What I Need the Most Often, and How I Make it Last the Longest . . .

[F15EWSO]

Originally Posted by Bash

...I'd observe that the more you learn to appreciate whatever provisions are fresh and local, the happier you'll be during the provisioning process.

Going into port with a shopping list that starts with: milk, ice, bread, et cetera, can sometimes generate frustrations that just don't need to be there.

Going into port with a shopping list that reads: find something fresh and local will almost always lead to the type of discoveries that make the cruising lifestyle so transformative.

If there's no bread, but if the tortillas were made this morning, you may actually come out ahead.

Bash,
full agreement on the local flavor, stationed overseas multiple times, home is where you make it. Was looking for the "techniques" used while still stateside. I understand adjustments will be made but if you have a favorite food like zeehag's chocolate then I am all about how she stores it, keeps it from melting, etc etc....

I saw a couple of references to "lock and lock" containers. Googled those adn saw them on QVC and other places. Are folks referencing those as the "best" or just as a type of burp-n-seal container? Seems like the name implies with Lock x 2 they would be the way to go.

[boatman61]

I find that the biggest thing stopping most cruisers enjoying the local 'cheap foods' is the constant threat/fear of 'Montezuma's Revenge', 'Dehli Belli', 'The Trots' etc...
The average Westerners life and insides are constantly steralised and treated with anti biotics for the slightest thing that you have no natural resistance to normally (in the 3rd world) harmless bacteria...
My brother for example left Pakistan for Uni in the States... he spent about 5yrs there before his first visit back... I happened to tie in a trip to see the folks at the same time...
Anyway... we decided to go trekking up through the Swat Valley and do some 'basic living' it was great.. Glaciers, trout fishing in mountain streams etc..
Anyway.. long story short... within 10 days he was at deaths door... stomach cramps, fever etc... ended a great trip short and flew back Sth to the family... a real bumma...
We'd ate the same stuff from roadside stalls etc.. drunk water from the same sources... it just boiled down to whereas I'd continued my eat from anywhere and live a natural lifestyle... he'd been in the 'Steralised World' and had basically killed off just about all the natural antibodies in his system in 5yrs...
as I understand it... even your fried chicken is pumped full of antibiotics and the beef with steroids...
So naturally.. once you step out of your 'Artificial World' your systems screwed...
Be safe... Stick to your cans guys... I'll stick with the street stalls.....

[boatman61]

Thought I'd better put this Addendum up following a PM suggesting I'm 'Anti American'...
Lets get this sorted... I'm not 'Anti' anyone personally... unless they piss me off... I've some good friends who are Americans, others include Germans, Dutch, Pakistanis, Indians, S Korean, Aussies and Kiwi's... to list a few...
But facts are facts and I'm happy to say how 'I See It'.... its not just the US with the 'Super Sterile' obsession.. its the western world as a whole driven on by intensive TV marketing and Big Brother Governments trying to micro manage our lives...
Could it be my 'AA Attitude' is considered to be that purely because this is a site with around 90% American membership and I'm just a gobby foreigner having a pop.... when in actual fact I'm saying it to every western national here....
Its nothing to do with your Nationality... its a Medical Fact...
Factory Farming Sucks and is bad for your health.... but its cheap... highly profitable and we breed like rabbits and need to eat so the band plays on...
In my many stays in the Caribbean I've never seen another white guy stand next to me at a roadside rib shack...
Christ... even the guys on the last few $'s and living in the 'crew quarters' back of 'Water World' will hit MacDonalds rather than be seen with the blacks at the roadside eating a healthy 'Fresh sweet potato salad n ribs'...

[capn_billl]

I resemble that boatman, no offense taken. I grew up in the artificial food USA. We all know, (or should), that in the long run it isn't good for you. Allergies, Diabetes, and cancer are epidemic. Countries with no history of these diseases, go from zero cases to rates approaching the US as they (modernize), and adopt our diet. We are what we eat, and we eat a lot of plastic, (and petroleum derivitatives). I travel alot now and often eat the local cuisine, sometimes I get sick. But after a few weeks in a new area, I do get used to the local bacteria, and can eat safely. Some places where cholera, and dysentary, and hepatites are common, I still take precautions.

I get cravings for beef steaks, but other than frozen, I can't carry a lot of them. In some parts of the world they are hard to come by.

