Life Lessons In Food

      I have enjoyed the many different choices of food that Belize has to offer.  There are some things I miss from home, like berries of any kind but the freshness of the pineapples and papayas and the friendships I have made over and around food, more then make up for the food I am used to having.

     As I reflect on the new foods I have experienced and friendships I have made over food, I have noticed a correlation between food and people.  I hope you enjoy my reflections.

Friendships made over food

Meet Miss Lorena, She runs a fruit and vegetable stand next to the school where I work.  There are many people selling the same types of fruits and vegetables in the open air market.  The prices can vary depending on your relationship with the seller.  The more you take time to get to know people the more you are blessed by new friends and sometimes free fruit.  I shared my Chocolate Chip Banana Bread and a bag of chocolate chips with her and she shares, mangos, papayas and oranges with me.  

I have learned to slow down and take time to get to know the people I meet every day.  We are not meant to walk this journey alone but to support and learn from one another.  In Miss Lorena's stand, all the fruits and vegetables are categorized together but it is when we take the oranges, pineapples, papayas and mangos and mix them all together, we get a incredibly delicious fruit salad.  When you take the cultures of Maya, Creole, Mennonite, Mestizo and Asia and mix them together, you get the beauty of Belize.  We can learn from each other and that is the blessing of sharing even sharing something as simple as fruit and Chocolate chip banana bread.

Meet Miss Lilly, she cooks lunches for a few of the students and makes and sells snacks for the snack shop.  She has allowed me to help make and sell the food when  I am not busy with interpreting.  I have learned to make some wonderful Belizean/Honduran food. 

Stretch My Gut

Strech My Gut is an incredibly delicious treat.   The process for making it is somewhat time consuming but it is worth the effort.   The trick for a successful Stretch My Gut is to make sure the seams are sealed properly.  If you do not seal them properly, when they are placed in the pan of oil to cook, the seams will break open and oil will seep in.  You then have to throw the opened treat away because it is saturated with oil and no longer a delicious treat.  If sealed properly, you can add a hot sauce, or a home made salsa mixture that adds spice to the treat. 
    As a Christian, I need to seal my heart against negative thoughts and attitudes destroying God's plan for my life.  When I have followed God's plan for my life, He has blessed me beyond measure giving me new friends and adventures far beyond anything I could come up with on my own.  It is when I have let negative attitudes break down my confidence that my seam breaks open, oil get's in and destroys the treat He would have me enjoy.

     Salbutes is a Belizean food that starts out with a fried corn tortilla.  On top of the tortilla, you add shredded chicken, cabbage slaw, onions, and hard cheese.  I had an opportunity to help prepare this for lunch one day.  The base (tortilla) provides a firm foundation for the rest of the ingredients.  It can be messy to eat, especially if the tortilla breaks but it provides a number of flavors and textures and is very delicious!  God provides His children with a firm foundation.  Each one of us brings our hopes, dreams and fears to the foundation.  Life is messy but God continues to provide that foundation even in the mess.  He needs us to use our skills and our personalities to add flavor and texture to His kingdom so others can enjoy the taste of a relationship with Him.

Choco Bananas!  Take a banana, cut it in half and put on a stick.  Freeze, coat in chocolate and freeze again.  When solid, take out of freezer and enjoy.  
Some people look sweet and wonderful on the outside but are frozen on the inside.  They hide their hurt.  In order to get to truly know these people, you have to break through the outer shell.  They are a special treat and you can learn a lot from each other.  It takes more patience and persistence but it is worth the effort.

In the picture on the left, I am holding a mango.  The picture above is a crate of oranges.   I have been awed by the size of some of the fruits and vegetables here.  Just like people, fruit and vegetables, come in many shapes and sizes.  Bigger does not mean better.  A fruit can look delicious on the outside but when you cut it open, you might find a worm, a soft/rotten spot or a huge pit leaving little of the sweat fruit to enjoy.  Sometimes the outside does not look very appetizing but when you cut it open, you get the most incredible experience.  Do not be so hasty to judge a fruit or person by their outside appearance.  Some of the most amazing people come in packages that at first glance do not appeal to the senses but as you get to know them, there is a valuable treasure hidden inside.

 Cevice is one of my most favorite Belizean foods.  The temperature here borders between warm and hot most of the time.  This is a nice cool and light dish on a hot day.  I love the combinations of the flavors (shrimp, tomatoes, cilantro, lime juice, and green peppers) with the amazing crunch and taste of the local San Francisco chips.  These are the best chips and the "factory" is two blocks from my apartment.  I compare this dish to the variety of wonderful people and cultures that make up Belize.    Each culture has it's own flavor and personality and is recognized and celebrated for what they bring to the country of Belize.

These are Creole rolls.  Approximately once a week, the same 12 year old boys rides by on his bike and asks if I would like to buy any.  My answer is always "yes".  They are delicious!  I do not know his name but I do know his mom sends him out with a bucket of these rolls, still warm.  He makes me happy with his delicious rolls and I make him happy because it means he is that much closer to being able to go home. 

The lemon pie here is AMAZING!!  No one I have met, makes them better then Diany Medina.  She, like her pies, looks beautiful on the outside and sweet and amazing on the inside.  It is a treat and a pleasure eating Diany's pies just as it is a treat and a pleasure to spend time with Diany.  I cherish her friendship and will treasure her recipe which she so kindly shared with me.

 Belizean Bar-B-Que

Male Staff Members cooking the chicken.

Small pot of rice and beans.

Cutting potatoes and carrots

 Rice and Rice beans is a staple in Belize.  Chicken Bar-B-Que is sold everywhere and always includes, rice and beans, potato salad, cole slaw and sometimes a tortilla. The teachers at St. Peters held their annual Chicken Bar-B-Que sale and  I was honored to work along side the teachers as we prepared the food.   Huge pots of rice and beans, potatoes salad, cole slaw and a lot of chicken.  It was fun having the opportunity to learn from each woman as we cut up potatoes and prepared the food.  It is amazing to see so many people working together for a common goal.  Everyone seemed to know what to do and there was very little directions given.  When one task was finished, each teacher moved on to the next task until all the food was prepared and served into take out containers..  This was an amazing experience.  Many friends made a lot of work turn into a fun social time and the passage of time went quickly.

Serving up Rice, beans and potato salad

The fruits of our labor