food fight

if anything brings me running back to the u.s.. it will be food. i've never gave food much thought when i lived in the u.s., options were plentiful. i never had difficulties and i don't consider myself a picky eater.

or so i thought.

before moving to b.a. i was aware that this is 'beef country'. ok, so i don't eat beef, but it's a city of 3-5 million, i'll be fine!

or so i thought.

going to restaurants is limiting.
typically there are only 1 or maybe 2 things on the menu that i find appealing. i'm so tired of the pizza here .......(tastes like tombstone frozen pizza in the states), i'm tired of the empanadas.......(which i lived on for the first 3 months here, so now i can't hardly look at them), i'm tired of the pasta (with noooooo flavor or spice or a slight kick. it's just bland snooze-of-a-kind pasta). what is left on the menu? 20 different ham and cheese sandwiches and 10 different milanesas (breaded thin strips of beef or chicken) with a stale-ish roll and iceberg lettuce.

grocery store hunt
before going food shopping i first must know what i can and can't buy. when looking at recipes this is a challenge. last week i wanted to make a mexican lime soup. just two weeks previous i made it and loved it, but last week there was a lime shortage. Shortage?! yes, no store or vegetable stand in my neighborhood had limes. So, even the grocery store is a challenge.

on-the-go food
on-the-go food, besides mcdonalds and burger king doesn't exist. ok, i'm fine with that (because i don't eat fast food). but quick food...ok, i guess it's similar, but it also doesn't exist either. ok ok, hot dogs, but it's not an option for me. empanadas would be the closest thing...but i over-ate them to the verge of dislike. there is a small place that serves falafel sandwiches which are so so good. i just need to go there more often.

what do i want?
organic, or already thought out healthy food. food with spice, with a kick. full of flavor. variety. something new, something more interesting than the 'regular everyday' food (pasta pizza empanadas)

the good part of all of this? (i'm trying to see the good in a bad situation)
if i would return to the u.s.. i won't take what we have for granted. it will be much much easier to prepare food in the u.s. and overall it's making me more resourceful and clever in the kitchen.

side note story:
before my chef of a roommate left for the u.s. she wanted to weigh her luggage to make sure she was under 32 kilos (50lbs). she didn't want to step on the scale because she felt that she gained weight. i told her i had no qualms with the scale. after all i surely lost weight by being here.

so, the scale registered and then i picked up her bags to weigh them. out of curiosity i asked her to calculate my kilos into pounds. i was shocked.....that i was of normal weight. not up...not down, but the norm for me.

so, when i hugged her good-bye, i thanked her for the extra pounds. (really...sincerely...honestly)