My week.

I started working , and I now realise how hard it is to make your own food to take to work, mostly because you get home from work and all you want to do is take your shoes off and watch TV. So I have this problem, I want to eat well at work, not bread/sandwiches everyday. I want fruits, grains, and everything you're supposed to eat to be healthy and stay well for as long as I can.

For a long time I worked at a hotel, where everyday, food was served, it wasn't the best quality food, but it was ok. Now, I do not have that. I have either to bring my food with me, go out eating, or just simply eat bread everyday. So I decided this:

Monday.

This will be "Bring your food to work" day. Sunday night, I'll cook something nice, like chicken,or meat, with rice and spices or something tasty I can make at work.

Tuesday.

On Tuesdays I figure it'll be nice to be "Go out to eat" day. Probably I'll end up eating at a naturist place, or just sushi, It doesn't matter, I'll just have to pick! =)

Wednesday.

This is a busy day at work, they call every 5 minutes, so I can't really go out, and I don't like to eat in front of the computer, so this day will be "Have a BIG breakfast in the morning, so you won't get hungry for the whole day" day. I imagine myself having scrambled eggs with fruits, cereal, cheese, everything is valid. And at the end of work, I can go home and eat nice things.

Thursday.

Hard day, 'cause I can't think what else I can do...
Ok, I'll do this, in the morning, I'll bring a fruit (apples, pears, kiwis.. fruits), nuts and cereal. Plus, I'll have breakfast at home. That way I can have snacks, and when I go home, I'll eat a nice meal, with fish! Yes, this is the "Fish" day!!!

Friday.

It's friday, friday.. Ok, no. Well yes it's friday. And as such I think a nice thing to do is start with a nice breakfast at home, come to work, have a sandwich and at the end of my shift, go out eat with my boyfriend.

Yes, I think this is a nice plan.

Tell me, what do you think?

Grocery Lists (or fast food part II)

Ok.. I've been reading some nice food blogs and realized something: Every single one has at least one post about their grocery lists.

"You are what you eat"

My mom always told me that when I asked her why we wouldn't go eat out like the other families I knew (or know). If I could go back in time, I probably would stop Ray Kroc, you know who he is, right? He made Mcdonald's a franchise. Why? just because it's food is so damn addictive! That's because of the sugar, the body uses sugar to work, but when it is in everything you eat (as you actually are doing in Mc donald's) your body keeps asking for more and more. So.. you probably started as a little kid eating just the Happy Meal, right? A tiny hamburger, tiny fries, and let's face it... You didn't want to go there for the food... You just LOOOOVED the toy inside and the playzone, right? And your mom and dad had to stay there for hours until you got tired and take you home.

Well... Mom, THANK YOU SO MUCH. There. She saved me from a lifetime of junk food, giving me fruits instead of candy, making food at home... Even my school lunches were made by this AMAZING woman. She woke up at 4:30 every school day to have everything ready for my sisters and me to take to school. Scons, muffins, sandwiches, pizzas (homemade style), cookies, you name it, I took it to school... And I hated it.

And so on... I grew up, confident and sure that my mom was doing wrong... Until I went to college, and learned to eat junk food for every meal for 2 or 3 years. Man... I grew! I started to understand my mother, and my body did too. So I went back to my roots, I buy everything I can from farmers markets, make my own food, with plenty vegetables. So this is how I ended up having this grocery list: (yes, sorry, I use Metric system)

4 Red apples
4 Pears
1 kg green grapes without seeds.
1 kg strawberry
300 gr mushrooms
500 gr potatoes
6 Oranges
1 Lettuce (sometimes roman, and depends on which is fresher)
1 kg of rice
1 kg of flour
4 Milk packs (around 4 gallons)
Pasta
Oregano
1 Garlic
1 Avocado

And that's my grocery list... Or at least, the grocery list I use the most.

We are what we eat. What do you think about that?

Fast Food!

Ok.. So, it's been a while, and I'm working on this special section about chilean food, It's not easy to write about what you just met and hardly know.

So, I won't talk about the chilean food for now, but i will talk about food that most chileans seem to love...
They call them "Completos" (complete, full... I don't quite get how to translate that in the right way.. that make justice for the whole meaning at least) or hot dogs. What's wrong about that?,  you might ask.

I think these are terrible hot dogs, and I should know about that, I love hot dogs!
What's wrong with them, ok, let's see.

In Chile, they put a bun with the sausage (of course) on top of that they put dice sliced tomatoes with a pinch of salt, over that they add smashed avocado and they cover the hole thing with home made mayo. Sounds interesting, right? I said the same thing and i was terribly wrong!

