Questions Answered, Part II - FOOD

Question from Ann: what meals do you typically cook/make? tell me about the markets? i want to know all about what you're eating day in and day out!

So here's a bit about our food life: This is my first time ever living outside of the US, and when I thought about all of the different things I would encounter here, for whatever reason food was never a thought. I am someone who loves food, loves to eat, and I pretty much assumed that food was, well, FOOD, anywhere you went. That being said, the first 6 months we lived here, Ryan lost 20 pounds! I didn't even know he had 20 pounds to lose! You could say that suddenly I couldn't find any ingredients I was used to and wasn't quite sure what to cook. I actually made a goal that on our 1 month anniversary here I would make chocolate chip cookies from scratch because I was unable to find even basic things like brown sugar and vanilla extract (which doesn't exist here as I've mentioned before...). We didn't have any snacks at night, or frilly thing, just the bare basics of fruits, veggies, etc. I can't say that part has changed much in these last 5 months, but we have discovered the wonderful world of Belgian treats (pastries, candies, etc.) and that has allowed us to stay quite insulated from the cold winter. Me probably more so than Ryan. :>

One of the greatest things about the food here in Belgium is the fact that it is so fresh! I have to grocery shop several times a week because things only last 2-3 days in the fridge once you have purchased them. Even if things did last longer, I would have no room to store them as my fridge is no bigger than a large mini-fridge you might have in your personal office. For 7 months I didn't even have a freezer until we were able to buy one secondhand from a friend. At that though, my freezer is only the size of 3 kitchen drawers, so I can't freeze much. I live very close to 2 different outdoor food markets and am able to shop at one of them 4 of the 7 days of the week. I buy all of my produce at these markets, as well as most of my cheese. I've mentioned this before, but I love these markets not only for their fresh food, but also for the fact that I am talking with the hands that made the food. I think there is something fulfilling in helping someone earn a living in this way. I buy my bread from bakeries in whole loaves and then they slice it fresh for me. I have to buy bread about every other day because it starts to go stale after that time (admittedly though, a loaf of fresh whole wheat bread hardly lasts that long at my house!) One of my biggest food challenges has been with milk. The milk here is so yummy (I compare it to drinking white chocolate) and comes in whole and 2% (we drink whole). We have a high level of milk consumption though and fresh milk is not always easy to find conveniently. If I were driving around (which I am usually not) it would be easier to acquire, although still a pain so often. I have come to find that most Belgians drink "boxed milk" or "long-life milk" a kind of milk that you can keep un-refrigerated for up to 6 months. I personally think it's gross and refuse to drink it. I buy my meat either from my local (2 blocks away) butcher or from the grocery store. That about makes up what we eat. I still struggle to find snacks here (or anywhere for that matter) that I deem healthy enough to continually buy and my kids are usually relegated to a piece of produce or slice of bread when hunger pains hit.

As much as I enjoy the fact that everything is so fresh and I know it is so healthy, I still find the whole eating thing a little daunting here. I always feel like we are out of food and I feel like I am constantly "on the hunt" for our next meal. With 5 voracious appetites to feed (yes, Charlotte included - that girl has skills!) we can go through an alarming amount of food in just 2 days. Another aspect of high quality food is the fact that my monthly food bill has doubled (taking exchange rates, etc, into account) since we moved here. Food is just so expensive! Very very good, but very expensive.

A typical breakfast for us would include yogurt and granola, or eggs and toast, or oatmeal - fairly standard things. I do a lot of pasta for lunch preparing it by making vegetable broth and then adding whole wheat noodles and whatever veggies I have on hand (spinach, broccoli, etc) and top it with cheese. Gouda and Swiss have become our two stand-bys, although I would still love to find a good Cheddar. I have regained respect for Grilled Cheese sandwiches as well, prepared with fresh bread and gouda cheese. Ryan got me a Belgian cookbook for Christmas (in an attempt to gain some skin back on his bones no doubt) that I rely on a lot for dinner. The recipes are so good and all of the ingredients are things that are readily found here. I would recommend the cookbook alone just for it's Strawberry-Rhubard Meriange Pie.

Overall, being interested in both food and nutrition, I think that Europeans know how to eat. As much as I miss Costco and my enormous fridge and freezer, I'm not sure I will be able to completely go back to the way that we ate before. I had posted in October (we had been here about 3 months) about finding some of our familiar foods and the food that I bought for myself was cream of chicken soup. At the time, I was so excited to find this that I bought many cans thinking back to how often I had wanted this the previous 3 months and couldn't find it. If you go to my shelves today, you will see all but 1 or 2 of those cans still sitting on the shelf. I'm not even sure what to do with cream of chicken soup anymore and I don't think we are any worse of for it. I don't mean to paint too healthy a picture as I consume enough pastry to not only override any health benefits I may be receiving, but also add to my "winter coat", but I do appreciate the freshness and overall health of our general meals.

Ann, did this answer your question?? :>