Settling in…Settling down…Planning safari…

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The flowers in our yard are bountiful. Bougainvilleas are popular in Kenya.
Hesborn, locally referred to as a “house boy.”  In an attempt to be pc, we’d prefer to refer to this kindly gentleman as our “houseman” or “house-person.”

One of the main reasons we decided to come to Kenya was the opportunity to see The Great Migration of over 1.5 million wildebeest crossing the river to the plains. We’d seen this on a news program a few years ago and we took out the “bucket” tossing it in.

With literally hundreds of options to see this momentous event requires careful planning and a willingness to pay for a quality experience. We budgeted well for this. We’ll share the details once we book them.  Our hope is to go on both a local safari, a few hour drive from here and go to the point where the wildebeest will be at the time we arrive. Today, now settled in, we can begin the hunt.

Another view of the spiral staircase from the second level, which we’ll seldom use.

Please keep in mind this is a photo taking, not hunting expedition. The animals in the parks are protected against “poaching” and consequences are severe. There are parks for hunting and killing animals that hold no interest for either of us. We love “life,” both human and animal, and take enormous pleasure in seeing any wildlife in their natural habitat, as opposed to zoos.

A common flower, the hibiscus, always appealed to me often growing them in Minnesota’s warm summers.  Plentiful in Hawaii, they grow like weeds, where we’ll be in 13-15 months, depending on future cruises we’re yet to book.

Of course, we have a lot to learn as the tedious process of discovery begins with the same care and diligence we exercised in researching our worldwide travels. Even so, we’ve often found that we have much to learn as we enter a new country to live among their people, their culture, as is the case here in Kenya.

We’re settling in.

These may be African roses.  The smell, amazing.

The bugs and mosquitoes; wear repellent and Africa pants at night. The heat; no problem. The dust and sand on our feet; wear shoes. The lack of TV;  play Gin, talk, read, watch movies on my laptop. Security; feel safe.  Malaria pills; no side effects. The language; English. The sights and sounds; breathtaking.

Tom surprises me. He’s a person entrenched in familiar creature comforts. Witnessing him adapt to the unfamiliar and at times difficult surroundings we’ve experienced in our travels is both refreshing and fulfilling.Staying positive and optimistic as a couple is highly instrumental in our adjusting to a new environment. In this, we excel, always have, more now than ever.

Growing up in California, I recall these flowers but not the name. 

On Tuesday, upon arriving in Diani Beach, we were exhausted from 22 hours of traveling.  Hans had left us enough bottled water to last a day but we had no food except a one pound bag of coffee.  Without cream, neither of us would bother to make coffee. Hans kindly offered to pick us up at the grocery store, arranging a cab to take us. The original plan was to take us both ways but something came up and he offered to pay the cab fare. Of course, we insisted on reimbursing him. 

We had no Kenya Shillings, US $1 equals Kenya Shillings $87.38, we were unprepared to pay cab fare until we went to bank or cash machine. We’ve found that cabs worldwide, thus far, do not accept credit cards as they do in the US.

Lush greenery surrounds us. 

The cab ride to the grocery store was an approximate 12 minute drive. Hans had told us the fare should be negotiated to KES 1200 (Kenya Shillings henceforth), US $13.73 round trip. As it turned out, we’d bought so many groceries that wouldn’t fit in Hans’ small car but he hung around while we shopped to ensure all went well. Good thing, he did!

Hans had to vouch for us when the grocery store cashier refused to accept a credit card without a passport, which we’d failed to bring. Knowing from past experience we weren’t surprised we forgot to bring our passports in our tired state. 

Hans explained to the cashier that he knew us and not to worry. The cashier then accepted Tom’s Nevada driver’s license in place of the passport.  While I shopped, Tom hung out with Hans and a friend in an outdoor bar connected to the grocery store. Thank goodness they were entertained. It took me almost two hours to shop in my frazzled state of mind.

Care must be taken to avoid being hit in the head with falling coconuts from the many trees in the yard.

The shopping? Interesting. Different than Italy and very different from the US. There was no charge for a grocery cart or the cardboard boxes they used to pack our stuff. A VAT tax of 16% was charged on the groceries, except on rice, flour, corn and a few necessities, none of which we purchased. The staff in the store was helpful and friendly as I wandered around aimlessly trying to find items we use. 

Our total bill including the VAT tax was KES $28,835, US $330, which we typically spend the first time we’ve shopped at each new location due to the necessity of purchasing paper products, soaps, repellent for the area, etc. With everything marked in KES, knowing Hans and Tom were waiting for me, I couldn’t price shop. I purchased everything on my list that appeared to be the best quality.

The deli and meat department had the most aggressive yet delightful “salespeople” I’ve met in any grocery store. They freely pushed their products. Hungry from having eaten poorly in the previous 24 hours, I readily fell prey to their sales pitch. Only a few items prompted me to calculate the cost using the currency app on my smartphone. 

One great buy was a three meal for two portion of Fillet Mignon which the butcher carefully trimmed to ensure all fat and tendons were removed, ending up at US $4.50 per serving. Tonight, we’ll make bacon (the bacon here was OK, not great) wrapped Fillet Mignon’s with sautéed mushrooms and onions, side salad and fresh sugar snap peas. 

The produce department was lacking in variety and quality with no green beans (fresh, frozen or canned), and many other familiar fresh items.  Much of the produce looked old and wilted.  Needing some items for our meals, I selected the best I could find. Later, Hans suggested a nearby vegetable stand where we’ll shop in the future.

The remainder of the store? Touch and go. The store was larger than any in Belize, smaller than in Italy with many items we frequently use unavailable. Much to my delight I found unsweetened coconut milk and coconut flour.  

Searching for coconut oil for my teeth cleaning and cooking, they offered me a bottle to which I jumped for joy. 

Tom will move the lawn chairs to a coconut tree free zone and into the sun.Today, we look forward to recovering a little color by spending our typical one hour of sunning and funning. The beach, not as close as we’d hoped, has warnings about peddlers, vendors and possible rough characters, leaving little interest for us at this point.

Returning home, I swished the oil around my teeth for 10 minutes, experiencing a burning sensation that prompted me to spit it out, brushing my teeth over and over with toothpaste and baking soda in an effort to get the awful taste out of my mouth.  Reading the bottle after the bad experience, I noticed the words in tiny print “not fit for human consumption.” 

Oh, good grief. Did I poison myself? It took several hours of repeating brushing and rinsing with purified water to remove to awful taste.  Apparently, this particular coconut oil was intended as a body oil. Into the garbage it went!  In my exhausted state and wearing my blurry contact lenses nonstop for 36 hours, I failed to see the tiny print on the label. I’d never seen inedible coconut oil. Usually, one uses the edible type as a body oil if they so choose.

The gate looking out to the yard from our outdoor living room.

Overall, the prices weren’t outrageous, as I perused the receipt the following day. Without a doubt, we’ll manage to be able to cook healthful and tasty meals while we’re in Kenya especially with freshly picked produce from the farmer’s market.

After grocery shopping, our new cab driver, Alfred, drove us across the street to a bank’s cash machine where we received enough KES to last us a for awhile, getting more cash as needed when we shop. 

We’ve decided to shop once a week negotiating with Alfred for a fee of KES $1000, US $11.44 plus tip for the weekly round trip on Tuesday mornings at 10:00 am.

Using the cab for shopping, banking and dining out should be no more than US $30 to US $45 a week, certainly less than the over US $800 a month we paid for a rental car in Italy. Plus, after reading several warnings by the US Department of State that recommended cabs over rental cars with the high risk of carjacking in many areas.  With the reasonable cab fares, we are satisfied with this option.

The locked garage and entranceway to the property.  At night, the guard Jeremiah, walks this area and the perimeter of the property of both ours and Hans’ house.

With little storage space in the kitchen and the necessity of no nonperishable items on the counter (monkey risk), putting everything away was a challenge. The galley kitchen requires that the kitchen door be shut in order to get into the undersized refrigerator.Tom offered to help but I threw him out, shut the door and got it done in no time.

