wine, pasta, mac and cheese, and cleaning products. I think that pretty much finishes off the store.<br />
<br />
Oh, sorry, and a couple random spice racks with different brands of spices, a bunch of small fridges with dairy products in them, and those wire rolling basket thingies (big ones like they sell pillows out of back home) full of sugar and rice and beans in bags.<br />
<br />
And that's the grocery store. The market is about a dozen times more crazy, more likely to get pick-pocketed, and half the cost. But the same selection.<br />
<br />
So since leaving Lake Atitlan for Antigua, I've eaten potatoes. And pasta. And pizza made with refried beans instead of pasta sauce. And the odd bit of processed cheese. And pancakes.<br />
<br />
For flavor and nutrition I've had beans, garlic, onion, tomato and oil.<br />
<br />
You want to know 12 shiny new ways to use flour, onion, tomato, oil, salt, sugar, and beans? Give me a day, I'll write them down. But I'm running out of ideas. I actually bought *dried* black beans today, I'm so sick of what I've been eating.<br />
<br />
I dream in magical piles of food. Food my stomach misses. Food like pickles and saurkraut. Food like cheesey mashed potatoes. Food like basil and olives and vinegar.<br />
<br />
And Brussles sprouts. And vegan mayo. And taco seasoning. And vegetables that aren't tomato, onion, or potato.<br />
<br />
And, while in the peak of mango season I thought I could never eat another, now that mango season seems to be over, I'd kill for one of those tasty little monsters. Not the big round-ish green ones, no, the "sunrise" or "strawberry" types. Smaller, with softer sweeter flesh. Less grainy, not as stringy. Made of forking magic.<br />
<br />
Looks like I'll be making a run to Mexico anyway, huh?j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-21708881017535197052011-09-06T16:04:00.000-04:002011-09-06T16:04:39.920-04:00Still Lovin' The Antigua Hostel KitchenI've been challenging myself for the last week or so, to see if I can eat (moderately) well for a bit more than a dollar a day here. Shopping at the (expensive) grocery store, that hasn't been too challenging. Sure, I've needed a bit of imagination to come up with some stuff.<br />
<br />
But for the most part, I've been well, if repetitively, fed for the last week.<br />
<br />
I've nommed pancakes (just about every day) with failed simple syrup (it keeps crystallizing), "Mexican" stove-top pizza, and fast pasta with fresh-whatever.<br />
<br />
Today, I wandered down to the supermarket, knowing I had an almost-empty pantry and no caffeine waiting for me back at the hostel. I was hoping for the magic 4lb bag of potatoes for 6Q. Unfortunately, there were no magic bags this morning, so I picked up loose potatoes, instead.<br />
<br />
It is potato harvesting season down here, by the way. So the potatoes are fresh. Like, with very soft, almost see-through skin fresh. I picked up about a pound and a third, and I'll spread it over three meals. That, plus two good-sized onions, 4 medium Roma's, 2 small cans of black beans in tasty sauce, and 3 cans of soda cost me Q28.85, or a bit less than $3. Not a dollar a day, I'll be back tomorrow for some pasta to make eating more interesting.<br />
<br />
But it let me have something I've been dreaming of for a couple weeks, at least.<br />
<br />
Crispy, yummy, salty, greasy, fried potatoes. With a quarter of an onion for flavor, a can of beans for nutrition, and a diced tomato for nutrition and yumminess, it was just what I wanted.<br />
<br />
Sorry, no photo. I ate it too fast. Only three things could have made it better--<br />
<br />
<ol><li>Someone else to cook it for me</li>
<li>Garlic</li>
<li>Some melty, tasty, cheesy thing.</li>
</ol>Otherwise, it was perfect. Gonna have it again, just like this time, tomorrow for breakfast. Om-nom nom.j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-23046087131770493712011-08-29T17:22:00.000-04:002011-08-29T17:22:33.514-04:00Working With Strange EquipmentOr: How to <a href="http://www.amazon.com/MacGyver-Complete-Richard-Dean-Anderson/dp/B0006IUDXA?ie=UTF8&tag=iohm-20&link_code=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969" target="_blank">MacGyver</a><img alt="" border="0" height="1" src="http://www.assoc-amazon.com/e/ir?t=iohm-20&l=btl&camp=213689&creative=392969&o=1&a=B0006IUDXA" style="border: none !important; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important;" width="1" /> a Pizza<br />
<br />
So, I'm here in Antigua (the city in Guatemala, not the island chicks disappear from). And I'm in a hostel with a kitchen--you have no idea how happy I am about that.<br />
<br />
Heck, I've been to the grocery store every day since I got here.<br />
<br />
But, because it's not <i>my</i> kitchen, and because hostels don't always have everything you need, <i>and</i> because even supermarkets in Guatemala are a bit lacking in options... I've had to get inventive.<br />
<br />
I wanted a pizza, you see. Which means measuring out ingredients, mixing up dough, magicking up toppings, and eventually cooking the whole thing.<br />
<br />
Problems--<br />
<br />
<ul><li>No yeast--couldn't find it at the store, and even if I could it'd probably be both too big and too expensive.</li>
<li>No measuring cups, spoons, w/e</li>
<li>No oven rack</li>
<li>No fake cheese</li>
<li>No baking sheet.</li>
</ul><div>So what did I do? Well, I've been magicking up pancakes for days, and they've turned out (mostly) fine.</div><div><br />
</div><div>It starts easy--pizza dough without yeast is a quickbread. That means using baking powder. The basic recipe is:</div><div><ul><li>1 liquid ("milk" or water) for every</li>
<li>3 flour plus</li>
<li>1/2tsp baking powder</li>
<li>dash of salt</li>
