Comer Para Vivir No Vivir Para Comer

One of the first weeks here, my host mom kept saying to me, "la comida.. comer para vivir, no vivir para comer.." She means eat to live and don't live to eat. This saying is very true. Eat when you are hungry and eat to live, don't overindulge and don't binge eat. We have had many conversations about food and diets. It is very interesting here in Spain. They look at food in a different way. Everything I eat is homemade. They even make the jelly, we have on our toast in the morning. Meals are very important to Spaniards. Every morning (desayuno), I have toast and coffee. After three weeks of the same thing, Sam and I asked, "Do you think we could have something different for breakfast, maybe cereal, yogurt, eggs?" Our host mom was like "Oh no, toast is for breakfast, everything else is not a breakfast item." Sam and I looked at each other and were like "Okay, well that's that. Toast it is." We have lunch (al mediodia) at 1 o'clock every day. It is ALWAYS a surprise. For the most part, it is getting better. At first, the food was incredibly difficult to get used to. It is very plain, plain, plain. There is not much flavor other than garlic, salt, and olive oil. It's good, just plain. I miss my spice! Spain has a very Mediterranean diet. Spain is the number one producer of olive trees. Which produces a whole lot of olive oil, therefore we eat it with everything!! One of my favorite meals is whole grain toast, with olive oil, cheese, and tomatoes. I could eat that all day long! We eat salads, vegetables, eggs, potatoes, chicken, pork..etc. Everything just tastes different. We don't have ranch, salsa, bbq sauce. Overall, it is much healthier than in the United States. The olive oil is amazing (it took me a long time to get used to it though..), the vegetables are marinated in a tomato sauce or garlic sauce. We eat a lot of soup, but it's more like broth. Like veggie broth or a chicken noodle broth type. Lunch is the big meal. It consists, of a soup, meat, grain, veggies, fruit..etc. Whatever you really want to eat, but they just eat more during lunch time. Dinner (la cena) is usually around 8 or 8:30, which is SUPER early for Spaniards. Typically, people don't eat until 10 or 11pm. I would HATE that! We talked to our host family about that and they said they never eat that late because it is horrible for your stomach and digestive system. Thank the Lord for my host sister Yasmin, she is a pharmacist and helps us all out on the whole diet, eating healthy, and when we should all be eating!! (Thank you Lord!) Dinner is a lighter meal a cheese omelet, veggies, a tunafish sandwich, my favorite toast/cheese/tomato combination. I have really started to enjoy the way they eat here. It makes sense. Eat a lighter breakfast, a bigger meal during the day, and then a light dinner. It is a lot healthier for your body and digestive system. I have always been a snacker, so I always have a piece of fruit or nuts during the day to help me, because I never eat a huge lunch, I just can't do it. It has taken awhile, but I am adjusted to the food and so is my stomach. I have to say, I haven't had nearly as many stomach problems as I do in the United States. That just tells you how unhealthy our food is there.. all the preservatives!

Some famous dishes here in Spain.
1. Fried Egg, Rice with tomato sauce over it, and hot dogs (I DON'T TOUCH THOSE)

2. Tortilla de Patatas (very famous, eggs and potatoes it's kind of like a casserole, it's okay not my favorite thing in the world, but I eat it because it is SO popular here.)

3. Spaghetti or Chicken Stroganoff (I will eat these, they are really good. They even make the spaghetti with soy meat (sounds really weird, but I LOVE IT))

4. Pizza (it's made with tuna and onions or ham or mushrooms)

5. Fried Eggs or Omelets with Vegtables

6. Paella (they have never made it for us, but I ate it in Nerja SO amazing!!)

7. Salads full of tomatoes and apples (olive oil, salt, and balsamic vinegar for dressings)
8. Croquetas (YUCK, I will not touch these. Fried dough with mushy stuff inside. Hate them, however I feel really bad because my host mom makes them from scratch!)

9. Lots of Soup or Guiso (which is like stew, I love these. They are usually made with lentils, beans, and lots of vegetables. My host mom has finally realized that I love spice, so she now gives me some hot pepper to put into these dishes :)

10. Arroz con pollo (chicken and rice mixed in a red sauce with peppers and vegetables.)
11. Also, they are in love with ham! You see it everywhere!! I have tried it and I know it is a huge part of their culture, but I just really don't like meat!! You see these everywhere...

Here is a little bit of what I have been eating for the past couple of months :)