Before I came to Shipka, everything I ate was fried, came in a can or was just junk food. Not to talk about pasta, I used to live on pasta as a uni student. I hope I was not the only one.
This was not because I didn’t care about my health, but I just didn’t have time to cook everyday. Also, I didn’t really know what the alternatives were, I was just copying what my parents were doing.
But life as a volunteer is very different. We have enough free time to invest in ourselves, and we’re surrounded by people who’ve done a lot of research about food. So, not only we’re eating healthier, but we know how the different ingredients impact our bodies. Also, we have the garden to get our veggies ans spices! What a privilege it is to eat things you’ve planted, taken care of and harvested on your own.
First thing I learnt it’s to steem instead of fry. It keeps all of the flavour in the veggetables and it’s so fast and easy. We have the advantage of having a stove that works as an oven, so roasted food it’s easy to make, as we light up the fire everyday. But, if it’s not the case for you don’t worry, you don’t have to expend hundreds in the electric bill. We also make stews, soups, salads, creams, smoothies… There’s only two exceptions for this: banitsa and (belgian) french fries! (if you know you know).
Once you get to know how to cook and combine every ingredient it gets much easier. And until you reach this point, just experiment! Remember that you can try all raw veggetables to check the taste, add as many spices as you like and, if you miss the oil in your meals, just add if after they’re cooked in small amounts.