Sonic

@Mad Hatter Thanks for replying and your suggestions. Unfortunately we are not able to have anything delivered here. Well, let me qualify that statement. We are able to order online through a service called Ali Express, but... It may or may not actually get here depending upon who's hands it goes through in customs. We have some Indian friends here who sometimes will "mule" things in for us and just this week we figured out how to prepare garam masala in one of the spice bazaars. Now we may be able to tweak it a bit. Next spring I am hoping to roast and smoke some chilis to make chili powders and other spice blends. Thanks again!

@Raincloak Thank you for your knowledgeable reply. We have been able to dry our herbs with a dehydrater and were able to put up mint, basil, celery, and tarragon before they disappeared. We also were able to dry several kiols of tomatoes to use in salads, pastas and other dishes. We are sometimes able to get the rooted plants. So, we'll try next spring when they come out again to make our own starter pots. The remaining herbs are hard to come by but can sometimes be found packaged in envelopes in a market. About wild/foraged foods in Taj: If it can be sold, it is at the bazaar. There are nice mountain radishes here that are pickled and usually eaten as a salad. Dill is also wild here as well as all manner of fruits and other veggies again which are seasonal. The game of Taj was hunted and fished out during the 7 year civil war following the fall of the Soviet Union and is very strictly monitored. We have begun to use more lentils in our diet and have come up with a great recipe for lentil tacos using green lentils. We also have been experimenting with bean patties and chickpea flatbread. Thank again for all your suggestions. We are taking note and trying or will attempt to try these things in the future. Now if I could only get my family to start liking pickled foods the way I do.

@Nomad Jay Thanks for your concerns about dieting. Whether placebo or not just removing nitrates from our son's diet has made a world of difference. Being forced to not rely on packaged luncheon meats and instead offering grilled chicken wings or breasts has seemed to help with his focus. Another good thing is that the kid now believes himself a vegetarian and does not eat very many meats. He says that his favorite food is plants. I have gone to the USAID offices but have yet to catch anyone there. Hopefully, I'll be able to get someone by next spring when planting season starts. I grew up in the southern states where we would pickle everything and I enjoy those foods. My family however is strictly adverse to them.

@PaulG Thanks so much for your speedy reply. We're actually in a former Soviet country called Tajikistan. Tajikistan happens to be 98% Muslim and therefore no pork. Sometimes you can find the little old Russian lady in the back corner of the bazaar and she beckons you over with a crooked little finger and says "I have what you need" Honestly I think she may be Baba Yaga. But there in the dark back corner is usually a freshly slaughtered pig. You have to tell her what cuts you want and you get skin fat and all. Thankfully she has already removed the hair from boiling. Most if not all of the local cuisine has some form of cotton seed oil or soy-based vegetable ghee. There is only one salad that has fresh veggies as most of the other salads are Russian in nature and are heavily laden with mayonnaise. The is one dish that called Khurutob which has a base of what they call "sweetened" flax seed oil. Sweetened means that the oil has been heated to the point to where it stops smoking. This oil is then mixed together with a flaky flat-bread called fatir which is made with ghee and a fermented yogurt called cha-ka. This is all placed in a giant communal bowl with a salad called shokarob (onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, basil and sometimes mint). This dish is eaten communally by hand. In fact there is no word for fork in this language. Most dishes are eaten by hand. The few soups they have are also heavy with oils as the winter months here are very harsh and meat is expensive. Most of their diet consists of rice dishes with carrots, potatoes, garlic and onions seasoned with only salt, pepper and cumin. Answers to thoughts: 1. Yes, we put up as much as we are able. This year we arrived late in the summer and missed some of the early veggies like greens but we were able to can 120 lbs of tomatoes, 60 pounds of peaches, 5 pumpkins (so far) a few gallons of raspberries and strawberries. Apple sauce is being canned at the moment. 2. Garlic is easily dried so we have that year round but green onions are almost done here and I don't think I have ever seen a leek here. No, we can not easily get seed for those items. Seeds here come from subsistence and therefore are kept by farmers for next years season. 3. We have children with functional Aspergers mixed with OCD, anxiety and ADHD tendencies so we are trying to follow a very modified paleo / feingold diet with lots of fresh foods and no nitrates, preservatives, or colorings. etc. Mostly we struggle with breakfasts and lunches as living here takes an egregious amount of time and effort for survival we run out of ideas to introduce variety. We also struggle with advanced food prep. We have looked online at various e-type menu services that will send you new menu ideas each week but all of them send recipes which contain items that just aren't available. I have a mental block also in preparing non-traditional breakfast. I mostly just shove a cold cereal or a bowl or rice in front of them which is counter productive to the type of diet we are wanting to use. 4. I grew up on a farm in rural east Texas and know how to grow things. We just do not have the resources like seeds/sprouts/slips or the ground to put them in. There are no co-ops here and greenhouses do not work because they can not be heated in the winter because of the lack of electricity and natural gas. Ah, we know we won't die. We were only looking for ideas for healthier choices with limited resources. Trying to look for a think-tank of ideas. We have been in this area of Central Asia on and off for about 7 years and speak the language very well and have many local friends. The cultures here are ancient and they like to keep it that way. Once when I question as to why they wouldn't substitute an ingredient in one of their street foods just to try something new, I was presented with this statement: "If we were to change something then we might forget who we are." Thanks again, Sonic

My family and I are American expats who live/work in a developing country which has not much choice in the selection of foods to maintain a healthy diet. Our food sources are found at a local bazaar and are seasonal and therefore we do not have availability to all foods year round. In late fall and winter there are only beets, carrots, potatoes (sweet potatoes only available from late October to the end of November), onions, apples, lemons, and oranges. There are no greens, tomatoes, nor other spring veggies, fruits, and berries. To workaround this we can or freeze what we are able. Meats that are available to us are beef, chicken, lamb, and sometimes goat. We have little or no access to pork (for cultural reasons) or fish. The fish comes in frozen and is not well taken care of meaning that we have become ill each time we have eaten it. Farm raised trout is something new and can be found at times in various markets. We do have access to nuts, legumes and pulses here in abundance. Also, buckwheat, barley and a variety of white rices. We have very little to no access to chia or quinoa. Most dried foods are good here except fruits in which the drying process is done in the villages where they lay out a sheet on top of a roof and let the sun do the work over several days. These dried fruits often have worms in them which forces us to freeze them for a period of time to both kill the worm and the eggs. The water is not clean and we must filter it through a bio filter plus another heavy metals filter before we can drink it. Many times during the week the water will be shut off for an entire day. Therefore we store several days of potable and non-potable water to make it through each week. We are looking for a nutritionist or other food expert who might be able to help us with our situation. We are excellent cooks and have a lot of knowledge in the kitchen. We do not eat processed foods and make every meal from scratch. Yes, this takes a lot of time. Most of the locals here eat every meal fried because they believe that it is the healthiest choice for them as they feel that the bacteria will die at high temps when frying. I will be happy to proved more specific information if necessary. Thanks in advance, Sonic