Fresh Off The Turnip Truck

It’s been about 2 weeks since we ended our lacto-ovo transition to a completely vegan diet and I’ve spent much of it feeling as if I just fell off the turnip truck. The adjustment has gone surprisingly smoothly as we’ve figured out what ingredients we have at our disposal and, from that, what we like – which is pretty much everything. What we’ve also been figuring out is how this new way of eating measures up nutritionally.

Before I get into that, however, let me take a moment to note that we have not once craved animal proteins. The vegetable protein we’re getting from legumes, vegetables, and a few nuts leaves us feeling full and satisfied. The food is tasty. Probably more tasty than our old diet because I’m forced to be creative and try new things. I, personally, have felt a small urge (far less than could be called a craving) for a little more fat in our diets, which is a complete no no, for reasons that I will explain shortly. I am assured that this urge will be gone within another week or so, once my body and taste buds adjust to the lower fat level in our diets.

Now here's where the turnip truck comes into play. Am I the only person on the planet who had not heard about the book "The China Study" by T. Colin Campbell Ph.D. and the documentary "Forks Over Knives," which is based on the book. I'm sure we're not, but it surely does feel like it, as I've learned since beginning the book and watching the documentary (Thanks, Paula, for suggesting them!!) that although this information is new to us it's actually been around for a few years. As I write this post, I am on the final chapters of “The China Study” and have to recommend it to anyone who is curious about a diet that does not include animal products and has any reservations about the healthfulness of it.

From further reading, we have also learned that a number of highly respected doctors have been successfully using a vegan diet to treat patients who are plagued with a host of chronic illnesses, including diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and heart disease. (That thump, thump, thump you're hearing is me taking another tumble...) While there are minor differences in how they apply the nutritional principles detailed in “The China Study” and other research, they are all plant-based diets structured on whole foods, rather than processed ones, and tight controls on fat content.

Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn of the Cleveland Clinic’s Wellness Center, advocates this type of diet with absolutely no added fats. That’s the one we have chosen to follow, partly because he has had excellent results using it to reverse heart disease in his patients and because his dietary rules are clear and unambiguous – something we felt would make it easier to follow in spite of its restrictiveness.

For clarify, we’re not talking about a weight loss diet that will be replaced by the typical American diet when we shed a certain number of pounds. This is a permanent change in the manner in which we meet our nutritional needs and enjoy the pleasure of eating. So the fat is gone and gone for good, right along with almost all processed foods. As far as I am aware, we don’t have to start making our own mustard and tomato sauce, but just about everything else will arrive straight from the garden to our fridge.

A challenge? For sure. Difficult? Not at all… aside from needing to round up a few more basic ingredients.

Now that I think about it, the hardest part just might be finding enough room in our tummies for the daily recommended amount of fruits and veggies. I mean think about it. Here’s the MINIMUM amount of food we eat every single day.

2 cups of greens
1 cup of various other veggies
1 cup of legumes
2 cups of grains
2 cups of fruit
¼ cup of nuts or seeds (or 2 tablespoons of nut butter)
8 glasses of water

That’s a whole lot of food and it’s only the start, as the diet does not require calorie counting, carb counting, or portion controls (except for nuts, avocado, & olives, which are high fat). One thing we won’t be doing is going to bed hungry.

Eating all those greens can be problematic, however, without a nice oily salad dressing. Here's how I solved the problem. Bear in mind that I was creating on the fly without measuring, so the proportions are estimates.

Not Honey Mustard Salad Dressing

4 tablespoons deli mustard
4 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 garlic cloves (minced)
1 inch fresh ginger (grated)
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon onion powder
4 tablespoons water
4 tablespoons soft tofu
1 tablespoon cane sugar syrup (probably not available where you are. Try agave nectar or maple syrup.)
pepper to taste

Combine ingredients in a narrow bowl and mix with a stick blender.

You don't need to be vegan to enjoy this one on your salad.

Pura Vida

On Finding Ourselves Where We Never Thought We'd Be... The Unintentional Vegans

So we have decided to go vegan. Low fat vegans, at that. Come to think of it, maybe I should say that we decided to stop eating animal products – meat (red, white & fish), dairy and even eggs – and adopt a very low fat, strict vegetarian diet to address some health issues. In my mind, vegans embrace a philosophy that, while I respect and feel some affinity to, goes beyond both our motivations and our goals, which have more to do with health than ideology. More on that later, though, as the reasons behind our decision are complex and require a lengthy explanation. But since the focus of this blog is to share our thoughts and experiences about living in Costa Rica, I will focus for now on how we’re making that adjustment in a country void of most of the commercial vegetarian products available in the U.S.