Hesborn washed all the floors yesterday but our feet are still getting black. It may take several washings to get the soot-like dust off the floors.  He explained that recently the wrought iron gates surrounding the house had been sanded, resulting in the black soot. It was a relief to know that its not a permanent situation.

Once we find safaris that appeal to us, we’ll share the links and information. The search is almost as much fun for us as the experience.

Be back tomorrow with fun photos we took yesterday!

Pizza and nuts…Lots of nuts…

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With enough ingredients remaining in our food supply before we leave Italy on Sunday, it was time once again to make pizza, one large pizza for each of us hopefully lasting a few days. 

It may seem that we have pizza quite often, when actually we make it once every three weeks or so, probably not more often than those that have a menu consisting partly of carry-out meals.

For us, it’s always a treat. Tom now confesses that our cheese crust pizza tastes better than any pizza he’s had in any restaurant, including a few here in Italy. 

Often, we’ve received email requests for our recipes, but with the fact that everyone has preferences for their own toppings, we emphasize that our pizzas are made of a gluten-free, low carb, grain-free, sugar-free crust along with a sugar-free marinara sauce along with low carb toppings of choice:  cheese, sausage, mushrooms, peppers, onions, olives, pepperoni, shrimp, ham, non-starchy vegetables and more. 

My formerly all-time favorite pizza was Domino’s Hawaiian which was only a once or twice a year treat. The sweet pineapple has been off of my “approved” list at allowed foods for over two years. Other equally delicious options have replaced it. Tonight my pizza crust is made with cauliflower, cheese, and egg. With a few cups of fresh cauliflower remaining in the fridge, this was a perfect and healthy way to use it.

Jess’ Low Carb Cauliflower Pizza Crust:
Mix 2 cups cooked cauliflower, chopped into small bits with 1 cup grated cheese (any type of hard cheese), and 1 egg in a bowl.  Pour this mixture onto a parchment-lined pizza pan.  Bake for 30 minutes at 375F degrees.  Remove from oven and cool.  Top with low carb marinara sauce and low carb preferred toppings, finishing off with grated cheeses.

Jess’s Toppings:  marinara sauce, bacon, shrimp, mushrooms, onions, zucchini, basil, tomatoes, fresh mozzarella cheese and topped with Parmesan cheese

Tom’s Low Carb Pizza Crust:
Mix 2 cups grated cheese (any type of hard cheese) and 1 egg in a bowl.  Pour this mixture onto a parchment-lined pizza pan.  Bake for 30 minutes at 375F degrees.  Remove from oven and cool. Top with low carb marinara sauce, adding low carb preferred toppings, finishing off with grated cheeses.

Tom’s toppings:  marinara sauce, pre-cooked Italian sausage, mushrooms, onions, olives, fresh mozzarella cheese and topped with Parmesan cheese

In the US, there are several marinara sauces with our recommended “less than 6-grams carbohydrates” per half cups, which usually means no sugar. In Italy, we’ve been able to purchase sauce with 3 grams per half-cup. 

Carefully read the label to determine if sugar is included.  In Minnesota, we used Rao’s Marinara Sauce, but it was pricey at US $8.95 per jar. However, each large pizza only uses a half cup.  One large jar will make 3 or 4 pizzas. There are many other options without sugar. Who needs sugar in a pizza?

For those NOT on a low carb way of eating, our pizza is very high in fat and calories (if you count calories. We don’t count anything). Since our diet is a high fat, low carb way of eating we don’t worry about consuming fat. Consuming sugary, starchy, grain-related carbs results in raising insulin levels which results in fat gain. It’s not due to the consumption of fat.  

This scientific fact is outlined in this website, one of literally hundreds of medically based sites supporting the low carb, high-fat concept. Science is finally discovering that it is not the fat we eat that makes us fat. Its the combination of carbohydrates and fat. Eating low carb foods and fat results in weight loss, or in my case, weight management.

To simplify the science, it goes like this, a quote from the above link:

“Excessive amounts of carbohydrates (especially refined carbs/sugar) increases insulin and results in fat gain.”

Also, this way of eating has been highly instrumental in improving our health, in enormous ways, as described in many other posts on this site. I don’t need to lose weight. Thus, I must eat larger portions of what I do eat to ensure that I don’t.  In itself, that’s a challenge but certainly, one that I readily enjoy. 

For Tom, who struggles with a propensity to eat “junk food,” this way of eating has been a lifesaver. When he strictly follows our way of eating (minus sugary high carb snacks) he easily loses or maintains his weight hunger-free. Having quit smoking almost a year ago, he weighs considerably less now than when he was smoking. 

For those considering quitting smoking, adopting a low carb diet at the same time is a sure-fire way to avoid gaining the typical 30 pounds. We’re talking about saving lives here, not a fad diet so one can “look good” and fit into small sizes!

Much to our delight, we can eat nuts, the perfect evening snack. We enjoy low carb nuts, even peanuts in the shell (which are a legume, not a nut). Arriving in Italy months ago at that time I’d been eating cheese for dessert. Without preservatives in cheeses in Italy, it spoiled within days of purchase becoming impossible to keep fresh with our bi-monthly grocery trips. Thus, we switched to nuts, readily available at the grocer. At the bottom of today’s post is a chart with the nutritional content of nuts.

If you take the time to read a profound scientific book written by Gary Taubes, “Why We Get Fat,” available everywhere, it explains the science of low carb and how the world has become obsessed with eating high carbohydrate foods, increasing the obesity rates and diabetes to outrageous proportions. 

A vital factor regarding eating low carb is to commit to it. Your body will only begin to burn fat stores in a totally low carb environment.  It’s not a “mix and match” environment. 

(In no manner am I attempting to provide medical advice nor am I claiming to be a medical professional of any type. Please refer to scientific studies readily available at many university websites and by medical professionals worldwide. I’ve spent well over a year researching this topic).  

If you have trouble finding information, feel free to contact me by posting a comment at the end of today’s or any other day’s post and I will post a list enabling you to do your own research.

Tonight, the amazing smell of our pizzas baking will be wafting through the air.  Add a lofty side salad or plate of coleslaw and a fabulous dinner is to be had.  For dessert tonight? Nuts, nuts, and more nuts as we’ll watch Iron Man 2!

Here’s the chart of the nutritional content in nuts. Refer to the “net carb” since fiber apparently reduces the absorption of the carbs (not proven as yet but being researched on the horizon):

Carbohydrates and Fats in Nuts and Seeds (1 Ounce Unshelled)

Cal Tot. Carb Fiber Net Carb Sat. Fat Mono Fat ω-3 Fat ω-6 Fat
Almonds 161 6.1 3.4 2.7 1 8.6 0.2 3.4
Brazil Nuts 184 3.4 2.1 1.3 4.2 6.9 0.05 5.8
Cashews 155 9.2 0.9 8.1 2.2 6.7 0.2 2.2
Chestnuts 60 12.8 2.3 10.5 0.1 0.2 0.03 0.22
Chia Seeds 137 12.3 10.6 1.7 0.9 0.6 4.9 1.6
Coconut* 185 6.6 4.6 2 16 0.8 0 0.2
Flax Seeds 150 8.1 7.6 .5 1 2.1 6.3 1.7
Hazelnuts 176 4.7 2.7 2 1.3 12.8 0.24 2.2
Macadamia Nuts 201 4 2.4 1.6 3.4 16.5 0.06 .36
Peanuts 159 4.5 2.4 2.1 1.9 6.8 0 4.4
Pecans 193 3.9 2.7 1.2 1.7 11.4 0.28 5.8
Pine Nuts 188 3.7 1 2.7 1.4 5.3 0.31 9.4
Pistachios 156 7.8 2.9 5.8 1.5 6.5 0.71 3.7
Pumpkin Seeds 151 5 1.1 3.9 2.4 4 0.51 5.8
Sesame Seeds 160 6.6 3.3 3.3 1.9 5.3 0.11 6
Sunflower Seeds 164 5.6 2.4 3.2 1.2 5.2 0.21 6.5
Walnuts 183 3.8 1.9 1.9 1.7 2.5 2.5 10.7

Getting our ducks in a row…

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Each day its cooler than the prior day.  More of these puffy clouds surrounded us yesterday morning. With the cool weather, we kept the windows closed all day.  The laundry on the drying rack required the entire day to dry.  It appears Tuscany’s days of hot weather are over.