<li>T +/- oil</li>
</ul><div>In my attempt I used 1C flour and 1/3C water.</div></div><div><br />
</div><div>But without measuring cups, how did I get that? Well, it's kinda old fashioned, but if you use a "cup" (in this case a small juice cup) or jelly jar, you'll be close to a cup. And if you use the same one for everything, keeping the ratios, you'll get something that works.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Anyway, dry stuff in a bowl, mix until the b. powder is everywhere, no clumps. Add wet, mix until you can't anymore, then kneed a couple minutes until it's smooth. Don't over kneed, though, or it'll get tough and stuff.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Set that aside for a couple minutes to relax, and use that time to chop up your toppings. I used (bagged) refried black beans, 1/4 an onion, fried, and a sliced roma tomato.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Once that's all ready, stretch out the dough--if you have something you can use to roll it, go for it, I just pushed mine flat-ish. You want it about the same size as the bottom of your frying pan. The pan goes on the stove, lowest heat you can manage (works really well over flame, might need a diffuser plate under the pan on an electric stove). Maybe a light spritz of oil or butter if you insist. Then the disk of dough goes in the hot-ish pan.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Cook it about 5 minutes, or until the "bottom" is lightly browned and cooked, then flip, pull off the heat, and add the toppings to what was the bottom. Once it's topped, cover the pan and put it back over the flame. You want to heat the toppings and cook the dough all the way through without burning it.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Southern-type cooks, and those who still make biscuits from scratch might recognize the recipe/method. With soured or buttermilk instead of water and some "butter" in the pan, you can make stove-top biscuits the same way.</div><div><br />
</div><div>Then you can nom away. Oh, and if you make the dough solid enough, or have something to balance it on for a while until it firms up, you can use the same dough/ method to make pizza on the BBQ, if you don't feel like waiting for a real rise.</div>j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-22313427439146777462011-08-23T05:56:00.000-04:002011-08-23T05:56:08.667-04:00My Love Affair With Lactose Ends NowEver since I landed in Mexico, waaaay back in February, I've been scarfing down cheese and other milky things like there's no tomorrow. Sometimes I get a pass on the cheese. Sometimes I get a pass on the ice cream. Sometimes I'm a total idiot and have hot chocolate and a cream-based soup.<br />
<br />
Those are not good times. Take yesterday, for example. It's been cold and rainy here (something about a tropical storm?), so I thought, "gee, I'd like something warm to drink while I wait for my food."<br />
<br />
My choices were coffee, fancy coffee, tea, or hot chocolate.<br />
<br />
Smart little monkey that I am, I picked the hot chocolate. Which they make with milk. Which my stomach, intestines, and all the random flora and fauna living therein are not super fond of.<br />
<br />
I then followed the hot chocolate of intestinal distress with cream of potato soup. Which was much, much more than my stomach was willing to put up with.<br />
<br />
This is the second time in two weeks that I've done this to myself. And I'm definitely doing it to myself--no one walks up and shoves the dairy down my throat.<br />
<br />
So I'm cutting back, big time, on the cheese, and getting rid of the liquid dairy entirely again. It's a waste of food and money to eat stuff that doesn't get digested. After all, there are starving children in Africa we can send it to, just like all those things I refused to eat as a kid.<br />
<br />
Now I just have to figure out how to get my calorie intake back up, without the super-calorie dense dairy.<br />
<br />
Thoughts, ideas, suggestions?j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7148735542162027173.post-28717541516255263772011-08-17T14:58:00.000-04:002011-08-17T14:58:10.381-04:00Food For A Week: San Pedro, Day 7--Plus PhotosI know, a couple days late, right?<br />
<br />
Anyway, on day 7 I had some cantaloupe (I think that's it--kinda orangy-peach?) and a cheese sammich the size of my head. Srsly, the bread was sliced about an inch thick (both slices), the cheese and tomato and onion and lettuce were similarly over-abundant.<br />
<br />
Oh, and another half a litre of coke.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg84XIZzTPLL90ee5ZCKxgnmf0uXyFRjPVazRLgz8-VDRrBNUZYBAsgUSEo1w9jyLglsSbU-RvUkkiYDOTXlLo2I-Sp15CbdhyYWOVkrYz-9qvygu3nKHeDILI5ea8p6J_aHip3_jby4ag/s1600/BFBrownie.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg84XIZzTPLL90ee5ZCKxgnmf0uXyFRjPVazRLgz8-VDRrBNUZYBAsgUSEo1w9jyLglsSbU-RvUkkiYDOTXlLo2I-Sp15CbdhyYWOVkrYz-9qvygu3nKHeDILI5ea8p6J_aHip3_jby4ag/s640/BFBrownie.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tasty Huge Brownie</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixgL70VPe3YSbyPku98UHwi0EZezvE9OguwAmIQqxj5HuCv8MoZMJ8g9oLPKj8Jzj8Sy4KMnOvzAQj_37u_o6JiOatdZgp4ZCQzTuE4gSXfC6VNg4-6iGjRwrMyNX6JJpFx3I-zuMHeGg/s1600/lactose+pasta.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixgL70VPe3YSbyPku98UHwi0EZezvE9OguwAmIQqxj5HuCv8MoZMJ8g9oLPKj8Jzj8Sy4KMnOvzAQj_37u_o6JiOatdZgp4ZCQzTuE4gSXfC6VNg4-6iGjRwrMyNX6JJpFx3I-zuMHeGg/s640/lactose+pasta.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Make Me Sick Pasta</td></tr>
</tbody></table>I thought I had pics of some of the other stuff, but I can't find it... Oh wellz.j.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05488121165040555447noreply@blogger.com3