Food

Grocery shopping and buying food is different in many ways than in the US. The first decision one needs to make is how much you want to change your diet and ways of eating. If one “goes local”, food is plentiful and relatively cheap. Most items commonly purchased in the US are available here. The definition of “here” may not mean Puyo in spite of the fact that it is around 25,000 people. A very large supermarket that is similar to a supermarket in the US is located in Ambato, about an hour and a half away. That means a very mean section of mountainous highway. Oh well, I guess everything has its price.

Measuring quantities is done in kilos and grams. Until one gets use to these units of measurement, there is a little sizing guessing by looking at the container. For example, a 490 gram jar of peanut butter cost $5.36 in Ambato. This is basically one pound of peanut butter. Aunt Jemima (spelling on the bottle) syrup in a 12 oz bottle cost $2.75 in a local very small grocery store. A Scott 128 piece roll of paper towels cost $3.72.

We drink bottled water. A five gallon container cost $1.25 delivered to our door. A plastic pint bottle of water costs .25. A fresh large pineapple costs $1.00. A gallon of flavored yogurt is $3.50

The most common local dishes at a café always seem to include a soup and some rice. The soup servings are very generous and include a wide variety of ingredients. Meat is often in the soup but microscopic in size. A chicken can feed dozens of people. Rice is either boiled or steamed and has a never ending series of toppings. The food is generally not spicy, but the aiji (ahee) is always available so one can spice up the rice as much as you want.

We have a bakery near our home. It has a wide variety of breads and rolls. We have experimented with most and find them very good but a little more coarse than our fresh baked items in the US.

We both came to Ecuador hoping to lose a little weight. This project is not going too well. You simply can not experiement and reduce at the same time.