The packing has begun. I’ve decided to use one of the unused guest rooms to lay out all of my clothing in neat piles, setting aside clothing for the one-day road trip to Venice and another set for the 17-hour flight.

Comfort is key in both cases including the half-day car ride to Venice. Dark clothing is vital for the many hours in the air and waiting in three airports in the event we spill something on ourselves. We’ll wear comfortable shoes and the compression socks intended for long flights and cramped spaces.

More low lying clouds with blue skies peeking through.

Ah, the preparations, so many. Attempting to communicate with a person at Turkish airlines who didn’t speak English on Skype was challenging to say the least. I believe we were able to arrange our seat assignments for the three flights in order to be able to sit together. I couldn’t understand the seat numbers and the aisle numbers. I don’t know any Turkish. We weren’t charged.

I had wanted to discuss my food restrictions with the airline for the meals that will be provided. If what they serve proves to be a problem we can eat at one of our two layovers. I plan to bring nuts just in case.

The thoughtful owner of the house in Kenya has arranged a driver to pick us up at the airport in a newer air-conditioned vehicle who’s already aware of our flight number and time of arrival. The driver will be carrying a sign with our name upon our arrival in the middle of the night. He’ll know where to take us.

The security guard at the house, Jeremia, has been instructed to let us in the gate and the house. The houseboy, Hesborn, is aware that he shouldn’t arrive at the house until after 12:00 pm the day we arrive. We’ll attempt to sleep for a few hours upon arrival. 

Upon awakening, we’ll need to arrange transportation to a grocery store, our first task in our new home. They’ll be no food awaiting us at the house, although the owner kindly offered to leave fruit and crackers, neither of which we can eat. I declined his considerate offer which he usually, provides for his guests, graciously explaining that I have a peculiar diet. 

This photo was taken from the veranda yesterday morning.  We spend most mornings on the veranda it was too damp and cool to venture outside. Today, its warmer and we’re sitting outside now as we write this.

We’ll be fine if we don’t eat until we return from the grocer loaded with a week’s supply.  The grocery stores appear to be larger than we are used to and seemingly well stocked from what we read online.  It will be fun to shop, especially the first time.

The packing? I should have most of mine in order and ready for the “suck bags” (as we call them) by Wednesday. This week, we’ll wash and wear the same tee shirts and shorts over and over to avoid disturbing the packed items. My 25-pound pile of shoes and clothing is ready to be donated. It’s hard to believe I can exist with so little clothing.  

View over the church.

At this point, I’ve let go of my desire to have a “mix and match” wardrobe with many outfits from which to choose. Those days are over. Although I’m keeping two pairs of high heels, each shoe is neatly stuffed with vitamin bottles.

As a matter of fact, our Africa boots are also stuffed with vitamin pills, all of which will be in checked baggage. We’d originally planned to wear the boots on the plane, but I can’t imagine wearing knee-high boots for almost 24 hours. 

I tried on two pairs of jeans in order to decide which would be more comfortable for the flight. It turned out that the lighter colored denim feels more pliable, although they aren’t “stretchy” at all. I wish I’d kept a few pairs of stretchy well-worn jeans. 

Last night’s meatball yet uncooked dinner, which was topped with homemade marinara sauce and locally made combination of finely grated cheeses. Before cooking, we also topped Santina’s tomatoes with the grated cheeses. The black spots are the peppers and herbs from the patio.

One more of the two missing prescription boxes arrived yesterday. Hopefully, the one remaining box will miraculously appear this week, but we’re not optimistic. Plan B will go into effect, have the missing box replaced at no charge (to which the online pharmacy agreed) to be shipped to our mailing service in Nevada. As mentioned in a past post, at some time in the future we’ll figure out a way to have it mailed to us.

Still, we have time to relax on the veranda again this morning. The weather is warmer than yesterday, although very cool. With socks on my feet, I’m comfortable, looking forward to another great day of getting whipped at Gin, watching the last third of the original Iron Man with Parts 2 and 3 already downloaded for our future viewing.

We’ll have another great dinner of leftovers, a fresh pan of the above photo. With no microwave, I always divide the meal in two, cooking one batch fresh each of two nights. This avoids using the oven to reheat already cooked food.

Life is good. Not a complaint in the world.  Looking forward to soon being settled into our new home. 

Oh, oh, packages didn’t arrive!…Are we running out of time?…

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The four of six boxes we received from the pharmaceutical company. We’re awaiting the two missing boxes, hopefully to arrive or be replaced before leaving Italy in less than two weeks.

When living in the US we rarely gave a thought to our few prescriptions.  Ordering online through Medco it was a relatively painless process with the large white plastic bags arriving about a week after placing a refill order.  Once a year we visited our doctor to get newly written prescriptions to comply with insurance requirements.

Now, traveling the world, taking literally everything we own with us everywhere we go, all of our supplies, prescriptions and otherwise, take on a new meaning. It’s not to say that we’re preoccupied with these items. However, we must stay mindful and proactive to ensure that we have everything on hand as needed, avoiding a crisis and its resulting stress.

Early in July we ordered a year’s worth of prescriptions for both of us through ProgressiveRX, a reputable, prescription required, highly rated BBB online pharmacy with the best prices we’ve found so far.

Between us, we take a small handful of medications. Running out of them could be a problem. Having purchased enough to last us the first year in our travels, now  gone since Halloween, 10 months have passed.  We’d have run out while in Kenya.

Tom’s vitamin and pill cases.  Originally, we had four of these cases, allowing me to restock them once a month. Having to ditch two of these to make more room, I now have to refill them every two weeks. Mine is similar. We carry on all of our meds and few vitamins after the incident in Belize when security confiscated all of our vitamins for 24 hours. Lesson learned.

After considerable research and reading online posts, we felt it was too risky to receive a package through USPS while in Kenya with its reported high risk of never arriving or of getting caught up in customs, all of which is less of an issue in Italy. Ordering in July, with our plan to leave Italy on September 1st, made all the sense in the world. 

Unfortunately, ProgressiveRX process is to send a variety of the prescriptions in a variety of small boxes.  With us needing more Z-Pak (antibiotic) since I’d used one in Dubai when I was so ill, extra malaria pills and our few combined prescriptions, six small boxes were due to arrive. 

Two weeks ago, four of the six boxes had arrived, leaving two missing. “OK,” I said, “Let’s give it a little more time.” 

Becoming concerned last week, I contacted the company by email, receiving a prompt response. They suggested we give it a little more time.  By the end of last week, the two missing boxes had yet to arrive. The rep at the company asked that we wait until today to put in a request that the two boxes be replaced and shipped the quickest method available. With only nine business days until we leave Italy, this plan in itself is risky.

Yesterday, I went through the four boxes that each contained a variety of the medications counting every pill, all individually wrapped in childproof shrink wrap plastic packages, to determine exactly what we’re missing. Once completed, I checked the stock against the original order coming up with a list of the missing items.

As suggested, I sent them an email with this list this morning, suggesting that they quickly resend the missing meds. We shall see how this rolls out over the next several days. In my email this morning, I suggested that if the boxes, missing and new, arrive before we leave, we’ll either return the extras or pay for them, preferring to keep them, thus avoiding the necessity of finding a place to mail them.

We have no complaint with the company. They are responsive, providing quality products. This company was recommended to us by the wife of a delightful mature newlywed couple (they hooked up on Facebook after having dated in high school many moons ago) that we met the day after their wedding while in Belize.  She had a home in San Pedro, Belize  but they had decided to have their honeymoon at our resort, LaruBeya in Placencia. Gee, we loved that place. 

In any case, I took her recommendation for the online pharmacy seriously. As an American citizen, she too required a handful of meds having found ProgressiveRX to be ideal for ordering from afar. 

