Getting our eat on!

It seems that one of our favorite hobbies is eating, so why would that change in the Peace Corps? Although we don't have access to all the same foods as back home and we miss out on some old favorites (like breakfast sausage, baked beans, Indian food, and good sandwiches), we still manage to get our eat on.

Recently we had a pot luck gathering at Eri's apartment (she is the JICA volunteer in my office). Each of us brought a dish to share. Eri made a sweet Japanese chicken & potato dish as well as something she called "rice ball", her fellow JICA volunteer from Saraguro (I can't remember his name) made gyoza, Adam and I made thai beef and basil, Ximena made Ecuadorian ceviche & guata (tripe in a peanut sauce...no me gusta) and Phillipe made a Swiss apple pie. We were supposed to bring a dish from our native country...but Adam and I were really wanting to make beef and basil because we had encountered albahaca (basil) at the local market, and it only shows up once every few weeks. Next time we will make something like meatloaf and mashed potatoes, baked mac 'n' cheese, or burgers and potato salad.

Eri cooking her potato and chicken dish

Rice balls wrapped in seaweed

Eri's friend and Ximena with all the food

Eri offered beer, Pepsi, tequila and sangria as beverages! I had Pepsi and it was great!

Table full of good eats

Eri and Phillipe (the Swiss volunteer in my office) cutting the Swiss apple pie...yum!

Adam and I spend a good chunk of our monthly living allowance on food. Surprisingly, we have still been under budget. Aside from cooking thai beef & basil (with help from the bottle of fish sauce Susan sent us), we have also cooked bbq pulled pork (thank you pressure cooker!), picadillo, tacos, steak sandwiches, and various stir frys, among other things. This week on the menu is chicken and steak fajitas, beef stew in the pressure cooker, and maifun (from the noodles my parents sent me). I'm afraid we don't make a lot of Ecuadorian food, as we have found it to be a bit on the bland side (the main seasoning used in Ecuadorian food is salt). Plus we can get it for cheap during lunch so why would we make that at home?

Picadillo with black beans, rice and tostones

We also recently splurged on a blender and Adam made good use of it by making fruit smoothies (fresh pineapple, bananas, oranges and strawberries!). From what I hear, fruit in the sierra is way more expensive than it is in the coast (apparently folks on the coast have mangos and bananas falling from the trees in their yards so they never pay for them). We spend about 50 cents to $1 on a pineapple, 4 cents for each banana, and practically the same price as in the US for strawberries. So it can be a little pricey but it is worth it for the amazing smoothies Adam can whip up.


I also found a recipe online for making our own dumpling (guizhi?) wrappers so today I gave it a try. It was fairly easy to make the wrappers, it just takes time to roll them out and flour them so they don't stick together. Ground pork, green onions, and Napa cabbage are easy to find in Loja, and with our new bottle of sesame oil from Ambato...I was set. Adam really enjoyed them and I was super happy. That was one thing that I have been really craving...and this just brings a little taste of home for us!!

Preparing the dough (2 cups flour, 3/4 cup boiling water, 1/4 tsp salt)

Filling (ground pork, green onions, napa cabbage, sesame oil, soy sauce, salt, pepper)

Don't my wrappers look so "rustic"?

Adam enjoying the finished product with some sriracha sauce from the US