It's been a while since I talked about food

Interesting food bullet points (because by now you should know how much I love food):

-          While here, I have eaten approximately 11 pounds of almonds. That’s right, eleven pounds.

-          While here, I have probably eaten twice as many pounds of peanut butter. No, I’m not kidding. Well, maybe not twice as many, but I'm sure it is close. I don't know. I eat a lot of PB!

-          I have eaten entire gardens of cucumbers. So delicious.

-          Samoan eggplant is tiny, skinny and oh so yummy in pasta or sprinkled with parmesan.

-          I found a gigantic bag of pretzels for $1.75 at the store this week. I can’t remember the last time I had pretzels. Normally they are like $5 or $6 a bag. SCORE.

-          I create lots of “mash ups”. Throwing all your vegetables in with eggs or rice isn’t as weird as you think (even if it sounds like it will be gross.)

-          I saw Muenster cheese at the store. It was $5.15 for like 15 slices. SAD. I actually gasped when I saw it. Muenster is my absolute favorite.

-          Cornflakes are really boring when you eat them every day. Gag.

-          Want to eat a cupcake right after you take it out of the oven but don’t want to wait for it to cool? Stick it in the freezer!

-          My students don’t like carrots or vegetables for that matter. When they see me eating carrots at lunch, they stare at me. “Why are you eating carrots?” “Because they are delicious and they are good for you and your eyes.” “But why?”  Sometimes they just like to hear the snap of the carrot as you bite into it. They find it fascinating. I sometimes save a carrot for a certain student who actually likes them.

-          When I was in NZ, I learned the proper way to eat a kiwi. Cut it in half with a knife and take a “baby” spoon and scoop out the fruit like you are eating out of a bowl. Classy. The Samoan way of eating a kiwi is to peel it with your fingers and eat it in one bite. Do you know how disgusting and messy this is (and not classy at all!)?!

-          Islands Choice is the company that makes the ice cream on island. It is nasty. They call their chocolate and vanilla combo “Rebel.” Weird.

-          A couple students threw another student a birthday party in my room during lunch the other day. This was the cake they baked her:

 They didn't have any utensils so they cut the cake with a ruler (haha) and used Styrofoam cups to scoop out the ice cream. After they ate, they smeared ice cream all over the birthday girl's face and I was lucky enough to get a picture:

Ice cream started to get on my desks and my floor. ALRIGHT, GET OUT, but thanks for the cake!

-          Ice cakes are the worst snack in the entire world. Let me tell you a little about ice cakes. They are literally frozen Kool-Aid in a Styrofoam cup. Teachers sell them at school for 50 cents. Students eat them for breakfast, for lunch, for an afternoon snack. (No wonder they have rotting teeth and are unhealthy – sugar water!!!!!). The funny thing about ice cakes is that they eat them really funny and gross. Most of the time, they use their thumb to scrape out the “cake.” Other times they will peel the cup, or flip the frozen sugar water upside down and eat it like an ice cream cone. The other day, I saw a student eating one with a quarter. Um, ew. Yesterday, one of my students was eating it with tweezers. Um, okay. The bad thing about ice cakes is that Styrofoam cups are EVERYWHERE. Sometimes they throw them away. Sometimes they leave them in my windowsills. Sometimes they leave them on the floor. Sometimes they throw them beside the garbage. Why is this bad (besides the fact that they should always go in the garbage)? Ants. So many ants. I hate ants. Ants are everywhere on this island. They swarm. Ew. Ants love extra ice cake juice. I HATE ICE CAKES.

-          Most food from the California Mart tastes like the store. Yep. It’s gross.  California Mart (the store in front of our house) also likes to sell expired stuff. They have sour cream in their fridge right now that expired on December 5, 2011. Mom, you’re not the only one!

-          The best after school snacks are either an orange or a bowl of fresh papaya sprinkled with lime juice.

-          I ate a massive to’onai feast today. To’onai is the traditional Samoan lunch on Sundays. Most (if not all the food) is cooked in the umu. The menu included chicken, palusami, cucumber salad, papaya, rice, taro, breadfruit, some sort of beef/veggie combo, fresh squeezed lemonade, cookies, and brownies. I am so full.

Time to nap/read/digest. Fa soifua!