Snacks!

With my sporadic teaching schedule, I can't always plan on eating at the same time every day. Sometimes I rush out the door without eating breakfast and other times I'm too far away from the apartment to make lunch and I don't want to go out to a restaurant. This is why snacks come in handy to keep me going throughout the day.

Unfortunately, most Ukrainian snack food (pastries, mini-sandwiches, dried fish, sour cream/caviar flavored chips) is off limits for me. Luckily, seeds of all kinds are very popular here, especially sunflower seeds, as well as nuts, and are both available at kiosks and mini-markets all over the city. Perhaps this has to do with the fact that these salty foods go so well with beer, a favorite Ukrainian "soft drink."

I have a few favorite snacks in my rotation that keep me energized all day.
First, there's dark chocolate and oranges. Fortunately, I found an amazing 60% dark chocolate that's 100% vegan. Melissa introduced me to pairing chocolate with oranges/orange juice and now I'm hooked. Also, peeling and eating oranges reminds me of lazy afternoons spent sitting on the porch of my father's house in Tampa, eating naval oranges straight from the tree. This thought always puts a smile on my face.


Another great combination is strawberries and... Well, I'm not sure what these are, but they taste like bagel chips and are available absolutely everywhere. In Odessa, there are special bread kiosks that sell loaves of fresh black bread, pastries, as well as these bagel-shaped snacks that are not only vegan but certified kosher parve! The salty/starchiness pairs very well with the sweet, tart berries.



For less of a sugar rush, I reach for my tried and true favorite snack: hummus and cucumbers, or any other vegetable for that matter. I'll be honest, I wasn't able to find hummus for my first two or so months in Odessa, which was pretty difficult to handle after five months at Ein Gev. Living in Israel had basically taught me that hummus belongs in its own food group and I was going through some serious withdrawal. Fortunately I found a falafel stand that sells huge containers of hummus for only 13 gryvnas (that's about $1.75). Cucumbers are and have always been plentiful in Ukraine, so that wasn't a problem.


Last but not least, I can't get enough of apples and peanut butter. OK, this snack is kind of cheating, because I didn't buy the peanut butter in Odessa, I bought it in Poland. Unfortunately, they don't sell peanut butter in Ukraine, as far as I know. I did find one jar of imported peanut butter at a gourmet grocery store near my school, but it had long expired. No matter, Melissa and I bought enough peanut butter during our trip to Krakow to last us until the next trip!


Happy snacking!


SaM.