Hey all!
Right now it’s 5:55 (1 hour til bedtime, but who’s counting?) and I just ate “dinner”. Dinner is in quotations marks because ever since I’ve moved on my own my eating habits have been…poor. I usually get around to eating three times a day, so that’s not the problem. The problem lies with what I’m eating. I usually go to the grocery store and spend anywhere from $50-70 every two weeks on food, which is a HUGE chunk of my living allowance. Usually I buy comfort foods like peanut butter, Doritos, mashed potatoes, Ragu spaghetti sauce, etc. which cost me an arm and a leg. Ok, so I usually go into the store with a list and I try my best to stick to it. Then I get home and realize that most of what I purchased doesn’t really combine nicely into meals. Yes, I’m usually able to make some kind of soup and then there’s always spaghetti (I’ve already had it 4 times this week), but besides these dishes I’m usually stuck, staring into my fridge wondering what the heck to do with these items.
So dinner tonight was butter and herbs mashed potatoes. This box of potatoes (breakfast and dinner) and a can of sweet kernel corn (lunch) were the only things left in my fridge that I could eat. There’s a bag of pasta that I could’ve boiled, but I woke up this morning and found that the pasta sauce had molded…lol. Back to the potatoes…while reading the instructions I realized that I lacked half of the ingredients needed to make them. I had the water and the pouch of potatoes and seasoning but I didn’t have the milk or the butter (why I needed butter when the box clearly stated that real Land o’ Lakes butter was already mixed in is beyond me). Facing starvation (yup I’m dramatic) I decided that the potatoes would be just as good with only water. Oh my dear friends and family I was SO wrong! These potatoes tasted like warm grass. I ate as much as I could stomach and fed the rest (not much because I WAS really hungry) to the dog that has decided to live with me.
I wish I could tell you guys that this doesn’t happen very often but the sad truth is that my life has become filled with meals that sometimes even the dog won’t eat. This brings me to my latest culinary disaster. During my recent trip to the store I decided to buy soy protein. Why? Because it comes in a bag and I don’t have to worry about putting it in the fridge until after I cook it and because it’s loaded with folic acid and protein…two things I’m sure I could use more of. I was really excited about cooking for the first time, but when I opened the bag and saw the little pebbles I couldn’t help but to think of dog food. It even SMELLED like dog food. Anyways…I decided to give it a chance, after all it did cost me a whopping $0.50 a bag (foolishly I bought 2 bags). I make a soup and put the soy protein in the soup after I had seasoned it and stir fried it. That soup was the worst thing that I’ve ever made IN MY LIFE, mainly because it wasn’t REALLY a soup…more like scalding water with chunks of soy protein, bell peppers and onions. I really did have more veggies but somehow my knife disappeared and I couldn’t cut them up. I ended up ripping up the bell pepper with my hands and I just put the whole onion in the pot. It was so pathetic yet hilarious. I’m not one to waste food so I had to eat every drop of it. The texture of the soy protein made me gag…and I still have another bag waiting to be consumed. After that I made spaghetti and tried to roll the soy protein in to little meatballs, which didn’t work. I gave up and fried it and smothered it with garlic, black pepper and curry. Mixed with the spaghetti and sauce the soy protein was HALF bad…you just had to swallow it down really fast without chewing. I’m relieved to say that it’s all gone and I will never buy it again.
This weekend I’m going shopping again and I will make sure to buy things that I can turn into meals. Also, my friend Lindsey is coming to visit my site. Her best friend is visiting from the States and they’re gonna come hang out with me at my beach. Should be fun….hopefully my water will be running. Three girls, one bathroom, and no water? DIOS GUARDE! Love you all! Pray without ceasing and take good care!
Salu,
Mya
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Lol nena... That sounds AWFUL! When you don't eat things that are good and give you the stamina you need to feel good, you feel like crap. Trust me, I'm saying this from experience. Recent and ongoing experience lol. Yes, please try to do better grocery shopping, I don't want you coming home weak and pissed off because you didn't eat well. Do you buy meat? What are you working with? Maybe I can find some recipes for you that use what you have available.
ReplyDeleteOh Mya....! Do you need a cook book? lol, and as Keisha asked, do you ever buy any meat? That would help the nutritional value of your meals go up a lot...
ReplyDeleteLet us know how we could help! 2 more years is too long for you to keep eating like this - we won't recognize you when you come back.
Hi, we don't know each other but I stalk Peace Corps blogs while awaiting my nomination ;-)
ReplyDeleteTVP can be really yummy, just needs a little extra loving. First thing it needs is rehydration - just put it in twice as much water and let it sit for a few minutes (1/4 cup TVP and 1/2 cup water, less if it's humid out). While it's rehydrating, sautee some onions and garlic, then dump TVP and continue frying up, with spices as your palate pleases. When it starts browning, you can then use as you would ground meat, or, my favorite, add tomato paste (or sauce, or fresh tomatoes, or any form of tomato you have on hand) and presto - 'meat' sauce for spaghetti, taco filling, lasagna filling, sloppy joes or whatever you desire.
Oh, and don't forget the salt!
Good thing to remember when you're working with soy protein (TVP) is that it's flavorless on its own and will take on the flavor of whatever you cook it with... also, it's dehydrated, so it needs much more liquid than you'd think. If you do develop the taste for it, don't even think about snacking on it dry - aside from tiny little chunks, it comes in larger chunks and patties which are pretty snackable... but will destroy your stomach and dehydrate you beyond belief!
Good luck!
Thanks ladies for the advice! I will be sure to buy more meat and I MIGHT, just might, give soy protein another chance! I will do a lot better :)
ReplyDeleteHmm . . .you need to remember the triangle. . . you need meat or soy or beans to give you protein. Add garlic mash potatos for yumminess. Add sweet corn or whatever vegetable you have. And Viola! a meal. . . You can't just live off of one thing at a time. I will look up some recipes. Oh when buying meat down there always go for the chicken. Its the least likely to make you sick. And remember don't eat the peels of the vegatables ) like tomatoes and what not there are parasites!
ReplyDeletemmmm parasites...it's been so long since I've felt them crawling inside of my GI tract...LOL
ReplyDelete