For the Health of It

“The food you eat can be the safest & most powerful form of medicine or the slowest form of poison”

— Anne Wigmore

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I reference this quote for a few reasons:

1. I have a special fondness for Ms. Wigmore because I believe she is correct. According to trusty Wikipedia it states that she is known as “the mother of living foods”, she was an early pioneer in the use of wheatgrass juice and living foods for detoxifying and healing the body, mind, and spirit.

2. She is from Lithuania & my last name’s Lithuianan (unless someone lied to me, but I’ll continue thinking that it is). So, this automatically gives her cool points.

3. After enduring winter in Eastern Europe followed by lots of masa’s (parties with LOTS of food) & holiday celebrations, I could feel my body starting to scream for mercy.

Finaalllyyy summer has arrived & we’ve jumped on the “treat-your-body-well-and-be-healthy” bandwagon. The change of seasons is accompanied by many more desirable options at the local piața for a much more reasonable price. This makes us smile because there are now GREEN VEGGIES in our diet and we can save a little more of that Moldovan Lei.

MDL- local currency

Now, that we are making an effort to not consume bread, potatoes, and candy bars- one of our favorite healthy substitues to prepare is what we call a ‘Green Smoothie’. Basically, we pull every green veggie from our refrigerator and blend it together. To be honest, these bad boys do not look appealing at all, but they’re super healthy. Plus, you can mix up the ingredients for variety by adding cayenne pepper or cinnamon.

Now, we understand that making such ‘Green Smoothies’ is not a new phenomenon and not every PCV is fortunate enough to have a blender. However, maybe we can motivate you to jump on the health kick as well and leave the poisoning of our bodies for weekend extravaganzas.

Ingredients:

♦Spinach     ♦Carrots    ♦Lettuce     ♦Cucumbers    ♦Cabbage    ♦Apples    ♦Lemon Juice

The components of our “Green Veggie Smoothie”

Final product of healthiness!

Granted it does not look remotely appealing. But I promise it tastes much better than it appears

 

Now, go eat a salad and save the pizza for another day! Your body will appreciate it and maintaining a healthy diet makes looking at yourself in the mirror much more enjoyable.

Cheers!!

 

Moldovan Winter Survival Guide: 2013

Prior to Moldova, winter was simply that thing that happened to people who decided to live in really cold climates.

Me? Winter only meant we could not sunbathe…instead our  amusement derived from testing our physical skills on the beach….such as cartwheels.

Sullivans Island, South Carolina.
So beautiful!

Then, I applied for Peace Corps. I received my 1st preference for Sub-Saharan Africa where temperatures stay relatively high. I was pleased. However, not everything works out as planned. Joke was on me as I tackled my first “real” winter. Thanks, Moldova. I’m cold….and  I’m hungry.

The land here is beautiful. The nutrients so rich that you can spit a grape seed on the ground…years later a vineyard will appear. The flavor of the produce is succulent and the color beautifully vibrant. Fire engine red tomatoes vivid purple eggplant. Seriously, fruits and vegetables would make Whole Foods surrender and fall to its knees. Our meals come from the gardens we pass on our daily running trails. The juicy grapes that currently occupy a bowl on our kitchen table are cut from the vines of the host family’s terrace.

Personally, we really enjoy going to the piata for fresh produce. Just to elaborate our L.O.V.E, occasionally, we must throw on a ‘restraining order’ on ourselves if visits are reaching day #4 that week.  Note- it’s barely open 5 days-a-week.  The local ladies know us- and yes, I’m disregarding the fact that we stand out like the obvious Americans that we represent. But, we truly enjoy purchasing produce straight from the Baba’s gardens. Actually, this is a prime example of how we can get a bit…carried away….

Lately, our obsessive produce purchasing habits benefited because we are on a mission…

Goal: Survive Winter 2013 in Moldova.

Objective: Take advantage of the current low cost veggies through creative freezing techniques while shoving our faces with stuff that’s still green.

So far, we are far exceeding our expectations. We have prepared & froze:

• About a dozen jalapeno peppers…that’s a lie. We did this little number as well ‘kitchen décor/future condiment’
• Ratatouille (vegetable bake dish)
• Stuffed Ground Pork Peppers with Hrisca (buckwheat)
• Eggplant
• Green Smoothies (a concoction of green veggies blended with lemon juice & tossed into a ziplock)
• Curried Zucchini Soup
• Cinnamon Zucchini Bread
• Sugar Cookie Dough (This is just a self-defense mechanism so we don’t eat the cookies in 48 hrs)
• Thai cilantro marinade

Now, fellow Peace Corps Volunteers who can manage freezer space or convince your host family to section out a 6 inches of their freezer for you……have fun with these recipes!

Zucchini Soup

*It was not until I picked 3 too many kilos of Zucchini & realized that I needed to do something with this green goddess of a vegetable. Especially, because they’re SO DELICOUS right now! Yeah, that’s right they actually have flavor!