The names of the prescriptions, although containing the exact same ingredients, are different in some cases.  This is important to know to ensure a patient knows precisely which named prescription replaced the familiar name to avoid incorrect dosing.  Should any of our readers’ order through this company, please be careful in observing the named differences. Their website is helpful in defining these different names.

With the time differences in between Italy and the US, it may be hours before we hear back as to what they will do to get the missing meds to us as quickly as possible. We’ll report back here once we know.

Today, our plan was to grocery shop. After looking in the refrigerator and freezer noting the additional meat products we have on hand and seeing our delicious leftovers for tonight from last night’s dinner of Chicken Breasts stuffed with homemade pesto (from the garden on the patio), Parmesan cheese, wrapped in Prosciutto, we’ve decided we can wait until Wednesday. We’ll recalculate our grocery list to get us through 11 more days, instead of the original 13 days.

Perhaps today, a little refining of our items to be packed is in order, a task I thoroughly dread, among other “moving” tasks.”  Oh, I can’t wait to be sitting on the large veranda overlooking the gardens at the house in Kenya; the packing, the excess baggage fees, the three flights, the trip from the airport to the house in the middle of the night and the unpacking will all behind us. 

Winning Powerball…What would we do?…

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Santina brought us more vegetables when arriving to clean the house on Friday that we’ll be using tonight in our homemade taco salads (minus the shells).

No, we didn’t win nor did we purchase any Powerball tickets, although Tom was an avid weekly player while we lived in Minnesota. I’d always shrugged, somewhat disinterested, having watched a few reality shows depicting how winning destroyed many people’s lives.

“Money is the root of all evil,” so they say.  Without enough to survive, our lives are wrought with misery and sorrow. With the sudden acquisition of too much money, life may also be equally unhappy.

As we read the news story about the Powerball winner in Minnesota this week, who lives a mere 35 minutes from our former area, we wondered what would eventually become of this winner and other winners making the news this week. Would they wisely invest to secure their future or would they become like many past winners, bankrupt a few years later, after lavish wasteful spending?

Yesterday, Tom asked the question, “How would we change our current lives traveling the world if we won the Powerball with money suddenly to became no object?” 

We chuckled over the prospect as many couples do, fantasizing over winning tens of millions of dollars. Yea, yea, yea, we’d give money to family, donate to our favorite charities, set up investments for our future. La la la.  The usual. 

But, the big question remains…would we continue in our travels? Our definitive answer is “yes,” with some changes, of course. 

Zucchini we picked from our small garden on the patio. Soon we’ll have Pomodoro (tomatoes).

Here’s our combined list of 10 factors we’d be inclined to change:

Tom
1.  Flying:  First Class airline tickets
2.  Cruising: Select the best cabins and services or all-inclusive smaller luxury cruises.
3.  Bring the family to visit more often
4.  Buy all new clothes and personal items each time we’d arrive at a new location, to be donated when departing, carrying only our laptop bags with digital equipment.  No checked luggage.

Jess (in addition to Tom’s above four items)
5.  Ship favorite food items to our current location enabling me to cook more varied meals.
6.  Pay the extra weight checked luggage fees without concern.
7.  Hire a maid to clean, twice a week as opposed to once.
8.  Maintain the availability of a driver with an air-conditioned roomy vehicle to transport us at any time, to locations of our choosing.
9.  Maintain our budget while increasing spending in most categories.
10. Purchase clothing and personal effects online to be shipped to our current location.

To some degree, we are able to do a portion of the above, except for the opportunity to fly first class or cruising on $1000 per day/per person cruises.

However, reviewing the above list doesn’t leave us drooling over what we wish we could do differently.

When one has a massive amount of money, their “job” becomes managing it and ensuring that the professionals they’ve hired aren’t making bad decisions on their behalf. At that point, one would have a life consisting of “working.” We’re living this life we choose to avoid feeling as if we’re working. I wouldn’t change that for anything!

Pescia, referred to as “Little Italy,” with video and photos…Hot today in Pescia…Over 100 degrees F (C38 degrees)…

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The young helpful butcher as he was preparing our meat who easily understood when I asked him to cut the bacon thicker, stating “spesso, denso and grosso” all of which got the message across. Most deli meats and cheeses are cut paper thin in Italy with customers ordering small portions as compared to our 800 gram orders.

Stumbling across this well done video of Pescia. Italy prompted me to forgo my feeble efforts at video taking and “borrow” this video I discovered on YouTube this morning.

These peaches and nectarines were huge and all organic.

Feel free to fast forward through the gentleman who’s talking in Italian, unless of course, you’ll be able to understand him. I’ve noticed in our blog stats that we’ve had hundreds of visitors from Italy reading our posts, many of whom will listen all the way through. These scenes are better than any shots we could have taken.

Bagged vegetables are more expensive. The bulk, pick your own produce, require that the customer wear plastic disposable gloves, which are provided, prior to touching anything.  Also, once placing the items in a plastic bag, I had to weigh each bag, selecting a matching photo of the item on a display screen which prints a price tag to be attached to the plastic bag. I’d planned to take a photo of the screen, but the work area was lined up with shoppers waiting for their turns. The prices are excellent, for example, the bag of 8 large organic tomatoes I purchased today was Euro $.78 which is US $1.03.

This morning we took off for Pescia at 11:00 am, down the hairpin turns bouncing along in our “sold” Fiat rental car that they’ve (Budget Rental) yet to swap out with us for another car. At this point, we doubt that they’ll bother to swap it as the time nears for our returning it to Venice on September 1, 2013.

More pre-wrapped produce that although more costly than the “pick your own” still was very affordable, as you can see from the prices here.

A quiet weekend behind us, we were enthused to venture out enjoying the views along the way and to get groceries, change, and gas for the car. After today’s shopping trip, we’ll only need to grocery shop on one more occasion before leaving Boveglio. How the time has flown!

Grocery shopping in Pescia has been a pleasure for me with the freshest of ingredients, most of which are organic. There is less than a single aisle devoted to snacks, candy, cookies, and chips, basically junk foods. 

A bakery, deli, and specialty meat and seafood area offer the finest products.  It’s not easy to resist their made-on-site pastries and bread.  I breeze by the bakery trying not to look. 

Tom, on the other hand, could try some of the pastries without consequence (other than weight gain) but he too walks by without a glance. The only item I’ve seen him eyeball is the glazed doughnuts. 

Not a typical Italian item, they are pricey at US $12.00 a dozen.  “Mr. Frugal,” commented several weeks ago that there was “no way,” he’d spend $12.00 for a container of glazed doughnuts.  Good.  His pants will fit when we leave here. 

The plan, as always, is to use any food products we have on hand with the intent of not being wasteful.  Basic ingredients such as spices, oils, baking soda, etc will gladly be left behind for the next visitors, as has been the case when we’ve left with other properties we’d rented.

The cheeses we are expensive, but well worth their prices. The rounds in the center on the right are a soft cheese, along the line of a Brie that I’ve enjoyed every night for dessert.

It may seem odd to begin the process of ‘winding down” at this early date with almost four weeks to go.  But, as we’ve indicated on numerous posts, we’re the king and queen of “planning ahead” leaving us with little stress at the end of our stay, other than loading our bags and ourselves into the car on the day we depart.

Shopping today was a good reminder of how much cooler it is in Boveglio than Pescia, which is 30 minutes down the mountains.  With little interest in grocery shopping, Tom will read his book while waiting in the car. 

Here are some of the deli meats we’ve purchased. We’ve found the beef to be tough here, instead, eating mostly eating chicken, pork and fish. Notice the price on the rare roast beef on the right-center at Euro $34.90 which translates to US $46.31 per gram (less than a pound).  We skipped that item!

Not today.  With the temperature over 100 degrees in Pescia, he found a place to sit outdoors in a shaded area in the parking lot for the over hour-long wait while I shopped in air-conditioned comfort. When the hour ended, he came inside to find me as always while together we finished in the deli and meat department.

