For example today I wasn’t very hungry for dinner but not not-hungry enough not to eat anything. I HAD been planning to enjoy my single yellow summer squash freshly picked from my garden, sauteed with onion and garlic but when I chopped it open it had worms inside it. And I had already chopped up the garlic and onion, which were already sitting in oil. Sigh. So I raided my non-perishable trunk and found a little packet of instant tomato-basil soup (hey! Send me individual instant soup packets, people!) that I had gotten when I was in Dakar. It expired in March, but since when has a little thing like an expiration date stopped a West African Peace Corps volunteer? (answer: probably never) So I enjoyed that (it was delightful, actually) followed by an entire mango. Quite a satisfying dinner and very simple.
Other achievements:
Spaghetti parmesan with peas – my mom had sent me a big canister of parmesan cheese (does not need refrigerating) which I had been waffling about what to do with when one day I had a stroke of genius and made spaghetti boiled with some dehydrated peas I had brought from the States. This I covered in parmesan cheese. For the sauce I sauteed onions in a little extra peanut oil and poured the whole mixture on top. It was REALLY good. I enjoyed this concoction for about 2 weeks until I ran out of spaghetti. I still have a little bit of peas and quite a bit of the cheese so I am sure I will enjoy it again sometime soon. And when the peas run out, replace them with green beans (also dehydrated).
Tacos, especially breakfast tacos – It is shockingly easy to make tortillas (although they are not as big or as thin as I would like so basically they resemble corn tortillas but are made of flour). Speaking of tortillas I tried to make chips the other day by frying tortillas in oil and while it’s not too bad it makes a better dessert, lightly fried and then dusted in cinnamon and sugar. Anyway, tacos. Basically once you’ve made the tortillas you can put scrambled eggs with sauteed onions, Laughing Cow, avocado and hot sauce. If you’re real frisky you can cook up some beans to throw in there, too (I have dehydrated beans from the States which makes having beans SUPER easy). Or if you are lucky at market, tomatoes. Potato skins and an improved version:
I got cheese in a package and went for bar food.
Fairly American Meal:
Green beans, potatoes, tuna fish steak. Life is good.
I picked my huge cucumber today so tomorrow I have to figure out what to do with it. Maybe I will just make a potato-cucumber salad (boiled potatoes, cubed; diced cucumber and onions in a mayonnaise-oil-vinegar sauce…with a Maggi cube). I also have more mature beans to pick so I may boil those up for a snack tomorrow, too.
I am really sad about the summer squash thing, though. Tough break.
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