Ocala, FL Rain 67 Degrees
Seven months into my new Paleo style of eating, I can't imagine going back to my old diet. I remember thinking when I started that it would be really cool to travel and eat this way, since I eat a good deal of locally grown vegetables. I thought how fun it would be to travel around and sample the local in season produce and imagined the variety would be limitless.
My first 6 weeks in the southeast has been a huge disappointment. I quickly found that unless you eat a steady diet of okra and collard greens, you won't get much in the way of good produce. At least not this time of year. The grocery stores have been a huge disappointment. I've felt a bit like a teenager who thinks they are starving because mom let the frozen pizza and chicken nuggets run out. Between the Romaine lettuce recall and being stuck with mass produced and package lettuce that has been hosed down with preservatives so it will stay crisp in the Dole bags for weeks at a time, my diet has been anything but adventurous. It has been down right boring and tasteless.
My luck changed this morning. My new friend Barb, invited me to go to the flea market with her this morning. As we walked along the aisles of handbags, kitchen knives, boiled peanuts and miracle pillows, I suddenly found myself in a veritable cornucopia of fresh fruits and vegetables! For a moment I thought I heard angels singing!
This is where all the farmers and vegetables have been hiding! A huge variety of fresh, colorful, aromatic, deliciousness surrounded me. My mouth watered like a college student opening the lid of a pizza box. Finally, I feel like I can eat real food again. I will miss this place when I go back to Iowa in April. For now I'll go every Friday morning and practice my Spanish with the vendors and load up on my Paleo fuel.
Until next time...
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