Luckily, the butcher in the deli understood my translation for cutting the bacon “thick” as opposed to the manner in which they cut most deli meats, ultra-thin. As soon as I uttered “denso, spesso and grosso” he knew exactly what I meant. Meat is old in grams, not pounds. One pound of bacon is 453 grams. As I order each item, I explain how many grams I want. Typically, I ask for anywhere from 400 grams (.88 pounds) to 800 (1.76 pounds) grams. 

Any one of these cheeses is fabulous, a little pricey but worth it!

Today, I ordered 800 grams of the thick-sliced bacon which I divide into several packages, keeping it frozen, taking it out only as needed. With no nitrates in their meats, bacon spoils in as little as three days. This morning as I was making breakfast, I took out a small package of the remaining frozen bacon, which defrosted in a matter of 5 minutes. 

Learning to freeze and defrost foods quickly and safely has been a learning experience, something I always took for granted using a microwave since the 1970s. 

We’ve avoided these pre-made items, except for the delicious olive, many containing gluten, starch, sugar, and carbs, although many shoppers purchased a combination of these items to complete lunch or dinner.

Many mornings we add Italian sausage to our breakfast, which is trickier to defrost. The easiest solution would seem to be defrosting it overnight in the refrigerator. This leads to spoilage when some mornings we don’t want sausage. If we’d defrosted the sausage we’d feel compelled to eat it. As an alternative, I also keep smaller portions of sausage in plastic bags in the freezer. (There are no Ziploc bags here, only the old fashioned hard to open bags on a roll with those green wire ties).

Taking out the small bags, I place the sausage in a skillet with a bit of water with a tight-fitting lid. In 8 minutes, the sausage is defrosted and I pour off the water, proceeding to cook the sausage in the same pan which results in nicely browned properly cooked sausage. 

These extra steps take extra time and effort, but then again, what else do we have to do with our time other than to enjoy each meal as if it were our last?  Who would have thought that a lifetime of cooking would change so radically in a country with different standards, many of which are better for one’s health?

Arriving back in Boveglio around 2:30 pm, we rushed to get the groceries indoors out of the heat and put away.  When we returned the temperature in Boveglio was 95 degrees F (35 degrees C) with a little breeze. With no air conditioning, I would have been dreading spending the afternoon and evening in the heat. 

But now, as we’ve become more resilient, seldom complaining, we marvel at how much we’ve adapted.  In essence, it’s been life-changing going from an over-sized Subzero refrigerator with a separate ice machine to a tiny refrigerator, requiring frequent defrosting and the making of our own ice in tiny trays. This is one of a litany of the inconveniences to which we’ve adapted.

Surely, more such inconveniences will follow as we move from location to location, striving to learn, to accept, and to grow in the process.  Although, today I’m having trouble adapting to the flies biting me which… I doubt will be less bothersome in Africa.

Typical day in the life…

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The blue in this photo is a small kiddy pool on the shared patio next door.  We don’t use that area due to the plants surrounding it that seems to attract more wasps and bees than on either our private patio or veranda. By the way, we do not take photos of topless sunbathers, often seen lounging on this shared patio.

A number of our friends have asked, “What do you guys do all day?”

With no yard work, no major cleaning, no visitors, no dog to walk, no nearby store or health club, no family coming for breakfast or dinner, no cable TV, and no English speaking neighbors to chat within the yard, how in the world could we possibly keep from getting bored?

This is not exclusively our dilemma.  Many retirees eventually move to a low maintenance lifestyle in warm climates far from family and friends, facing a similar situation. 

While living in Scottsdale, Arizona from November 4 to January 1, 2013, we were entrenched in such a lifestyle.

Tom’s sisters and brothers-in-law were living only a half-hour away in Apache Junction Arizona as they did each year to escape Minnesota’s rough winters. Connecting with them each week or so was a respite from our daily flurry of activities as we prepared to leave the US.

Switching back and forth between two local restaurants for breakfast every few mornings, dining out for dinner each week, and occasionally attending a local comedy club created a pleasant break in our daily routine.

During that two month period in Arizona, we were busy preparing documents to enable us to leave the US for an extended period, learning to use our new digital devices, preparing our taxes, and spending a week in Henderson Nevada with family over Christmas.  Actually, we visited Henderson on another occasion, to babysit our grand dog Monty while son Richard traveled out of town.

Without a doubt, it was a busy two months, not unlike the busy times spent with many of our retired friends who have condos in warm climates, living a rewarding and fulfilling life.

As for us living in Boveglio, it was a culture shock to realize no one and I mean no one speaks English. Not at the grocery store, not in the street, not a neighbor, not our landlords, not our cleaning lady, no one. Adapting to this reality has been challenging.

Much to my surprise, now when a person speaks to me in Italian I am able to decipher the gist of the conversation, although not able to translate word for word nor respond in other than a few Italian words I’ve managed to learn. 

Today, I researched the word for “thick” in Google Translate.  The butcher at the deli slices the bacon (US type) too thin, resulting in in cooking too quickly and well done. There are several options for “thick” in Italian: “spesso,” “denso,” “grosso.” We’ll see how it goes when we shop for groceries in the next few days when I attempt to explain the preferred thicker slicing of the bacon.

Two to three times per week someone rings our doorbell immediately speaking to me in Italian. (Tom refuses to answer the door, understanding less than my feeble attempt). They are either selling mops, brooms, and dustpans, frozen foods, looking for an address, looking for a person, or our kindly Santina, dropping off yet another bag filled with vegetables from her garden which we cook daily, never seeming to run out.

A few days ago, Tom and I chuckled over the fact that we’ve had more surprise visitors at the door in the past seven weeks since we’ve arrived in Boveglio, than we had in the prior seven years in our old lives, with each exchange challenging my language skills.

The point well-made: Not speaking Italian has had an enormous effect on the activities if our daily lives. So, how do we stay busy each day?

Here’s the rundown of our activities today.  Tom’s day is similar spending more time online than I do. (I’d be curious to hear from others as to their daily activities.  I wouldn’t be surprised if they’re similar.  Please do share).

7:30 am
Bolt out of bed.  Turn on the coffee. Shower and dress for the day.  Make the bed together.

8:00 am
Start a load of laundry.  Then, drink coffee and fire up the laptop, checking in.  Put away dried dishes from last night’s dinner.  (In my old life, I never left a plate to dry in the sink overnight).

8:30 am
Make breakfast: sausages, bacon, and eggs. Eat breakfast.

9:00 am
Do dishes. Decide on dinner. Hand cut the cabbage and carrots for the coleslaw, a daily task. There’s no pre-cut coleslaw mix here. Cutting it fresh each day seems to add to its crunchy texture. Slice and dice any other veggies for dinner.

9:30 am
Removed all the food in the freezer stacking it in the kitchen sink to begin the process of defrosting the freezer for the third time since we’ve arrived. The freezer is tiny. We need every inch of space for our next shopping trip. 

10:00 am
Tom poured the hot tea water into a pan, placing it in the freezer to aid in the defrosting process, repeating three times. Within a half-hour, the freezer was defrosted. I replaced the food, noting what we have on hand for the upcoming shopping trip.

10:30 am
Took the laundry out of the washer, starting another load of whites, hanging it outside on the patio (where the bees congregate). Quickly hung the laundry, in another successful attempt to avoid being stung.

11:00 pm
Made hot tea, taking it out to the veranda with my laptop in hand, to begin writing this post, while responding to email, etc. Continued to check the laundry. When the sweat started dripping off of me, I switched to iced tea, capping off the liter container. Used the remaining hot water in the coffee machine to make a new batch of iced tea.

11:30 am
Observed topless woman arranging her chaise lounge on the patio next door. Mentioned this to Tom. Using his monitor as a mirror, he checked it out to no avail. Turning around would have been tacky and obvious. I had a better vantage point.

11:56 pm
Heard twelve clangs of the clock tower next door, always four to five minutes early, repeating at 11:58.  Removed the second load of laundry from the washer heading out to our patio to hang today’s final load. Finished making the pitcher of iced tea, chilling it in the fridge. Back to the veranda to work on my laptop.

