German Food

As promised I am finally ready to talk about the German food...mainly I have taken pictures to have you see what the German food is like.  Unlike what our family is used to....lots of green veggies and fruit, fish, pan seared chicken or pork, quinoa, brown grains, fresh smoothies, and lots of low or natural sugars (local honey, pure maple syrup, etc), I even started grinding my own wheat; we have eaten the opposite of what I believe we should be doing.  When we were in Las Vegas, our family ate low carb and low gluten and little dairy.  I found a few of us have intolerances and one of my girls is extremely effected by all the bleached flours, preservatives and sugars.  While we are not totally green and low carb and gluten free I did attempt to reduce a lot of the processed foods from our family's diet.  During our time in Vegas we were pretty healthy, my kids rarely were sick and I attribute a lot of it to our more healthier diet and living in a house with no mold in it.  I had a lot of enegry and my running was getting better.  Now, when we get orders and begin our traveling and TLF (time in a hotel), often we do not get a kitchen, thus causing us to eat out more often or eating more processed foods.  Well, its been about 5 weeks of this new diet for us and I have seen the ill effects of how a few of us feel and behavior changes.  My running and energy level has greatly suffered (not good for a homeschool mom of 4 active children)....

   I have found the German diet is made up of mainly beer, brots, and bread with lots of gravy.  If you know me that is NOT my kind of diet.  While I do enjoy a good German meal, say once every month, daily or weekly is not what I prefer for my family.  Here is a picture of our contential breakfast:
                            
Cereal, orange juice (often fanta), whole milk, cheeses, salami, bolona, and some other sort of mystery meat and fresh bread from the bakery up the street.  Really, it is not that bad for a day.  But this is not what we're used to on a normal day, especially for this omelet/egg loving girl. 

Now below are just a few plates/items we enjoyed for my birthday. 

schnitzel and pommes frites (breaded pork and fries) for the girls (ketchup costs extra)

forgot this name - a Swabian (our region) traditional meal - steak with fried onions on top, pan fried potatoes, 2 ravolis with a light sauce. Very good!!

This meal is pork with knudel and the pear with cranberry in it all over a light red wine sauce

Our new birthday tradition is to go to the Eis place (ice cream - think Italien gelato).  The birthday person gets to pick out a creation of their choice while the rest get a scoop of Eis of their choice. This is a coffee with liquer sauce over it (didn't know about the liquer part when I ordered, but a tastey treat nonetheless)

The is cheesy spetzle we got at the Wienfest

At the Stuttgart Wienfest...we tried some white wine and ordered a cheese plate for the kids. The cheese plate came with grapes, a few pretzels, and fancy looking cut cucumbers and large radishes.

Now, when you order in Germany you do not naturally get water, you order and PAY for it and NO ice is ever given with your drinks. Often water costs more than the beer and the water is mineral sparkling water so we have to order "Wasser no gas".  As you can see, very little green was pictured which makes me sad because I love my veggies.  The cost for a meal is more too.  Service is much slower, they are not in a rush like we Americans tend to be.  WHile I like the food, it is something that I am not used to eating so a once a month meal will suffice for this girl born and raised in the land of nutty fruits!!! 

tchuss (pronounced "cheers" - a friendly and less formal good bye!)