Day 2 [Germany] Searching for butcher shops, another day of making our pre-packed groceries and quick fresh shopping work

Well, we all went to sleep at 9 PM and my daughter woke up at 1 AM. After 2 hours of trying to get her back to sleep I gave in and we all woke up. She kept telling me "I am done with my nap Mommy". To which I replied "That was not a nap - it is night time". Negotiating with a 2 year old is near impossible when they are well rested and in their own time zone - negotiating when in another country - impossible I've determined. 

We ate instant oatmeal, dried fruit and nuts and watched movies. Around 6 AM we went back to sleep and my intent was to sleep only a few hours but our bodies decided to sleep for another 6 hours. At noon I finally woke up and got ready and then got my  husband and daughter up. 

This is when I remind myself that it was a great idea to leave the Thursday night before my husband had to start work on Monday. 

Lunch was leftover pasta with a big salad. I had no vinegar but it was surprisingly satisfying to just have lettuce, olive oil and himalayan pink salt. The big salad was important for two reason: 

1. I didn’t have much pasta toss leftover so I had to fill up on something
2. Fiber is key to keep your bowels healthy while traveling. The tendency is to eat a lot of dairy, gluten and not a lot of water. As a result, many folks end up not ‘moving’ the same way as at home. Replacing the majority of a meal with something light, green and high in fiber is a great way to manage this. 

At 3 we finally left the house to go exploring - my husband had scoped two butchers to go meet. The first, was closed. The second, closed at 12:45 on Saturdays and was closed Sunday - nein and nein. I should have known - I think this is standard practice for European companies. 

We headed to a grocery that is probably akin to our Safeway/Vons in the States called Reve, right next to the BioMarkt we went to yesterday. We picked up a few staples like water, tissue and checked out what they had here. My daughter started to throw a fit so exploration expedition was cut short on reading ingredient lists in German and trying to recall the little knowledge I have and using my Google translate tool. If we don’t build an app, please Google or someone else, build an app where I can scan a package in another language and have it translate to my own locale. Furthermore, identify ingredients I have personally tagged that could be problematic for me (not just gluten or dairy - but ingredients I personally decide I don’t or can’t eat). This is do-able but it is frustrating in times when you are tired, jet lagged, and dealing with a toddler who screams and cries when she is jet lagged and exhausted. Have mercy!

Butchers will have to wait until Monday - stay tuned for that experience. I am praying their English is decent to chat about ingredients. These are the times I really wish my dad had non renounced his German heritage and refused to speak German at home with us. Miss him every day, but man!!! this could have made my life easier. 

Between Reve and Dunns we grabbed the following to put a dinner together:

Chicken breast

Chickpeas (will soak today, cook tonight and prepare/season tomorrow)

Red Lentils

Onion

Organic salami and turkey breast (what they call “turkey ham”) in pre-packaged form

For dinner we had:

Light curry chicken

Jasmine Rice

Red Lentil stewed with carrot and onion

Sliced cucumber

Again the focus was:

1. Quick

2. Wholesome (not packaged - especially since reading ingredients is like reading a novel when you are in another country)

3. Balanced - I missed having true greens here, but figured the sliced cucumber balanced that a bit along with the stewed carrot in the lentils

This is real life. In my real life at home, almost every meal includes greens (lettuce, chard, kale, mustard, dandelion). I will get to that here in Germany, but for now, I am still jet lagged and managing a toddler with massive jet lag. Do the best with what you have and try to make it work. I am still feeling insanely positive about this whole thing!

Recipe for Light Curry Chicken:

Saute diced onion (about 3 very small onions) over medium heat until nicely golden

Toss about 1 tsp of cumin and 1 tsp of mustard seeds into pan until just fragrant

Toss in diced chicken (4 breasts) and cook until almost brown on edges

Sprinkle 2 tsp garam masala and 1 tsp tumeric and 1/2 cup water

Bring to a boil

Simmer until liquid is cooked down and chicken is cooked through

Season with salt as needed

Recipe for Stewed Red Lentils:

2 small onion, diced sauteed until soft

Then add

2 medium carrots, diced, sauteed until soft

~1 cup red lentils (ideally these have been soaked and rinsed)

Cover with water by about 1 inch above the lentils

Bring to a boil and then let simmer until the carrots and lentils are well cooked. Season with salt as needed. 

Enjoy!