1:00 pm
Laptop batteries were almost dead. Returned laptops to the kitchen table to recharge and began downloading TV shows and movies from Graboid for tonight’s viewing. Sat in the living room, playing Gin with Tom while English speaking international news program played in the background.  He won.

2:30 pm
Laptop batteries recharged, Tom headed back to the veranda while I read my latest mystery novel on my smartphone while lounging on the lumpy 100-year-old sofa in the living room. It was 95 degrees and steamy yesterday. Today it was only 90 but steamy as a gentle breeze wafted from the living room window, the opening now covered with mosquito netting, keeping the bees and flies at bay.

4:30 pm
Tea time, a daily ritual, hot or not. Tom had already showered and returned to the veranda with his charged laptop.  I brought in the now dry laundry from the patio while once again batted off the bees, folded everything, and put it all away.

5:45 pm
Begin final prep for our dinner, planned as usual for 7:00 pm. Yesterday, I prepared, but didn’t cook our dinner for tonight, a common practice with no microwave, making two night’s meals, cooking one each night for optimum freshness and enjoyment. Chopped more zucchini, to soon be cooked in olive oil with fresh garlic and herbs from the garden.

6:00 pm
Arranged the clean and dry tablecloth onto the kitchen table, setting our places for dinner: linen napkins, forks, and sharp knives.

6:15 pm
Mixed up the coleslaw dividing it into two batches and placed them back into the refrigerator to stay cold.  Preheated the oven to bake the cheesy chicken/bacon roll-ups, a recipe I got off Facebook, which I modified with local ingredients. Chopped the sausage and onion for the stir fry side dish. Prepared the fresh green beans. It’s a good thing that Tom does the dishes with so many pots to wash. Good thing there are enough pots in which to cook.

6:30 pm
Put the chicken in the oven. Started the stir fry sausage and onions.

This is the pan of yet to be cooked bacon and pancetta-wrapped chicken scallopini (thin slices of chicken breasts pounded by the butcher) that I stuffed with seasoned ricotta cheese and chopped herbs from our private garden, wrapping them in in the two versions of “bacon,” Tom prefers regular US-style bacon and me, loving the thin-sliced pancetta.  These cooked for 30 minutes at 375 degrees (180 centigrade). I topped this with an Italian pesto sauce I’d made using ingredients from the garden.

6:45 pm
Started the green beans. Reheated the zucchini. Tended to the stir fry as it cooked.

7:00 pm
Served dinner with each of us easily moving through the kitchen to fill our various plates with a wide array of food. Sat at the kitchen table eating our meal while watching a show, a favorite ritual when its just the two of us. Again tonight, we watched another episode of the current season of  “America’s Got Talent.” More light entertainment we find to be rather humorous and entertaining.

7:45 pm
Having enjoyed our dinner with the show over, Tom washed the mountain of dishes while I cleaned off the table the stove, and the countertops.

8:15 pm
Set up my laptop in the living room in order for us to watch two shows tonight, the final first season’s episode of The Killing (AMC) as well as episode 5 of House of Cards (Netflix production). Positioned ourselves as comfortably as possible on the lumpy 100-year-old sofa. 

9:45 pm
Finished watching the two shows.  Downloaded from Graboid, there are no commercials reducing the actual viewing time. It’s at this time, I usually take my smartphone to bed to read until Tom comes to bed.  (I read my downloaded ebooks on the same smartphone I’d dropped on the cement in March in Belize. Never having had the screen repaired due to the inconvenience of shipping it back and forth, I quickly read the first sentence at the top of the screen which was the most damaged area. Once past that first sentence, the remainder of the reading is a breeze.

11:30 pm
Tom came to bed, his smartphone in hand to read his book while I attempt to go to sleep. By midnight, he turns off his phone, lightly snoring a few minutes later.

12:00 am
Tossing and turning I struggled to find a comfortable spot for my still painful but improved right shoulder.  Within a half-hour, blissful slumber overtakes me only to be interrupted by dreams of having to get up to go to “work,” driving in the snow, office politics, deadlines, trying to achieve the impossible, a true “frustration dream” often similarly repeated several times a week. 

Does this mean I feel guilty about our simple life, our never boring routine? I don’t feel guilty, but I do still pinch myself every few days as many retirees may do, asking themselves, “Am I really free? Is it true that I don’t have to go back to work on Monday morning? May I now enjoy Sunday afternoons, angst-free, knowing that Mondays are just another “typical day in the life?

Oh, it’s the simple things…

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A European Hornet’s nest was being built by a slew of giant hornets in a crack in the small opening at the top of this photo. These old stone houses are a breeding ground for nests for all types of critters.

While hanging the laundry this week, I heard the loudest buzzing of a hornet that I’ve ever heard,  which apparently was a European Hornet. Following the sound, I looked up to find a nest of giant wasps being built into the high stone wall on the patio. Knowing they were busy building the nest with little time to bother me, I finished hanging the wet laundry, hoping that they were just “looking” to build a nest.  Not the case.

Yesterday, again hanging laundry, their numbers had increased and we knew we had to contact Luca, the owner, and ask for his assistance. If we both weren’t allergic to bees, hornets, and wasps, we’d have taken care of it ourselves. It wasn’t worth the risk.

Contacting Luca by email, within hours we had a response translated to English. “No worry. We come to fix it tomorrow.”

At 10:00 am this morning, Lisa and Luca appeared at the door, with bags of “goodies” to help us, including laundry soap (we’ve supplied our own), cleaning supplies for Santina, items necessary to rid us of the hornet’s nest and “mosquito netting” for covering the windows in the kitchen, living room and master bedroom.  I jumped for joy! 

This en suite bathroom window will now provide a good breeze coming off the mountains at night when the temperature usually drops into the 60’s.

The thought of being able to chop, dice, and cook in the kitchen without bugs biting me made me squeal with delight. Being able to have a window open at night was beyond belief with it cooling down into the 60’s most nights. Having the window open in the living room while playing gin or watching a movie was more than thrilling. Oh, it’s the little things.

Lisa stapled most of the edges of this “mosquito” netting as screens for the windows.  This kitchen window attracted many flies and bees with frequent cooking going on each day.  We’ll keep an eye on it to ensure no gaps leave an opening for insects to enter.  We removed the Ziplock bag to keep flies at bay, moving it to another screen-less window we often keep open.

Lisa and Luca…amazing! As soon as they saw the email stating we needed their assistance with the hornet’s nest due to our allergies, they went to work on a solution making it possible for us to have windows open in this warm weather.

The netting wasn’t quite large enough to use a single piece.  Lisa and I agreed that two well-placed pieces would work on the living room window, close to where we frequently sit on the sofa to play Gin and watch movies.

Now as I write this, the nest is either dead or dying, the windows are covered and we couldn’t be happier.  On top of it all, while they were here working, Santina had placed a large bag of green beans and zucchini on the doorknob when we didn’t hear the doorbell.   Lisa had seen her drop them off, telling me when I questioned who had brought them.

I wish I’d heard her knock on the door when she dropped them off so I could’ve said, “grazie mille” (thank you very much) as I’d said over and again to Lisa and Luca, almost making a fool of myself with gratitude. 

Also, I wanted to thank Santina for the three pieces of “torte” which Tom tried this morning, finding them unusual but delicious. Due to the crusts made with flour, he only ate the insides, to find they were all “‘sweet” pies that one may eat for dessert, although they were made with vegetables. 

It killed me not to taste these. In my old life, those three different pies would have been right up my alley.  I won’t tell her that I couldn’t eat them and possibly hurt her feelings. (She doesn’t go online). But I will rave about the flavor of the pies enjoyed by Tom and the generous bag of the green beans and zucchini some of which we’ll have tonight with dinner.

The flowers are still on the ends of the zucchini, which we’d never see at a grocery store or farmers market.

How I long to bake many of my favorite recipes to share with these wonderful people!  Unfortunately, I can’t find the ingredients to make most American favorites. Maybe I’ll figure out an alternative soon, using the local ingredients. 

