Today I’m hungry for creativity. I want to make an effort to become more creative in the kitchen since I tend to eat a lot of the same foods. When Bee and I lived in the town of San Pedro on the island of Ambergris Caye, Belize, we had to get creative with the meals we would prepare at our condo. Grocery shopping was challenging as many of the imported items were past expiration. Yep, totally expired by many months, sometimes YEARS. The tourist-trap grocery store had the best selection for imported items but was outrageously expensive. We’re talking $18 USD for a box of cereal, $16 USD for name brand peanut butter, $10 USD for a bag of Craisins and so on. We tried to buy as much local produce and seafood as we could.
And local rum. But that’s for another post. 
The trouble is that the produce options are limited in Belize. For vegetables, think carrots, cucumbers, onions, tomatoes and bell peppers. You cannot find spinach, romaine or any other green to make a proper salad. My whole body was craving greens! For fruit, our choices were bananas, pineapple, oranges, papayas, mangoes and limes. I’m not sure we ever saw a lemon on the island. Those fruits are yummy but think about having NO access to apples, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, grapes, kiwis, plums, peaches, nectarines or melon. I was lucky to find the occasional pear. And there were virtually NO good avocados. The local avocados had zero flavor.
Right after we moved to the island, we realized that lobster tails were easy and inexpensive to come by. Bee would buy lobster tails directly from the fisherman so they were as fresh as it gets.
But then we got sick of eating lobster…
So we decided to make ceviche. Shrimp ceviche and snapper ceviche.
Then more (peppery) shrimp ceviche with the best plantain chips in the world!
Then we got sick of ceviche.
We moved to a cheap, reliable source on the island. Rice and beans. This was right up my alley. We started to eat rice and/or beans with every meal, sometimes together as the main meal but I always craved something like green beans or broccoli! Here’s a rice & snapper dinner. This must have been the day Bee splurged and bought some cilantro. It was a BIG deal.
I made black bean and corn salad on the regular. (Canned corn.)
We had to adjust to our surroundings in many ways and cooking & grocery shopping was no exception. I think the things I missed most besides fresh greens were bulk food bins (specifically nuts, grains, dried fruits) AND the hot and cold food bar at Whole Foods and Central Market.
Coming soon: Dining Out in Belize
What do you miss when you are in a foreign place away from your everyday eating routines?
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
I definitely miss access to fresh fruit and veg… when traveling I don’t take it much because I never know how much I’ll actually eat during actual travel… and don’t want to waste it or get in trouble for smuggling
I love beans + corn combination…
I miss home cooked meals for sure, nothing like making it yourself. It’s also an adventure to try to stay as normal to your routine as possible. In Aruba I was hooked on these smoothies a local breakfast nook made, very fresh.
So maybe you have to trade one experience for another.
Great pics! Ceviche is so delicious.
I adore salsa and the black bean and corn salsa looks like it would be DELICIOUS!!!
When i’m away in a foreign places i definitely miss just your usual things, like my regular bread, cereal and of course fresh fruit and veg although you can usually find that if you look around! yogurts too..i’m not keen on the foreign ones, the ingredients always look really suspiscious!!! xx
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