Desayuno: yogurt de cabra con fresas

Usually in the States I eat the same breakfast: cereal. It is fast, it is simple, and it is yummy. However, here in Xela we lack the variety of cereals I am used to. Thus after my first box of generic Guatemalan corn flakes, I decided to move on to greener pastures. Since I have to be at the bus stop by 8am, I'm not willing to wake up early enough to prepare something that takes work. While buying tomatoes at the market a woman convinced me to buy some strawberries (I'm not a hard sell when it comes to food). I had gone the day before the Bake Shop which is a Mennonite owned bakery where they sell doughnuts, cookies, bread, cheese and yogurt. I love doughnuts. But I figured I should try to be healthy too so I bought some yogurt. I had never tried goat yogurt, so I was excited to see it on the shelf despite the fact that it was double the price of normal yogurt. I also stole some knockoff grapenuts from my roommate. !

Delicious, healthy, and beautiful!!!

El Dia De La Pupusa

Sarah, Erika, and I have been on a crazy pupusa kick lately. Pupusas are a food from El Savador which are basically corn tortillas stuffed with cheese, beans, chicharron, and/or loroco (a flower bud). They are made fresh and heated on a grill with a minimal amount of oil. I first fell in love with them in San Salvador where they sell them on the streets and in pupuserias and returned to Xela where I now regularly frequent the pupusa stand in Parque Central (which is greasier and yummier) and the Pupuseria (which Erika and Sarah prefer). It is accompanied by a cabbage salad called curtido and a simple tomato sauce.

Last Saturday I woke up and had the normal craving for a pupusa. Since I didn't have class to teach nor to take I decided to make pupusas. However, since it was early in the morning I didn't want salty so I decided to make a full day of it and make breakfast pupusas in the morning and regular pupusas in the evening. I was quite excited.

The recipe for the dough is simple:

2 cups harina de maiz
1 cup water ( I ended up using a lot more than this but this is what the recipe calls for)

Just mix it together adding water till it is moist and doesn't crack when you form a pancake. Form it into a ball and then make a indentation in the middle so it there is equal room all around and it is thin on the bottom of the ball. Fill with your choice of food. Roll it back up into a ball and try not to allow the filling escape. Flatten it into a pancake.



I started off with mashed bananas, peanut butter, and honey.



The first batch was a bit too thick and dry. Nonetheless, with enough honey it was a good start to the rest of my pupusa day.



After our hearty breakfast we took our weekly trip to Minerva to sift through the Pacas (loads of used clothes from the States for insanely cheap prices). Coming home with the prize of a new dress for 3 quetzales (about 40 cents), I was ready for my second helping of pupusas.

I started off making the curtido:

1/2 head of green cabbage
1/3 cup of vinegar
2 tsp dried oregano
1/2 medium size white onion

I adapted it from a few recipes I found online. Here is one example:

http://www.whats4eats.com/salads/curtido-recipe

Next I made the tomato sauce. All of the sauce I've had with pupusas seem like a simple puree of peeled tomatoes with salt. The recipe I found was a bit more complex and I love these flavors so I did fancy it up a bit:

http://www.whats4eats.com/sauces/salsa-roja-recipe

In all of the pupusas I put cheese and refried beans, the tradition way. I had 3 types of cheese:a queso fresco I bought in the market, shredded mozzarella, and a crumbly drier cheese from the coast. None of the cheese melted enough for my taste, but they were still delicious. I experimented with different amounts of oil in the pan (I used olive oil, but they usually use vegetable oil) and I personally like the greasy papusas. They were still a little dry for my taste and I wished it had more filling. Although I had a great day, I think I'll stick to Parque Central for my pupusa needs in the future.

Buen provecho!