It’s the simple things in life that mean so much, isn’t it?
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My razor broke a few weeks ago. There are no less than 20 blades in our luggage that fit my old razor, now useless.  I can’t find a similar razor.  I shave every day. Foolishly, in the US before we left, I purchased a nifty women’s razor from Walgreens, their own brand.  They no longer carry it. 

While in Pescia at the larger grocery store, Esselunga, they were only a few options, mostly disposable razors.  The only non-disposable types were two that had a battery to enable it to “act” as an electric razor. (Had I purchased a larger brand name, I still wouldn’t have been able to find a replacement razor).

I’d be OK with the battery-operated type but they are heavy, not suitable for our luggage plus. Anything with batteries is an issue other than the most pressing items, such as a camera. Every ounce counts!

With no other options, I had no alternative but to purchase the disposable razors. Do I throw away the expensive blades? I guess so. 

During the week-long period when I had no razor, I used Tom’s razor, swapping out a separate blade each day, then putting his blade back. Cumbersome. Glad that’s over.

It’s the simple things. 

Its been over two weeks since I gave up Crystal Light Ice Tea, suffering no withdrawal. I’ve thought about it a few times each day as I sipped on the bubbly bottled water, tiring of it in a few days.  Plain water bores me.

Letting Tom use the remaining Crystal Light until gone allowing me to go “cold turkey,” he guiltily suggested that I make “real” ice tea. You know, tea bags and water.

Unable to remember the last time I made “real” iced tea, we looked online as to how many tea bags to use as opposed to how much water after we’d purchased a box of 50 Lipton teabags for US $2.25 (not a bad price).  It wasn’t easy to find the plain ice tea recipe. 

Who makes ice tea these days with many options available in the grocery stores?  I don’t drink regular soda with its tons of sugar not suitable for my way of eating.  If I did, there are no sugar-free options here, other than Diet 7-Up  and Coke Zero, neither of which I care to drink.

After a frustrating search online including at the Lipton site, I decided to try the suggested one teabag in one liter of water.  Horrible.  Too weak.  Later I added another teabag settling on this recipe:

  • Make 1/2 liter plain water in the coffee pot or teapot for hot water 
  • Drop two teabags in the hot water 
  • Let sit for 1/2 hour at room temperature
  • Remove and toss teabags
  • Add other 1/2 liter cold water
  • Add to taste, Stevia or liquid Splenda
  • Chill until cold, adding ice and lemon to an insulated mug

It’s palatable, although not as good as the Crystal Light.  There’s a little caffeine from the two teabags which is fine.  One could use decaffeinated teabags if caffeine is upsetting.

The 50 teabag box is enough to last for the remaining time we’ll be in Boveglio.  This one-liter container has been lasting for almost two days.

Wherever we may travel we’ll be able to find teabags, water, and ice.  As for the lemon; a cut lemon without preservatives only keeps a day or two in the refrigerator. I said goodbye to the lemon. It’s not worth tossing halves of lemons every few days although I appreciate the fact that the food here has no preservatives. The freezer is our friend, although it already needs to be defrosted again before our next grocery shopping.

Yes, it’s the simple things, the comforts in which we surround ourselves whether living on the road such as we do, packing for a weekend camping trip, or planning for a stay in a hotel.  We tend to gather the familiar items that help us feel “at home” and “at ease” adding to the pleasure of the time away.

Letting go of many of the comfort-related items from our past, embracing new items we’ve incorporated into our lives as replacements while adopting new comforts we’d never noticed or appreciated, is all part of the process of simplifying our lives. 

Ironically, all of this may change when we arrive at a new location.  Ironically, this is also OK with us.

The best bread-free sandwich in the world…It’s low carb, grain-free, starch-free and sugar-free..Easy to make…Photos instructions…

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It’s important to wash the dirt off of lettuce. If it’s not organic, carefully repeat rinsing in cold water, which may remove some of the pesticides.  If it is organic, carefully rinsing the lettuce removes dirt and little green worms which we’ve found on organic produce here in Italy. Usually, we dry it with a clean white kitchen towel or paper towels, wrapping the leftover lettuce in the white towel, and placing it in the fridge will keep it fresh for days. For the recipe, wash and dry 8 large romaine lettuce leaves, usually the leaves closest to the outside.

Two years ago when we began this restrictive way of eating, I was desperate for ideas. I’d heard that Jimmy Johns made a bread-less low carb sandwich called the Unwich. Cute name, eh?

Slice fresh tomatoes, purple (or yellow) onions as you prep for making the sandwich.
Off I went to the store closest to our then home in Minnesota to give it a trial run, purchasing “The Club Unwich” for two. Taking it home for dinner that night was unusual. We never and I mean never, ordered fast food for dinner. The only carry-out we had once a month or so was Chinese food, now forbidden on our way of eating, due to soy, MSG, sugar, noodles, etc.
This sliced Emmental cheese or sliced Provolone cheese seems to add more flavor to the sandwich. Try to avoid using overly processed American or cheddar cheese. There is no cheddar cheese in Italy due to the dyes used to color it. That’s impressive!

Making a large salad on the side, Tom and I sat at the bar in our kitchen and munched away. Halfway through, I jumped up and decided to “open” my sandwich to see how it was put together. Doing so would enable us to make these at home. 

Place the meats on a plate in preparation for assembling the sandwich. This mayonnaise is the best mayo we’ve ever used, no chemicals, few ingredients.
On the days we make the sandwich we usually have bacon and eggs for breakfast making extra bacon for the sandwiches, refrigerating it until we assemble the sandwich.

Of course, we could have continued to purchase them at Jimmy Johns. At less than US $6 each, they were a good buy, easy and fast.  But, for several reasons we decided to make our own:
1.  Our local Costco sold quality sliced nitrate-free meat and bacon.
2.  We could make the sandwich any size to fit our appetites.
3.  We’d be certain that no bread products had touched the food.  With a gluten-free sensitivity such as mine, even a bread crumb could become an issue.
4.  Use of higher quality, more flavorful real cheese, as opposed to highly processed cheese.
5.  Use of organic lettuce, tomatoes, and onions.  Why eat pesticides when one has a choice.
6.  Use of high-quality mayonnaise as opposed to the highly processed product.

Parchment paper is readily available at any grocery store. We used it almost every day to cover the bottom of any pan going into the oven (don’t use it on top of the stove) to reduce the cleanup and ease in getting the food, such as pizza out of the pan. It’s great for baking but one must not use it in excess of 375 degrees or it may burn. Do not use it when broiling. If you eat potatoes or sweet potatoes, parchment is ideal for making oven fries. Toss pre-cut potatoes with olive oil and salt and place in a preheated oven to (190C), 375F, baking for 30 minutes or until brown, tossing every so often. Best fries ever. For this sandwich recipe, we cut two pieces of about (75 cm) 30 inches each to use to wrap the ingredients as one would wrap a tortilla.

For us, these were great reasons to make it at home. For others, it may be easier and befitting a busy lifestyle to head to Jimmy Johns and purchased them made to order.

To begin making the sandwich, lay two large romaine lettuce leaves, overlapping, end to end, centered on the parchment paper, the long way. Be certain the lettuce is dry to avoid a soggy mess later.

After mentioning these sandwiches a few times in our posts, a number of our readers have written to us requesting instructions on how to make our “to die for” bread-less low carb sandwich. With that delectable morsel on the menu tonight for dinner, today is the perfect day to take photos to show you the easy step by step instructions.

Place the turkey or chicken slices atop the lettuce, cover with tomatoes. It’s OK to add more if you’d like.  We prefer this smaller amount.

(An item you’ll need to purchase at the grocery store along with these food items, is parchment paper or freezer paper which is used to wrap the sandwich. For kids or messy adults, use two rubber bands to hold the paper on the wrapped sandwich). 

Place the cheese atop the tomatoes, adding the mayonnaise using the spatula or wide knife.

Once familiar with the process, one can put two of these sandwiches together in a matter of minutes with the ingredients at your disposal. Below are all of the ingredients you’ll need to make two large bread less Club sandwiches.

