Last night I sat down and wrote a post with tons and detail. It took me an hour and 45 minutes to only delete with one move of the palm over my stupid mouse pad on my new computer. I got a Non-Apple and am definitely having to adjust...Adjustments are the name of the game lately!! So...it seriously took me 24 hours to get over not saving my draft and sit down and write another. You know when you're so mad you don't say anything, you don't scream, you don't throw anything, you just get up and walk away...well that was me last night...rrrggghhh.
ok, got that out!
So, Today was AWESOME! Maybe, it was all meant to be that I deleted my post last night because it certainly carried a very frustrated and satirical tone. I'm keeping the title of the blog the same from last night because I wanted to write about one of the differences here on the island..."grocery getting", cooking, baby food making, etc...
I have really had to adjust to everything down here but FOOD has certainly been a big one! So for instance, everything is imported so if you don't buy local you pay a fortune for it and on a Med School budget w/ 2 money sponges :) (insider for Dad...he used to call Michael, Phillip and I...Money Sponge #1,#2, & #3...I now see why :) Love you Dad! So...we pretty much have to buy everything that grows on or very near the island or we simply can't eat it! The plentiful items here are carrots, beats, cabbage, star fruit, lettuce, herbs, yams, onions, garlic, lots of root veggies. Our family, especially the girls, eat tons of berries...no berries here at all...even if I did want to pay Whole Foods price X 2, literally. An apple here at the local grocery is $2.25/apple($US). So needless to say, we aren't eating many pears, apples, and berries. We are eating bananas, star fruit, passion fruit, some watermelon, crab apples (tart and crisp), & pineapples.
Enough words...Picture Time!!
The popsicle pictures are from Banks and I making homemade 7 minute popsicle with a Zoku maker that I shipped down. It was prob the first time since we've been here that I've felt a real since of normalcy. We juice all the fruits on our property (pineapple, star fruit, passion fruit, orange) and make popsicles! They were super yummy!
There's a coy pond at the entrance to our "compound"/Resort :) and Banks feeds the fish a couple times/day. One of her favorite things along with riding her Bike on the sidewalk between the cottages. We are so very lucky to live where we do. We, Banks, also loves to chase lizards, which are the tropical replacement for squirrels...don't mind them at all!! :)
Back to food...so because we only have the local goods to cook I was able to whip up an awesome seared tuna w mango salsa recipe from the fresh tuna we bought off the street the day before, normal here! Andrew will appreciate this but I had to skin and de-bone the tuna...pics below.
Meat, at least the edible meat American's are used to, is very scarce on the island unless,again with the common theme, you want to pay an arm and a leg for it. So i have discovered the protein packed LENTILS! I used them occasionally state side but didn't realize there versatility. They are a great replacement for meat, however my family is going to hate LENTILS by the time we come back to the states. This week, and it's only Tuesday, we've had lentil tacos, lentil burgers, and finally just left over lentils with what was sold as spinach but was definitely mustard greens, and cucumber and mango salsa. It was all super good, especially the tacos, don't think i'll use meat again with tacos!
Another reason I titled the blog "reinventing the wheel" is because I'm having to also relearn how to cook down here. For brevity sake, my oven works on a 1-10 scale...tell me how that works...so I'm guessing...yikes, and I have to stick my hand down into the cellar of the oven with a lighter to light the propane that is feeding into the house from outside propane tank. I also have to do the same with the gas stove. Honestly, at first I was light WTH but now I feel pretty empowered. I think I can do this!
More pics :)
BACON!!!!
ok, so they're not in the right order but at the top of the page is the LAST BLT this Dominica household will ever see...from now on we will be eating LLT (Lentils, Lettuce and Tomatoes..oh yummy...can't wait for that and you can image David's excitement...Not!) So David wanted Bacon as he does EVERYDAY, and with two screaming kids, me soaking wet from the recent hurricane winds and torrential down pour to reveal sun just 2 minutes later, grabbed the bacon off the grocery store shelf paid for my bacon, toilet paper, WINE, and...you got it...Lentils...No, just kidding, no lentils that trip ;) And paid w my credit card, w/out realizing, a whopping $40 US. So to get to the point. Bacon cost like $20 US dollars here...omg!!! And my mom MADE me post the beautiful picture of me "one handing" my lunch while bouncing a baby, which i didn't realize i did until she mentioned that that is how I eat all of my meals. huh? Who'd a thunk it! It actually works pretty well bc we have these awesome exposed cabinets which I like to think are that way bc of a cool functional "grab and go" idea for Mom's but I'm pretty certain they just didn't put doors on the cabinets...again...huh?!
The other pics are of the pretty crab apples on the tree outside of our house. Look pretty but taste terrible :( And the carrots and beets that I found to make baby food! Oh and Mom made homemade cookies with about half the ingredients she needed. They were actually really great...only Donna could pull off something like that :)
ok, hope everyone feels like there here with us but NOT in your nice air conditioned homes! In all seriousness we are settling in really well and all in all enjoying our laid back life (at least the kids and I).
David is hitting the books pretty hard, as expected. We truthfully see him only about 2 hours/day if we're lucky. He is usually gone by 6:30 a.m. and we see him for 30 min in the a.m. and then sometimes get to meet him for quick 30 min lunch or dinner. Being on an accelerated courses if really no joke! Please keep him in your thoughts and prayers. He is doing fantastic and has a really positive and upbeat attitude but everyone can use a little well wishes, prayers and encouragement!
We miss everyone so much and seriously can't wait for you to visit. I have seen a few different accommodation options ranging from super affordable to pretty posh so everyone should be able to find something comfortable if you can make it down!
love you all so much!
xoxo
ADB&E
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