I just ate mac and cheese with a side of kimchi, tomatoes, grapes, seasoned seaweed and drinking yogurt. I'm not making this up, people. This is what happens when you have limited utensils and cookware in your kitchen because you are waiting for pay-day to get the bulk of it.
Maybe I should eat this? No, too much prep work and I don't have a cutting board. This? Nope, I'd have left-overs and nothing to put them in. This? I... I have no idea what that is or how to prepare it, so no.
I've been wandering down many of the aisles where bachelors with no cooking skills linger. I'm not stereotyping here either. Most of the people I see in the pre-made, ready-to-eat, just-add-water food sections are guys who look like they don't have anyone at home to cook for or to cook for them.
For now, I'm one of them. Except I'm not a guy...
Anyways... The only meals I have lately that involve smart meal planning are school lunches, and school staff dinners (Hweshik). I really need to cut back on the carbs, though. I might be more active than before, but snacking on rice cakes is a disaster in the making. I looove rice cakes though! Most foreigners don't particularly care for them, but I love the chewy consistency. I haven't met a rice cake I didn't like so far. THIS is what I mean by rice cakes, by the way. Rice puff cakes are good too IMO, but they are nothing compared to these.
I know, I'm weird. I should just stick to my American sweets and snacks, and complain about how the cookie part of the Twix sold here doesn't taste the same (Really, it doesn't and while I am sad about this, I have come to terms with it).
Well, thank you for reading my blurb about my weird eating habits. I promise, my meals will be more coordinated soon. At least I haven't just gotten fast food for the past 2 weeks. I haven't even set foot in the Lotteria around the corner since my first night, even though I was craving some fries the other day.
Again, thanks for reading and talk to you soon.
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Food. Show all posts
Thursday, March 13, 2014
Tuesday, December 3, 2013
What I'll Miss: Part 2
1. Turkey dinners with stuffing, mashed potatoes, stuffing, those yams with marshmallows on top...
These things combined, I may or may not see them while in Korea. I've heard there is turkey. Probably pricey. Thanksgiving is going to be interesting, that's all I'm going to say.
2. Mexican food
Living in Arizona means there are aisles at the supermarket dedicated to Mexican food ingredients alone. While I don't feel the urge to eat Mexican food every day or even every other day, it's kind of a staple in Arizonan homes. You don't have to go far to find a Mexican food restaurant - both Americanized and authentic - but in Korea, I'm told, they are scarce. I have no idea how close the few restaurants are to real Mexican food, but it's going to be a hunt. I may not often crave Mexican food here, but I have a feeling I'm going to miss it while I'm away.
3. Eggnog
I'm reminded of the things I'm going to be saying goodbye to for a while by the holiday season. Try to describe this delicious drink to a Korean and they may look at you in disgust. It has the consistency of drinking yogurt, a slight custard taste with nutmeg and creamy goodness. Something like that. I'm going to have to MAKE this stuff if I want to drink it in Korea. There's no grabbing a carton or bottle from the market.
4. Root beer
Koreans aren't familiar with the flavor and, from what I've heard, think it's disgusting. I personally like it. I think cola and coke taste like medicine personally, which is popular in Korea, but to each their own. You CAN find root beer in some foreign food markets, but it's scarce and usually not a brand familiar to Americans. I will miss Barq's, A&W and Mug root beer very much.
5. Harkins movie theatre popcorn
It's salty, buttery goodness and I could probably overdose on it along with some root beer. Maybe it's a good thing that I will be away from this stuff for a while. Obviously they have movies in Korea and popcorn to munch on, but whether or not their snacks will trump Harkins popcorn is up in the air.
6. Spices in general
They don't have the same range of spices there, which is why I will be packing some just in case. I don't really know what Korea has to offer spice-wise, but most teachers going there suggest packing some of the spices you'd rather not part with during your time there. I love rosemary (some don't, but I do) and I will definitely be bringing some spices to make eggnog and hot apple cider. I've heard they don't have cinnamon, but there is a dessert in Korea that uses cinnamon so maybe it's just not easy to find. Or expensive. Who knows if I'll see cinnamon sticks anywhere though. I definitely won't be seeing any Mexican spices unless I pay a lot for it.