Ham slices in Italy are different than deli ham slices in other countries, fattier, no nitrates, and less flavorful than the ham slices in the US.  In our sandwiches, we don’t use Italian salami. It was too fatty for our taste buds, greasy on the tongue.  One can add or delete any items in this sandwich.  But, the most important for maximum flavor is bacon, cheese, and mayonnaise.  Sliced roast beef also works well when available.  We would have purchased it yesterday, but it was US $42 a pound so we were content with the ham and sliced chicken.

1 large ripe tomato, sliced medium thickness
1 large purple onion, sliced thin
8 large washed and dried romaine lettuce leaves
4 slices Provolone cheese (or other preferred sliced cheese)
6 ounces sliced deli ham
6 ounces sliced deli turkey or chicken
6 ounces sliced salami, roast beef, or other preferred slice meat
6 slices cooked bacon
Mayonnaise (Tom doesn’t like mayo but in this sandwich, he does. Give it a try or use other sandwich spread that you or leave it out).
Parchment paper, cut into two 30′ long pieces

Layer the cooked bacon and the onions slices.

Adding these items to our grocery list is easy here in Italy. All of their meats are nitrate and chemical-free.  Thus, they spoil quickly.  As a result, when we purchase the above to make the sandwiches, we usually eat them for two nights in a row, freshly made each night, in order to use up all the meats we’ve purchased. 

After layering all the ingredients, lay two more dry pieces of the romaine lettuce atop, matching up the length of the sandwich to avoid a lot of overlap on the ends.

Yesterday, we shopped and tonight will be our second night of the sandwiches, which we anticipate with the same enthusiasm as last night. The sandwiches can be made earlier in the day and stay fresh in the refrigerator until dinner. 

Fold the paper over the sandwich on the edge closest to you, beginning to roll it tightly.

When Tom was still working I made these sandwiches for him almost every day for the next day’s lunch, staying fresh overnight. I prefer making them the day they are eaten. But when packing lunch for work, making them the prior day is unavoidable. 

Tuck one end over as if you were gift-wrapping a package.

The sandwich will keep in a lunch box the same amount of time any sliced meat sandwich will keep. Tom always used an insulated lunch box with a frozen freezer pack of some type. Keep refrigerated until ready to eat.

Continue to roll it tightly, tucking in both ends, leaving one end loose for unwrapping it as it is eaten.  Using a few well placed wide rubber bands helps for those who may have difficulty pulling the paper down neatly.  Tom is messier than I am and needs the rubber band which I lost yesterday.  It was the only one we had.  He’ll manage.
The final product, tightly wrapped, ready to chill, and enjoy with a side salad and steamed vegetables.

So there it is folks, our favorite sandwich. Actually, it’s our only sandwich. We have, on occasion, used this same concept using tuna salad, egg salad, and chicken salad, layered with cheese (or not), and preferred raw veggies.

A cold dinner is ideal on a hot day such as today at a humid 91 degrees!

The local traveling Farmer’s Market…

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By the time I walked to the produce truck, it was surrounded by no less than 10 locals residents, anxious to buy their weekly supply of fruits and veggies.

Last Thursday, upon returning from Pescia with enough groceries to last two weeks, there was a produce truck parked across from the lot where we park the rental car.

Locals had gathered around, purchasing their fruits and vegetables. Having already purchased all the produce we needed at the time, it made no sense to make any additional purchases.

Without the use of chemicals on produce to enhance its preservation or ward off insects,, the vegetables we’re purchased seem to spoil quickly, except the cabbage and carrots we use almost daily for our coleslaw. Although we enjoy lettuce salads, we’ve found the lettuce spoils in a matter of a few days whereas the cabbage, if left uncut, may last until we shop again.

It felt awkward taking photos so I did so discretely.  Unquestionably, I was the only tourist in the bunch as I heard the locals chatting on endlessly in Italian.  I did my usual head nodding, hiding my camera under my shirt.

Having used all of the produce we bought last Thursday, we’re now down to only the cabbage, a few carrots, onions, and garlic.With our limited diet, a wide array of fresh vegetables certainly enhances our nutrient intakes but also the degree of enjoyment of our meals. 

Making chow mien a few nights ago, we used cooked cauliflower, cut into pea-size pieces as the base, as opposed to rice or chow mien noodles. It was delicious! Cauliflower can be used as a base instead of pasta, rice, beans, or grain for any meal. It takes on the flavor or the main dish without imposing any special flavor of its own.

Also, with a masher or food processor available, it can be mashed to appear and taste similar to mashed potatoes with the addition of butter, salt, and pepper. Once on the plate, one forgets it’s not potatoes and can enjoy it along with the other items in the meal. Unfortunately, an Irish potato loving guy, Tom’s not sold on this concept. I’ll give him credit for trying.

More fruit than vegetables, I was unable to replenish our supply of cauliflower.

In desperation, we do have a supply of canned green beans on hand. Certainly not a favorite but with no freezer space for frozen vegetables, we’ve had to adjust our objectives to accommodate our current needs. 

(Unsure of the exact arrival time of the produce truck, I kept checking outside to see if it had arrived. Last week, when we returned from shopping it was outside at about 3:30 pm.  Hopefully, the schedule is the same each week.  We shall find out soon enough).

In the US, most canned produce contains tons of highly processed salt. Not adverse to salt, we prefer to add our own Himalayan salt which is not chemically processed. Having used Himalayan salt for years so far it has traveled with us with our determined effort to avoid cooking with commercially processed salts.

In Italy, we’ve found most foods befitting our way of eating to be exactly as nature intended; plain. Of course, the markets are filled with the usual “junk processed foods” although considerably less than we’re used to seeing on the shelves in the US.

The baking section in the aisles is less than five feet wide as opposed to an entire aisle in the US.  If one is hoping to bake a boxed cake mix, there are few, if any options.  We were unable to find unsweetened baking chocolate, necessary to make our allowed “fudge” for an occasional treat. 

Plus, there is literally no coconut in the markets:  no raw coconut, no coconut flour, no coconut oil, further limiting some of our cooking and baking options.

Tonight for dinner; seasoned homemade chicken salad with onions, celery, hard-boiled free-range eggs, and of course, the finest pure mayonnaise we’ve found anywhere, made without chemicals; no HFCS, no sugars, no corn oil, no by-products.

Here’s what I purchased today for a grand total of Euro $4.09, US $5.33.  Prices were better at the grocery store but the freshness and convenience made it worth paying more.

This morning, for an additional entrée for tonight’s dinner, I cooked a pork loin roast, shredding and seasoning it with the fabulous Italian pasta sauce we found without sugar. This is a replacement for the usual sugary barbecue sauce. The end result: some mighty fine tasting “pulled pork,” minus the bun. 

Needing change, I handed the vendor a single bill for Euro $50, (US $65.10), concerned she’d refuse the larger bill.  No problem!  She had a fanny pack filled with money!

Throw our staple, coleslaw, into the mix, a big bowl of “fresh” steamed green beans for a hearty, healthy meal for tonight’s dinner with leftovers for tomorrow night. Yes, it might be an odd combination of items but who’s to say what we “should have” at any given meal? 

At 3:25 Tom saw the produce truck coming down the winding road heading toward our neighborhood. Grabbing my grocery bag, camera, and Euros, I headed outside to the vendor, thrilled I hadn’t missed its arrival. 

It was obvious that a stop to our tiny neighborhood might be toward the end of their route for the day with the resulting several empty bins. But, I was able to find carrots, green beans, and eggplant. This should be enough to last us with what we have on hand to get us through the next several days until we leave on our road trip next Tuesday to grocery shop again.

Going forward, we’ll purchase produce every other Thursday at the market in Pescia, enough to last a week, no longer dealing with spoilage, supplementing with what the produce truck has on hand on the alternating Thursday.  This is a perfect solution to our spoilage issues.

There’s nothing like food and love. In abundance, they fill the belly and the heart, both of which hunger for replenishment, while never losing interest in the in the prospect of the next opportunity to savor in their delights.