My 100 Km Costa Rican Diet

Working from home this week.

My remaining student is sales manager for Central America, which includes those seven countries between but not including Mexico and Colombia.

This week he is off touring Central America with his boss.

So we have postponed his classes this week to next week. Have I mentioned how unpredictable teaching business English can be?

With no classes this week, I did not have to do the bus trek to and through San Jose. That's the good news.

Costa Rican Cooking

The bad news was the prospect of eating all of my meals here in San Francisco de dos Rios.

Commonly available Costa Rican cooking is high in carbs, fat, rice, beans and boredom.

Last Saturday, in the neighborhood park, I was cluelessly watching a soccer game and mindlessly watching shoppers loaded with fresh produce from the farmers' market in the park.

I found myself wishing I had decent cooking facilities so that I could truly enjoy the fabulous in the market.

Obviously, I could do something with this great produce...but a full week's work of meals using only a hot plate?

The Banana/100 Km Diet

As I was glancing at the stacks of bananas on the vendors' tables, the idea occurred to me that I could use one of our family favourites as the basis for my 100 km diet.

As it turned out I have a copy of the so-called banana diet with me...so that is the basis for my 100 km diet.

I am now half way though the process. What a great experience!

I've only made 2 changes to the diet.

I've added coffee, because it is big part of Costa Rica culture....and it's also damn good. How good is it? I have not seen a single Starbucks anywhere in CR. What I can see is coffee plantations from my street. How local is that?

And instead of apples, I am using pineapple.

The local produce is absolutely awesome.

The banana and oranges would never find themselves in North American stores...they just aren't pretty enough. And I have never, ever tasted anything like the pineapple I had yesterday.

Counting today's meals of salad and lean meat, the total cost so far is about $8.00, with about $2.00 more required for Thursday and Friday.

But the taste experience...priceless.

Moving forward, I have a great alternative to the traditional Costa Rican diet.

Maybe I can even avoid the ever-present rice & beans.