7. Cheese
I'm not a cheese connoisseur or anything, but I like cheese. I've heard people grieve over the lack of cheese variety in Korea. They have the processed yellow stuff, mozzarella and Parmesan from what I have gleaned from others. I really like provolone (apple-wood smoked!), swiss, feta, brie and others, but I'm not sure if those are also sold in Korea. I'll let you know what kind of cheese I do manage to find, though I'm probably not going to trek the entire country just for cheese.
And that concludes part 2 of the things I'll miss. I should probably write a post on things to pack (since I've already brought up some things here), but I will wait until I've actually packed everything.
Meanwhile, I'm still waiting to find out where I'm going exactly and the exact date I should be there. I've been going through blog posts and videos about orientation, which I should probably stop because it makes me anxious to get my paperwork.
Next blog post... I have no idea what I'll write. It will be witty and/or informative though. If there is anything you are dying to know, let me know. If you just want to let me know that you are reading my blog, feel free to comment about that too. If you just want to talk about how much you like cheese, that's a good reason to leave a comment as well.
Thanks for reading!
2. Mexican food
Living in Arizona means there are aisles at the supermarket dedicated to Mexican food ingredients alone. While I don't feel the urge to eat Mexican food every day or even every other day, it's kind of a staple in Arizonan homes. You don't have to go far to find a Mexican food restaurant - both Americanized and authentic - but in Korea, I'm told, they are scarce. I have no idea how close the few restaurants are to real Mexican food, but it's going to be a hunt. I may not often crave Mexican food here, but I have a feeling I'm going to miss it while I'm away.
3. Eggnog
I'm reminded of the things I'm going to be saying goodbye to for a while by the holiday season. Try to describe this delicious drink to a Korean and they may look at you in disgust. It has the consistency of drinking yogurt, a slight custard taste with nutmeg and creamy goodness. Something like that. I'm going to have to MAKE this stuff if I want to drink it in Korea. There's no grabbing a carton or bottle from the market.
Koreans aren't familiar with the flavor and, from what I've heard, think it's disgusting. I personally like it. I think cola and coke taste like medicine personally, which is popular in Korea, but to each their own. You CAN find root beer in some foreign food markets, but it's scarce and usually not a brand familiar to Americans. I will miss Barq's, A&W and Mug root beer very much.
5. Harkins movie theatre popcorn
It's salty, buttery goodness and I could probably overdose on it along with some root beer. Maybe it's a good thing that I will be away from this stuff for a while. Obviously they have movies in Korea and popcorn to munch on, but whether or not their snacks will trump Harkins popcorn is up in the air.
6. Spices in general
They don't have the same range of spices there, which is why I will be packing some just in case. I don't really know what Korea has to offer spice-wise, but most teachers going there suggest packing some of the spices you'd rather not part with during your time there. I love rosemary (some don't, but I do) and I will definitely be bringing some spices to make eggnog and hot apple cider. I've heard they don't have cinnamon, but there is a dessert in Korea that uses cinnamon so maybe it's just not easy to find. Or expensive. Who knows if I'll see cinnamon sticks anywhere though. I definitely won't be seeing any Mexican spices unless I pay a lot for it.
7. Cheese
I'm not a cheese connoisseur or anything, but I like cheese. I've heard people grieve over the lack of cheese variety in Korea. They have the processed yellow stuff, mozzarella and Parmesan from what I have gleaned from others. I really like provolone (apple-wood smoked!), swiss, feta, brie and others, but I'm not sure if those are also sold in Korea. I'll let you know what kind of cheese I do manage to find, though I'm probably not going to trek the entire country just for cheese.
~*~
And that concludes part 2 of the things I'll miss. I should probably write a post on things to pack (since I've already brought up some things here), but I will wait until I've actually packed everything.
Meanwhile, I'm still waiting to find out where I'm going exactly and the exact date I should be there. I've been going through blog posts and videos about orientation, which I should probably stop because it makes me anxious to get my paperwork.
Next blog post... I have no idea what I'll write. It will be witty and/or informative though. If there is anything you are dying to know, let me know. If you just want to let me know that you are reading my blog, feel free to comment about that too. If you just want to talk about how much you like cheese, that's a good reason to leave a comment as well.
Thanks for reading!
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