The short answer is that it’s a challenge. In fact, foregoing all animal products and slashing dietary fat is challenging anywhere, but it presents especially tall hurdles here.

The typical Costa Rican diet is relatively light in meat, compared to the typical American diet and includes lots of rice and beans. On the one hand, that might make this seem like a perfect environment for this transition. On the other hand, while Costa Ricans eat small quantities of meat and dairy and local recipes mix up ingredients in traditional Costa Rican ways, virtually every meal typically includes some sort of meat, dairy or eggs. Fried chicken is a favorite, as is beef stew, hamburgers, and the always popular arroz con pollo (rice with chicken). Soups are frequently eaten here, but even the vegetable-based soups often have milk added. Needless to say, the supermarkets match their products to the demand.



Fortunately, we have an abundance of fresh, local produce available to us. While they can be bought at the supermarket, we prefer to shop for them at the ferias (farmers markets). In fact, today I brought home a week’s worth of fruits and veggies for a little less than $10. My shopping list included:
3 papayas
2 mangos
1 cantaloupe
2 large hands of bananas
tomatoes
chayote
cucumbers
3 kinds of lettuce
beets with their greens attached
carrots
camote (sweet potatoes)
onion
sweet red peppers

Left over from last week’s shopping trip: plantains, celery, tomatoes, garlic, red potatoes, and more red sweet peppers.

If only it was that simple! Or as quick as dropping by the local Whole Foods store or Trader Joe’s or Sprouts. Nope. No way. Nada.

It took us a little more than a week to use up the last of our non-vegan supplies. (I’m far too frugal to toss perfectly good food.) But once they were gone, I spent four full days in the kitchen preparing some staples and specialty dishes to get this ball on a roll. Last night I made a big pot of lentil soup that I hope will buy me a couple of days to get caught up on my housework and do a little more recipe/nutrition research.

Clearly, food preparation is going to command an even bigger piece of each day!

I’ve always preferred to bake our bread, but if I ran out, the panaderías in town offer an acceptable alternative. That was then. This is now. And now means that making our own bread is no longer optional. It’s essential. Luckily I recently found an easy 5 minute, no-kneed process that will be a lifesaver. Mix it up tonight, let it sit overnight on the counter and bake it up in the morning.

Finding vegan protein sources here is particularly difficult. That is, if you want more than beans and whole wheat bread. And we do! Our local grocery stores, even the small ones here in Palmares, offer textured vegetable protein. That’s a start (and comes with a learning curve). But I want more! Variety is the spice of life, after all, and is also very likely the key to not becoming bored with this new way of eating.

I had hoped that macrobioticas – a type of health food store that sells dietary supplements and organic personal care products – would be a help. Every town has one or two or more small ones. The bigger cities have larger ones. In my naïve imagination I thought that perhaps they might carry at least tofu – if not some yummy vegetarian sausage. Huh! I asked about it in one of our macrobioticas and the proprietor told me there simply isn’t a market for it. He suggested Alajuela.

In fact, we visited a half-dozen grocery stores and macrobioticas in Palmares and San Ramon before we finally found all three varieties (soft, firm, and extra firm) in an Asian market in San Jose. The Automercado (an upscale grocery store that carries some hard-to-find American products) also had it – but just the firm.

For the record, there are still two larger grocery stores to be checked in San Ramon [20 minutes away] and it is highly probable that we can buy it at the Automercado in Alajuela [40 minutes away]. Although we intend to keep our soy consumption on the sparse side, I am hoping we will get lucky a bit closer to home. We just happened to find it in San Jose first.

On the same trip to San Jose, we found kelp, sesame oil, and paid a pretty price for red quinoa ($8 for 12 ounces!) and a better (e.g. less expensive and with more information on the label) source for brewer’s yeast than what we’ve found locally.

Given that backdrop, what are the odds of finding some soy sausage or vegan cheese? Slim and none, is my guess.

For me the hardest part will be living without cow’s milk. I love my milk. I love my coffee. I love milk in my coffee. Truth be told, milk might be the main reason I drink coffee.

I’ve read on the Internet that some people swear by almond milk for their coffee. Just try to find that in Costa Rica! Right. My daughter suggests that I try soy milk in my coffee, but my crystal ball is hinting that I might have to learn to drink my coffee black – or give it up entirely. (Sob, sob)

On a more optimistic note, don’t you just love those moments when you find yourself facing a challenge and realize that the little bits and pieces of knowledge, experience, and skills you’ve picked up over the years are just what you need to bail you out? Well, this is the mother of those preparedness meets opportunity moments, as many of the staple products we would probably end up buying ready-made in the States will have to concocted right here in our own Costa Rican kitchen. Out of the somewhat limited products available to us in Costa Rican markets. Almond milk. Vegan cheese. Nut butters. Meatless burgers. Vegan salad dressing – a particularly tough one for this ranch-dressing addicted gringa.