The whole deal of eating a hot dog is get to taste the sausage and everything else is just added to increase the flavor, right? Not in here. I guess they don´t like the sausages, or at least the one's I were used to try. Wanna see one? Courtesy of this guy...

Do they look atractive? Really?
It does?
Hmmm... maybe I'm wrong...
I guess that when you get used to all the publicity telling you to buy food, and food, "5 cents more and you get 50% more" and stuff like that, this kind of food actually speaks to you.

I'm a Mcdonald's generation. I grew up in a little town, in middle of nowhere, surrounded by shallow friends, that were pretty sure that the top of the top was going to eat at those franchises that were at least 2 hours away from home. So, imagine all those kids when the first (and I belive still is the only) Mcdonald's arrived... Total Madness!!! It soon became the hot spot. The oasis in the middle of the desert, everyone HAD to go there in order to be SOMEONE. Silly highschool, now it's kind of funny. I remember myself begging my mom to take me there, so I could get maybe a big mac, perhaps just a sunday. Instead, my mom took my sisters and me to this tiny family place, where the pizza was awesome (and authentic Italian). She took us to eat out only when there were a special date, if we got good grades, and so on. Thanks mom! You are the best!

Maybe that's why I don't really like those incredibly full of calories stuff, plastic flavors and all... Maybe that's why I'm so obsessed with food, maybe that's why I'll marry a chef, I don't know. All I know is: Fast food is bad for you. Please, if you have to eat something, and you are short with money or something like that, think twice before going into a place like that... you are not getting what you think you are... and this guy actually shows that up in his website.

So.. i have no idea why I made this post, But I guess I'm just tired of all the junk food...

Take care and Thanks for reading!

Farmers Market

Have you ever been at a market in an unknown city? Every time I visit a city, I end up in a market. My dad always says: She loved the market since she was lost in one at age of 3. And he's right. I were lost at a market, when I were just three years old. I was with my dad, and I can only imagine now how desperate he was that time. The thing is, I was lost, and there were this guy that had a little place, and he was selling potatoes, as people tells me. He saw me lost, and asked me (and this I remember) Are you lost?. I looked up and nodded. He then grabbed me and he said: Well... Lets wait until your father comes. I was crying. I knew that something were wrong. Eventually my dad found me, of course, I were all dirty after playing with potatoes for about an hour or two. He thank the guy and took me home. I can remember this, I don't know why. But I belive that this made me love the big farmers markets. 

When I went to Barcelona, I went to the market, and I took the picture that this blog displays. In Chile, It took me almost a month, but i eventually did it. I went to this BIG farmers market. Ate a lot of things that day and bought a lot of fruits home. And that day ended up quite nicely. With this guy. Yes, I know. But he's super cool, and took me to the best date ever. Market, movies, walking around the city, a lot of food I didn't knew. Cool thing is: we are both from Venezuela, and he ended up finding eachother in another country. Isn't that just perfect?

Thanks for reading!

Chile!

Hey people! I know it's been a while, and trust me, I know!

I recently moved to another country, so I've been eating new things everyday, and I'm impressed 'cause I still can't drink water... Not like they do =(....

Well.. It was quite a trip... That I Called Trip of Hell...

Have you ever been in a middle of a nightmare trip, just to realice that that thing you ate just kicks your stomach to make you dizzy and make you go to the bathroom any chance you got?

I went Saturday to the airport, to take a plane that was supposed to take me to Santiago de Chile. I just couldn’t figure out that the drinks that the girls gave me were going to make me go to the bathroom so many times that eventually would hurt my butt, stomach, belly… Everything hurts.

It’s the water! The Water is making me sick! Can you belive that? Tragic. The Horror, like Sheldon would say. Anyways… I’m in Santiago now. It’s been a while since I got here. But everything is just different. Most people told me that I would fall in love with the city. I haven’t. Not yet at least. I think that I’ll feel better soon, I’m seriously hoping so.

Chile is different. The food is different. They eat things that are way too expensive in Venezuela. And I don’t know why, they don’t actually drink too much wine (or I haven’t meet anyone like that) and it’s such a shame… wine here is excellent (or so I’ve been told)... Soon, I can only hope!

What have I tried already?

Sustancia!! That's some kind of marshmallows, that taste different than those... And I just loved them.

I also tried Mote. That's a drink. Made of dried peaches, whole wheat (and I mean that) in peach juice... People love that... it made me sick... again!

Empanadas de Pino. Those are some pieces of heaven, made by the glorious hands of my friend's mother in law. I can belive those were so good!

I'll bring soon some pics!! Until then, It's been a pleasure to share this with you!