Curry Tofu & Rice

I just so happened to have the afternoon free last Thursdays and both my roommates were around so we decided to cook together. After chatting for a while we decided to try out some sort of potato curry dish. Then I realized we had leftover tofu we needed to use. I quickly learned my Dutch roommate, Sus, had never had tofu before! So, obviously we needed to amend our plans in order take Sus's tofu virginity. I went about searching my favorite food blogs and stumbled upon a perfect recipe to combine our curry idea with tofu. Check out the recipe:

http://www.101cookbooks.com/archives/cashew-curry-recipe.html

It happens to have curry, coconut, and tofu! I had to change it a little bit since we didn't have all the ingredients. Instead of coconut milk I ran across the street to get a fresh coconut and we used the coconut water. Usually you can find little boys selling bags of nuts around but we lacked the cashews as well. We exchanged cauliflower for broccoli which we all preferred . The tofu was from a vegetarian restaurant and was very firm and absorbed lots of flavor. It was a tasty dish in all, but because we used coconut water instead of coconut milk it was definitely missing a creaminess. I had some natural yogurt from a local place called Xelac which helped. It was interesting dish in all but I wouldn't make it again without the coconut milk.

Mi Almuerzo: Tacos de Desayuno

Hola amigos! I have officially completed my first week of volunteering! I'm volunteering as a health educator at Primeros Pasos, a health clinic in a Pueblo close to Xela, and taking classes in the afternoon. It allows me to have about an hour to buy food on the way home, prepare it, and eat it. Monday, after my first work day, I felt like breakfast tacos (actually they wouldn't be called breakfast tacos since eggs are eaten at all times of the day here...but anyways). So on my way home I stopped at a little tienda that sold eggs and tortillas, then grabbed some tomatoes and avocados at the market next to my apartment.


I started off with the beans. I diced some onion and garlic in oil for a few before I added red peppers then the canned black beans. While that was cooking I scooped out some avocado and simply added some salt. When the beans were done I scrambled a few eggs up in the same pan and then put it all together with some green onion and shredded mozz cheese.





Nothing too special or unique, but a meal that I think will be typical of my quick lunch breaks. Still very local, fresh, and healthy. How lucky am I!

Mi Primera Cena en Mi Casa

One of the things I missed most when I was living with a host family was being able to cook. If you know anything about me, you know I love food and I love to cook. My long stretch of unemployment allowed me to experiment and cook often. I'm very excited to have my own kitchen where I can get back to my love of cooking. I'm lucky that my apartment is across the street from a fresh fruit and vegetable market. So I can get fresh and local produce right at my doorstep!

My roommate, Erika, and I decided to have a dinner party for our friends. We decided on an Asian dish. So we went to el mercado Democracia and bought all of our supplies. Chow mien is very popular here so that was easy to find. There are a few veggie restaurants where you can buy tofu so we bought some nice, firm tofu. Then the veggies: red peppers, green onions, garlic, snow peas, broccoli, y jalapeños. For dessert red bananas, fresh pineapple, y mandarins with honey.

Raw ingredients

Mandarins
Red bananas
Snow peas
red peppers
jalapeños
broccoli
chow mein
sesame seeds






We had a great time eating, drinking, laughing, and speaking Spanglish. Thanks to mi Sarita who made delicious guacamole!!!!!

Regreso

Hola amigos! Lo siento por mi ausencia. I'm sorry for my absence. I have now been in Central America for 4 months and have not written a thing on my blog. I have two more months left before I return and I hope to actually use this time to blog a little about my experiences here in Guatemala. I have just returned from a two week trip to the states and want to start off on a new foot. I think the right one. I am in a new apartment, will be starting volunteering, take some private Spanish lessons, cooking local food, and planning for the future. Welcome back and I hope to see you here more often :)

Xela

HOLA!!!! I arrived in Guatemala City very early. A representative of the school picked me up and took me to the bus station. He helped me buy my ticket and I was off to Xela. The ride was crazy up and up and up without any stop. I tried to look out the window at the beautiful green mountains, but my head kept falling down into sleep and going around and around the mountain. My host family came to pick me up and I settled in soon after. I live with a my host mom, who I speak with the most, Shelby age 15, Costa (su perro)....and a 19 year old boy who sometimes lives there....a father of some sort....and sometimes my host mom's daughter and her son.

I'm having a good time. I've made some friends and am learning a lot. I even started thinking in Spanish sometimes. I wish I had more time to post pictures and tell you all about my experiences so far. I leave tomorrow for a trip to Samuc Champey and Tikal for about a week. After that I will post many pictures and stories! Until then......

I miss you all :P