There are some perks to living in Mexico, especially if you get excited about things like fresh produce. Sam and I have always been health conscience, but this year I really went all out crunchy granola with our food. We were traveling and we didn't always have control over what we ate, but when we did it was 2/3 raw, green smoothie, all natural sins sugar and white flour. We just couldn't afford to be sick, and Sam's cholesterol had gotten a little out of control, just to name a few reasons I'm so weird about food. I don't want to live forever, but I do want the time I do live to be able to do all I can for God. So naturally finding good food sources was a high priority here in Mexico and I am always budget minded. Sunday was one of my first opportunities to get out a really look around. Sunday is the big market day for Jerez. I can't believe all the healthy things I can feed my family for a fraction of the cost I would pay in the States! Hence the title The Extraordinary Becomes Ordinary.
Can you believe I paid less than $5.50 for the entire 35 lb bag of oranges? Fresh squeezed OJ never happened in the States. Sometimes I would make a little fresh OJ then mix it with carrot or some other juice, but never fresh squeezed OJ by itself. It taste amazing. I want to find an orange press at a consignment store maybe, because a few more 35 lb bags and I have a feeling our little electric citrus juicer will give up the ghost.
Sam was first introduced to tamarind when he was doing his predeployment training in Puerto Rico. He sent us a package with some. We have found them in the States, but here they are at every store. They are chewy, sour, and sweet. A little like sour gummy bears without sugar and artificial colors, but with vitamins instead.
Guayabas are another local fruit that we all enjoy, although the Benedict's have a different opinion. It taste something like a cross between a kiwi and a cantaloupe....maybe. And today the kids had coconut for a snack. I haven't been able to find young coconut yet. I was told by friends down in Chiapas that it's seasonal, so I would imagine it's seasonal here also. I'm keeping a look out.
Avocados are the other thing I'm really excited about. I paid less than $2 for over 2 lbs at the market. In the States, I was happy if I got 3 avocados for that price. They are so good for you and now I don't have to ration them as much!
We also had are first experience cooking nopales (cactus) out at the children's home last week. It turned out really well, if I do say so myself. It was Bro. Steve's recipe and he called it Prickly Pork...too fun. The children's home is actually surrounded by a Nopales farm and later this year they will bear tasty fruit called Tunas, which an adventure, but I'll save that for another blog. Maybe I should have titled this blog, Everyday Exotic.
I think I will be able to get back to my food log. So today we had green smoothie for breakfast, about a cup each. It had 5 stalks celery juiced ,1/3 coconut oil (a tbsp for each person), 2 cups homemade Kefir (that's another blog), plenty of spinach (at least 7 cups), and 4 1/2 bananas. It turned out really yummy. We had watermelon and a boiled egg throughout the morning. Lunch was a big salad with avocado :), nuts, flax seed, a few olives and olive oil and vinegar. I added a little red onion today and expected rioting, but the only one who said anything was Hannah. We had coconut and a good handful of nuts and pumpkin seeds for snacks this afternoon. For dinner we are having Paco's Fish Tacos in Lettuce Wraps with quinoa. Yummo! It's a Rachel Ray recipe. You can find it here. Quinoa is a Latin American grain that is very high in protein, but I haven't seen it here yet. I brought some I had from the States. I'll miss it when it's gone. :)
Oh and Sam made homemade ice cream, so I'm sure we will all have a bowl of that in a little while. I consider homemade ice cream a health snack in moderation, especially when it's made with raw milk. We haven't tracked down a milk farmer yet, but I know there are raw milk sources.
I feel like a Laura Ingalls Wilder's book. Not sure if you've read those in awhile, but a good portion of her writing is about food. How they grew it, scavenged, or hunted for it and how they prepared it. I think it was because it was so hard to come by. So thankful that is not the case for us.
Provecho!
you need to post more about what you are eating. I'd love to move the family to a more RAW diet but I'm not sure how with the limited space and resources.
ReplyDeleteIt actually works great with a limited space, because you don't have to use the oven or stove. We just eat raw all day then, eat something from the crock pot when we were living in the RV. Ventured from the crock pot a little know that I have the room and I love to cook, but I still use it ALL the time. A good blender is the big thing, we have blendtec. Regular blenders were not made to be used for breakfast EVERY morning. LOL!
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