Guasacaca

I was killing dead hours around the internet, when I found this Video, It is a simple recipe, and it is true, we use this for barbecue, among other things. 

We have traditions in here, when we get all together, let's say with the family, you end up in a place crowded with relatives, that maybe you haven't seen in a while (or those you've been seeing for too long), we eat. What do we eat... Well... Most of Venezuelan would say: Meat!... or well... Like we like to call it: Parrilla!. You might be wondering why. I have, and I've been talking to my friends, just to know the reasons they use to make this awesome plate (or, like you call it: Barbecue).

Most men told me that it is how it is done (Yeah, I know, they are not too specific, but I did not surrender there and kept asking). Then I asked why did they liked the Parrilla (barbecue) and they told me that they just like the flavor of the meat when it is cooked over the fire or coil. It is about taste. Is it about that primitive instict? Well... I don't have the resources to make a deep investigation, so... I can't go in that right now... But in the future, I'd love to do it. When I asked what was the side dish, I found out that they don't really care, or didn't care TOO much. It is about the meat. That's it. Again, I had to go deep on them, so I asked what did they eat like a side for their meat, some said that they liked fried or boiled "Yuca" (Cassava), salad (consisting in lettuce, tomatoes, onions and cucumber), "Bollitos de maíz dulce" (Those are little boiled buns of sweet corn, in tiny peaces of corn leaves), and of course, Arepas.

After this, I asked women about the same topic. Most of them said that they liked the parrillas, but just a tiny little portion of meat, and a lot of salad, with maybe one piece of cassava, and one piece of sweet corn boiled buns. I asked them if they liked "parrillas", and most of them answered that they liked it, but not too often, and they rather to eat smaller portions. So, for most of the women I asked, the meat is not the main ingredient or food when it comes to Barbecue, it is about the side dishes. Cool fact, isn't it? (I love meat, personally, and I eat more meat than salad when it comes to barbecue... no wonder I'm gaining weight!).

Something I realized about both, men and women, they all said that the Guasacaca is a side dish, and not just a simple sause or gravy, it is an essencial part of the barbecue.

It looks like this:

Want to know an interesting fact? When I asked who cooked the Barbecue, they always answered with: My dad, husband, boyfriend, brother, uncle, etc. Why is that? The meat most be cooked by a man in the family. 

When I realized that, I started thinking... Well... who makes the cassava, the arepas, salad and side dishes? The man of the family? No. The woman. Or a group of women. Who season the meat? the woman. Who cleans the dishes? the woman. Hmmm... pretty unfair, isn't it?

Ok... coming back to the subject, the guasacaca it's so traditional, that we eat it even with the empanadas (this is a plate I will talk about later), and there's some people who might eat it with their hot dogs. And yes, it is a very tasteful thing. It is made with avocados, and I know it is a fruit, but we eat it as a vegetable. We use the avocados in salads mostly. But this sauce WILL make the next barbacue you make, a BIG hit. Trust me.

Oh! I almost forgot, here you can watch how to make it... It's very simple and easy, anyone can make it. And If you don't have a food processor, you can use the blender. I have and the sauce gets even creamier. 

Thanks for reading!

Ají Dulce (Sweet Pepper)

Have you ever tried Venezuelan food before?, If you have, then you know that particular taste it have, if you haven't, then this is the entry for you (if you want to know more about the wonderful Venezuelan food).

This are Ajíes Dulces (Sweet Pepper)

Don't they look pretty? Like tiny little peppers, and they actually are... They have a particular taste, and they actually aren't that spicy, and I've heard about those tiny little bombs out there that just cut your tongue, and the rule about peppers are usually true: The smaller they are, they use to be hotter, and spicier, so keep that in mind, and don't mixed this kind with the hotter one... they are very similar, and take that from someone with experience (yes, me... burnt my mouth, even my lips with a tiny little chili).

So, how come Venezuelans love this kind of pepper to cook?

Actually, I have no idea... And I can't really say why it is so common in the market, and you kind find this in every single house, but I can swear it has an important reason.

Some wise guy told me once, that If I wanted to know a city, I had to go to their market. And I've been going to the market with my dad since I was a little kid... He showed me how to select vegetables, fruits, herbs, and everything you might need to cook (He even taught me to pick fish, meat and chicken), And I always noticed that in the popular markets; besides you have to wake up at 4 am, to be there at 5am and get the good stuff; there is always tons and tons of Sweet Peppers, and most people always bought at least a dozen. That actually indicates that they cook using a lot this particular ingredient, but don't get me wrong... they don't use it like an actual ingredient... they use it like a Condiment!!! In soups, stews, gravy, sause, grills, everything!

Soon I'll post a recipe about this... I promise!