Food I eat in Village

...in case you were wondering, which admittedly, you probably were not:

SOMETIMES:

- tô (if I eat with anyone)

- grilled corn (sometimes given to me by my neighbors)

- gateau (I often get a plate at the marché and share it with Rosalie, my neighbor and usual marché shopping buddy)

- potatoes (someone once gave me a cooked potato at the marché. Obviously I took it home and made mashed potatoes. It was awesome.)

- peanuts (if someone gives them to me)

MORE OFTEN

- taco lentils (lentils, tomatoes, onions, taco seasoning, and a couple wedges of laughing cow on top -- so so good, I'm serious)

- tuna salad (tuna, mayo, onion, tomato, and a generous shake of my Zoe's kitchen "spice of life," kindly gifted to me before my departure)

- omelet (if I happen to have bought eggs in Tenko recently, and they haven't gone bad yet)

- jambalaya (I have a couple boxes of zatarains that I've been carefully rationing)

- rice (when I really just want a vehicle for Tony's)

- spaghetti

- oatmeal (the magic is in the spice mix I found in Ouaga called "quatre epices," which is basically just cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, and ginger. Sometimes I even get bananas in Tenkodogo. And peanut butter, of course)

- chocolate milk (well, it tastes like chocolate milk but actually it's a chocolate protein powder drink thing)

- laughing cow by itself

- PB&J (yes, just mixed together. It's delicious)

- peanut butter by itself (or with some added sugar and salt to make it taste more like JIF)

- a little something I like to call village pudding (it tastes like brownie batter, I'm not even kidding. How did I happen upon this? Where there's a will, there's a way. How do you make such a thing? I'm so glad you asked!

A couple/few big spoonfuls of powdered milk, a couple normal/small spoonfuls each of cocoa powder and sugar, a bit of salt, a scoop of peanut butter, and some water until it's the right consistency. The peanut butter is not strictly necessary, but does help add a - admittedly very small - sense of legitimacy to the snack. Sometimes I like a little peanut butter flavor, but sometimes not, so adjust cocoa/sugar amount accordingly.)

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So basically, I eat a lot of oatmeal, lentils, tuna, tomatoes, onions, and peanut butter. 

Perhaps it's not the most balanced/healthful diet, and I don't eat many vegetables besides tomatoes and onions, but what can you do?

I mean, I guess I coooould buy eggplant the next time I see it at the marché, but nothing else really appeals much to me. 

Okay, okay, I'll be honest, I could also get ready made salad at the marché, but the one time I had salad here (in Ouaga), there was a good amount dirt on the leaves, and I'm just not a big fan of that texture in a salad so I'm kind of afraid to get it again.

All told, you can very rightly assume that I've gotten very good about taking my multivitamin every day. :)

xo, chlo