Ladybug

Wow, thanks, everybody! There are a lot of great ideas here. I really appreciate it.

Well, maybe I should explain more. My Dad isn't picky so much as concerned about his health. The meat and the eggs thing is new. He thinks it'd be healthier to not eat these things (temporarily, he says). He actually LIKES all of those foods (except for cucumbers, which he says make him burp), but won't eat them because he thinks they aren't good for him. I can't argue with him - he's my DAD and I love him. I rarely get to see him (I live overseas) and I really want to fuss over him. He's losing weight because all the foods he's eating seem to be low calorie. He's always been slim, but now he's - well, skinny. I find it troubling. He isn't intending to lose weight, it's just a side effect of the diet change.

My Dad is visiting for two weeks and has a rather lengthy list of foods he won't eat. Here you are: All meat, including fish and any sort of broth (Basically, if a chicken walked past it, he's not going to eat it.) Eggs - not whites either Potatoes, sweet potatoes, cucumbers, onions, shallots, leeks, turnips, garlic, peanuts, beets, ginger, carrots, mushrooms, chocolate He'll only eat limited amounts of cheese, butter and/or cream. He will eat green onion tops and chives in small amounts. I've had a few ideas for dinner like pizza (without garlic), bean soups, pasta with tomato sauce - but I'm struggling here. What about breakfast? Lunch? Dessert? I should also mention my Dad is too skinny and I'm interested in fattening him up a bit. I'm grateful he'll even eat dessert, but after fruit crisps, fruit pies and shortbread, I'm stuck.

Wow, thank you - what a great blog! I found some greens today at the Carmel Market in Tel Aviv and was very happy about that. Thank you! I'm not sure exactly what I have, but they are greens of some sort and I am sure I will like them. I also bought a package of jachnun to try soon. Yay, me!

Wow, on the menu they have collard greens! I want to go now to try them (and ask where they got them.)

I've never had beet greens before. Do they taste like beets at all? What's the Hebrew word for beet greens? I'm from America - North Carolina, to be exact. I miss barbecue and Krispy Kreme, but the sufganiyot here are delicious. I've also loved all the citrus fruits here and hummus, of course. There are too many things to like here to miss American food too much.

Lior, I've been here over a year already and still have more than a year left. My husband is working here for 3 years. Even though we've been here for what feels like a long time, I still feel ignorant about pretty much everything, but it's all so interesting. Can you explain the cottage cheese sandwiches? What type of bread is it on? What else normally goes on the sandwich? And one more question - where in Israel can one buy greens like kale? I've seen spinach, cabbage, and lettuce - but nothing like kale, collards or mustard greens.

Lior, I'm an American living in Herzliya and I'm enjoying your blog so much! Thank you! I'm learning and now I'm on the lookout for "Arab bread" on every walk I take. Question: Why is milk sold in bags here? Thanks!

I think the key to losing weight is less volume - then you can eat whatever you want. I've lost weight (nearly 30 lbs) through eating virtuous foods and exercising vigorously, but gained almost all of it back. Then I tried eating only when I was hungry and stopping when I was full, which results in a lot less volume. Again, I lost about 30 lbs, and 3 years later, I think I've gained about 3 pounds back. It's pretty easy too - no foods are off limits and I'm never hungry but not "allowed" to eat.

I live in Zambia, which actually borders a small part of Namibia. I can't speak for Namibia, but I can say that you'll be able to find much more of a variety than you expected. The prices for some products are really high - a single 8 oz block of Philadelphia cream cheese costs the equivalent of 6 USD here. What I've heard Americans miss most are chocolate chips (but you can buy chocolate bars and chop them up), sugar (available here, but the white sugar tastes of molasses, which doesn't translate well for some recipes, and the brown sugar is dry and very darkly flavored), pepperoni, marshmallows, cherries, and blueberries. There's quite a list of prepared foods I've heard people say they miss as well: American doughnuts, Debbie cakes, apple pie, ice cream, chocolate chip cookies, Americanized Chinese food, etc. You should definitely have ready access, if you're in the capital city, to a wide variety of groceries. There are onions, potatoes, tomatoes, citrus, apples, bananas, passion fruit, greens, lettuces, cabbage, garlic, bell peppers, and such. The beef in Zambia is excellent and very cheap. I've found some really nice cheeses as well - they have local dairies that make an interesting variety, plus they sell Kerrygold cheeses. Shrimp are insanely expensive here, but we're landlocked. Perhaps it'd be cheaper in Namibia. You should be able to buy seeds - I've seen a wide assortment here. They also have Knorr bouillion cubes, and the only spice I've not been able to find is chili powder. They have soy sauce, fish sauce, sesame oil and popcorn. The biggest thing to get used to is not being able to get any product any time of year. Strawberries are seasonal here, as are mangos, and many other fruits. The second biggest thing you'll notice is much less "convenience" food - like boxed macaroni & cheese, or frozen microwaveable meals. In fact, a lot of the frozen foods here are freezer burned. The meats are oddly, and often sloppily butchered. The chickens often come with quite a bit of stray feathers still attached and shards of innards still clinging to the insides. If I had to bring a small amount of foods I'd miss, I'd bring dried cherries & cranberries, chili powder, and pepperoni. I'd also bring some of those Hefty zipper food storage bags. They don't sell them here and the substandard approximations are really expensive. Lots of people here wash and re-wash those bags until they're completely unusable. Good luck and kudos to you for your Peace Corps venture! I've hosted a few Peace Corps workers for overnight R&Rs and I'm in awe of what they do.

I live in Africa now (Zambia) and for fast foods, we have: Wimpy's Fontana's (Rotisserie Chicken) Subway Steers (Burgers) and maybe a few others I forgot about. No McDonald's, but they do have that and KFC in South Africa. For street foods, you can buy lots of suspicious looking sausages, grilled corn, grilled chicken feet, and even mice on a skewer.

Everybody, thanks so much for all these wonderful suggestions! And redglass, thanks for that note on distances - that's good of you to think of that and something I need to know. I think I'm going to narrow it down to three and then ask everybody which they'd prefer of those three. If this dinner does happen, I'll attempt to post about it. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!

Yes, yes, we all would totally eat ethnic. And it can be $20/head before tax & tip & drinks and what have you. I'm going to check out Big Bowl & the Washingtonian link now. If you have any more suggestions, bring 'em on. Having options is a wonderful thing.

In February, my family and I will be in Reston, VA and at some point, we'll be taking the lot of us out to dinner - 5 or 6 adults and 4 kids. I need to find some place that: 1. is appropriate for children. 2. costs no more than about $20/head. 3. is not a chain. 4. is not either too predictable or too unpredictable - most of us are somewhat adventurous, but the kids aren't. 5. Probably nobody will be drinking, so wine lists/prices don't matter. Does anybody have any ideas? I hesitate to ask my relatives there, as I think they would be too nervous to suggest a place. Thanks in advance.

I'm not convinced taking the temperature would help, TurtleMeng. It certainly didn't help me. You look like you've made a perfect cheesecake. Why mess with perfection? I'll be using this recipe again and next time, I'll bake it longer. I don't think I overwhipped it but it's clear that something went wrong. I'm going to try the recipe again soon and hopefully I'll figure it out.