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by capn_billl

I resemble that boatman, no offense taken. I grew up in the artificial food USA. We all know, (or should), that in the long run it isn't good for you. Allergies, Diabetes, and cancer are epidemic. Countries with no history of these diseases, go from zero cases to rates approaching the US as they (modernize), and adopt our diet. We are what we eat, and we eat a lot of plastic, (and petroleum derivitatives). I travel alot now and often eat the local cuisine, sometimes I get sick. But after a few weeks in a new area, I do get used to the local bacteria, and can eat safely. Some places where cholera, and dysentary, and hepatites are common, I still take precautions.

I get cravings for beef steaks, but other than frozen, I can't carry a lot of them. In some parts of the world they are hard to come by.

Oh they're out there mate...
usually they're those black lumps hanging from the overhang at the pavement... go up close and wave your hand up close...
as the flies take of you'll see some great rump thats being well 'tenderised'....

[rtbates]

From the title I assumed you'd be telling us....

Or are you just trying to be sure you're not the odd man out!! haha

I usually am!!

[hummingway]

Factory beef is fed subsidized corn which is not a natural state of affairs for cattle. That combined with the difficulty in maintaining sanitation in large scale processing factories has led to outbreaks of a strain of E. Coli hitherto unknown in the US ...

... so Americans are trying to toughen up their immune systems by challenging them but it could take a while

I've lived much of my adult life in rural British Columbia where the drinking water is surface water coming from high in the mountains. Wonderful water. The fecal coliform content is high when compared to the drinking water of most people living in industrialized nations where chlorine is the norm. Health authorities claim you don't build immunity but I'm not so sure. Perhaps it's tolerance you build.

[rtbates]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Thought I'd better put this Addendum up following a PM suggesting I'm 'Anti American'...
Lets get this sorted... I'm not 'Anti' anyone personally... unless they piss me off... I've some good friends who are Americans, others include Germans, Dutch, Pakistanis, Indians, S Korean, Aussies and Kiwi's... to list a few...
But facts are facts and I'm happy to say how 'I See It'.... its not just the US with the 'Super Sterile' obsession.. its the western world as a whole driven on by intensive TV marketing and Big Brother Governments trying to micro manage our lives...
Could it be my 'AA Attitude' is considered to be that purely because this is a site with around 90% American membership and I'm just a gobby foreigner having a pop.... when in actual fact I'm saying it to every western national here....
Its nothing to do with your Nationality... its a Medical Fact...
Factory Farming Sucks and is bad for your health.... but its cheap... highly profitable and we breed like rabbits and need to eat so the band plays on...
In my many stays in the Caribbean I've never seen another white guy stand next to me at a roadside rib shack...
Christ... even the guys on the last few $'s and living in the 'crew quarters' back of 'Water World' will hit MacDonalds rather than be seen with the blacks at the roadside eating a healthy 'Fresh sweet potato salad n ribs'...

Where do you frequent? I'm American and in 63 years I never ate at McDon until we had a grandson and he liked the play scape. I've stood/sat at many a Jamacian jerk stand..

I understand that putting folks in a box makes life easier to understand. No contradictions that MIGHT force one to examine ones understanding of the world and ones values. I know it hurts ones head, but in the long run self examination usually pays off.

[F15EWSO]

OK,
I need a gallon jug dispenser of that "sani-gel" stuff that's everywhere now. Some sani-wipes, got it....and I'll get my own cow and feed him grass grown on the foredeck.

Let's go in this direction. Toilet Paper. Everyone needs it (some more often than others), if it gets wet it is useless, it is bulky, takes up space. When you go provisioning do you find yourself lamenting having to buy another large plastic wrapped multi-pack of the stuff? Is it the sort of thing that you MUST go get and wish it lasted longer before you need some more? Suppose that is the case unless you have found a novel way to dip the offending part(s) into the water from the transom for some gentle cleaning from the ocean. Any other thoughts? Items?

[hummingway]

There was a thread discusing bidets on board as a tp replacement.

[w1651]

In my many stays in the Caribbean I've never seen another white guy stand next to me at a roadside rib shack...

Where are the best ribs in the Caribbean?

