I have one pot of coals on which to put a pot or pan (but can heat one thing and put it to the side while I heat something else), some cooking spoons, knives, and a rolling pin.
While I can probably find some other things in an american grocery store, the foods that are sold everywhere (ie should make up most of my meal) are potatoes, rice, flour, millet, spaghetti, bananas, green plantains (does that mean they are not ripe? We make matoke out of them), beans, peas, peanuts, tomatoes, carrots, avocados, onions, milk, eggs, bread, all tropical fruits, yogurt, cheese (not common but I know where I can get some), fat (I think this is actually margarine, but that is what they call it), chili powder, and lots and lots of sunflower seed oil.
I am definitely going to make guacamole because the avocados here are the best, biggest, AND cheapest I've ever had.
I would like to make something with cheese (I know a store that has some), as it came out tonight that my host mom doesn't even know what cheese is, and my host dad has only had it like twice in his life. I'm worried about having anything that has cheese though (eg mac and cheese) because I don't know if cheese is something that everyone likes if they didn't grow up with it... Also, if you've never had cheese for like 45 years can you digest it? They do have milk, yogurt, and ice cream... Thoughts?
Ooh. And also, after a brief stint as an omnivore, I reverted back to my vegetarian ways. Lemme tell ya, there's nothing quite like seeing live chickens in cages at the market, giant slabs of raw meet hanging on hooks at the butchers kiosk, and baby goats wandering around your yard to make you swear off meat forever. And that's not even why I was a vegetarian in the first place!
I'm not such a pro at the cooking thing, so any help would be greatly appreciated. When I told my host dad that I didn't know how to cook very well, he just looked at me kind of confused and asked "but how will you be able to feed your husband?" I had a tough time deciding whether it would be more socially acceptable to say that I planned on my husband doing as much cooking as me or to explain the idea of takeout... Haha
Anyone who contributes gets a giant hug from me when I get back (you'll probably get one anyways even if you don't contribute, but humor me.) Anyways, thanks in advance for the advice!!
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ok, I am pretty sure I am not the best to be giving you cooking advice...however, why should that stop me? one thing I do know is whenever I went backpacking, you had exactly the same situation and the one thing I learned very quickly is the art of the one pot meal...so cook the veggies first (onions, tomatoes, etc)--with a bit of oil or butter so they get brown and your spices), then add your rice or millet with the right amount of water, spices, a bit of cheese (for flavor but not enough to shock someone who has never eaten it) and let it all cook in the same pot until ready; serve your amazing guacamole on the side..trying to do anything more, with taking pots off and on, and messing with where you put everything seems like a possible disaster! you do not want to give your host dad any more ammunition to worry about your future as a wife and mother!
ReplyDeleteAnne
is there bread? or like pita or something similar? make some grilled cheese! or stir fry with pasta and veggies (and maybe some cheese and tofu or beans or something)
ReplyDeleteI am thinking some kind of soup--do they have broccoli? with broccoli, onions, potatoes, milk and cheese you could make some pretty good broccoli and cheese soup--served with bread and guacamole, it would be a meal. It also seems to me that you have the makings for vegetarian chili. What kind of beans? I assume you can get garlic. Would you like a recipe for one or the other of these?
ReplyDeleteI am not worried about cooking for your husband--by then you'll have the "Mom's Best Recipes" cook book!
hugs
Mom