It is Time to Talk Food

It has been a good minute since I last posted, and I have lost track of the days we have been here, so I thought it was about time I finally gave up the day count and also I wrote a little something down again.

So I decided this officially will be my first food post. I can't believe I made it this long with out posting anything substantial about food. I say this because anyone who knows me knows that I am self proclaimed foodie/ food snob (or person who is just OBSESSED with food). I am so obsessed I studied Dietetics at Colorado State and got a degree in how food works. Everything about food fascinates me. From the growing to the eating and digesting. It blows my mind, things that come out of the ground literally make life possible. How cool is that! Sorry I get a little jittery when I talk about food and I could ramble about for days... okay maybe weeks or months (ask my friends and family).

Moving on. So when we first moved here I was stoked to try all of the new food. I mean Europe is know for its food, right? When we first arrived we didn't have any gas for our stove at our Airbnb flat so we didn't do much cooking. We also wanted to experience the food Spaniards ate, so we ate a lot of bread, tortillas (for people who don't the know the difference between Mexican tortillas and Spanish tortillas. Tortillas here is Spain are basically a potato omelet/ quiche thing with no crust), bocadillos (Spanish sandwiches), and meat (chorizo and the famous jamon). Now back in the U.S. we ate a pretty healthy flexitarian diet, that often contained meals from around the world. So needless to say after a week of eating our limited Spanish diet we were not feeling so hot. It was then I learned that Spaniards don't typically have a very healthy diet. Since then I have been trying to reclaim some of my past foods, while still enjoying the Spanish cuisine occasionally.

Earlier last week I was feeling pretty down and out about food. I was just not having any luck finding the whole grains I wanted and meatless options I was craving. In Denver I was involved in Farmers Markets, sustainable foods, and urban gardening. I was starting to feel that even though I love Madrid so much I was going to be unhappy here because half my heart was missing (I get a little dramatic about food. I told you I love it) It was then I walked into an eco store. This is typically organic or eco-friendly store. It had a large variety of foods I wanted and all of their foods were minimally processed. I even found veggie burgers there. Since that day things have started to get better. I am making my healthy again. I started a Meetup group, where I hold nutrition workshops (my first group was today, and I think it went rather swimmingly), I met people who are part of or have connections to the grassroots farmers markets of Madrid, and I found stores that have supplies from Asia and the Middle East. There is a whole community of people obsessed with food in the same way I am, and it makes me feel like I fit in again. So overall I would say this past week has been one of the best here thus far. I love the international community of Madrid and it is so fun to find people with your common interests, people that can bring different experiences, cultural influences, and knowledge to the table.

Truthfully I have a lot more to say but I don't want to make the post too long so I will save it for tomorrow.