[CharlesFCook]

Powdered Milk becomes....
Sour Milk
Buttermilk
Evaporated Milk
Sweetened Condensed Milk
Quick Whipped Topping
Chocolate Milk
Homemade Yogurt
Yogurt Cheese
Curds & Whey
Ricotta or Cottage Cheese
Sweet Vanilla Milk
A Very Rich Gallon of Milk
Mix half-and-half with whole milk
Molasses Milk

[boatman61]

Originally Posted by rtbates

Where do you frequent? I'm American and in 63 years I never ate at McDon until we had a grandson and he liked the play scape. I've stood/sat at many a Jamacian jerk stand..

I understand that putting folks in a box makes life easier to understand. No contradictions that MIGHT force one to examine ones understanding of the world and ones values. I know it hurts ones head, but in the long run self examination usually pays off.

Pakistan, India, Turkey, Greece, Tunisia, Morocco, Nth of Martinique, E of BVI's, Sth Africa... but that was a while ago when Apartheid... also US E.coast where I suffered my worst stomach ever after an egg breakfast in New Bern... it was seriously embarrassing... took just 15mins to hit as I walked back to the hotel...
Only other time thats happened was after a chicken salad in Poole, UK...
Guess we hung out at different places... St Martin I'm always french side apart from the odd dinghy dash across the lagoon to visit friends, Antigua I like St Johns... Grenada I've not been back to since you guys went in... Trinidad not since '68... BVI's only if work takes me there and I leave as soon as possible...
No need to 'Self Examine'... I've 'lived' in 6 different countries with different cultures and religions... and practiced a few in my younger 'Naive Years'...
No Boxes on races or religions.... on individuals yes... but thats human nature... nutters, geeks, fanatics, perverts etc... but one does not condem the whole by the individual... everyone has their fears and you've got to admit... there were likely few other 'Honkey's/Lobsters' elbowing you for a place at the 'Shack' in the Indies... unless it was a 'Tourist Shack' in a 'safe zone' by the Marina.... or on the beach in Anguila... I'm talking back streets... like 'drug alley' the one way bit outa Marigot.... awesome little place there...

[Pelagic]

Originally Posted by boatman61

I find that the biggest thing stopping most cruisers enjoying the local 'cheap foods' is the constant threat/fear of 'Montezuma's Revenge', 'Dehli Belli', 'The Trots' etc...

......The average Westerners life and insides are constantly steralised and treated with anti biotics for the slightest thing that you have no natural resistance to normally (in the 3rd world) harmless bacteria...
So naturally.. once you step out of your 'Artificial World' your systems screwed...
Be safe... Stick to your cans guys... I'll stick with the street stalls.....

Boatman…please….. I’ve got to say advocating that we should be eating to 3rd world health standards is such a load of crap, I can only believe you enjoy stirring the pot.

There is a reason that our bodies react to such food and it is not because it is full of such healthy goodness.

Consider life expectancy difference between countries or this simple bar graph showing percentage of deaths due to intestinal diseases per country.

Intestinal diseases death rate by country. Definition, graph and map.

Your blessed Pakistan is right up there as is my Philippines

Sure, over processed foods are also unhealthy, but we are intelligent enough to recognize that it is not good for us and take steps other than eating a slice of fly infested meat from a market stall as you recommend.

Geez!....

[VirtualVagabond]

Originally Posted by boatman61

Thought I'd better put this Addendum up following a PM suggesting I'm 'Anti American'...
Lets get this sorted... I'm not 'Anti' anyone personally... unless they piss me off... I've some good friends who are Americans, others include Germans, Dutch, Pakistanis, Indians, S Korean, Aussies and Kiwi's... to list a few...
But facts are facts and I'm happy to say how 'I See It'.... its not just the US with the 'Super Sterile' obsession.. its the western world as a whole driven on by intensive TV marketing and Big Brother Governments trying to micro manage our lives...
Could it be my 'AA Attitude' is considered to be that purely because this is a site with around 90% American membership and I'm just a gobby foreigner having a pop.... when in actual fact I'm saying it to every western national here....
Its nothing to do with your Nationality... its a Medical Fact...
Factory Farming Sucks and is bad for your health.... but its cheap... highly profitable and we breed like rabbits and need to eat so the band plays on...
In my many stays in the Caribbean I've never seen another white guy stand next to me at a roadside rib shack...
Christ... even the guys on the last few $'s and living in the 'crew quarters' back of 'Water World' will hit MacDonalds rather than be seen with the blacks at the roadside eating a healthy 'Fresh sweet potato salad n ribs'...

No S.Africans..... I'm crushed...