Greek Food?

So far I have not figured out:

a. when the big grocery store is open, and

b. how to eat healthy in a Greek restaurant.

Marios has been a huge help…as ripped as he is…he knows how to dodge the fat and calories.  Not only is he hooking me up with some protein powder, but has begun to explain what to…and what not to buy.  I put on a good Suzy 10 (or at least it feels as such) so I am eager to get back to a clean diet and good exercise.

Day one, Yorgos escorted us to the market.  He was very sweet, as he insisted on pushing our “cart,” bagging our food, and carrying the goods home.  I bought some essentials like yogurt, water, and coffee…but could not locate oatmeal.  I found the one English speaking person in the joint and she informed me that sadly…they had no oatmeal.  I admit…I was a little put out.

I know this sounds silly, but when planning this move I was concerned with how I was going to maintain a good diet.  Oatmeal is the healthiest grain…it has the most protein…and is a morning staple for me.  It’s not like I’m asking for Kashi Cinnamon Harvest cereal (that stuff is like crack BTW), its just plain oatmeal…and I want it.

The next day I ran across a mini-mart (Dafni is full of them) where I found…you guessed it…oatmeal!!!  At least I thought it was because the Quaker man’s face was on the can.  It didn’t look like American Quaker Oats…but I didn’t care…it was as close as I had come, and I was so happy.  Now I had all the staples…yogurt, oatmeal, eggs, and produce.  I can easily live on that, and begin to lose the icky Suzy 10.

Entering my kitchen I eagerly opened the can to see what was inside.  It was oatmeal alright…but all smashed up and small and powdery.  “Whatever,” I thought.  I guess it’s Greek oatmeal???

When having lunch with Marios (my new pseudo nutritionist and trainer), and discussing the food I need to be eating, I asked about the oatmeal.  I  told him that I finally found some…but it was all compressed and in a small black can.  He knew of such oats…he too was forced to eat them when he moved back to Greece.  “It’s baby oatmeal,” he says….”They feed it to the babies.”

Haha!  here I thought I was getting crappy oatmeal because I was in Greece (I am such an American snob) but all the while I was eating baby cereal!

It’s actually not bad…absorbs in my yogurt faster than the grown-up (or American) stuff…and tastes the same.  Fortunately Marios found a market where they sell the real stuff…so I can eat a grown-up breakfast from here on out.

Love, Rach

This entry was posted on Monday, October 5th, 2009 at 7:12 am and is filed under Thoughts. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.