It’s the first Tuesday of the New Year and I’ve decided that this week I can still talk about accomplishments of last year while filling you in on goals for the New Year. I figure I deserve at least a few more days of writing about 2011 and while I would have liked to finish the updates this weekend, I was too busy sleeping 18 hours a day. Oh well. Sometimes a girl needs a little rest.
This weekend, though, we kicked off our household January project: Cooking the German way for a month. Or close to a month, because I won’t be here the whole month but 25 days is enough.
Cooking the German way doesn’t mean cooking German recipes. GOD. I’m not that fucking bored or crazy and I’m not interested in adding more schnitzel and brats and spätzle to my diet. Haven’t we gone over my intense hatred spätzle and white brats?? Eck.
Cooking the German way means no American grocery stores. No commissary where everything is tax-free and houses all the American delights from home. No shoppette for frozen foods, alcohol and last minute snacks. No food court, no sandwiches, no fast food and no frozen. Not even German frozen, which is fine because the only thing I heart in the German frozen section is spinach pizza and I’ll just have to learn how to make it myself.
Potential problems:
I can’t translate half the shit in the German store. This means all things that come in a box are out.
Tubed meat makes up 80% of the German diet. Ok, ok. 40% but STILL. That’s a fucking nightmare.
Chicken is a rare find. So is fish. Fresh chicken and fish. Fresh produce fail.
HOW MANY TIMES CAN ONE EAT PORK??? Seriously. There is no shortage of pork in this country and so The Other White Meat it shall be.
No chicken fingers or grilled cheese. My inner five year old is pouting.
Bonuses of the German Way:
I will feel less guilty about living in a country but not actually being forced to live on the economy. No more Germerica. Just living like a German. (minus the magenta hair and sunny dispositions)
Vegetables are always fresh and abundant. My inner thighs are just screaming for vegetables anyway.
Fresh bread. The Germans frown upon bagged white bread. It barely exists. We’ll be trying lots of new breads this month.
No processed food means (hopefully) no more double chin. Bonus.
So. Sunday was lemon pepper chicken wings (because I cooked), yesterday was flash fried and baked lamb with green beans (because Mr. H cooked) and tonight is pork marsala (yep, I’m not cooking again, shocking). I’ll be posting pictures of my German cooking (eating) adventures soon.
We’ll see if I can conquer the Germans. I mean cooking German. 🙂
The Heather Chronicles 