Ingredients:

• Zucchini cut into chunks
• Soup Stock (Veggie or Chicken)
• Onions & Garlic diced
• Condiments- salt, pepper, curry, basil…whatever you please

 

 

The Magic: #1: Look up Zucchini Soup Recipe. Then read how I semi-followed it….

Throw all your diced garlic & onions in a pan & sauté. Dust with salt & pepper. Then add your stock, followed by your zucchini and let all that jazz simmer for….ohh….15-20 minutes? Enough to get the zucchini tender, but not mushy soft. After that add everything into a blender/food processor until a smooth consistency. Put in a pot to cool. Repeat. You’re finished. Yay.

Ground Pork stuffed Peppers with Hrisca

Basically, we took the abundance of peppers, cleaned them out, stuffed them with fully cooked ground pork, mixed with Hrisca (Buckwheat inst of white rice) because we try to be waist-line conscious, stuffed the mixture in the peppers & froze ‘em. When we’re ready to enjoy- all that is necessary is throwing the green guys in the oven until they defrost & the pepper is tender.

Zucchini Bread:

This recipe is amazingly easy and great to prepare since the veggie currently at a low cost!

Ingredients:

• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 teaspoons vanilla
• 3 cups grated fresh zucchini
• 2/3 cup melted unsalted butter
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• Pinch salt
• 3 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon

For more Pizazz add:

• 1 cup walnuts
• 1 cup  raisins

Mix that stuff together & bake! It’s delish! If you want, it’s possible to also add more nutmeg, allspice, or something wintery along those lines….

The days are slowly getting a bit colder and it’s a Saturday morning. This means, time to get dressed in my finest & hit up the piața and start another day of cooking and freezing in the most valiant attempt to survive this winter.

Cheers!

Welcome to Sfecla & Spice!!!

Our Dearest Virtual Friends & Fellow Foodies,

Welcome to our blog! Since our friendship first blossomed in June of 2012 as new Peace Corps Trainees, we always seemed to meet on one common ground- FOOD.

I accept the fact that I was a food snob from a young age. Even in elementary school, I was probably the only child that refused to indulge in white bread, beanie-weenies, or drink 2% milk. I was a whole wheat bread & skim milk girl. Of course, back in the 1990’s, before Jamie Oliver decided to revolutionize school lunches, the cafeteria’s did not offer the healthy option of skim milk. I completed my college years in Charleston, SC, which only reiterated my obsessive love for good food. My life started to revolve around food- this necessary matter needed for survival that we put into our bodies…only to poop out. My working hours were spent in a restaurant. My friends were amazingly talented chefs. After working all night serving food- we would go sit in another restaurant surrounded by more food. My weekends consisted of food festivals & dinner parties. And then you throw in my obsession with gym workouts, Tae Bo, and healthy organic eating…..whew! (But, I must admit that I am not nearly as ‘hard core’ as some of the people out there today.) One of my favorite restaurants in Charleston is called “FIG” (Food Is Good)…because it is. What an ingenious name. Food is darn magical at times.

My side kick, Demmel, is a true Nebraska farm girl. Her admiration for the process of planting & harvesting crops is inspiring. During training in Cricova, we would daily walk past a wheat field & I even found myself saying to her “Look at that golden wheat. So pretty. It’s time to harvest, Demmel” Whoa! The farm girl was rubbing off on me after only 5 weeks in Moldova. Also, the super awesome & cool thing that makes Laura really appreciate food is that she had a chicken business in high school. Yep- true story. Raised and sold chickens. Impressed? I was. She has an incredible love for the land, a true appreciation and understanding for the effort required to produce quality food. But, that’s not surprising since the majority of her life has been spent on a farm. Her stories about her times in the FFA (formerly the Future Farmers of America) or work at the National Farmers Union in Washington, DC also provide insight into the rich tradition of agriculture she adores.

During our Pre-Service Training in Moldova, an entertaining past time for us would be to check out every magazin, alimentara, and food market that crossed our path. The majority of the time we would not buy anything- just wander around the 12 ft by 18 ft store… annoying the cashiers. We’ve continued this habit, now in Causeni. We pretty much know exactly what is in each market, price points, and delivery dates. Often times, we address our strange, possibly unhealthy obsession by strolling through the stores on the way home, simply…. because we can. It makes us smile.

So, this idea for a food blog came about after we got ridiculed from friends, mostly PCV’s, about our constant photos & status updates about the amazing food we had created. We felt that consolidating, and sharing our passion, could open the doors to new gourmet ideas for others who might share the same food challenges as we do in Moldova. Honestly, we surprise ourselves with what we create- whether it’s delicious grub from the same old carrots, cabbage & potatoes or an epic failure-then-made-success like chocolate chip cookie bars. We hope you all enjoy, laugh a little, and appreciate the ‘art’ of cooking tasty, usually healthy food!

-Lindsey