"What Do You Eat?"

We have received this question so many times, and as promised, I'll answer it here. Fortunately, because we both work *very* full time jobs, we have a sweet gal who comes to help us prepare food three mornings/week. Sarah bleaches all our fruits and vegetables, keeps us stocked with homemade English muffins, tortillas, and other yummies. (She also spoils Jon with chocolate chip cookies. But since we are about out of chocolate chips-can't find them here-he'll be out of luck soon.) Jollof rice is our staple. It is made with stewed tomatoes, peppers, carrots, beans or peas, spices, a hint of lemon and rice, of course. Kinda like a cross between fried rice and Mexican rice.



There are many things available here that we just haven't tried-for various reasons. We haven't had bush meat (that we know of) yet. (Photo is of two bush meat sellers-tails still intact on cut up meat! Lovely!) Don't care for tongue. Termites haven't been part of our diet, but have seen them eaten. Dried fish makes me nauseated to pass by it, much less eat it. I have eaten a few pieces of meat that I KNOW was something strange. Didn't ask, ate to not offend. Didn't ask for seconds, tho. I love walking through the meat market. Such a wild place. Active butchering on the spot, not a clean spot, but right in front of you. Chickens sold live. Wild, I tell you, wild place, but so fun to watch. (I think Naomi and I are the only ones in the family that would choose to spend a Saturday watching the butchering.)

Fruits and vegetables are readily available here. We have an abundance of lettuce, tomatoes, cabbage, carrots, and cucumbers. Fruit is seasonal, but we can always get bananas, plantains, oranges, watermelons, pineapples, and pawpaws (better known as papaya in the states-Naomi's favorite!) The trees in our own yard give us mangos, mandarin oranges, grapefruit, avacado, and tangerines. Apples are very expensive. We are learning to make smoothies and enjoy them for breakfast on the run.

We buy many eggs each week from our neighbor. They are very fresh (and still a bit dirty), but we don't even put them in the fridge. They are not the pure yellow yoked ones we had in the states. The eggs here have a pinkish tint to them.

We make our own yogurt and use it for sour cream, frozen yogurt, Ranch dressing, etc. We make our own syrup. We buy handpounded peanut butter (but the girls have LOVED the peanut butter sent to us!)

Although eggs are readily available, chickens are very expensive. We pay $15-20 for one chicken and by the time it is plucked and cooked, there isn't a ton of meat. We rarely splurge anymore for chicken. Just too expensive.

Beef is also expensive. We tend to stick with soups, salads, veggies for meals. For lunches, unless we pack, there are two options available at the huts outside: pototoes and suya. Suya is beef grilled on a stick, usually served with sliced onions. Potatoes are peeled, sliced and deep fried in oil. Nice. I will often opt for potatoes if I didn't bring lunch. They are cheap and filling. I have packs of ketchup I take along to make them "healthier"-HA! If we pack lunches, it is almost always peanut butter and jelly, left overs, veggies and Ranch dip, or some Endomie (Ramen noodles).

Someone sent us a few packets of Bear Creek (I think this is the name) soup mix. Oh, my....these are SO good, especially the broccoli and cheddar one! We have really enjoyed these type of mixes to be able to throw together after a long day at school. Each time we use one, we are ever so grateful for the person who sent it and we think if how easy food prep is in the states. Fast meal prep isn't available here, or it is SO expensive. For example, cold cereal (such as Rice Krispies) runs anywhere from $12-20/box. Cake mix is about $9-15/box. Crazy import prices.

So, much of our food is similar to what we were used and we are experimenting with some new revised recipe each week. We do miss Doritos, a good steak, Oreos, ice cream, crackers, bacon, chocolate chips, etc. However, we love the availability of fruits and veggies. (As you can see, we miss some quite unhealthy foods!)

Hope this gives you an idea of what we have here to eat. We have much more than we thought we would. We are thankful for the blessings of abundance of many things. I promise, if you come to visit us, we will feed you well. And no termites for a snack unless you order them!