On the road again...

I travel a bit with my job. Have I ever shared that with you? I suppose not.

I work for a wellness company. Yes, I get to live and breathe wellness in my work-life and I LOVE it! It is such an exciting and fulfilling field to be in. And naturally, this fits with my own chosen healthy lifestyle.

But, in instances when I am on the road - perhaps, several back to back trips - I have to find ways to maintain my health despite traveling.

I consider work travel different that vacation travel. In that, when vacationing, I give myself the allowance to indulge a bit more than I normally would. Have to take advantage of the opportunity to experience a new city and culture through their food, right? It's my favorite part of vacation travel!

But, when traveling for work, I approach these days no different than being at home. Meaning, I seek out healthy food options. So, what does a gal do when traveling and hungry?

Starbucks. For breakfast anyway. Even though it's a chain (and I typically prefer small businesses), they have oatmeal on the menu. And I can add in nuts for extra protein. A good start to a full work day.

Here's to making healthy choices - on the road or otherwise!

Charleston Eats

Dan and I enjoyed a long weekend in Charleston for our anniversary. We like to go somewhere new to celebrate so when we read several articles on Charleston's appeal as a cultural destination, we were in.

As I've shared before, I travel according to food experience opportunities. Exploring regional and cultural foods is one of my main pleasures when traveling. And with a trip to the South, I was looking forward to some fresh seafood and ‘low country’ cuisine.

As we explored the markets and streets of Charleston, we ate many a meals … here are the highlights of our culinary experience:

Entrée: Amen Street wins for best entree. Best two entrees in fact. The crab cakes had a light crunch and were entirely comprised of crab meat - no filler in this dish. The shrimp and grits were also all that they should be - creamy, hearty and with just enough heat to make you return for yet another bite.

Side dish: Hominy Grill takes it for their sweet mashed potatoes. This dish was silky in texture, sweet and divinely rich. With a side dish like this, who needs dessert?

Low country eats: After waiting in the friendly line that famously wraps around the restaurant’s corner, we found the best low country eats at Jestine’s Kitchen. Jestine’s fried chicken basket with okra and coleslaw and a glass of sweet tea to wash it all down. And they had the best cornbread we ate all weekend!

A little food for thought as I reflect on the culinary adventures of Charleston, I find it amusing that listed among the vegetable offerings on several Charleston menus was Mac and Cheese. Ha. Gotta love the South for their comfort food. It was certainly fun to enjoy for a long weekend. Now back to an ever so slightly less indulgent dinner plate.

Need a bigger helping?:
Amen Street Fish and Raw Bar
Hominy Grill
Jestine's Kitchen

African food adventures, Part 2

One of my primary motivations for travel is the opportunity to explore the food fare of different cities, cultures and cuisines. During my trip, I had several occasions to sample a variety of East African eats.

Matoke or Matooke. See What is matoke? Matoke is commonly served with a ground nut sauce. This sauce is a simpler version of peanut sauce, sans the heat. And much like all my food experiences during the trip, the matoke varied depending upon where we were eating and probably to the particular liking of the cook. One of the fascinating things to me is that matoke is cooked in banana leaves for their moisture. I learned that it’s best not to rush matoke – the longer it cooks, the better.

Ugali. Sadly, I only have this one photo of ugali (see African food adventures, Part 1). But, I think you can get the picture that it has an almost rice-like appearance. Ugali, however, is made of maize flour and tastes quite unlike rice. In fact, it doesn’t have much flavor at all. It’s more of texture experience – kind of sticky and dry at the same time. Ugali is normally served with a stew or meat sauce. But I did not try it in this way and as my first sampling of the dish (also taking into account my aversion to overly dry food), a few small bites was sufficient for me.

Chapati or Chapatti. Much more palatable than ugali, I ate chapati with many meals. Chapati is unleavened bread that is similar to naan although denser. Those familiar with Indian cuisine likely recognize that chapatti is an Indian bread. But, it is also commonly served in East Africa as an accompaniment to a meal. It is eaten by tearing into pieces and used to scoop up bites of an entrée.

Matoke, ugali and chapati … of all the African eats I tasted, my favorite was the homemade, slow-cooked matoke with tasty ground nut sauce I enjoyed in the home of our generous host family.

African food adventures, Part 1

Samosas. One of my husband’s favorite … oh wait, I guess I should probably start from the beginning. The story of our African adventure begins by explaining the reason we went there in the first place. My husband, Dan, grew up in Africa. He moved there, along with his family, when he was 1 year old. My mother-in-law jokes that he walked all the way to Africa because he had just started walking and walked up and down the aisle of the plane for their entire flight. That was the start of a 10 year stay in Africa – 2 years in Kenya and 8 in Uganda. This is the reason we traveled to Africa. To see where my husband grew up. And to meet the people who are a special version of extended family to him.

From first mention of our trip to the eventual taking off on the first flight, it took 2 years to plan our trip. After 2 days and 4 flights, we arrived in Kenya. The next morning, we ventured out to explore Nairobi and it was here that I first tried samosas.

Samosas are an Indian pastry, typically filled with vegetables or meat. Similar to the United States, the foods from other cultures contribute to the common food offerings of the country. Now, I know we could probably get samosas somewhere in Denver, but he wanted to eat the samosas he grew up on. Eating samosas is one of his favorite food memories from childhood so, of course, I wanted to try them too.

The first samosas of the trip were quite good – a crunchy crust and steaming hot vegetables inside. It kind of reminded me of a good veggie eggroll. During the course of the trip, we had samosas 4 times. Some where good and some were not so good. This ended up being a trend of the trip...the food experiences changed along with the scenery. I suppose that’s not too unlike dining State-side.

Another experiential note: I quickly learned that taking photos in public buildings is prohibited and strictly enforced by the many authority personnel commonly holding machine guns. I slyly (and admittedly nervously) snapped the first picture. Happily it came out. But I wasn’t about to try to get more. The other two pictures are from dining at our hotel which was, as you might imagine, much more tourist and photography friendly.

What is matoke?

A staple food in the African diet, matoke is made from either steamed or boiled plantains that have been mashed and seasoned. I hear that when prepared well, they quite resemble whipped mashed potatoes. Sounds good, right? I sure hope so! I’ll give you the full African food report upon my return.

Until then … be well, eat well.

A preview of food to come …

I find myself about to embark on a 2 week trip that will be unlike anything I’ve ever experienced. I am … wait for it … Africa bound. No doubt, there will be many stories to tell upon my return. It is my hope that the trip will be an adventure in food exploration as well – Weetabix and all.