My first batch of homemade peanut butter

On an even more optimistic note, in addition to providing another creative outlet, the extra work also transfers more control over what goes into our bodies to us.

What about the products we’re giving up? So far we’re not feeling like we’re giving up a whole lot beyond convenience. We used to eat eggs virtually every day, but we’re not exactly craving them. This week I made a yummy frittata with tofu for a change up from oatmeal. An old favorite of mine - corn meal mush - is on the soon-to-happen list, too.

Beef, poultry, and fish? The loss is no big deal. Perhaps because we had already reduced our consumption to one kilo per week. That works out to a total of about 2.5 ounces per day (for each of us) on average, using it primarily to flavor soups and casseroles.

I can see that cheese and ice cream could eventually be a problem. I’ve found recipes for vegan cheese made with almonds or cashews and when we absolutely have to have some ice cream, we’ll be patting ourselves on the back for having the wisdom to bring the ice cream machine with us!

We certainly did not see this turn in the road coming back when we were packing for the move. But we knew there would be surprises. And lots of changes. We tried to equip ourselves to deal with them. Some changes are not only impossible to foresee, they’re impossible to prepare for – except to learn to be flexible and open to new ideas.

The Back Story – How we got from there to here.

Sometimes events happen and we find ourselves in that very uncomfortable situation where awareness and preparation meet and we realize this is the time and we have both the motivation and the means to make a big change, which is precisely where we found ourselves a couple of weeks ago.

We’ve known for a long time that we needed to shed a few pounds. Okay, maybe more than a few. We knew that the methods we’ve tried in the past didn’t take. We also knew that in spite of sporadic attempts in the past to go organic and kick our bad for us/bad for the world food habits, we simply weren’t motivated enough to make the changes. Then came along a news about Hormel doing away with gestation cages What?!?

I didn't know there was such a thing. I don't know who dreamed up that insanity, but I knew instinctively that it was far from the worst of what I could learn if I had the guts to dig deeper - which I didn't.

Nor did I need to. With that one story all of my self-serving and self-preserving attempts to ignore what I knew to be true about the inhumane treatment of the animals that give their lives for our nourishment evaporated. Digging deeper, I learned that that Costa Rica imports pork from the U.S., so I couldn’t even shrug it off as just a U.S. issue. It had followed us here! That really ticked me off! A little more research revealed some unsettling slaughter practices both here and abroad.

I was devastated. I liked my comfy little world where I could call pork my favorite meat and brag that our beef here is lean and healthy.

The humanitarian issue, however, was just the kick in the pants that got us moving toward a decision we ultimately made primarily for health reasons.

Outraged and heartsick at what I had learned, I turned to my friend Google for healthy dietary alternatives to eating meat. I meant, we were already eating very little meat. The idea of giving it up completely was not out of the question. We could still have our milk, cheese, and eggs, right?

It didn’t take long before that dream shattered, as well. This time it was an article from the American Diabetes Association that acknowledged that a low fat vegetarian diet is healthy and can be better for blood sugar control than a a diet that includes animal protein. It was time for another… What?!? Like, what about counting carbs? And complete proteins? And anemia? And calcium from milk for strong bones? Could it be true that my vegan daughter was not destined to develop osteoporosis? And was my son right when he argued that cow’s milk was not the best source for calcium? Evidently, the answer was yes on both counts, as additional research confirmed the claims. This article by the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition cinched the deal for us.

In case you’re wondering, no, I do not have diabetes – yet. But I do have some of the risk factors, including out of whack lipid numbers and family members with diabetes, which has meant that I have simply assumed that sooner or later my number would be called and I would take the drugs and finally be forced to eat differently and perhaps face some of the complications that go hand in hand with the diagnosis.

The writing was on the wall and finally we were willing to put on our glasses and read it. I wish I could say that we were excited to know that we had another option, but the truth is we didn’t feel that continuing the status quo was even a choice. There was really only one option and we were ready to embrace it.

We’re new at this and have a lot to learn. Hopefully we also have a lot to gain. Just as importantly, we feel good knowing that we are doing our part for the planet by eating lower on the food chain. And, of course, a load of guilt has been lifted now that have taken a stand and are voting with our forks for more humane treatment of animals in our food supply.

