Ciao!

Ciao, from Roveredo in Piano, Italy!

I love it here. I love our neighbors, the scenery, and the slower paced lifestyle that we are living. I am trying a lot of new recipes, some are wonderful and some I will never make again. I am expanding my horizons and trying to new food that my neighbor brings me to try, except this last item that she made, salmon and zucchini cake. These two items mixed together in Italy are pretty popular, but I am not too interested in trying it. I like the two things cooked separately and will stick to that for a little while longer.

I love going and walking around the morning weekly markets with Jacoby and Nico. We buy fun snacks, fresh fruits and breads, and sample most of it before we even get back to the car.

Taralli, an Italian snack food similar to a cracker (but way better). The whole family loves finding these gems at the markets. 

I joined a book/travel club last month through our base library. The group reads the book and then meets at the end of the month to discuss it. Then they chooses a place in Italy that relates to the book and take a short trip to explore. The current read is Bella Figura and I read it faster than most other books in the past. It was such a good read. It was about a woman originally from Iran, who lived in London most of her life, and travelled to Florence Italy for a year to focus on herself. How she describes the people here in Italy is so on point. She talks about a lot of differences between London with the fast paced life style to how it is here in Italy. I really enjoyed the recipes she shared in the book. One was a fennel and blood orange salad, it was super yummy.

The boys are still loving Lego's, so we venture off to the Lego store about an hour away once a month. After the Lego store we stop for sorbet in the same mall. David and I enjoy the espresso and sorbet. Our family enjoys the sorbet over the overly famous gelato. There are more dairy free options for Nico with the Sorbet, and I think we are in agreement as a family that our Ben & Jerry's ice cream is better than the local gelato. Everyone should try in when they visit Italy, but I am happier to have a local espresso than the gelato. 

I am still struggling with anxiety, and few panic attacks still. A few months back I came off of my anxiety medicine because it was causing more harm than good. I was having continuous chest pain, spouts of anger, and was more anxious on the medicine than off. I decided to try to balance out my hormones with some vitamins and those didn't work. So I am going back to what worked for me years ago when I wanted to come off anxiety medicine that I was taking for Postpartum Depression. I used the product Plexus for 6 months previously when I wanted to come off the anxiety meds and it worked wonders. After those 6 months I didn't feel like I needed it anymore and have been fine since. As of about two weeks ago I am back taking it daily and hoping and praying it works for me again. I have signed up as an Ambassador for Plexus because I believe in this product and just want to share with friends and family who are wanting freedom from their medications as well. This time I will not be coming off of the Plexus. I know that there are a ton of products on the market and I am not here to convince you to try this particular product. But, if you are anything like me and hate how you feel on medicine and could be taking something more natural then maybe this is for you too. Click on my link and message me with any questions. I have noticed in the two weeks I have been taking Plexus that I have more energy, I am sleeping better, I have started running again (this is huge, I haven't worked out in 5 months), I don't have sugar cravings or daily crashes, and I have lost the desire for my morning coffee. The first time I used this product I never gave up the coffee, but this time the desire for it is gone. This doesn't mean I will not have a coffee, or an Italian espresso, it simply means that the craving/habit is gone. 

https://mystory.plexusworldwide.com/stories/344/3mxnjxvh/say-no-to-the-old-you-and-ciao-to-the-ne

Thanks for reading and please stay tuned for more of my journey in Italy! 

Parliamo di caffè!

Parliamo di caffè! 

Translates to “Let’s talk coffee!”

The first cup of espresso I made at home the Italian way. 

In the states we are so spoiled by convenience. Want coffee and don’t have time to brew your own cup? No problem, just swing by a Starbucks and pick up a cup. Here, in Italy we do not have this luxury. There is a coffee shop on base that sells Starbucks but it isn’t a drive thru and it isn’t Starbucks. Say you aren’t near the base and you want a good cup of coffee. Well, it isn’t going to be anything like an American cup of coffee that you are thinking of. It’s more like a shot of espresso. First things first you have to find a coffee shop. Go to google maps for fun and search coffee shops in Roveredo in Piano Italy and see how many come up. Then select one and check out their amazing hours. Okay I will do this for you. There are what appears to be several near me, look at all of the coffee cups on the map. I selected the top one on the list which is closest coffee shop to me. But again check out their hours. 

Several ways you can drink coffee here. I won’t pretend to know most of them since I have officially only ordered my own caffè one time. So do you want a cup of coffee or shot of espresso? Do you want it short or tall? If you order short you get a shot of espresso and if you order tall than you get what we call in America an Americano. You don’t see many tables of people sitting at coffee shops here. It’s more like a walk up to a bar height counter that doesn’t contain any chairs, order your coffee of choice, add the sugar or milk that’s on the bar, drink your drink and be on your way. Some people can milk theirs for some time but I am pretty sure mine goes down in one gulp. I have only seen one person ever walk out of a coffee shop here with a tiny 4 oz to go cup. 

One of my favorite things about coffee in Italy is the coffee vending machines. They are everywhere and only €0.50. 

I much prefer this to a Starbucks! 

Some machines drop these cute stirrers in the cup and other machines
you have to press a button and the machine will dispense one for you. 

When you get your nails or hair done they offer you a cup as well. I love this! 

Some of these coffee machines are strategically placed near kid play areas (for us Moms I am sure) and some at the exit inside stores. There are coffee machines hidden inside the Ikea stores that I never would have found if Mateo hadn't pointed them out. When I see these at the exit I walk in the store and out the exit for an espresso and then re-enter the store to shop. My favorite one to hit up is the one at the entrance to the commissary. Everyone knows they need this before shopping for groceries, especially with the kids. But one must be mindful that these coffee machines do not give you change. So like at Starbucks when you “Pay It Forward” in the drive thru I like to leave extra euro for the next person to enjoy a free espresso. I have seen it brighten the faces on many tired mothers. 

I have learned to appreciate my large American sized cup of coffee at home and anything I drink while out on the town is a caffeinated treat. 

Next time you are upset that your Starbucks drink wasn’t mixed right think about me over here in Italy drinking straight espresso from a vending machine, just drink your drink. You will survive, look at me. 

Thanks for reading, stay tuned for my next blog from Italy.