The Extraordinary Becomes Ordinary

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!