Pura Vida

Las Fiestas de Palmares

As life here unfolds on a day to day basis, I must tell myself a dozen times a week that this or that needs to go into the next blog post. Later, when I sit down to write all those moments fade into the landscape of our new normalcy and seem hardly worthy of mention. That said, there was one major event I have to report on.

This, of course, was our first January in Costa Rica, which translates into our first Las Fiestas de Palmares – the biggest party of the year in a country that loves big parties. To put the enormity of this event into perspective, keep in mind these two facts:

Beer: According to some reports, the Palmares Fiesta ranks #2 in beer consumption world-wide… second only to the Oktoberfest in Munich. That’s a lot of beer when you consider this…

Size: Palmares has a population of just over 4,000 (not counting the canton's other six districts). Of course, the 500,000 or so visitors that the town hosts over the course of 13 hot days and fun-filled nights need a lot of refreshment, so the locals aren't actually walking around in a drunken stupor for two weeks.

Where does all this fun take place? And what exactly is the draw (aside from beer, that is)?



During the fiesta, the main road (pictured above) that runs from the International Highway through downtown (and is the primary bus route in and out of town) is converted into a parade route and party central. Virtually every property along the route rents out their front lawn, parking lot, and even the space above their buildings, in the case of single-story structures lacking open space in the front, where scaffolding is erected and overlaid with flooring to support ad-hoc restaurants, super bars, dance floors – and prime parade viewing. Tickets for those venues run around $60 per person for the biggest single event of the fiesta, the tope or horse parade. In case you're wondering, the price of admission gets you more than a look at beautiful horses. It also includes all your food and drinks, so some might consider it a bargain.

The real fun, though, just might be curbside, where regular folks tote in ice chests filled with beer and strut about in their plaid shirts, boots and cowboy hats, and proceed to enjoy one of the biggest, if not THE biggest, tailgate parties known to man.



We walked down one residential street along parade route that was lined with folding chairs and ice chests. Inside the iron gates of the homes behind them, residents were setting up for their own little fiestas, complete with flat screen TVs on the porch for watching the parade coverage, as well.

There's one thing Costa Ricans love as much as a party and that is their horses! Beautiful, well-bred, well-trained horses, at that. The numbers I’m hearing are that about 5,000 horses prance along the parade route during the tope. Although we can’t report much first hand info (the parade took place during the heat of a very hot day and we’re whimps when it comes to hot), we did make a brief visit to the fairgrounds a couple of hours before the parade began, walked the parade route, indulged in some luscious traditional food, and were ready to make our way home and out of the heat about the time the parade got into full swing. On our way to the bus we captured a couple of good horse pictures. The best is at the top of this post. The other parade photos here are made possible only because one of our neighbors was brave enough to stick around for most of it. (Thanks, Donna!)






Like all festivals, carnivals, and county fairs we’re familiar with in the U.S., this one had rides for the little ones and the daring, food stands for everyone, arts & crafts and souvenir vendors. Unlike most of them 'at home,' this one starts with a children's parade in which the little ones carry handmade lanterns, illuminated by candles. And just exactly where in the States are you going to find a no-kill bullfight? Or any bullfight, for that matter?! I’ll refrain from commenting on the wisdom of hopping into an arena and going head to head with any animal with horns and more than a 100 to 1 weight advantage over a large man, but this is where it happens. Every January.

Weekends during the fiesta are dominated by open air concerts by big-name performers. There’s a 13.5 kilometer foot race and a 37 kilometer bike race. Pretty much something for everybody.

The one event I would love to see (at least once in my life) is the Carnival parade. My impression of it is that it’s similar to Mardi Gras (New Orleans) or Carnival (Buenos Aires Argentina), but toned down a bit. This year, Vic was nursing an ankle injury so we kept our walking to a minimum. Maybe next year.

What makes all this fun even more fun, is that January is the definitely the driest month of the year (that would be weather, not in alcohol consumption, of course) in Palmares. So while it was truly hot, with temps tipping to the 90s and higher in the sun, the humidity was low, without a threat of rain during the festivities.

Most Palmareñans skip the party, which is perceived by some as a gross annoyance. Some even leave town to avoid the craziness. But for anyone who loves a party - this is definitely where the action is.

All in all, I can sum up the fiesta this way: Muchos gente (a lot of people); Mucho sol (a lot of sun); and MUCHAS cerveza (an incredible amount of beer).

If you decide to visit us next January and join the fun, remember we've got just one extra bedroom, so reserve your spot early!

*Palmares is a canton (the equivalent of a county in the U.S.) that is comprised of seven districts (not quite a town, but more than a neighborhood). We live in the district of Buenos Aires. The district of Palmares is also the ‘capital’ (or the equivalent of a county seat in the U.S.) of the canton.

Pura Vida