Kitchen Ranch

A Few Reasons to Love Costa Rica

 

While no country is perfect, here are some reasons I like living in Costa Rica:

• Ranked the happiest country on earth by the New Economics Foundation in 2012 (see HERE)
• The region in which I live, Nicoya, is one of the Blue Zones
• In 2009, the same organization ranked Costa Rica as the "greenest country in the world."
• The government recently announced plans to become the first carbon neutral country by 2021
• The president is a woman: Laura Chinchilla (BUT, it is disappointing to me that she opposes gay marriage)
• In 1949, Costa Rica abolished its army.
• Costa Rica offers exemplary and affordable healthcare (see HERE)
• Costa Rica enjoys a literacy rate of 96% and the educational system is free

You can look forward to a detailed post about trash which is a big topic of discussion here in the jungle.  With an outstanding organization like Nosara Recycles, I feel that anything is possible when a community is dedicated to the greater good.  This ambitious group has set goals such as: Eliminate the use of all styrofoam in the town, a will come to you and collect cooking oils to be converted to bio fuel and public events that create no trash residue at all (to name a few projects on deck).  

The subject of "Trash" should be on the table as an ongoing discussion we all have together, don't you agree? 

School Field Trip

I have been a chaperone on many a school field trips by now.  I support school field trips because I love the truth that learning unfolds anywhere (not just in a class room).  Naturally, I said, "Yes" when asked to chaperone Pixel's class, along with two other teachers, on an overnight field trip to Rincon de la Viaje Volcano.

We road tripped three hours and stayed at a hostel beside the National Park.  We learned about the local wildlife and flora, swam beneath a waterfall, jumped off a cliff into the pool below, hiked through the rainforest, took mud baths and soaked in hot springs fed by the volcano.  

It was truly perfect.

 

There are four students in Pixel's class.

Snake man. 

The hot springs were beautiful. 

Mud baths were a highlight. 

Really, perfect.   

Boxing Class

Boxing?  No.  Really?  Yes.  Boxing class was one of the last things, if not the last thing, I might ever enroll my kids in.  

Until recently.  Until I stumbled upon The Enchanted Forest gym and boxing center run by professional boxer Brenda Burnside (who is the coolest ever).

This is not your sweaty, stinky boxing gym cliche.  This is not boxing for buffoons.  This is fun.  This is some serious strength building.  All in a beautiful and natural setting.   

 Sometimes being wrong is so right.  I mean, I kind of fancy a go at it myself.

No Shoes, No Shirt . . . Nosara

There is a saying in this town, "No shoes, no shirt, Nosara."  Beckett feels right at home. 

Gallo Pinto

Gallo Pinto . . . It is a traditional Costa Rican dish sometimes called pinto.  These days, we eat a lot of gallo pinto.  

We eat gallo pinto for breakfast with a fried egg.  We eat gallo pinto in an empanada.  We eat gallo pinto as a side dish to almost anything (I love it with a big glass of gazpacho).  We eat gallo pinto in burritos and tacos. My favorite way to eat gallo pinto is topped with jalapenos and avocado slices.

I find myself making a huge pot of gallo pinto twice a week and suddenly I don't know how I survived all these years without a big pot of gallo pinto either on the stove or in the fridge.

Gallo Pinto

Make your rice as you do and prep your black beans.  Set aside.

In a large pan, sautee onions and garlic.  I add cumin to my gallo pinto but do as you like.  Chop red and / or green bell peppers.  Add to onion and garlic mix.

Combine all rice, black beans and veg mix.  There you have it.  Feel free to embellish your gallo pinto with whatever spices and toppings you adore.

Pura Vida!

Chocolate Chip Cookies (not a recipe)

I want to note what I cannot find here in Nosara.  Parchment paper, a cookie sheet and chocolate chips.  

Chocolate chips can be found at Pricesmart, which is like a Cost Co,  in San Jose.  San Jose is a four hour drive (not worth it for chocolate chips).  Having made chocolate chip cookies with chopped chocolate, I don't know if I'll ever miss chcolate chips again.  The chunks are well worth the wrist work out.  

I never found a cookie sheet but I did find a silicone mat which disregards a need for parchment paper.  The mat works fine as you can see below.

This guy.

The chunks are more tempting, no?